Speak Plainly On The Air — The Way Grown People Speak When They’re Done Pretending

This year, if you have made up your mind that you are done playing a character just so somebody will accept you, you are in the right honey hole. This is what I talk about on this blog. I’m talking to the people who want to be free.

At some point, you won’t need me anymore. I’m just here to get you on the road to being your true self — your unapologetic self — when you open your mouth to speak on your show or anywhere else.

What we all want is to be understood.
But what happens when people don’t agree with you?

Do you change your viewpoint because they don’t understand?

Can you stand alone in your viewpoint?
Are you a spineless person who shifts just because the room disagrees with you?
Are you going to crawl back into the herd because your thinking makes you an outlier?

Do this for me — and this is honest.
People will trust you when you agree with truth. Just say, “Yes, I can agree with that.” Only agree with truth. Don’t let people coerce you into saying things you don’t believe. Hold your poise. Don’t get rattled. Pause. Speak from the heart.

When you speak from the strength of your own soul, you win.

The hard part is baring your soul. That’s the power of vulnerability I’ve talked about in other articles. Read this one when you get a moment:
https://insideurbanmedia.blogspot.com/2025/10/transparency-is-superpower-most.html

Here are some points to sit with:

1. The end of performing for acceptance

2. Freedom is an internal decision, not external permission

3. Being understood vs. being honest

4. The courage to stand alone

5. Truth over approval

6. Emotional self-control is power

7. Speaking from the soul (not the script) is undefeated . 

8. I’m talking to people who are tired of shrinking — tired of editing themselves, tired of being a sycophant in the room. You have a voice, but you’re afraid to use it because you’ve accepted a role that never fit you.

Growing out of that stage is uncomfortable at first. But you’ve got to go through it. This is what makes you a great communicator on air. This is what makes you interesting to listen to.

This is when your God-hood starts speaking for you — when you’re no longer afraid of being misunderstood or rejected. This is the “I Don’t Give a Damn” stage of life. Not talking about arrogance. For clarity, we are talking about how to stop pretending that you are this fake person that you know you are ashamed of. This is not you in what you are doing, and you know it. Stop it. I had to grow out of being this fake radio person aon air. It wasn’t until 2004 when I let if go. I was 19 years into my development as an on air personality. I'm trying to help somebody out there cut down the time of self discovery. You need somebody to help you with this. Coaching is the key.

If you’re young and reading this, get there earlier than me.
If you’re older, this is your destiny — if you’re willing to lose what comes with finally being your true, unapologetic self.

Right now on your show — whether you’re the host or the co-host — when you start making this shift, people are going to notice. So what?

Are you going to shrink every time it’s your turn to talk because someone looks at you a certain way?
Or are you going to look them dead in the eye and let them know you’ve woken up to the game?

Take your power back in the studio dynamic of ego gymnastics.

The people who compete with you don’t want you doing what I’m telling you to do. They want you to stay in your place. People who don’t want you to shine are true haters. I’ll be writing about that in 2026 — the jealous-hearted people in this industry. Ignore them.

So let me close with this:

You were meant to stand out.
And the moment you stop trying to be accepted is the moment your power shows up.

That fear you feel when it’s your turn to talk?
That hesitation when the room goes quiet?
That urge to shrink when someone looks uncomfortable?

That’s your growth knocking.

Open the door and walk through it.

Shock everybody with your bold brilliance and never shrink for anyone again. This isn’t arrogance — it’s freedom from the fear of being yourself in the room with others.

I don’t care who’s in the room.

Never shrink to make other people comfortable.

Carry this with you into the new year.

If this article resonated with you, send it to someone who needs this medicine.
Leave a comment.

“2026 is The Correction Year: Behind the Scenes Is Where Careers Are Built (10 Takeaways)

 Here are 10 takeaways from today's article. 

(“2026 is The Correction Year: Behind the Scenes Is Where Careers Are Built)

1. The Work You Don’t See Is the Work That Counts

Real growth happens behind the scenes. What you do when no one’s watching is what positions you for opportunity.

2. Most Talent Never Practices Off-Air
The biggest gap in radio isn’t talent — it’s preparation. Most people stop working the moment the mic turns off.

3. Preparation Separates You From Mediocrity
Putting 60–75% more thought into what you say daily instantly separates you from the average on-air voice.

