Somers White (SW):  Quentin Reynolds is originally from Ireland and now makes his home in Manchester, England.  I like to say that professional speaking is a specialized form of show business.

It is the show which some speakers catch and the business which most don’t catch.  You have managed to do both.  Starting in secondary school, you have made your living in a special way, which was?

QUENTIN REYNOLDS (QR):     When I was six, I saw a magician at a birthday party. I was intrigued and magic became my hobby.  My first paid show was at the age of 16.  I did the show with a friend from school who was also a magician.  We put it on at his garage and raised enough money to put an ad in the newspaper from which we launched our careers.

We each got a few bookings.  So while still at school, we were both doing shows in our spare time and by the time we left school, we were each earning as much as our teachers were for a full week’s work. 

SW:    Then you went on to a university.

QR:     My planned career was to become a teacher. But I was earning more from doing shows in my spare time than I would as a teacher.  So in my second year at college, I left and became a full time professional magician specializing in Children’s Entertainment – birthdays, schools, festivals and theatres.

SW:    How long did you follow this route?

QR:     Twenty-five years. And it was never like work. Every single day was fun. My parents weren’t too happy though as their idea for me was to get a good job with a pension. Back then it was very unusual to follow a career like mine and in spite of the advice of well-wishing friends and relatives I stuck to my guns

SW:    Did you make a good living from that?

QR:     Yes, I did. In spite of all the predictions of how I wouldn’t succeed. And It allowed me to own a number of income producing properties in three countries.

SW:    Quentin, you have transitioned yourself into a professional speaker and have some interesting ideas to share with us about products, licensing and websites.  But first, let’s take a step back.  Tell me, who were the first two people who influenced your career the most?

He said, “It is better to learn that now than later in the real world”. 

Sooner or later, no matter how lucky you are, no matter how many precautions you take, the likelihood is that sometime in your life, a large pile of manure is going to fall out of the sky onto your lap and if you are aware that this may happen, are mentally prepared and take responsibility, you bounce back.

SW:    Quentin, I like to say, “Nobody makes it alone.”

QR:     I read an article about the people who were affected by the 9/11 tragedy in New York City.  A lot of people started going to counseling and seeing psychologists.  Basically, they were reliving what had happened to them over and over every week.  A number of other people have said, “The devil with this.  It is the worst thing that has ever happened.  But I just have to get on with my life.”

The latter people are now better adjusted and are accomplishing more.

I have had setbacks, accepted them and not looked back, I take what I have and I get on with it.  History shows that people who have reacted that way have accomplished the most and have become the most mentally stable people in society.

SW:    Who was the second influence?

QR:     Eric Sharp, who lives in South Wales.  He and his wife were professional children’s entertainers.  They gave me the encouragement and confidence to go full time as a children’s entertainer while the others at school were going off to become doctors, lawyers, bankers and business executives.  I went the most unusual route and became a professional entertainer. 

A word of encouragement when others are putting you down and telling you why you can’t do something is like a glimmer of sunshine in the bleakest and most miserable day. Or like a shower of rain hitting parched soil. A word of encouragement can literally transform a life

There is a third person who influenced me the most in the last twenty-five years and that is you, Somers.

SW:    Thank you.  Please tell how we met and you became a client.

QR:     I had heard two cassettes in which Dan Kennedy interviewed you. I was at the stage in my life where I needed to make some radical changes.