Back | Up | Next

Conversations in Management

Janis Ian

You’re your own safety net.

Janis Ian was a controversial singer/songwriter in a controversial age. She was just 15-years–old when her first recording, Society’s Child, charted at 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a song about an interracial romance and an indictment of societal norms. Not everyone appreciated Ian’s perspective, however, and the song was banned in many markets. Banning didn’t dampen the response to Society’s Child. DJ’s in favor of airing it risked firing (and some actually lost their jobs) by playing it despite the restrictions and in one case a radio station was burned down by angry listeners when station management left it on the play list. Controversy aside, the song gave a very-young Ian instant celebrity status. For Ian, celebrity never got in the way of the music and over the next ten years she established herself as an accomplished songwriter. Though she released a series of songs herself, her greatest success came from other artist’s recording of her work. Roberta Flack’s 1973 hit, Jesse, is a case in point. But Ian’s fortunes were about to change. In 1975 she released At Seventeen and as Casey Kasem might say, it went right to the top—charting at #7. The song defined her career and is still a hit three decades later. Ian was about to learn, however, that runaway success often comes at a price and with an expiration date. She immediately found herself under intense pressure to produce another hit at the same time her touring schedule was becoming more frenetic. By 1983—and still without a follow-on hit to At Seventeen—Ian dropped out of the music scene. After ten years hard work, she’d planned to live comfortably off her savings while beginning a journey of quiet self-discovery. But the journey was anything but quiet. Within five years she’d married and divorced, faced two medical emergencies and been bankrupted by her business manager. In 1988 she headed back to Nashville to begin again and another five years later she came back strong with the Grammy-nominated Breaking Silence. Though her last hit was in 1975, today she’s writing (science fiction as well as music), touring and…happy. Looking back at the hard days she says, “The great thing about going through what I went through is you know you can survive.”

Hard times are usually scary. They can produce anxiety, uncertainty and a sense of helplessness. You can end up feeling lost and very much alone. Hard times often sneak up on you. They may come from an unanticipated financial setback, an unforeseen health crisis, a sudden family tragedy or the unpredictable vagaries of work. Whatever the source, they’re never welcome. Hard times aren’t good times.

The good news is you can survive because you are your own safety net. Each of us heads into any crisis with our own unique set of skills, experiences and desire to prevail. That desire is the key to focusing on our strengths, keeping our fears at bay and doing everything we can to overcome the troubles we face. No matter how bleak or uncertain things may seem, there’s always something you can do. There’s some tangible action you take that will not only move you toward your goal, but remind you that you’re working on your own behalf—that you’re still in charge. And that’s important to remember. When hard times come a callin’ respond with everything you’ve got. Deploy that safety net. It’s your life—take control.

—Ebert