I get knocked down, but I get up again

Kevin Whyte is now a wildly successful comedy agent, leading a team of 40 staff and countless well-known artists and TV shows. But the other thing he’s really good at? Failure.

He dived head-first into the live comedy scene as a teenager, inspired by his uncle who was a rising stand-up comedian before an early and unexpected death. In fact, Kevin was so young when he started out that his mum had to sign his first venue agreement!

But by 23 he was sitting alone at a creditors’ meeting, wondering how he’d managed to fall on his face so quickly.

There are some leaders who map out a clear strategy, set goals, and then deliberately and methodically go after success. But there are other leaders who just make the map as they go. They don’t exactly know where they’re headed, but passion is driving them someplace.

Kevin Whyte is that type of leader. He’s not your Harvard MBA-type. He’s a guy who digs comedy. And his map? Well he’s made one up, gone off-course, chucked the map away, drawn a new one, and charted new territory. That’s what the best in business do when they fail. They don’t sit still. They just draw a new map.

As the owner of agencies Token Group and Creative Representation and the part-owner of the television production company Guesswork Television, Kevin Whyte’s always inventing things on the run. And that can mean a few bumps.

Here’s what you can learn from Kevin's interview on Curveball about how to turn a set-back into success:

Trust doesn’t come from never making a mistake

Despite going into liquidation, Kevin kept in touch with many of the businesses he’d been working with at the time. And once he was back on his feet, he held a ‘statute of limitations dinner’ to thank those businesses for giving him another shot. “Those businesses had kind of grown with us,” he says.

“They trusted us. And trust doesn’t come from never making a mistake. Trust comes from owning your mistakes. People don’t lose trust in people because of their flaws, unless that flaw happens to be not telling the truth.”

You think everyone is noticing your big, fat failure? Think again

In those early days, it was hard for Kevin Whyte to fund the comedy shows he was putting on. “I went broke at 23. But I didn’t go bankrupt personally… there's a distinction for fans of insolvency law,” he laughs. But was anyone watching? Judging? Laughing? Here’s the thing about failure. It can be personally bruising, but most other people are too busy with their own lives to even notice.

“To give you an idea of how tepid my demise was, nobody turned up to my creditors' meeting.”

Focus on picking yourself up and getting on with it, rather than who may or may not be watching.

Your own failures are one thing, but when other people are relying on you, find a way to succeed

Kevin Whyte is able to laugh now at some of his early mis-steps. But one thing he takes very seriously to this day is never letting his artists down. “I’ve got a responsibility as a manager, for other people’s lives. I may stuff up my own life, sure. But when you take responsibility for someone else’s career, for their future, then you need to take it really seriously.

“So as I’ve hit a problem, I’ve tried to find the best person to give me advice. I’ve paid for advice. I’ve always done my homework.”

What about you? Failed much?

Have you ever fallen flat on your face? What did you learn? How hard was it for you to get back on the horse, so to speak? As I set up my first business Deadset Studios after two decades of working in a steady salaried role, I’m mucking things up all over the place! But I’m also figuring things out, not making the same mistakes twice, and finding ways to wear my stuff-ups a little lighter. Tell me your stories of flearning – failing and learning!

And subscribe free to the Curveball podcast for a deeper dive in how to thrive in challenging times.