Be surrounded by people to keep you on track. Surround yourself with people who believe in you, encourage you and cheer for your highest good. I am truly blessed to have so many great people in my corner, believing in me.
As a part of our series about creating a successful career in theatre, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Hollywood Hypnotist Kevin Stone.
Hollywood Hypnotist Kevin Stone formed his two highly successful companies: Mind Growth Technologies™ (the medical side of hypnosis) and Deep Sleep Entertainment™ (the entertainment side of hypnosis.)
Between his many show dates, Kevin Stone is widely sought after for his expertise in hypnotherapy as well as his impressive teaching skills. He balances his time in the capacity of “Senior Clinical Instructor,” at the Craniofacial Pain/TMJ Clinic of the Otolaryngology Foundation at the White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He has worked with and trained physicians in the areas of pain management and TMJ disorders. Kevin through Mind Growth Technologies™, which has blossomed into a full-service hypnotherapy clinic, has helped thousands of people to improve their lifestyles as well as on a worldwide scale through the entertainment media of Deep Sleep Entertainment™.
Kevin Stone is known both as the “Hollywood Hypnotist™” and the “Master of Suggestion™.” He creates a lively, comedy-laced, fun-filled hypnosis stage show during which he cleverly interlaces his clinical and teaching skills, producing a modernized “Las Vegas” stylized show. Kevin has been dubbed the “Sexiest Hypnotist” He dazzles his audiences with his wit, charm, charismatic personality, and creativity.
Kevin Stone is a highly sought-after motivational and keynote speaker for many organizations and companies worldwide. He offers a wide variety of seminars including weight loss, smoking cessation, and stress reduction as well as others geared toward corporate needs. He leads seminars, workshops, and corporate training programs for major Fortune 500 companies and others all across the globe. His seminars include teaching personal empowerment and life-building strategies, interpersonal relationships, and communication skills as well as training management on how to motivate their employees and staff. He combines his own innate sense of humor and vast knowledge of human behavior along with his highly developed, fine-tuned skills in the area of showmanship in creating workshops and seminars which are fun-filled, educational, and entertaining. Kevin creates an atmosphere where learning is fun!
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I was born and raised in Rhode Island. I’m an East Coast guy at heart. I’ve been in Los Angeles now for about 40 years. When I was growing up I always wanted to be able to make people laugh and to help them. My uncle Jimmy inspired me. I learned through him that I had these same unique gifts and talents. He would come over every Sunday to visit. He was always fun and entertaining. I was captivated by his positive energy! He made us laugh and to feel good about ourselves all of the time. I wanted to be able to do the same for others. To have people feel as good as he made us feel as well as helping people to help themselves. Hypnosis was the answer!
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
My passion for hypnosis started in my early youth and grew steadily over the years.
I learned that my unique gifts and talents are meant to be used to help others see themselves and make changes they want to make. I decided to sell my successful business to pursue my lifelong dream, enrolling in the only accredited college of hypnosis, The Hypnosis Motivation Institute (HMI) in Los Angeles, where I studied under the world-renowned Dr. John Kappas. After graduating from HMI holding the degrees of Master Hypnotist and Certified Hypnotherapist, I furthered my studies earning the title Board-Certified Hypnotherapist.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
This is a difficult one because when I look back at the road I’ve traveled, I see so many people who have helped me in so many ways and I’m grateful for each of those lessons. But if I had to choose one, it would have to be my Uncle Jimmy. It was his personality and outlook on life that really honed the skillset that I employ on the day-to-day. In my years of study, I’ve picked up various nuggets of knowledge from so many sources: books, classes, workshops, and other entertainers; I put them into practice, and I developed a discipline, attempted, failed, tried again, and again and eventually incorporated.
You probably have a lot of fascinating experiences. Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I’ve helped and have met many celebrities, rock stars, influencers, leaders, and heads of state with my world-renowned perfected techniques utlizing hypnotherapy. Serving God is one of the biggest highlights of my daily life.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I can’t think of anything off of the top of my head. So…. the teacher in me will give you the following information:
“A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again.” — Roy H. Williams (1958-), U.S. author and marketing expert.
