Meet Mr. Bill Berry

We were lucky to catch up with Mr. Bill Berry recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Mr. Bill with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

There are many ways I could answer this question, but the first that came to mind is actually a story from my first book, “Stories That Move,” chapter 17, “We’re Going to Disneyland,” so I’ll share it with you.
It was circa 1986, and a great day because our family was going to Disneyland! My parents and siblings were busily loading the car, but I was ready long before them.
“Mom, mom, come on, let’s go,” I said, eager for the trip to be underway.
But my urging backfired since seeing an idle child was Mom’s cue to assign a task. Handing me a bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels she said, “Why don’t you go out and clean all the car’s windows inside and out. And we’re not leaving until they’re spotless.”
One of my brothers smiled and gave me the “haha” look.
I took the cleaning supplies and sluggishly walked out to the car, all my nine-year-old excitement about Disneyland gone. I looked at our station wagon and its endless windows with dread. “Spotless,” I thought. This was going to take forever.
I sat down in the front passenger seat and unenthusiastically started to wipe the inside of the front windshield.
Just then my dad walked out of the garage with an armload of gear: icebox, towels, hats, sunscreen, and other such doodads. Everything a good father packs for a family trip. He threw the supplies into the trunk of the car then said, “Great idea Billy! I’m glad to see you taking more initiative.”
He didn’t know that I was actually performing a busy work assignment of the highest order, but I smiled at him, accepting the praise. A few extra brownie points never hurt.
Without another word, he walked over, took a big fistful of paper towels from me, and started helping with the windows. I was elated to have help on this monumental task but fearful that if Mom saw him helping, she might tell him to stop. So, I started cleaning as quickly as I could, hoping we could finish before she noticed what was happening.
I wiped as fast as my nine-year-old hands could fly, but when I looked over at my dad, he was moving so fast his hands were almost blurry. He literally cleaned every other window, inside and out, before I’d finished the inside of the front windshield. And I’d had a head start! It seemed impossible, but he’d done it. I examined his work; it was spotless. Then he showed me how to roll the windows down part ways so I could clean the top part of the glass that went into the rubber gasket. He’d done that on all the windows he’d cleaned, too.
Once he finished, he strode off to the garage to grab more “who knows what’s it’s” for our journey. I love my dad. He taught me so many important life lessons without even realizing he was doing it, and what he taught me that day was clear. In life there will be things you don’t want to do: emptying the garbage, washing dishes, or cleaning windows. But whether the task is fun or not, these things need to be done, so get to work. And since they have to be done anyway, you might as well do it as quickly as possible. Then you can get back to doing something you’d rather be doing, like going to Disneyland.
This story, is one of many, that helped to develop my work sthic.

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’ve been a lifelong performer, with a career that’s taken me to all 50 states and 85 countries, across more than 7,000 shows. Along the way, I became a three-time world champion juggler, a Guinness World Record–holding sword swallower, and one of the few entertainers who can say they’ve truly made a full-time living from their art.
While I still perform, my focus has started to shift toward creating resources for others. I’ve written two books: Stories That Move, a collection of true stories with life lessons, and Embracing the Flame, which teaches fire handling while guiding readers through fear and personal growth. My third book, a memoir, is on the way and tells the story of how I rejected the dead-end paths offered to me as a young man and instead carved out a life in entertainment.
I also host fire handling workshops at my home—the St. Pete Micro Farm—or on the road, and I offer coaching for performers and creatives who want to “crack the code” of making a living doing what they love. My Patreon (patreon.com/mrbillberry) is the best place to find these opportunities, along with access to my work.
At this stage in my journey, what excites me most is helping others turn passion into livelihood, balancing creative expression with financial success, and showing by example that it’s possible to live fully on your own terms.

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?

The three qualities that shaped my journey most are:
1. Reckless faith. I’ve always believed that if I kept moving toward the life I wanted—studying, practicing, and pushing forward—eventually I’d get there. That faith kept me going through obstacles that might have stopped someone else.
2. Adaptability. Sometimes your pure creative vision doesn’t immediately translate into something people will pay for. The art is in finding the balance between what you love and what others are willing to invest in. My obsession with movement—whether through juggling, soccer, or hacky sack—wasn’t inherently marketable. But by shaping that passion into a stage show, I found a way to share it with audiences while staying true to my vision.
3. Discipline for the long path. A quote I carried with me as a teenager says it best: “I do today what others will not so tomorrow I live as others cannot.” I’ve never chased quick wins. I’d rather take the longer, harder road if it makes me more skilled and better prepared in the end. That mindset has always given me an edge.
For anyone early in their journey, my advice is to cultivate these same traits: believe in yourself even when results aren’t immediate, adapt your passion into something sustainable, and be willing to put in the hard, unglamorous work. It takes longer, but the rewards last.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

For me, this isn’t a hypothetical question—I’ve always lived as though my time was limited. I grew up with a life-threatening heart condition and spent much of my childhood in hospitals. Just weeks before my 18th birthday, I went in for a procedure that gave me what I call my miracle cure. But by then, the mindset had already taken root: I didn’t have forever, so I had to live with urgency. That drive never went away. People often tell me it’s as if I’ve packed ten lifetimes into this one, and my only wish is to fit in five more.
So if I had just one more decade, I’d do exactly what I’m doing now. I’d keep performing. I’d keep teaching students to be artrepreneurs—artists who know how to turn creativity into a livelihood. I’d keep hosting fire handling workshops that help people push past fear. And above all, I’d keep writing. My third book, the first volume of my memoir, is nearly finished at 115,000 words, and the second volume is already drafted at 110,000 words. In fact, the next seven books are outlined and in various stages of writing.
I believe an artist’s best work often comes in one great push, and I dare to believe my best work is still ahead of me. That’s how I would spend my last decade: exactly the way I’ve lived every one before it—driven, creative, and wide open to possibility.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Michael Voorheen, Cheri Root Photography, Wet Orange – Michael Cairns, Chris Smith – Snap Photography, John Jones – jonesinphoto, Steven Le – Thee Photo Ninja – St Pete Headshots

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