Have your parents supported you in your career endeavors, or are they expressing the same kind of cynicism?

I'll also tell you a little bit about myself. When I was 17, I wanted to be a concert promoter. My parents were a bit skeptical at first but soon came around to it. When I was in community college, I emailed one promoter who agreed to let me be an intern (my dad was telling me to work for someone with experience - which was actually some incredibly solid advice), but a couple days later, he sent me this completely rude email and told me he didn't want anything to do with me. It completely shattered my ego. I was asking myself what I did wrong and was bringing it on myself (as it turns out, I did nothing wrong - he just didn't like me because he didn't want me to become a potential competitor.)

Eventually, I decided that I wasn't going to let the rejection get to me, and I decided I was going to do it on my own. So I left community college a year early and decided to go to a university in a college town with thriving music scene. I emailed a shit ton of bands and booking agents asking if I can book a show for them. I had no experience whatsoever and was coming in blind with a friend of mine, so the majority of them ignored us or went through someone else, but a few got back to me and decided to take a chance with us. I hit up this music venue that was a local staple but was struggling to make money, and they decided to take a chance on us as well.

After the first show we did at that club, we immediately developed a strong rapport with them and continued to do more. We eventually picked up more popular bands, and I worked at Target so I could afford to pay their guarantees. As things snowballed, the owner of the club offered me a job as the in-house talent buyer. I accepted, and I parted ways with my friend, who had just graduated college.

I booked some shows at that club that brought in a younger audience and helped it stay competitive with some of the more "cooler" venues. I helped the club achieve its most profitable month in its 20-year history. A few months later, the owner had to finalize his divorce and couldn't afford to keep the business afloat, so he had to close it for good. In 3 weeks notice, we put together a banger weekend lineup to end the club's 20-year run on a high note, and in that time, we sold 750 tickets and reunited various hometown heroes that haven't played together in 15+ years. My parents saw the press that weekend received, and they told me they were proud of me.

Currently, I'm doing some work for a large independent promoter and working a day job to pay the bills, but even at 24, all I want to do is work in the music industry. My parents are incredibly supportive of my endeavors, even though they weren't at first.