To err is human, and we don’t have to punish ourselves for the mistakes that we make. They can be great opportunities to learn and to develop on a personal, as well as an organizational, level. We just need to learn from them and to put that learning into practice.
Here are five steps to help you to learn from your mistakes, and to put what you discover into practice.
When you, make a mistake:
1) Own up to it. Don’t play the “blame game.” This is detrimental in the long run, and you’ll lose the potential for learning.
2) Reframe your mistake as an opportunity to learn and develop.
3) Review what went wrong, to understand and learn from your mistake.
4) Identify the skills, knowledge, resources, or tools that will keep you from repeating the error.
5) Review your progress.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Unfortunately, I can’t talk about most of the projects until they are done, but there are some very exciting things in the works so keep an eye out for Hollywood Hypnotist Kevin Stone! However, I can tell you that I am currently working on many self-help audio programs and books designed for those who desire to enhance and improve the quality of their personal life.
You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of rejection, lack of support, or failure?
Always continue to listen and learn. Be very well-rounded and curious. The world is changing very quickly, and keeping up with new ground-breaking technology and information, in general, is very beneficial for almost anything you may want to do in the future.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in the live performance industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
I think burnout happens to people who don’t like what they do and who don’t prioritize the things that keep a human being healthy, both mentally and physically. Take time to rest. Reflect on what you’ve already achieved. Get excited about everything you still want to achieve.
Thank you for all that. This is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career in Broadway, Theater or Live Performances” and why?
I am going to give (6) SIX that I implement daily!
1) Be flexible in finding your unique style. You may be trained or have one specialty. But you need to be able to adapt to where the demand lies.
2) Make sure you are up-to-date on all trends and to be unique if you want to stand out.
3) Mind and Body: Eat right, exercise and stay healthy. It can be a mentally and emotionally taxing journey and sometimes you can control those things. But you can ensure you’re fueling and caring for yourself correctly to increase your effectiveness and focus.
4) Never stop the learning process in terms of your own professional development. Continue following all new developments in entertainment and the world. Also continue improving your skill set such as your general business skills. Constantly aim to improve — try things, tweak the results, and try them again.
5) Be surrounded by people to keep you on track. Surround yourself with people who believe in you, encourage you and cheer for your highest good. I am truly blessed to have so many great people in my corner, believing in me.
6) Don’t be afraid to fail. A failure is a step closer to success and a lesson of “how not to”.
For the benefit of our readers, could you describe how the skill-sets you need in a theater performance are different than the skill-sets you need for TV or Film?
When you’re an actor in a show for TV or Film, you’re given a script to memorize and deliver. In what I do, every performance is different depending on the people who are picked at random to come onto the stage. The energy and delivery will change to match the audience and then when I start interacting it becomes completely free-form. I’m left to rely on my abilities, experiences, and quick wit to create instant responses and reactions to whatever may happen. For an actor, every show is the same. For me, every show is different.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
What you think about, you bring about. If you live your life with positive intention, and particularly with “an attitude of gratitude” you will manifest many things to be grateful for. I do believe in the domino effect, that if we work to lift people up, whenever and wherever we meet them, they will, in turn, do the same for others.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.” -Maya Angelou
I take each day as it comes. I know I have great people and God in my corner, and I just live my life with appreciation for them. I try not to take anything for granted.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. I respect and admire his journey and contributions to entertainment and business. I’ve always been impressed by the people who can contribute in multiple departments, the people who have slashes in their titles. The writer/directors, the writer/actors, the producer/actors, and no one does this better than Dwayne Johnson, so I would love to have a few moments to absorb how his mind works.
How can our readers continue to follow your work online?
People are welcome to visit and bookmark www.hypnotist.com Drop a hello through the contact page.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!