Meet Eric Osmond

We were lucky to catch up with Eric Osmond recently and have shared our conversation below.

Eric, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
I believe confidence and self-esteem comes through your own life experiences and living up to not only the (good) self-fulfilling prophecies from the external world around you, but in following through with your own integrity; doing what you say you’ll do always grows confidence the best in my opinion.

In my strange upbringing and throughout my life, (and due to the fame of my family’s name), I’ve lived under the assumption of being an entertainer no matter where I went or whatever the project. There has always an unwritten expectation to perform and to entertain, but from public assumption, not necessarily from family. I jokingly (and truthfully) tell people that I was literally on stage in diapers, and I had no choice but to grow up in entertainment (the spotlight was always shining and the assumptions were so strong). (Growing up, my family had a theater in Branson, Missouri where we’d perform sometimes twice a day). I feel that this was the start of trying to maintain high expectations throughout my life.

Since then, I’ve admittingly been over the top when it comes to self-discipline and have gone to the extreme with things in my twenties, but I feel I’ve kind of calmed that down a bit now and become a little more calm/”realistic” in this chapter of life for my thirties; but it all really depends on the project and situation. Once an extremist, always an extremist at heart I say, ha. A mindset like that also gives someone the confidence to know that you can handle whatever comes your way… otherwise it wouldn’t come your way… if that makes sense. I feel that’s a healthy thing for anyone to be able to confidently say. 😉

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
In this current chapter of my life, I usually respond to that by making fun of myself by saying how I’ve been bouncing back and forth with about six different careers simultaneously for years…each with its own projects, benefits, and problems. I then say how I would never recommend that lifestyle for anyone, and to just have enough faith in one path to focus and finish, otherwise it can tear you apart eventually. (I think it was Confusious who said something like, “he who chases two rabbits catches neither”). You really can lose yourself in whatever you do, so being protective and visionary (with both the good and bad of any path) is a good way to progress through it.

However, no matter what I’ve tried in life – from random things like film acting in films, music, personal training, real estate; even some fitness modeling and motivational speaking, ha – it always seems to come back to music for me… no matter what. I take it as some form of sign that not being able to leave the music world means I should just embrace it (“Jonah and the Whale” kind of story). After all… it’s in my family name, my heritage/blood, and deep down I feel this burning inner drive to at least strive to live up to it.

But, back to your question, as far as projects are concerned, I would say that there are exciting things coming in both music and film. There are several films being released that I’m in as an actor – anything from a Hallmark film to local Utah independent releases, to which I’ve been honored to be surrounded by such talent. In some of them, I also have original songs (and music videos) being released as well! I’m super excited about that unique niche I’ve found in blending both the music and acting world together like that – you can see these film-based music videos on my YouTube if you’re curious.

Regarding the music world itself though, I have several singles coming out, to which I feel I’m getting better and better as an artist and producer (my style and quality, I feel, has changed so much over the years, even after having removed 2,18 track albums off the shelves years ago but that’s a different story). I plan to be releasing another accumulative album this year for my own solo project, and we also have a whole new revamp of an old band in the works. I won’t say much yet, but stay tuned for some dark/dancy/sci-fi stuff. 😉 For referencing any of these film songs, you can watch on YouTube or see more info on my IMDB if you’re curious. (Also those film song genres are kind of all over the place, depending on the type of film, so get ready for some randomness, lol).

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Acting and Editing I have learned so much from being on both sides of the camera — as an actor, a producer, and editor. Acting just seemed to come easy for me, you just have to be authentic and really believe you’re the character… that’s years of acting classes summed and oversimplified, ha. It really is that simple. People like to complicate things, but overthinking always leads to problems in art, and it can really show. So just be authentic I’d say, and watch how people flock to you with that.

Now a skill that I’ve been honing for years and have always respected greatly is editing… I’m not proud of “saying” I’m an editor and I don’t really talk about it (because I really don’t want to have to sit in a chair all day), but I find it to be such a valuable skill to have in the media… Editors have all the real power I think. They can make you look good, bad, or ugly; so learning that trade is almost imperative to being in this industry if you want the right things featured. Also learning social media and posting this edited content (from these edits) is massive. Artists in the past didn’t really have to deal with that as much as in today’s world with social media being so central to our society; you want to be able to have at least some level of control of how people see you.

