Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Reed Masterson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Reed, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us today. We’re excited to dive into your story and your work, but first let’s start with a broader topic that might be stopping many of our readers from pursuing their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. How have you managed to persist despite haters and nay-sayers that inevitably follow folks who are doing something unique, special or off the beaten path?
In my line of work, we are faced with haters and critics on a daily basis. I’ve learned the more successful you become the more “hate” you receive. I’ve come to the realization that hate in this regard is almost always an expression of jealousy or envy. As I’ve self-reflected over the years looking at younger versions of myself I see where I’ve been guilty of this envy-induced “hate”. Unfortunately, most haters cannot self-reflect and use that to their advantage but I have. My envy and jealousy eventually turned from “hate” that held me back to fuel that propelled me forward. Because of these self-realizations of my shortcomings, I’ve been able to no longer let the shortcomings of others directed towards me hold me back.
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?
I was born and raised in small-town Kentucky, USA. Though my personal life story has many twists and turns the one constant has been MAGIC. At the age of 6, I decided I wanted to be a professional magician. For some reason that stuck with me and was the one dream I never let disappear. For many, my dream was just that, a dream. “Get a real job”, “You will never succeed”, “It’s time to grow up”, “Stop living in a fantasy world”, “People like you never amount to anything”… That’s the support I received from most of the people in my life, but one person never stopped believing in me. Not only was she my great aunt, mom, dad, and best friend, but she was also my biggest fan. I called her Nanny, and I mentioned her as her support really helped fuel my intense drive for success and unquenchable thirst for entrepreneurial freedom.
For the past 18 years now I have been traveling the country performing my multi-award-winning illusion show for thousands of beautiful audience members all across the United States. I have been seen on almost every major television network as well as Tubi and Amazon Prime Video. I’ve had the honor of performing for numerous celebrities in some of the country’s largest event venues.
Today you can see my one-man show “Theatrical Deceptions” touring to many new cities in 2024.
In addition to being a full-time illusionist, I am also an award-winning, published photographer and graphic designer.
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?
Patience, persistence, and perseverance are the three most important things you can never stop focusing on. Keeping those in mind it is important to remember that there is no timeline to success, and your success is not equal to or can be measured by the success of others. Your journey is yours and yours alone. Don’t forget to celebrate the small victories and take the time to reflect on where you are now and where you started. We forget to reflect on our past success and only look at the future and that is entrepreneurial kryptonite.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I’m a firm believer in the hone it and own it concept. Staying focused and not straying is important.
However, having tools in your toolbox that come in handy once in a while is also essential.
We don’t always know our strengths. Improving on other areas that help you learn and improve is also important. Knowledge is power as they say and in the creative world, nothing makes you grow faster than knowledge, especially knowledge from experience.
As I mentioned I’m also a professional graphic designer. In 2008 when it was time to produce my first full-length theatrical production and my first theatre I had honed all the skills to produce the show over many years. All of my knowledge ended once I stepped off the stage. However, I came to realize that prior to the show I had to market it to sell tickets. Well, I had no marketing knowledge, nor did I have a budget to hire a marketing team, photographer, graphic designer, etc. So I did the only thing I knew. I used my innate ability to learn new skills. I bought a camera, downloaded Photoshop, and taught myself the basics and photography and graphing design. I then used those skills to take my own pictures and design my own posters for the theater show that I had booked.
Long story short, with the world’s smallest marketing budget I was able to produce a marketing campaign, that led to the sellout of my very first theatrical, illusion show, which ended in my very first standing ovation.
So, though I believe in developing your strengths and staying as focused in one direction as possible, I also believe it is pertinent to develop other skills that ultimately help you navigate the many roadblocks you will undoubtedly encounter throughout your creative career.
Contact Info:
- Website: mastersonsmagic.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/mastersonsmagic
- Facebook: Facebook.com/mastersonsmagic
- Youtube: YouTube.com/mastersonsmagic
- Other: Instagram.com/reedmasterson
Image Credits
Chris Whicker, Kara Blakemore, Susan Fawbush