4. Reading and Writing Are the Foundation
If you want to communicate better, you have to read more and write more. There’s no shortcut around that.

5. Early Struggles Shape Professional Discipline
Stuttering, insecurity, and fear forced growth. Writing became the tool that turned weakness into control.

6. Coaching and Accountability Matter
Strong leadership and honest feedback accelerate growth. Being pushed is a gift, not a threat.

7. Preparation Creates Opportunity and Pay Growth
Intentional practice led directly to bigger markets, higher pay, and career elevation.

8. Personal Discipline Is Non-Negotiable
No one can force you to improve. Growth only happens when you choose it daily.

9. Separation Comes From Effort, Not Talent
It’s easy to stand out when others are lazy. Consistency and detail create distance from the crowd.

10. 2026 Is a Correction Year
This is a year for accountability, recalibration, and karmic return — a time to build something lasting for those serious about the craft.

“2026 is The Correction Year: Behind the Scenes Is Where Careers Are Built

As we start off the new year of 2026, remember that the work you do behind the scenes is the work that will catapult you into the opportunities you hope for the most.

The show preparation, the practice, the show simulations to test things in private — that’s the work most talent does not do. Most radio people do not practice their craft off air. Once they get off the air, rehearsal for the next day is never given a thought.

In this new year, if you would just give 60 to 75 percent more thought into what you want to say to your audience every day, you would stand so tall above the mediocre crowd of talent in the world of radio. I keep talking about reading more and definitely writing more in all my articles. It is the cornerstone to becoming a much better communicator.

Back in the day when I started doing mornings at WQMG in Greensboro NC in 1990, they used to call me the stutter master. I was unsure of my next sentence sometimes, so I would stutter in certain moments. It bothered me so much that I started writing a script for myself to help me navigate through my breaks. I was nervous about making mistakes every day until I started doing this.

(I’ll find some of my old show prep material and share it with you one day. You have to do what you have to do to get better.)

Sam Weaver was my PD then, and he stayed on me. I had a great coach who wanted me to shine. And with Jasmine James as my co-host — who was super articulate — I had to go in the woodshed and and get better. I got tired of me being a running joke in our aircheck sessions. So yes I started writing things down. To this day I still like to write for my show. I have a lot to share with you on this subject, because this is what helped me grow. From Greensboro, I got my first big gig doing mornings at V-103 in Baltimore working with Roy Sampson. That period was from 1990 to September of 1992. I went from being a $21,000 morning man to a $72,000 talent in 1992. What a jump in salary and market size for a country boy from Goldsboro, NC. That was from Practice!

I’m including this information only to show you what intentional growth looks like when you strive to become better. This is a personal discipline that nobody can force you into. Make this year a correction year in your personal development as an on-air personality. Stop being lazy and begin being detailed with your work. It is not hard to stand out in the midst of lazy on-air talent in this industry. Separate yourself from that crowd with the intensity you put into your show preparation every day.

I’m hoping for the best for you in 2026. This is a correction year for all of us. I’ve heard it’s also being called a karmic year.

New Beginnings (Universal Year 1): 2026 adds up to a Universal Year 1, signifying fresh starts, innovation, and the courage to initiate new paths.
Karmic Tests (Saturn’s Influence): Ruled by Saturn, the planet of karma, 2026 highlights accountability, discipline, and facing the consequences of past actions to build lasting success.

If this challenged you, stay with me. I’m building something for people who take this craft seriously.” Let me know how I can help.

“You Don’t Need to Be the Next Anybody — You Need to Be the First You”

When you abandon who you are to fit in, you are robbing the world of that originality that can only come from you. This is what you have to really get about who you are. In this short life that we are living, there are things that can only be said by you, in the way you express thoughts, feelings, and emotions. The way you think is original. You just don’t say it, because the Herd (This society) is afraid to stand out on its own merit. YOU MUST LOSE YOUR FEAR OF BEING JUDGED BY OTHERS.

This is why you can tell when people write and use Chat GPT to put together stories. It’s generic and uses a lot of phrases that you do not use. We just don’t trust ourselves—who we are in public. We just can’t face being judged. This is why people are into the copycat game.

In music, all the songs sound the same. Females are using the same riffs when they sing. Auto-Tune has made rappers sound the same. In radio, I have heard people say, “I want to be the Black Howard Stern,” as though we need a Black one. People say, “I want to be the next so-and-so.” No. You need to be the first you.

