A Lesson in Power

Our trip to Sacramento was planned to the minute. From LAX, my client and I would arrive in California's capital and go immediately to his planned interview with CBS. However, once the plane landed, I discovered that everything was cancelled and we had two hours to spare. What to do? From this, I learned a LESSON IN POWER. The POWER of "celebrity," the POWER of "knowing people," the POWER of "experience," the POWER of "figuring out what to do," the POWER of "confidence," the POWER of "trusting yourself."

My client is a celebrity. I represent his interests in art and culture; which has included creating and currently touring an exhibition of works from his world-renowned collection as well as producing a companion documentary film based on the featured artists.

Back to the story (and the LESSON IN POWER): Minutes to spare, needing to act fast. Using who I knew and who he is, I was able to finagle getting an audience with the Governor of the State of California. Amazing day ... interesting especially since President Bush had just mandated that the National Guard should secure the U.S.-Mexico border and our visit happened to coincide with a meeting by Governor Schwarzenegger with top National Guard officials. Here we were -- my client, perhaps the most well-liked, non-political Latino celebrity who has a strong following with people of all ages, nationalities and ethnicities, and who is particularly known for his 1970s comedy film about being kicked out of the U.S. and having to figure out how to return ... AND we are invited to come into a conference room where military officials (non-Latino) start fawning over him, which was especially IRONIC because of the circumstances (i.e., they were there to advise the Governor on how they planned to secure the U.S.-Mexico border).

POWER ...

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