Meet Dwayne Perkins

We were lucky to catch up with Dwayne Perkins recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dwayne, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

The easy answer is to simply accept your fate and blessings from the universe/God. And also to recognize that it’s not your job to question fate whether you feel favored or not. In practical terms though, if one keeps some sort of record of the work they put in, I think they can find peace in the fact that they maximized their gifts and worked hard to hone and grow them.

I keep a productivity spreadsheet and I also have a spreadsheet/database where I keep records of many of my stand-up shows. So they both serve as receipts and tangible proof of the work I’ve done and ways I’ve tried to honor my gifts. It’s hard to think of yourself as an imposter when you have hard proof that you’re out-working the pack.

I have a full joke book, and much content that serves as proof and a reminder to myself that I’ve stayed busy and so it’s okay if I expect some good things to transpire from that.

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?

I’m most interested in telling stories that entertain people and leave audiences in better spirits than they were in beforehand. This starts with my stand-up. There’s something magical about having a room full of people put their problems aside for a few hours and share a communal laugh. I’ve been very fortunate to do stand-up all over the world and share that experience with all walks of life.

The story telling bug extends to writing movies, television shows, novels, sketches, game shows and doing podcasts. Through everything I’m involved with, I want to make people feel better about themselves and about the world. Obviously engagement is important but it’s fun to entertained people with content that’s a bit more than a distraction. I like to think of it like. I may not be changing the world but hopefully I’m making it more bearable. 🙂

I’m very excited to produce another comedy album/special this year. Something that audiences can enjoy from the beginning to the end but can also be enjoyed and consumed in small chunks on social media. Content needs to be modular these days and I really warmed up to that idea when several of my bits went viral. Thankfully, my content works as a buffet or as a sit down meal.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think reading is sill underrated. The ability to consume a lot of information in a short period of time will serve you well all your days. Also, even as your career journey ramps up, it’s important to still find time to read things not directly related to work. It may seem superfluous but somehow everything I read ends up adding to my life and even helping with new ideas or concepts.

Along with reading, I’d say continuous learning. As you drill down into your expertise part of that should including learning more about your craft but also more about things related and even not related to your craft.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

I think an obstacle that goes overlooked is urgency bias. I may have just made up that term but I mean we get caught up doing things that are urgent which is understandable. But sometimes we do that do the detriment of expanding because things that can expand our sphere of success aren’t always “urgent.” So we run the risk of never getting to them.

So then how to we find time for things that aren’t pressing? I think, for me, I want to take time from mental “junk food” like social media or short internet memes and videos and use that time for expansion. Whether it’s learning a language or exploring a new field the time to embark may be hiding in plain sight and being used up in time killers. Of course sometimes we need to unwind with things that don’t require thought but we should keep track and limit that time.

So one of my overarching goals is to consume less “junk food,” literally and metaphorically. I guess the challenge is to stay focused more that not.

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