The Thing We Never Talk About

Timothy Iseler: Hello there.

How are you today?

Welcome to The Thing We Never Talk About.

My name is Tim Iseler.

I'm a certified financial planner and
I run my own independent financial

advisory business, helping musicians,
artists, and other people with

weird jobs make smarter decisions
with their money through investment

management and financial planning.

You can learn more at iselerfinancial.com.

If you have suggestions for things you'd
like to hear about or questions you would

like me to answer in a future episode,
please visit iselerfinancial.com/podcast.

And if you like what you hear,
you can also subscribe to my

Keep It Easy newsletter at
iselerfinancial.com/newsletter.

I write about exactly this kind of
stuff and share it there most weeks.

I worked in the music industry for 18
years as an audio engineer, starting in

recording studios and later touring with
bands with some overlap in the middle.

And I'll be honest, for the first
seven-ish years, none of the career

decisions I made were based on money.

I was working in a really cool
studio in Chicago making records with

mostly small bands, and it was great.

I made enough to pay all of my bills
and buy records and go to shows,

but I had a very modest income.

The first few tours I did as an
audio engineer were with bands

I knew personally, and I made
little to no money on those tours.

I was literally taking vacation time from
the studio to go on tour for a few weeks

and then right back to making records.

And I had no plans to
do anything differently.

Again, I could do all
the stuff I wanted to do.

I paid my rent and I bought my
groceries, and life was good.

But in 2007, I was given a
shot at a much bigger gig.

It was my first time touring on
a bus, the first time a band took

me to Europe, and it was the first
time I started to make decent money.

The truth is that you get paid a
lot more to be an audio engineer

when you have to be away from home.

So if you got paid $100 per shift to
mix a show at your local club, you could

probably get $200 per day to be on tour.

By the way, those were very realistic
rates in the era I am referencing.

Over time, touring became a bigger
part of my life and eventually

eclipsed my studio income.

Now, despite the flaws of that career
path, and there are many, including

job insecurity, the lack of workplace
benefits like health insurance, and

the lack of retirement plans, the
touring industry is one place where

pretty much anyone can have a shot.

As former guest on this show, Scott
Adamson, put it, You can be an oddball

that wouldn't succeed in any kind of
normal job, but if you can tune a guitar

and be a reasonably good hang, then you
can advance in a career on the road.

Which is all to say that I did well enough
on that first big gig that I was given

a shot at another, and then another.

And every time I worked with a new
band or a band I already worked

for started a new album cycle,
I got paid a little more money.

For the first time, I was making a
real amount of money, not just enough

to get by and pay the bills, but
enough to have some left over to save.

That was a nice change.

Plus, there's all the other perks that
come with the gig, like traveling to

interesting places, visiting world-famous
museums, staying in nice hotels, eating at

fancy restaurants, et cetera, et cetera.

It's easy to get used to that kind of
lifestyle and sort of expect that you'll

continue on an upward trajectory forever.

And the truth is, at some point,
money did start to factor into

my decisions in a bigger way.

I'm not talking about wanting
to be paid fairly for my work.

I always wanted that, but it
hadn't been the primary motivation.

But more and more often, I was deciding
which gigs to take or not take based on

the money and the travel conditions, like
was it a bus and did they want crew to

share hotel rooms, and not on whether I
loved the band or the people involved.

And now, looking back on my touring
career with that excellent twenty/twenty

hindsight, I can see that the more I
made decisions based on whether the

money worked rather than whether I
would actually love the work and the

people, the less satisfied I became.

Which brings us to today's topic.

In the interest of not throwing
anyone under the bus or making it

seem like someone did me wrong, I'm
gonna refrain from naming any names.

But around ten years ago, that upward
journey of working with bigger and

bigger bands and bigger and bigger
venues hit its ceiling for me.

I found myself on a fairly comfortable
tour, staying in fairly nice hotels,

making the most money I had ever made...

and I was so unhappy.

It was the first tour where I felt like I
didn't make any close friends in the crew.

We didn't go to museums or
baseball games on days off.

We didn't make plans to find the nice
cafe before load-in, and we didn't

go out to dinner or drinks together.

Everyone got along well enough, but it
didn't feel like a team the way that

I'd experienced with previous tours.

Again, I don't wanna make it sound
like anyone did anything wrong to me.

