Ownership vs. Owned: Tyler Perry Drops Knowledge on the Cover of Men's Health Magazine

I was at a store a couple of days ago, passed the magazine stand and I literally did a double take at this month's Men's Health Magazine when I saw Tyler Perry on the cover. What caught my attention is that I would have never expected to see Tyler grinning from ear to ear on the cover of this type of magazine. Tyler has faced plenty of criticism in the past and present about the image that he represents as the infamous character 'Madea' in his series of movies and plays. He recently seems to be making moves towards expanding his brand outside of the franchise that has made him famous by branching outside of his comfort zone. He currently stars in the recently released action film, Alex Cross, as well as his soon to be developed partnership with Oprah's OWN network.

Along with his expansion into new territories, in the magazine he talks about continually sticking to his basic principles of investing in himself and into his craft. A lesson I think we should all take note of. In the magazine he says:

On owning his own things and investing in his career.
The thing about using other people’s money is they’re going to set the rules. So at the beginning I used my money, kept reinvesting in myself. Now I own all my content, as opposed to having someone else own it and me being ‘work for hire.’ That’s the difference between doing well and having generations of wealth to pass on to your children.” [source: NecoleBitchie.com]

This couldn't be more timely of a topic as I will be sharing tips and stories with attendees at The Artist Millionaire workshop this Saturday about building financial success from your passion. I have also worked hard to live by this philosophy in my own career as I think that it is important to keep funding your craft so that you not only improve and reach new levels but also so that you can ultimately have complete ownership of your work. A difficult thing for artists is often seeing your dreams and work pulled apart and altered by someone else's vision because they are funding it so they have the final say.

It's my own Artist Millionaire dream to produce more work, fund my own content and open up a theatre in Toronto to provide opportunities to emerging talents.

The lesson in all of this comes down to one simple word: ownership. Treat yourself and your craft as a business in which you need to constantly invest in, in order to build your brand and propel to the next level. It's easy to value the instant gratification of buying material possessions once some money starts rolling in from your work, but it is truly valuable to put money back into where it counts - you.

If you haven't done so already, please check this link to register for the workshop. Take this as an opportunity to begin investing in yourself and your craft! Space is almost full, take the step now!