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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Welcome to The Roundtable! I'm your host, Robert Bannon, and today we have a very special guest joining us. He is a singer, actor, Broadway star, television personality, and now an author. Please welcome Justin Guarini!

[0:30] Justin Guarini: Thank you so much for having me, Robert! I'm excited to be here.

[1:00] Robert Bannon: Justin, it's great to have you! You've had such an incredible journey in the entertainment industry. From American Idol to Broadway, you've done it all. Can you tell us a bit about how your journey began?

[1:30] Justin Guarini: Absolutely! It all started with American Idol back in 2002. I was just a kid with a dream, and suddenly I found myself on this massive platform. It was a whirlwind experience, and it really set the stage for everything that followed in my career.

[2:00] Robert Bannon: You were one of the first contestants on the show, and you made such a lasting impression. What was it like to be part of that inaugural season?

[2:30] Justin Guarini: It was surreal! We were all figuring it out as we went along. The excitement, the nerves, and the camaraderie among the contestants were incredible. It was a unique experience that I will always cherish.

[3:00] Robert Bannon: After American Idol, you transitioned into Broadway. What was that shift like for you?

[3:30] Justin Guarini: It was a big change, but I was ready for it. Broadway has always been a passion of mine, and I was thrilled to dive into that world. I had the opportunity to work on some amazing productions, and each one taught me something new about myself as a performer.

[4:00] Robert Bannon: You've been in several Broadway shows, including Good Vibrations, American Idiot, and Wicked. Do you have a favorite role or production that stands out to you?

[4:30] Justin Guarini: That's a tough question! Each role has its own special place in my heart, but I think my time in American Idiot was particularly impactful. The music and the message resonated with me deeply, and it was a powerful experience to be part of that show.

[5:00] Robert Bannon: That's amazing! And now you're also an author with your new book, Center Stage Confidence. What inspired you to write this book?

[5:30] Justin Guarini: I wanted to share the lessons I've learned over the years about confidence and owning your story. I believe that everyone has a unique voice and story to tell, and I hope this book can help others find their own confidence and step into their spotlight.

[6:00] Robert Bannon: That's such an important message. Can you give us a sneak peek into what readers can expect from the book?

[6:30] Justin Guarini: Sure! The book is filled with practical insights and personal anecdotes, as well as conversations with other accomplished performers. It's all about overcoming fear, communicating authentically, and believing in yourself.

[7:00] Robert Bannon: I love that! It sounds like a fantastic resource for anyone looking to build their confidence.

[7:30] Justin Guarini: Thank you! I really hope it resonates with people and encourages them to embrace their journey.

[8:00] Robert Bannon: You've had such a diverse career, from television to theater. How do you navigate the different aspects of the entertainment industry?

[8:30] Justin Guarini: It's all about adaptability. Each medium has its own challenges and rewards, and I've learned to embrace change and keep growing as an artist. It's important to stay open to new opportunities and experiences.

[9:00] Robert Bannon: That's a great perspective. You've certainly reinvented yourself multiple times throughout your career. What advice would you give to someone looking to do the same?

[9:30] Justin Guarini: My advice would be to stay true to yourself and your passions. Don't be afraid to take risks and try new things. Growth often comes from stepping outside of your comfort zone.

[10:00] Robert Bannon: Wise words! As we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners?

[10:30] Justin Guarini: Just that I'm grateful for the support I've received over the years, and I hope everyone finds the courage to pursue their dreams. Remember, your story matters!

[11:00] Robert Bannon: Thank you so much, Justin! It's been a pleasure having you on The Roundtable. Good luck with your book, and we can't wait to see what you do next!

[11:50] Justin Guarini: So listen, this man is a superstar. But what I think of is a couple of things. One, I gave it up. You know, I quit this whole world at 18 because I didn't think I went on a bad audition for Rent on Broadway. I got called in. I messed up the words. I said, I can't do this. I didn't get back to this till I was 33. And a lot of the times I wrote an album called Unfinished Business because I felt like it calls me. Like if you don't honor what's inside you and your quest and your journey, it is a big thing, a disappointment. It feels like something is missing, but it's scary because you're scared of failing. You're scared you're not going to be enough. You're scared you're going to be a fraud. And then when you push it away, it chases you. So this book is going to help you get the keys and tools to bring that confidence that you don't have to push away who you are and what you're meant to do.