Things have gotten so generic in our society that it is exhausting. It’s like the mediocre people have taken over the planet. Some technology—the way we use it—has made us less innovative and less creative.

Tech is speed. You can get your original work out quicker to the masses. This is how it should be used.

There is only going to be one Tom Joyner for Black radio. That’s it. Tom did his job, and I hope he is not finished giving us his creativity. I know Tom has another lifetime of content on the digital side. You don’t need to be the next anybody. We have been programmed not to be original. It started in the ’70s with that stupid “more music, less talk” philosophy baked into Black radio. They took the soul of black radio off the radio. It was the beginning. Then consolidation finished us off in the 90's.  A slow death of original black radio.

Black radio created movements. Radio personalities could move people and empower the community. Each had a swag associated with their shows. Colorful commentary. Distinct-sounding voices. Now, in hip-hop radio, DJs talk with the same vernacular and distinction is thrown out the window.

We need to encourage originality again. We need DJs who believe in themselves and are seeking to be great. They need mentors to encourage them to be their original selves.

I remember early in my college days I would mimic radio personalities from all over the country. My goal was to be a big-city DJ, so I thought I had to sound like the people working in New York to get there. It was exhausting, for one (lol), but it did help me with my diction. I’m from Goldsboro, NC, the grandson of a tobacco sharecropper. So I knew I had to get rid of those “dees,” “dems,” and “fintoo” out of my vocabulary. LOL. I was very conscious of learning how to speak well in college at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC.

What will make you better as a radio personality is someone who can help you lean into your natural gift for communicating. I want you to try writing as an exercise to find your voice. Nobody knows where their next thought is coming from. Try it right now. Can you determine what you will think about in the next five minutes? Thoughts travel through you at 24 billion miles per second. How many can you capture that are just for you in this moment?

Real thinking is done in silence. Turn off the noise and get acquainted with yourself. Get to know yourself. There is too much influence coming into your mind every day to know which thoughts are yours and which belong to somebody else. Too much outside stimulation. Get quiet and think. Every day before your show—think.

This is your secret weapon living in a world like this. And guess what? It’s going to get even noisier in 2026. The future belongs to people who can get control of their thinking in silence. This is where originality is born.

When you are riding in the car, turn off the radio. Hear yourself think. Always keep a clipboard in your car to jot down ideas.

The world needs what you have to say. So if you don’t say it, who will say it like you can say it? We want to hear what you have to say. DID YOU HEAR ME?  What did your thinking produce for us to consider? YOU YOU YOU!! You are so smart and don’t even know it. You think other people are smarter than you because they know how to talk that BS. These are the people who sound smart to DUMB PEOPLE.

So don’t be a fraud. Be you. This is your unfair advantage in a room of copycats. A room full of people who talk with no substance. Don’t be one of them. Resist being lazy and looking for the easy way out. There is no replacement for show prep—but also in show prep, are you prepped  to be the real you?

So here are some things I want you to work on in your personal development this week:

1. Find time to be alone every day with a blank piece of paper.
Develop a writing routine. Write how you feel about things. What’s going on in your life. What thoughts you’re considering. Writing helps you form an opinion. You are organizing your mind. It will help you articulate your ideas better. Your mind will recall what you wrote earlier in the day, and you’ll begin to use your ORIGINAL thoughts in conversation. This will happen naturally. This will transfer on air. This is how you fix your articulation problem. Write. Write. Write.

2. Read. Read. Read.
Reading changes your perspective. Reading other people’s ideas is cool. You can take an idea, run it through Chat GPT, and pick out what resonates with you.

3. Practice. Practice. Practice.
I don’t know why radio people don’t think they need to practice and rehearse off-air to get better. Football teams and basketball teams practice. So why would a person who talks for a living not need to get better at their talk game? Talking is a skill that most people don’t do well. Practicing will set you apart from the mediocre radio people in this country. Most people have never been taught that communication is a highly specialized skill. To be excellent on the air is not for lazy people.

Humility will make you great. We all need to get better every day.

If you resonate with anything I said, leave a comment. Can you think of some things I may have left out?

“When You Stop Hiding, Your Real Voice Scares People—and That’s the Point”

Clarity Repels Before It Attracts

Once you say, “This is who I am,” you can’t hide anymore. You’re accountable to your own voice.