The gig was totally fine, my coworkers
were good at their jobs, it was

just lacking something that I didn't
know I needed until it wasn't there.

I had worked hard on every tour I
did, but this was the first time

that it felt like a job, and that job
started to feel like it was no fun.

I took it for granted that I would
make friends on every crew, and it

would be fun, and I would just continue
on my upward career arc forever.

And it was a bitter pill to realize
that it was not happening that way.

That year was a big turning point for me.

You hear cliches all the time, like
money doesn't buy happiness, but, despite

how obviously true that sounds, I guess
I didn't really understand it until

I was literally making the most money
ever and found myself very unhappy.

And when I looked at what the next step
up the ladder was, which was working

for bands playing arenas, where you load
in at nine AM and load out at midnight

and spend your entire day inside the
venue, I knew I didn't want that either.

Now, I don't want anyone
to get the wrong idea.

As far as problems go, realizing
that more money isn't making you

happier is a good one to have.

I recognize that it's a position
of privilege to say, "All this

money didn't make me happy."

I hope you and everyone you care
about Earns enough money at least once

in your life to learn that lesson.

But it was staring me right in the
face, and I couldn't ignore it: making

a lot of money was not delivering the
satisfaction that I thought it would.

It was actually the human connection
that made me love touring, and more

money was not a good substitute for that.

After that year, I tried a number
of ways to find the old spark that

made me love life on the road.

I worked with bands more the
size of previous gigs I'd had,

playing theaters and large clubs.

I worked with up-and-coming bands that
were on a tour bus for the first time.

I worked with smaller bands that
toured in vans and played small clubs.

But the joy had largely
gone out of the work for me.

When my career was on the way up, I
could take comfort that bigger and

better things were on the horizon.

You know, maybe this gig was
tough, this year was tough, but

the next one will be better.

But after I made the most money ever and
found it fairly unsatisfying, I lost a lot

of the drive that had kept me motivated.

In a very real way, that year,
making the most money I'd ever

made as an audio engineer, directly
led to the career I have now.

When you're a roadie, you work with
someone from this date to that date

and maybe never see them again.

I wanted to connect with people on a
deeper level and help them in a more

meaningful way, and that's how I landed
on this idea of being a financial advisor.

I knew firsthand that there are tons
of people with unconventional careers

who have all the qualifications to make
smarter decisions with their money,

but have no support or infrastructure
when it comes to that kind of stuff.

That obviously includes artists and
musicians and their support staff, but

it also applies to all kinds of jobs
that don't fit into traditional boxes.

Lots of people choose to turn a skill or
a passion into a career, and they deserve

help as much as people with straight jobs.

I also knew firsthand that the investment
advisor at your typical bank was not

interested in working with someone like
me, someone with a weird job who had

chosen an unconventional life, on purpose.

That's who I wanted to help, and that's
why I switched careers and started

my own financial advisory business.

I want to help people, perhaps even
someone just like you, make smarter

decisions so that your money is working
for you to build the life you want.

More money is swell, but
that's not really the goal.

The goal is to have a fulfilling life
and use your money to support it.

If I can help you do that, whether
that means working together or

just sharing this podcast, then
I consider that a huge win.

That's it for today.

I want to thank you for listening.

It really means a lot to me.

I mean it.

I love being able to share
these ideas and conversations,

so thanks again for being here.

Next week, I'll be talking
with musician Mary Lattimore.

Mary occupies an interesting
niche in the music world.

She's a classically trained harpist
who writes and releases her own music,

which is already fairly uncommon, but
she's also equally at home in highbrow

music venues and small rock clubs.

I'd seen Mary perform in the
past, but this was our first

time having a conversation.

She's really done a remarkable job
of carving a path for herself as a

professional musician, and I enjoyed
learning about her story, so I hope

you will join me back here next week.

The Thing We Never Talk
About is for educational and

entertainment purposes only.

It's not legal, investment, or tax advice.

People on the show, including myself,
may have interests for or against

any investments discussed, so do
yourself a favor and don't ever make

any investment decisions based on
what you hear on this or any podcast.

If you like what you hear, please
like and subscribe to this show

wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you have a money or finance
question you would like answered

in a future episode, please visit
iselerfinancial.com/podcast.

And you can get my insights on money and
more delivered directly to your inbox by

subscribing to my Keep It Easy newsletter
at iselerfinancial.com/newsletter.

Thank you so much for listening.

I appreciate you.