Meet Jan Buckingham

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jan Buckingham. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jan, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
I believe that what you believe is true is the truth in life for you. I also believe that happiness is a choice.
I’ll give you an example of how that works.
Way back in the day, I had one of my publishing deals in Nashville,
but I was still spending part of my time in LA.
About six months into that deal, I got a fax one day, saying that the deal suddenly was over,
and no more money would be coming to me.
I took that fax sheet and walked into my living room,
where my two pet bunnies were sitting happily on the floor,
in the dappled sunlight, twitching their noses and enjoying the day.
Then, there was also the little robin that I had rescued, and he was sitting on a book shelf, and tweeting happily…
I looked out the window and saw a beautiful sunlit day, and then looked at the depressing fax paper in my hand.
I weighed the two options: either staying depressed over that fax, or enjoying the beautiful sunlit day outside.
I made my decision.
I crumpled up the fax and threw it in the waste basket,
and walked outside to go play an enjoying game of golf.
I DECIDED to have a happy day, by focusing on the beauty outside, and NOT focusing on the bad news in that fax!
So, I made the decision to be happy.
That’s a choice a person can make every day.
Being optimistic usually will make good things happen,
because you project your thoughts, in your face and smile and movements,
that you believe things will turn out well.
If you believe that they will, they usually do!!!
I want to have a happy, successful life, so I picture things going well, and usually they do!!!

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a commercial songwriter who loves to write songs, and loves to perform them, because I love to make people happy. I have had many hits and gold records, with cuts by pop, rock, country and MOR artists… from Whitney Houston, Melissa Manchester, Journey and Air Supply, to Pam Tillis, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Tim McGraw, Crystal Gayle, Garry Morris, Lee Greenwood, Dottie West, Barbara Mandrell, and many others, as well as songs in movies like My Cousin Vinnie, and songs in television, like Hollywood Wives and Friends.

In the beginning, I was just writing songs, but over time, I began to perform my songs. I learned that I loved to make an audience smile and laugh. Now, more recently, I have started releasing the songs that I’ve written and that I sing, through Distrokid, onto all the streaming platforms in this universe!

Back when I first came to Nashville, in 1980, you had to get a record deal to get your songs heard… but now anyone can become their own record company, releasing their songs through Distrokid, or some of the other apps.

Granted, writers don’t make as much money these days from streaming, but if a song ends up on the radio, the writers can still make good money from “performance” on a hit song, through their PRO (Performing Rights Organization), be it BMI, ASCAP or SEASAC.

I also started to write some crazy funny songs that could NEVER be on the radio, but can easily be streamed… songs like “The Last Word In Happiness Is Penis.” If a song like that made the crowd go crazy when I sang it in a club, then I’d decide to release it through Distrokid, for streaming. I guess you could call that doing my research, or market testing.

Another thing I love to do these days is mentor young writers who I can see are going to do very well over time…
and those young writers have encouraged me to become an artist (at the tender age of 76!), and they have showed me how to use Distrokid and Canva, Sound Exchange, YouTube, etc. I live a very happy life because I love what I do. 🙂

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back, I believe that my parents impressed upon me how to be successful.

One thing they taught me was to be a person of my word.
Your word is your bond.
If I tell someone I am going to do something, I do it.
I never flake on them.

My mother would always say, “It never hurts to ask,” and that is true!
(Unless you ask, “Why are you so fat?” LOL)
But asking if you can have a deal, get a raise, co-write a song with someone… All that helps.

And my dad always said, “Do the best you can all day, then go home and forget it.”
Basically, that meant that you should never beat yourself up.
If you did the best you could, what more could you do???

Persistence is another quality that really makes things happen.
As a child, I read the book titled “The Little Engine That Could.”
The engine chugged along going, “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.”
So that taught me to think positively..
I would visualize what I wanted to happen and then go for it!

Another lady who greatly impressed me with how to go get something was Betty Perry.
She told me, “Start walking towards the corner. You’ll know which way to go when you get to the corner.”
So, every day I walk towards my goals, knowing that when I get to a corner, I can look both ways and know which way to go.

Also, my parents and my church impressed upon me the Golden Rule:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
So, if you want people to return your calls, return their calls!
I you want them to be nice and polite to you, be nice and polite to them.
If you don’t want them to be rude to you, then don’t be rude to them.

My dad used to say that the hardest thing to do was to decide what you really wanted to do…
So my advice to those starting out is to decide what it is they really want,
and then start walking towards that corner.

And of course, there was Norman Vincent Peale’s book: The Power of Positive Thinking

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The Holy Bible has the best advice in it.

Jesus Christ told many stories that actually work well in business,
like the story of the master who gave “talents” (coins/money) to his servants before he left.
When he returned and asked for the “talents” back, the servant who had invested the talents,
and not just buried them, was the servant that made the most, and was told, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
That story basically tells people to invest, which is to believe in themselves.

Also, Christ taught to forgive.
Even when He was on the cross, he said to God, “Forgive them father, for they know not what they do.”
SO… It’s best to just let go of people who have wronged you, so anger doesn’t build up inside you.
You don’t want to focus on that negative stuff.
If someone isn’t nice to you, wish them a nice day somewhere else,
and then you can look in another direction, towards a positive ending to the story you’re currently living in your life. 🙂

There are so many positive things in the Bible… and of course, the Ten Commandments,
which really give one a good blueprint of how to conduct good business and have positive relationships.

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