That’s why most people never do it. They are afraid of Silence.

This is what I know for sure: if you really want to be free on air in expressing yourself, you’ve got to understand something most don’t — clarity repels before it attracts. If you want to be a personality driven opinionated radio pro, this is what comes with becoming that person.

When you’re clear, the wrong people leave fast. That’s good. It creates space for the right ones to arrive. Real growth comes when your audience feels like they know you. Your'e personality is not suppose with everybody. You might be like I was early in my career when I thought that everybody had to like me. I would broadcast like that. I would get quiet when people disagreed with me. I was afraid of losing listeners. It's naive to think everyone is gonna like what you say or stand for. This is what we must break away from to cut through the noise. You gotta be you.

Once you start doing this, some people will get uncomfortable. But your tribe will begin to arrive. People on your show will get quiet when they hear you speak in your real voice. Why are they silent? Because you destroyed who you were in their minds. Now they have to deal with something else.

You stopped hiding among your peers on the show. Now the real fun begins.

As you practice your freedom on the air, you are getting ready for your next opportunity to be even more emboldened in a new city. I’m coming with fire.

Right now, just remind yourself , "I’m practicing my freedom".

Start now. Challenge yourself. Let your heart beat fast with nervousness. That’s when you know you’re alive. You are about to say something of consequence because you’re getting nervous. That’s what freedom feels like.

Say it.
Go ahead. Say it.

I really want you to know that the most important thing you can do in your personal development at any age in this business is to eliminate the judgment of other people’s opinions about you. Don't you let that stop you from being yourself on air.

So today, make a declaration of independence when you open your mouth to speak. Set yourself free by being you.

In 2026, we are ignoring all the player haters that surround us. Together, we are gonna set ourselves free for real.

Are you with me? Leave a comment.

Show Prep Is the Job

Show prep is nothing more than building a road map for your show or podcast.

Finding things you actually care about and turning them into conversations your audience can feel is Show Prep. Talk about what you truly interests you that is going on in the world.  You’ve got to introduce something to your audience they have not thought about yet — and then have an opinion about it.

When you’re building a show, look for the humor. Look for the angles. Look for the moments you can make people lean in. Say the things out loud that most people keep locked in their head. That’s how you become there go to for insight. 

People who rely on generic phrases and safe language usually sound “smart,” but empty. That’s filler.  That’s someone trying not to get exposed. When you play it safe, your material dies. A big Thud. No risk,  just blah blah blah. I can't stand to hear people talking just to be talking. No substance, just generic as hell. It seems nobody is coaching these days. (https://insideurbanmedia.blogspot.com/2025/12/about-blackradiotalentcom.html )

Show prep is content development. Period.

I’d rather have five strong, fully developed ideas than 20 shallow ones that go nowhere. Depth beats volume every time. When you take time to really think through your content, your show stops sounding like everyone else’s and starts sounding like you. This is what I need young talent to understand. People can talk about Donald Trump all they want to, but who is gonna give us the new angle, no one has ever considered. This requires thinking. Go to the library and sketch out your show for the next day. Go somewhere quiet everyday and think out loud on paper. Separate yourself from mediocre broadcasters. This will help you articulate your ideas better on air.

If your job is to create something meaningful every day, how many hours are you putting in after the mic goes off to make tomorrow better than today? That’s the real question. That’s the difference between people who talk on the radio and people who connect with an audience.

ABOUT BLACKRADIOTALENT.COM

Black Radio Talent is for media professionals who’ve outgrown the system but never lost the craft.

This isn’t a space for trend-chasers, or people looking for applause.
It’s for the ones who’ve been in the rooms, built the rooms, and watched others benefit from the work they helped create.

If you’ve ever felt overqualified, underestimated, or quietly pushed aside while less capable voices rose — you’re in the right place.

WHO THIS IS FOR

This is for Up and coming DJs and experienced broadcasters, producers, writers, and creatives who:

• Know their value without needing validation
• Have survived layoffs, politics, and reinvention
• Still care deeply about the work
• Refuse to shrink to stay comfortable

You’re just done pretending.

WHAT THIS SPACE IS

Black Radio Talent is about clarity, ownership, and authorship.

It’s where seasoned professionals reclaim their voice, sharpen their thinking, and speak without permission.

