Meet Charles Mcdonald

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Charles Mcdonald a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Charles, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I think a lot of my work ethic comes from my stepfather Nathaniel. Nathaniel is a master carpenter by trade, and growing up one of the ways that he connected with me was through working. Manual labor. He would have me help him on jobs in his workshop, or around the house doing landscaping and gardening – mowing the lawn, picking up rocks, etc. As a musical child I really detested having to do these odd jobs, all I wanted to do was play piano or sing, ride my bike, or create radio shows on my tape recorder. However, now as an adult I have come to appreciate those days working with my dad. I’m not sure that he knew it at the time, and I surely didn’t, but he was instilling within me a sense of duty and work ethic. Often times in life one has to do things they don’t want to do – but most times, whether you want to or not, one must do the thing that is unpleasant. Complete the task, push through, keep on keeping on. I’m grateful to him for this lesson!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Even since I can remember I have been singing. When I was three I told my mom that I was “born to sing,” and that has carried over into my professional career. For the past 14 years I have been a session singer in Los Angeles. Session singing involves everything from choral parts on a TV or Film soundtrack, to imitating an actors voice who can’t sing, to vocal effects in video games. I never knew that session singing was even an option, or something that I could pursue. I basically fell into the session world after moving to LA from Missouri in 2011. Apart from the session singing I’m also a vocal coach and piano teacher, and an aspiring real estate mogul. I usually characterize my job as a large menagerie of different musical outlets.

I’m also a singer/songwriter, and have many of LA’s well known local venues, as well as toured on occasion. I’m planning on releasing a couple of singles by the end of the year.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

These are not in any particular order, just as they have come to mind.

1. Pick up the rocks! Stick-to-itiveness. This ties back into the first question about what I learned from my stepfather growing up. If you just keep going and doing the things that might be a little bit hard, sooner or later you will find that you have arrived in your proverbial “someday.”

2. Adaptability – The show MUST go on. There will always be curveballs in life, and the ability to adapt and flex with the hiccups along the way is key. The proverbial saying “The show must go on” comes to mind – not just in music, but in any endeavor one pursues. I think this stems from growing up in theater and performing from a young age. Most of life rests in the unknown future and the only way to meet the unknown head on is with adaptability. The old adage stands true – if you shoot for the stars and miss, you’ll at least land on the moon.

3. Treat everyone you meet like an old friend – instant familiarity, warmth, and camaraderie. If people can feel comfortable with you immediately, it will open doors — trust me.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Thankfully over the past 10-15 years, I’ve gotten good at knowing when I am overwhelmed – sometimes it’s hard to tell! When feeling this way I have always found it best to do nothing – no big decisions – no fretting – no existential meanderings. Just be. Rest up. Breath. Recalibrate. Come back to your thoughts in the morning, you’ll be fine! (Prayer also helps.)

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