Page 34 - Arts Management Magazine Iss 1

at Video Archives, a now-defunct video
rental store in Manhattan Beach, CA.
It was there he received a good deal of
informal film education.
With no real support, Tarantino explained,
“I really had to mentor myself by trial
and error. And it made me tougher in a
very tough business. If all you really want
to do is one thing, then you have to follow
that dream wherever it leads you. That’s
definitely what I did.”
The teenage years were tough for Puder
as well. He was overweight, had difficulty
reading in school and was placed in a
Special Education class, all of which led
to him being humiliated and bullied by
classmates.
It was a huge obstacle to overcome, but
Puder’s turning point came when he was
sixteen years old. He stood up for himself
and his first fight in school resulted in him ing them myself—overcame my sense
being sent to juvenile hall. It wasn’t long
after that that Puder joined the highly ac-
claimed American Kickboxing Academy
(AKA), a school in San Jose, California,
that teaches mixed martial arts. His ex-
periences there birthed his passion for the
sport which kept him moving forward de-
spite the challenges he faced.
“We all need to put our heads down,
grind it out to be successful,” he said. “We
all need to have a big heart in sports or in
life to show yourself and others what you
are made of externally and internally. We
have the ability to overcome anything.”
Their determination catapulted them to
reach great achievements in their respec-
tive fields even though many would have
written them off as failures or not having
a chance given their childhood circum-
stances.
Opening Their Own Doors
Early on as teenage boys, both Puder
and Tarantino became accountable for
their own success, creating an entrée into
34 Arts Management Magazine I www.ArtsManagementMagazine.com
the worlds in which they desired to be-
come part. Each one became so focused
on their goals that neither was dismayed
by his lack of resources or connections.
They accepted their situations and let
their focus, drive and commitment chart
their courses toward success.
“Even though I grew up around Los An-
geles, I didn’t know anybody who was
part of that world I dreamed of getting
into—nobody. I didn’t even know any-
body who knew anybody! That’s how out
of it I was,” said Tarantino. “It’s true that
[Hollywood] can be a very ‘clubby’ place,
and I was definitely not part of that
club—not by a long shot. I didn’t even
have any sense of where that club was or
if anyone would ever let me in. But my
passion for the movies—watching them,
thinking about them, and actually mak-
that I couldn’t possibly do it.”
He continued, “You have to break down
your own doors—because a lot of times
in life, there’s no one else to do that for you.” your pathway to success.
Puder explained it this way: “You have
to understand what your true purpose is.
Without commitment and dedication to
your purpose, you will not get very far.”
Understanding his purpose from the mo-
ment of his first professional fight, Puder
kept taking the next step and opening the
next door. Keeping it all in perspective,
he added, “there are two choices in life
– the first is to look at life like you have
to do something; the second is I get to do
something.”
What you can learn from Puder and
Tarantino, and what I encourage my cli-
ents to do as a certified life and success
coach, is to view every situation as an op-
portunity that can get you a step closer
to your goal. We must shift our mindset
from disliking what needs to be done to
embracing our goal and seeing the nec-
essary steps to achieving it as minor in-
conveniences.
Belief in Yourself
Along your journey to success, you need
to have an overwhelming belief in your-
self if you are going to be the best you
can be. There are times in life when you
will benefit from the knowledge of oth-
ers; however, developing the discipline to
learn and grow yourself is something that
will keep you way ahead of the pack on
When asked about his greatest mentor
along the way, Tarantino laughs: “I’m
sorry—and proud—to say that I ended
up having to be my own mentor! Truth-
fully, I didn’t have one—as much as I
wanted one. And, trust me, there were
many times I dreamed of having a mentor.
Harvey Keitel gave me my first and big-
gest break when he agreed to be in Res-
ervoir Dogs. He made that whole expe-
rience possible, thus making a very big
difference in my life. But honestly, by that
point, I was already not taking no for an
answer.”
“I was already bound and determined to
make movies. I believed in myself—and
eventually other people started to be-
lieve in me too. But I had to believe in
myself first. You hear people talk about
how a mentor made all the difference for
them—and that’s great. But I think kids
need to learn that sometimes you have
to be your own mentor. And you have to
break down doors for yourself.”