No hustle talk.
No performative inspiration.

Just truth, perspective, and lived experience.

WHAT THIS IS NOT

This is not for:
• People chasing attention
• People who confuse noise for influence

If you value depth, welcome home.

THE PHILOSOPHY

You don’t need to be louder.
You need to be clearer.

You don’t need a platform.
You need ownership.

You don’t need permission.
You need alignment.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

BJ Murphy is a National Black Radio  Hall Of Fame radio personality and media architect with 40+ years of experience building talent, shows, and platforms across major markets.

He’s seen the industry rise, fracture, and repeat itself.

Black Radio Talent exists because some voices don’t fade — they evolve. BJ Is Based in Charlotte

This isn’t content for everyone.

It’s for the ones who know who they are — even when the room forgets.

We Got Receipts On Show Prep From 1994

When you talk about having receipts,  when I talk about show prep is the key, here are some old show prep folders I found from 1994 when I was doing mornings in Kansas City at KPRS Hot 103 Jamz. This shows you that as my career progressed, we kept evolving in preparing for our show over the next two decades. Myron Fears was my partner there when we started the Breakfast Brothers Morning Show in 1994. Later in 1995 in Charlotte, I teamed with Keith Richards and we brought the Breakfast Brothers Brand to Charlotte from 1995-2004. Point I'm making, is that it was show prep that we took pride in everyday. We created a network on talent and we would exchange Ideas via fax machine every morning

Those are some of the sheets from the month of October 1994. I can't believe I still had this. I just wanted the young talent out there to know that we have to be serious in preparing for our shows. Now this is still early in my development as a morning talent, and as I learned more about prep we got more elaborate and intensive in preparing for our shows. I call this our baby level of prep. We were preparing books of prep everyday when we got to Charlotte in 1995. I will share some of those when I find them.

We were swapping prep every morning with others shows via fax in 1994. Keith Richards was in Memphis and Curtis Wilson was in Columbia SC. We had the late Brian Carter from Power 99 Carter and Sanborn, Jasmine James in Greensboro NC and a few others.

 

Eliminate Ego Gymnastics In The Studio: Ego's Must Die for the Show to Live

Secure radio hosts don’t need ego gymnastics to appreciate the excellence of their co-hosts.

What’s wrong with taking the time to single people out and tell them how much they mean to the show?
Is that going to diminish you — No. It will raise your position as a leader and cause people to perform up to your level of expectation?

Balance in the studio matters.

If you want to keep people from getting puffed-up heads, you first have to get your own insecurities in check.

A great lead host will always surround themselves with people who can stand out and deliver powerful content on the show. A great lead host is the director of an orchestra. You hear the show in your head before it ever hits the air. Your job is to bring the right instruments together so they harmonize and create something unduplicable.

A signature sound.

Like Earth, Wind & Fire.
Like The O’Jays.

You can hear who says what. You already know how another person will respond. You hear the exchanges before they happen — and then you bring those voices together and create your show.

BUT FIRST......Your heart has to be right to receive them.

Because when you invite talented people into your circle and then get jealous when they blossom — when they start getting more attention than you in the community — you are not ready yet to scale your show.

Envy and jealousy ruins ensembles. Envy tears great potential apart. Usually it starts with the insecure host of the show. The type of person who wants to hog the mic and then point to you like a peasant when he wants you to talk.(Do you know this clown?)

Don’t invite super-talented people into your studio if you’re not prepared to celebrate them.

This is the number one reason shows with tremendous potential fail: when one person among you starts rising in popularity, and the host doesn’t like it because they are the host.

Listen, lead hosts — you still get credit for pulling that team together.

Celebrate the greatness of your people.
You go get better at leading them.
You go get better yourself.

Work on your on-air performance in private. Accept your role in the show you created. Keep growing. Keep getting coached.

Now when problems arise, talk to your talent individually and correct them in private. Don’t wait weeks to address behavior you don’t like. Be brave and handle it now.

Don’t let yourself get to the despise stage — where every time they open the mic you’re irritated. That’s on you as the leader.

Radio people are some of the quirkiest, most peculiar people you’ll ever meet. Some have dark auras and simply are not good team members. Eventually, you may have to let them go.

But most of the time, it’s our fear of being seen as a player hater that stops us from correcting behavior we don’t like on the show.

