The new Broadway Show with Bette Midler about the life and career of Sue Mengers, Hollywood’s super agent, made me think of my career and the career of many of my entrepreneur friends. I wish I would have known then what I know now. I definitely would have done a few things differently. I am sure you have heard that line before but I never really thought about it as much as I did after seeing the show.

Before I get into some of the regrets of an entrepreneur, I wanted to include a link to the interview Vanity Fair did with Bette Midler about her Sue Mengers role. Vanity Fair stories are not easy to access online but I figured out a way to transfer the iPad version of the story and link it here.

If you think I remind you of Bette Midler then go see her in the show. I am definitely a cross between both divas. Apparently Mengers worked the entertainment biz from her couch with just one regular telephone (we didn’t have cellphones in the 70s). She wore kaftans most of the time (I am famous for my muumuus) and her only exercise was walking from the couch to the bedroom. (I am on my couch right now and most of the time you can find me here.)

Being an entrepreneur like Mengers, but of course in a much more low-key way, I now realize that most of the careers I am closely familiar with really have a strong 20-year span of strength. Yes, we may work longer and we may have other rewards, but the big money-making time is really in our 30s, 40s, and early 50s.

By the time you get to your mid 50s, the competition from the younger folks is fierce with both their good looks and new and different ideas. When you are in your 60s, most of your competition can either be your children and grandchildren. Need I say more?

Mengers had her fame and fortune in the 1960s and 1970s. She was all washed up by the 1980s for just the reason I stated before. The big companies like CAA came on the scene and Mengers couldn’t compete with the new strategies they were offering to the talent.

While many of us try to constantly reinvent ourselves and are somewhat successful at it, the truth is that every entrepreneur just has a certain period of time when they are important, revered, and relevant. If one thing doesn’t cut us down, something else does. There are only a few Joan Riverses, Tony Bennetts, and Betty Whites.

The Broadway Show

I liked “Baby, It’s Sue” on the Vanity Fair digital edition enough to email you about it. http://vnty.fr/YTqst2