[12:41] Robert Bannon: Amen. I couldn't have said it better myself, but I'll try. So what I just heard in your story was a story that pretty much anybody listening who's ever been on an audition, including myself, can resonate with, right? And you did a couple of things, which I really love. You told a story that was very personal to you that showed vulnerability and showed failure, right? Quote, unquote, failure. And yet it also showed, okay, but I didn't stop there. I created something for myself. I took this experience and I turned it into something not only that fills you up, but that fills up the hearts and the minds of the people who listen and who watch. And that is beautiful. That is something that so many people are not willing to do, right?

They're not willing to be vulnerable because they're afraid of failure. And why are we afraid of failure? Here's the thing. There's two paths. When you fail, it can either be an identity or it can be an event. That's it. Do you make that failure an identity? I went to the RENT audition and I didn't get it. I messed up the words. I am not enough. And identity statements are preceded by the words I am, right? I am a screw up. I can't believe I did that. That becomes an identity. And then you carry that into every room that you walk into, not just the audition room, but the rooms of your relationship, the rooms of your connection with your body, if there's something you want to do with that, your bathroom, right?

The rooms of your business. And it's like you have this huge garbage bag filled with trash and you're walking into the room with this stinky trash and you put it down in between you and the people you're trying to communicate with. And that smell is there. They might not see it, but they can totally smell it. And so the challenge then becomes, are you going to allow that to be your identity? Or are you going to take the smarter path? The path that says, okay, I'm going to see this as an event. Now, there's not a charge there emotionally. It's an event. It happened. Events happen or they don't happen. Okay. So this is an event. I went in, I was unprepared. I was underprepared. I allowed my nerves to get to me.

This is an event that happened. Okay. I can't change it. It's not who I am. I've been to other auditions. I've been on stage before. I've been into a business room and spoken to a board or a bunch. I've done this thing before. This was just one event where it didn't work out. What can I learn from that event that I can fix next time so that when this event comes back around, I'm prepared. Thank goodness that I was unprepared or underprepared for this thing, for Rent. Thank goodness. You know why? Because life doesn't happen to you in that situation. It's actually happening for you and you made that event happen for you. You said, okay, I am no longer going to pursue. You made the choice. I'm no longer going to pursue this direction because I don't like it because I don't want to feel this way.

Whatever your choices were, they were totally valid. However, I'm going to take that experience. I'm going to take the passion that I have. I'm going to take my ability to tell a great story because that's what we do in theater, right? That's what we do. We tell stories and the best people in business, the best people in theater tell the best stories. I'm going to take all of that and I'm going to form an identity around being a conduit for not only my perspective and my love and my passion for theater and for the arts and for creativity, but I'm also going to invite other people into my world and be a conduit for my audience, for the people who have the same feeling, who resonate with me. I'm going to create this amazing podcast.

I'm going to create this amazing thing. That's what you did. Do you see what I mean? Dear listener, dear watcher, is it an identity or is it an event? When you come up on a situation like that, are you going to make it an identity? Are you going to make it an event? Here's the flip side. Success is the same exact trap, right? Because how many people have we seen, let's take the media, who have that success, who have it all, who are sitting on top of the world and they make that success, that hit album, that hit show, that hit whatever, their identity. What happens when the people stop clapping? What happens when the view count, the vanity metrics go down? What happens when you don't have any more guests on your show, right?

Then your identity is based on this vanity metric, likes, followers. Try and go to the supermarket and pay for your food with likes and followers. It's not going to happen. It's a vanity metric. It makes us feel good about ourselves, but it has no real true value unless we leverage it as something that we can then use. Oh, I'm going, you got me preaching, Robert. You got me preaching. Come on, amen. Where's the collection, man? Where's the tides? Let's go, people. There you go.