Music Producing and Unique Vocals
I’ve had such an immense desire to learn how to make my music sound more professional over the years. That’s exactly why I’ve removed those 36 tracks I mentioned from the shelves (two, 18 track albums mentioned earlier) to which I was so proud of in my High School days (not to worry though, I plan to remaster these songs and re-release them!) I feel this world is so vast and I’m constantly learning, but I’ve had some great help from good mentors like my buddy Danny Demosi, and my wife (Pepper Nicole Osmond), who keeps making me improve the songs more and more before she releases them. (She’s awesome, she does a lot of the promotional materials and has also been studying the music publishing world and that’s a whole different universe as well.. The music business itself. Thankfully we’ve had angel mentors who’ve shown up right when we needed them! I feel that we’re being watched over in a divine way and guided with all this, so it’s really cool to just see how things unfold.

Regarding vocals/singing, I’ve had such a privilege in life to be mentored by various vocal coaches, but the ones that most resonated with me were via my own family. There really is a unique “Osmond sound” if you listen for it, so many have talked with me about this. There’s a span from the clean pop-sound (more on the Donny and David Osmond side – 1st and 2nd Generation examples) to the Merrill and Jay Osmond “rock” vocal style where I somewhat find myself. I can do both, but I’m now finding a happy middle ground in order to be more versatile… I may be able to hit a 4.5 octave range (which is weird, I know) but using it in every song can be exhausting for both me and the listener… I’m learning, I’m learning, ha. I’ve had vocal lessons from all of these guys I just mentioned (and from more family btw), and I love them all so very much. They’re not just family, but friends and mentors. Again, with singing, it’s just like acting… you need to believe what you’re performing for it to come across as authentic, and I feel that’s so incredibly central to all of this life stuff – authenticity.

Personal Training / Health / Fitness / Physiology
I’ve been a personal trainer for nearly a decade now, and I only teach a handful of clients a year. These are usually more of the high energy entrepreneurial type of clients who just want to better their lives and they certainly help me with mindset as much as I help them with fitness. This has led me down the path of wanting to be a motivational speaker, but only here and there. I’ve never really taken that path all the way, so I’ve just stuck with the fitness and mindset/psychology part of it when I train one-on-one.

I’ve had the unique opportunity to be trained by body builders, and thus my focus in my style of fitness. If you want to run a marathon, that’s great, but that’s not what I focus on, nor train you to do; I can refer you to running coaches for that. I’ve always focused on things that you can display to your friends, family, just walking around in public. If you’re getting compliments by just sitting there with a rockin’ body, then I feel I’ve done my job well. I may have a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications (which took me 13 long years btw, another story) and I may be “licensed as a trainer” but some things in life just can’t be taught from a textbook… so it means nothing unless you apply it. I feel this world of health and fitness has so much to offer to the human race – both inside and out, literally. It’s the one thing you just can’t delegate to someone else – the health of your own mind and body… and in turn your spiritual health and confidence gets strengthened as well – “a rising tide lifts all boats” they say. And yes, I’ve had the opportunity to take my shirt off and flex in a production or two, lol. Stay tuned for a fun one later this year! Haha PS if you know anyone who wants help with this world, I’m happy to be a guide. 😉

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
As you may be able to tell by now, by how many irons I’ve had in the fire for so long, I can relate to the gnawing feeling of overwhelm very well… and there are just a few things I would advise from those who’ve helped me; I’ll just start going off here:

1. Whatever you do/start, remember that if you don’t finish it, it’s a loose end… pick your problems and if you end that project/world, then end it gracefully and don’t resent yourself for not “finishing” otherwise. So make it clear what you want from it… there’s both good and problems from all paths, so “pick your problems” and doing it backwards like that (with the end in mind) is super comforting to bookend it.

2. Speaking of bookending, just because you’re an entrepreneur/self-employed, or parent (as I’m learning; I now have a 4 month old boy named Phoenix), or even if you’re not, you’re your own boss. Because, like it or not we’re all SELF-motivated, so book-ending your day is imperative. All hell can break loose in between that time but if you bookend your morning and night, you at least have a sense of control. (Check out Admiral William McRaven’s speech on making your bed). (I’m also quoting Darren Hardy, and Steven R. Covey as well in saying some of this).

3. There’s one final tactic/rule that has blessed me in my life greatly “The 2 Minute Rule” which basically means that if something comes to mind and you can do it in 2 minutes… then “DO IT NOW” Just repeat “do it now” over and over again until it’s done and watch what wonders come about in your life. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass… as it’s said.

I could go on, but those are some key rules that have immensely gotten me through overwhelm.. That and a lot of exercise, meditation, and sleep, and you’ll feel just “whelmed’ rather than just “over” or” under” -whelmed in no time. Ha.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Definition Photo (Spencer Jarman), Osmond Productions (Pepper Nicole Osmond), Whitney Lewis Photography (Whitney Palmer Lewis)

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