Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Warshaw.
Sam, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started out my music career as a bassist playing and recording for various artists in the early to mid 2000’s. In 2005 I met my then-to-be wife who is an incredible vocalist. Once we were married we knew we wanted to somehow work together in music. We took a cruise for our honeymoon and while out on the ship we noticed all of the entertainment that was offered onboard.
At that moment a light bulb went off and we thought, we could work onboard together. Fast forward a few months and we were both hired at Royal Caribbean. I was a showband musician and my wife was a production cast vocalist. When you work for the cruise line, typically you live onboard for 5-6 months at a time. It is an incredible experience and opportunity to see the world and get paid to do it. We performed in those roles for about two years.
During those two years, we noticed there was a high-profile performance opportunity called “guest entertainment” or “headlining”. These are high-caliber performers who come onboard a ship for 5-7 days at a time, perform their own 45-50 minute show in the main theater, and then fly to their next performance. This seemed like a dream gig. So we got after it hustled, and arranged a full show.
Within a year or so, we were able to get an agent and we were being booked as headliners full-time. That is the short story version. Being a headliner is actually a really tough gig! It has so many amazing facets to it, but it also comes with a ton of pressure to deliver, a ton of travel, and an uncertain schedule. The saying in entertainment is “You are only as good as your last show”. That is a fact. If you have a bad show, you may never be asked back to perform. So you have to be on your A game, all the time.
We performed full-time as headliners 35-40 weeks a year for about a decade. Over that time, we performed in 92 countries. An experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. However, during that decade of intense travel and performance, we knew we needed to find a way to transition out of life constantly on the road. We were at dinner one night and my wife said, “Why don’t we create other acts, and try to get them booked”… basically re-produced ourselves.
At that table, the idea for Warshaw Entertainment was born. As any business owner can tell you, your initial plan never goes how you think it will. It took about 2-3 years to get our agency off the ground. We had to build relationships and trust with the cruise line head office and you can’t manufacture that. In 2015 we signed our first cruise client – Carnival Cruise Lines.
The biggest cruise line in the industry. We started providing Carnival with entertainers and musicians and from there it has been off to the races. There was a learning curve, but we hustled and ground our way through those initial days. There were a lot of 14-16 hour days for quite some time.
Fast forward to today and we have been an agency for almost a decade. We now serve 14 of the largest cruise brands in the world and have a roster of over 220 working musicians, vocalists, and comedians. We have grown to become one of the top talent agencies in the cruise ship entertainment industry and it truly is an honor.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I think any business owner, entrepreneur, or performer will tell you there is no such thing as a “smooth road”. Success never looks like a straight line or a hockey stick. It’s a tangled mess that hopefully leads upward and forward. In terms of struggles, they are always there, even today. However, I think the hardest struggle is when you want to take an idea and turn it into a reality. That was the case for us.
We wanted to start a talent agency and our initial idea of creating acts and essentially duplicating ourselves fell flat. We put 2 years of work into two projects and they both “failed”. We were so proud of those projects, and still are. But for some reason, they never worked. That was a struggle, mentally and financially.
When you put your heart into something, believe in it, and know that it is great and then it flops. That hurts. Instead of sitting there in disappointment, we kept pushing and that final push led to a door opening we didn’t see coming, which changed everything for us. I believe God honors hard work, but he knows what the best plan for us is. Our plan is generally too small as we can’t see what he sees.
As you know, we’re big fans of Warshaw Entertainment. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Warshaw Entertainment is a top-tier talent agency that resources the cruise ship industry with musicians, vocalists, and comedians. We also provide production and arranging services to artists and corp clients. I would say we are primarily known for two things, which also set us apart from our competitors.
First off is our high standard of what we believe is quality talent. We decline a ton of applicants, even if we believe they could land a job on a cruise line. We are looking for the best of the best. We are after incredible performers who are also incredible people of integrity and character. That standard has never led us astray.
The other thing that sets us apart from others is our communication/service to both our talent roster and our cruise line partners. We really make it a priority to communicate quickly and constantly. We don’t ever want our artists to feel like just a number or a cog in a wheel. We value every single one of them. In addition, our currency with the cruise brands is trust and we don’t take that for granted, so we make sure our service is the best it can be.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Man, there are a lot of people who deserve credit when it comes to pouring into me, Some of the names I would put on this list are;
1. My wife Jade Warshaw. Jade and I do life together 100%. Ride or die. There isn’t enough room to write what needs to be said for this article but I can say, that none of the success we have had would happened without her 50% of the pie. She is strong and creative. She doesn’t give up and she always does her best. Qualities I admire and try to keep up with all the time. She has pushed me to be the best version of myself and continues to do so every day. There is no one on this planet that has had more impact on me than her.
2. Victor Wooten; As a young bass player/musician Victor became my ultimate music hero. He is in my opinion the greatest bassist the world has ever known. I got to know Victor at a very young age and his impact on my life has been profound. His bass playing inspired me, but his wisdom changed my life. He is a world-class teacher. It is really something to call your hero a friend. I really owe a lot to him and his brothers especially his brother Regi, who was and still is a mentor on my music journey.
3. Pastor David Hughes. PD is the lead pastor and our home church “Church By The Glades” in Coral Springs FL. Pastor David has had a huge impact on both me and my wife’s life. My family attended CBG for the last 15 years and I served as musical director there for over a decade. During that time the countless messages PD delivered changed our lives in more ways than I can explain in this article. His words run through my head all the time.
4. Dave Ramsey; One week after my wife and I graduated college, we got married. Shortly after that, we realized we had $460,000 worth of consumer debt, mostly student loans. Yeah, that’s basically a half million dollars of debt. Stress and shame don’t scratch the surface of what I felt back in 2007 when this all came to light. We were desperate and knew we would never have the life we wanted unless we got rid of that debt.
We found Dave’s book “The Total Money Makeover” and decided to work his financial plan all the way 100%. We did and we paid off every cent of that debt in 7.5 years. Dave was our cheerleader from afar via the radio show all those years. We listened to his radio show every day, 3 hours a day to stay motivated.
Skipping a lot of stories here but Fast forward to today, and my mind is still blown. My wife Jade was hired two years ago as a Ramsey personality and now co-hosts the Ramsey show with Dave. What!? Dave showed us how to change our financial life and life has never been the same. It is an honor to now know him personally and just like Victor, call one of your heroes a friend.
4. Prince: I never got to know Prince personally but his impact on my life was profound. Aside from the incredible volume of music, he opened my eyes to what was possible as a musician if you diversified your skill set. He was a master at so many things and it inspired me greatly. His impact on me was huge, so much so that we named our son after him.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.WarshawEntertainment.com
- Instagram: @WarshawEntertainment
- Facebook: @WarshawEntertainment
- Youtube: @WarshawEntertainment
