Location, Location, Location

The summer of 1963 was a scorcher in Chicago.

One day, I went to the movies to escape the heat.

I sat in the air-conditioned darkness, and waited to be transported into another world.

A new movie called Hatari was playing. John Wayne and an international cast were in Africa , catching wild animals for American zoos. Red Buttons played the comic relief character and the movie was funny, beautiful and enchanting. It had a great musical score by Henry Mancini.

I was so taken by this film that I decided right then and there, to be an actor. I wanted to make people feel as good as I felt watching that movie. And, I wanted to be like Red Buttons, a clown that made people laugh. I was thirteen years old.

From that day on, I wanted to be an actor. I always had been, and still am, a goofy guy. I could always make people laugh with my quick wit, plastic face and natural instinct for physical comedy. It was only a matter of time before my dream of becoming an actor would become reality.

That time came in 1969. During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college, I went to a professional acting class. The room was packed with people who were serious about acting. Many were fashion models and actors doing commercials and local theater. The teacher was Ted Liss. He had an amazing ability to bring out the best in each person. After one month, I knew it was the right place for me. I never went back to college.

I quickly became the "hot new kid" in class. Compliments swelled my head and validated that I was, indeed, meant to be an actor. In my first play, I was cast as Launcelot Gobbo, the clown in The Merchant of Venice. Next, I was cast in the world-premiere of the new musical comedy, GREASE. I won the lead role of Danny Zuko, the part later played by John Travolta in the movie.

After three years in Chicago , I knew the next step of my career meant going to New York or Los Angeles . New York seemed like Chicago - only bigger - so I chose L.A. , the land of sun, sand and stardom. I just knew I was the next Bob Hope. So on September 15, 1972, I stuck out my thumb and hitchhiked to Hollywood to stake my claim to fame.

Upon arriving in L.A. , I fell in with some wonderful people that introduced me to Yoga, Carl Jung and eastern philosophy. I became a vegetarian, joined an Avante Garde theater troupe and started calling on agents. It was glorious. I was on a spiritual path of my own choosing and life was good. I soon had a new circle of friends, a house near the beach and a job as a carpenter. I knew I was in the right place.

Ten years later, I was still struggling to make it as a professional actor. I'd studied with many teachers, acted in numerous plays and won critical acclaim, but alas, fame eluded me. I became desperate and started to make desperate choices. Within three years I was bitter, angry and resentful. My dream was in tatters and I knew I had to leave Hollywood .

In 1985, I took my shattered spirit on a road trip seeking renewal, relocation and a new identity. If I wasn't an actor, who was I? What was I? I was lost and confused.

I landed in Colorado Springs , Colorado and enrolled in real estate school. My bad back was telling me to stop remodeling houses, so I decided to start selling them. One evening, at a company awards banquet, a professional speaker got up and did a motivational speech. Watching him, I thought, "I could do that." I was right. I soon found a new life, a wonderful wife and a new identity in Colorado . It is the right place for me.

I now teach The Story Theater Method for strategic storytelling in business. I do for others what Ted Liss did for me. I teach acting to people in business using the vehicle of storytelling. Everything that I now teach and the way that I teach it is a product of every lesson and experience I've had along the way. It is a synthesis of all the right places.

In real estate, there is a slogan to represent the three most important criteria in choosing a house: "Location, location, location." That slogan has taken on new meaning for me.

Where I was, where I am and wherever I will be in the future is perfect. There were no mistakes, no failures and no wrong turns along the way. Location past, location present and location future: perfect, perfect, perfect.

By Doug Stevenson