[17:55] Justin Guarini: So that's the thing. Are you going to make this thing and this thing that comes up an identity or an event, when you make it an event and you learn from it and you discover more about yourself because no one who has achieved the thing that you want to achieve has done it in a straight line ever. It blew my mind, honestly. If we ended right now, that is the most powerful thing because, and I'm not trying to make it about me, but I'm going to ask you about disappointment in a minute, but I turned that not knowing the words into my identity where it became part of my show. I'm going to mess up the words. I mess up that one event. But when something goes great, we dismiss it as a fluke. We dismiss it as luck.

We dismiss it as, but the bad sticks to the bones and the good, we just say like, and if we switch it and change it and build it. Confidence has a bad moniker though, Justin, because I've seen you. You're very nice. You're an incredibly, anyone who knows you will say you're like the nicest man in showbiz. I've seen you do every-

[18:48] Justin Guarini: When everybody says that, I just say, you know what? I appreciate that. Thank you very much. I do pride myself on being that way, but honestly, Josh Groban is the literal nicest person in the world. Josh Groban makes me look like an a-hole. He is the nicest guy ever, but thank you very much. I appreciate that. He is such a nice man. He's like, literally, he's the shirt off your back, like nicest guy. Yeah, go ahead. So I'm sorry. Go ahead.

[19:20] Robert Bannon: So aside from Josh Groban, who did sing a song for my husband on a red carpet, Justin Guarini hasn't sung for my husband yet. I'll get there. But we do listen to you sing Alita Adams in Get Here, and we are obsessed with it, obsessed with your recording of it, and you sang a little bit of that. So two points, Justin. Confidence, people think means you're a jerk. Confidence, having self-esteem, people think of, you're not a jerk. You don't walk around thinking, I'm Justin Guarini. I have seven Broadway shows. I've been doing Dr. Pepper ads. I've been in front of 30 million people. I have, so how do you have confidence and be nice?

[19:55] Justin Guarini: Yeah, it's recognizing the difference between confidence and cockiness or arrogance, right? Arrogance is a form of weakness. It's a negative energy, and we see it all the time in the media, in sports, in entertainment, and we think that it's confidence, but it's actually arrogance. Arrogance says, I'm walking into the room and I have to smash other people down so that I seem taller. I'm not tall. I just have to smash other people down in order to seem taller. And whenever you run into somebody like that in your business, your work, your theater, your whatever, recognize that for what that is, a deep insecurity, a deep weakness in that person, a huge gaping wound. And when we begin to see it, you can't unsee it.

And you just think like, oh, man, you just feel bad for that person. A lot of times, we'll take on the responsibility for their arrogance because they'll say something mean to us. And then it triggers something in us that is a bit of a weakness, maybe that is a bit of a sore spot. And then we resonate with their energy. But when we see it, and we say, oh, I see you, because they're exposing themselves when they behave that way. We don't take on responsibility for their feelings, their thoughts, their actions, their behaviors. And we say, ah, I see it. As opposed to confidence, which is again, going back to that root word, confide, which means to trust. You walk into a room, and you trust that you're living your best life.

You trust that you don't have all the answers. You trust that you're just going to walk in, and that no matter what happens in that room, again, I say room, it could be a podcast, it could be an audition room, it could be a doctor's office, whatever it is, you walk into that room, you say, you know what, I don't know what's going to happen. But I trust myself that I'm going to be able to handle it. Those of us who have taken improv, this is very, this is a great, we're like, oh, yeah, we got that. Right? Because that's what it is. It is. If life is one big improv game, and when you look at it that way, and we think, oh, that's real confidence. It's not that I got to be the best in the room. I just got to be the best version of me.