We have to learn how to communicate.

Rehearse what you’re going to say.
Give examples.
Show them how they can do it better.

Your job is to make yourself better as the host — and when you do that, you make the entire team better.

I always tell hosts to think of themselves as the quarterback. You’re responsible for getting the team down the field and into the end zone. Your program director is the coach on the sidelines helping you win.

If your PD isn’t good at coaching talent, find someone who is.

Most new PDs don’t yet have the body of experience to diagnose dysfunction in a studio. I do. And if you ever need help, reach out to me.

I hope this helps you better understand your role.

I’ve learned from the greats in Black radio, and I refuse to bury this knowledge with me when I exit the planet. That’s why I write BlackRadioTalent.com — because I care about the next generation of Black radio talent and who Black America will be listening to.

I only teach what I know.

If this article is resonating with you, let me know. Ask me questions about studio dynamics and working with two or more people. At one point, I had seven people in the studio with me on a morning show.

Whew. LOL.

See, I’m a talent guy. I love talent on Radio and TV. I’ve never been an envious person of someone else’s gift. Managing egos is the dilemma many leaders get wrong — because where is your correction coming from? 

A player hater… or a teacher?

To genuinely be a fan of the people you work with every day is rare. But that’s the environment you have to create — one where everyone is performing at their highest level, rooting for each other every time the mic switch is flipped.

We win every break together.
Whoever has the best line — we celebrate it.

That’s how you become the most electrifying show in the country.

The ego must die in order for the show to live.

Only Say What You Can Defend: The Lost Art of Being Honest

Most on-air embarrassment comes from saying things you haven’t thought through.

That’s why being vague will get you hemmed up in conversation every time.
Vague opinions vanish quickly when you run up against a formidable challenger in the studio—or a phone call from a listener.

Can you defend your point of view?

Do you really think it makes you sound smart to repeat a clever line you heard from a talking head on TV, only to get challenged and realize you have no depth behind it?

Can you articulate it well?
Where is this opinion coming from?

And if I’m not 10 toes down on it—why say it at all?

I believe you should never say things you can’t elaborate on intelligently. Some people will go for the jugular on purpose. They want to position you as having no substance, talking just to be talking. That’s a painful lesson to learn on the air. A nemesis co-host who wants your spot will go for the jugular everytime the opportunity presents itself.

This business runs on ego.

So all the lazy, surface-dwelling DJs—this is a warning.

Preparation isn’t optional at the elite level—it’s the separator.

The mic only reveals the work you didn’t do.

YOU MUST PUT MORE THOUGHT INTO YOUR SHOW!

I tell people I mentor: once it comes out of your mouth, you better be able to defend it and expound on it, because your credibility is on the line.

STOP BEING A SURFACE-DWELLER DJ.

For example—interviewing a political candidate you haven’t researched during a critical election in your city. Most people sound ignorant on the air. Most people ask the mayor softball questions and let them skate out of the studio with nothing of consequence revealed.

What is a “Surface Dwelling” Radio Personality?

A surface dweller:

• Gives opinions without reasons

• Reacts instead of thinking

• Repeats popular talking points the rest of America is repeating. Not original

• Pitches softballs as questions

• Hides behind “safe” language because you don't know what you are talking about

• Makes lame jokes to cover lack of substance

They say things like:

• “I just feel like…”

• “People are saying…”

• “Everybody knows…”

No depth. No ownership.

Surface dwellers get snared because they just want attention—but exposure is always waiting.

They:

• Don’t think things through

• Avoid writing things down

• Avoid strong opinions

• Want approval more than authority

• Think prep will make them sound “stiff”

• Just want to be liked

A surface dweller gets on the air just to say something.
No depth.
No conviction.
Just noise.

They chase approval, react instead of prepare, and hide behind what they think is popular.

An elite broadcaster opens their mouth with intention.

They’ve already done the show prepand rehearsed and wrestled with their ideas.
They’re not looking for agreement—they’re standing strong in their opinions.

And you can hear it.

It sounds real. It cuts through the airwaves.

Every broadcaster has been a surface dweller at some point. As I told you before, I really grew out of it in 2004. I was 17 years in my career before I learned to let it go. Somebody taught me. Do you want to learn?

Some grow out of it.
Some build a career around it.

And the mic always exposes which one you chose.

Be great every day.