183 THE NEXT LEVEL: PHILLIP VAN NOSTRAND Discusses KING DAHL Former Executive Director of Events, MGM Resorts

183 THE NEXT LEVEL: PHILLIP VAN NOSTRAND Discusses KING DAHL Former Executive Director of Events, MGM Resorts

In this episode of The Next Level, Andy Kushner and Phillip Van Nostrand a photographer based in New York and California, talk about King Dahl’s interview on the Wedding Biz. Phil has been been published in numerous publications including the New York Times, Fortune.com, Huffington Post and Forbes.com and was a master class speaker at WPPI.

Listen in as they talk about King Dahl and his incredible designs. King is the former Executive Director of Event Design for MGM Resorts, where he was responsible for 1200 events a year. He is known for his signature style which is large, dramatic productions and was inducted into the Event Solutions Magazine Hall of Fame. They talk about how he left his career when he was at the top to slow down and enjoy life and then came back, two years later, as an in-demand event design and production consultant. This is a very entertaining episode about King Dahl, Phil’s life philosophy, travel and making your job work around your life. So relax, plug in and get ready for an entertaining conversation.

Show Highlights:

[01:16] Welcome to the show Phil!
[01:32] Andy and Phil discuss King Dahl and the amazing events he has designed.
[02:08] King encouraged his team members to bring their own voice and personality to productions.
[03:00] They chat about how it takes a top leader to empower and inspire people and not tell them what to do, but rather to ask their input.
[04:52] King said we are always reinventing ourselves on a personal level and your career is just an extension of that.
[05:15] King left his career for two years, just walked away from everything.
[05:50] Phil chose freedom as his ultimate value point so every decision he makes circles around that point.
[06:40] Phil spends about 10 days a month just doing what he wants to enjoy life.
[07:38] Andy talks about how he took five weeks off, spending it on an island, which cleared his head, and gave him perspective and inspiration to start this podcast.
[08:01] King said he didn’t want to work 48 to 50 weeks a year so that he could only have a few weeks off…he wanted more time with his family.
[09:55] Is Phil turning down work so that he can maintain his time off?
[10:23] Phil has added photographers to his team so that he can delegate and maintain his way of life while earning what he needs.
[13:05] King realized that in two to three years he would have to work again and realized he apply musical improvisation skills to his personal life.
[14:20] Phil says that people who can improvise have a higher risk tolerance.
[15:30] After 2 years King was asked to consult for MGM Resorts and other companies, which allowed him to work on his own schedule.
[17:05] Prioritizing means you can build your job around your life instead of the other way around.