Right? I just got to show up. And when I'm auditioning, for example, I'm in competition with me. Because 100 people can walk into an audition room, but there's only one person in the history of time and space who has seen the world through your eyes, heard it through your ears, spoken with your tongue, thought with your thinker, and can interpret the text or the music through your experience. When we think of it that way, it's like, oh, man, I'm walking into an audition room. And look, here's my unique take on this. And I want to see if it adds value to the show. Does it? Great. Does it not, in your opinion? Great. I can still walk out of there having learned something, having had the experience, having gone in and nailed it.

And even if I don't get it, I at least put one more brick in the wall that says I am enough, that says I can do it. Right? And so, you're building that confidence. So, whenever you see people who act out of pocket, know that that's not confidence. It's arrogance. And it's a weakness. And they deserve our, I don't want to say pity, but like empathy. Because it's based on some sort of trauma, some sort of story that we don't know, that makes them feel like they need to smash people down. You just go, okay, cool. I'm not responsible for that. And I don't have to take it out on them. You don't have to take it. But Justin, everyone, while we're talking, everybody, you can follow Justin and go to his website. The book is called Center Stage Confidence.

[23:41] Justin Guarini: I'm really excited to be here and talk about my journey, especially with the release of my new book, "Center Stage Confidence." It's all about helping people find their voice and own their story, which is something I've been passionate about throughout my career.

[24:05] Robert Bannon: That's fantastic! Your journey has been so inspiring, especially since you first captured the hearts of millions on "American Idol." Can you share what that experience was like for you?

[24:25] Justin Guarini: Absolutely! "American Idol" was a whirlwind experience. It was my first taste of fame, and it really taught me a lot about myself as a performer and as a person. The competition was intense, but it pushed me to grow in ways I never expected.

[24:45] Robert Bannon: And after "American Idol," you transitioned into Broadway. How did that shift happen for you?

[25:05] Justin Guarini: It was a natural progression for me. I always loved musical theater, and I knew I wanted to explore that side of my artistry. I started auditioning for shows, and before I knew it, I was landing roles in some amazing productions.

[25:25] Robert Bannon: You've been in several Broadway shows, including "Wicked" and "American Idiot." What has been your favorite role so far?

[25:45] Justin Guarini: That's a tough question! Each role has its own special place in my heart, but I think playing Fiyero in "Wicked" was particularly magical. The music, the story, and the energy of the show were just incredible.

[26:15] Robert Bannon: I can only imagine! You also have a unique perspective on confidence and self-expression. How do you think your experiences have shaped your views on these topics?

[26:45] Justin Guarini: My experiences have taught me that confidence comes from within. It's about embracing who you are and being authentic. In my book, I share stories and lessons that helped me along the way, hoping to inspire others to find their own confidence.

[27:05] Robert Bannon: That's such an important message. Can you tell us more about what readers can expect from "Center Stage Confidence"?

[27:35] Justin Guarini: Readers can expect practical insights and exercises to help them build their confidence. I also include conversations with other artists and leaders who share their journeys and tips for owning your story.

[28:05] Robert Bannon: That sounds amazing! It's great to see you using your platform to uplift others. What advice would you give to someone who is struggling to find their voice?

[28:35] Justin Guarini: I would say start by being kind to yourself. It's okay to feel unsure or scared. Take small steps towards expressing yourself, whether it's through writing, singing, or any other form of art. The more you practice, the more confident you'll become.

[28:55] Robert Bannon: That's such valuable advice. You've had quite a journey, and it's clear that you have a lot to share. What do you hope people take away from your story?

[29:15] Justin Guarini: I hope people realize that their journey is unique and valuable. Everyone has a story to tell, and it's important to embrace it. I want them to feel empowered to step into their own spotlight.

[29:45] Robert Bannon: I love that! It's all about embracing who you are. As you continue to evolve in your career, what are you most excited about for the future?

[30:05] Justin Guarini: I'm excited to keep creating and exploring new opportunities. Whether it's through music, theater, or writing, I want to keep pushing myself and inspiring others along the way.

[30:25] Robert Bannon: That's a wonderful outlook. Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us today, Justin. It's been a pleasure!

[30:55] Justin Guarini: Thank you for having me, Robert! It's been great to chat about all of this.