I Just Don’t Believe in You!

One client of mine once had a talent agent for her acting career. This agent never got her work and rarely even took her telephone calls. One day, when talking to another client of mine, a director, I heard about a role that she would be perfect for. I told the director about her and he sounded very interested in meeting with her.
When she arrived in my office later that morning, I had her immediately telephone her agent in my office. She put the call on speakerphone so that we could both talk to her agent and I could fill him in on the details of the project and put him in direct contact with the director.
After placing us on hold for what seemed like an eternity, the agent finally answered the phone with a gruff, curt, monotonous, disgusted sound “Yeah.” She excitedly told him about the project, which he immediately started to pooh-pooh. He told her that the casting agents for that project were looking at a lot of people and that he didn’t think she was right for the part. She tried to sound convincing and chipper as she told him what had taken place in my office with the director. I then got on the phone and told him how the director seemed interested in interviewing his client. But in his sour, negating tone, he basically told me that it was too big a role and that they were looking for a name and so wouldn’t be interested in her.
When she got off the phone, she was sobbing in frustration. She said that he never believed in her and always talked down to her, negating everything she ever said or suggested. She felt low and worthless, and even began to question her own talents and why she was even pursuing an acting career.
Before she got too down, I got her the meeting with the director myself, and she got the role and “kicked her agent to the curb.”
It’s better to be alone than to be around anyone who doesn’t believe in you. Such people sabotage your efforts by not doing anything to help you—they will neglect you or proactively do their best to make sure nothing good happens to or for you.