The Gospel According to Sylvester Stallone

If you think back to a pivotal moment in your life, is there someone you can point to and say, “that’s down to you”?

I can, it’s Sylvester Stallone.

Bizarre, but true. Resplendent in a white trouser suit and perched on a morning show sofa, Sly changed my life because it was time and I was ready.

In a small Welsh village on the outskirts of Cardiff in the early 80s, I was treading water. My habit wasn’t usually morning TV, but it was the holidays and I was bored. Not highly academic, university, I was told, was not for me. Dutifully attending secretarial college, my bus would pass a drama school. ‘Fame’ was high in the TV ratings. I liked art. I was always making stuff, or something up. Each day I passed by. Always watching who was going in and wondering how they got there.

Back to my morning in front of the TV. I was, when I look back, probably mildly depressed. Everything seemed empty and washed out. Un encouraged to explore the world, I was rudderless and lonely.

In the background I heard Sly recounting his challenges, the humiliations, the frustration, then, clear as a bell…

“What are you waiting for? Life is not a rehearsal. You don’t get a second go. You get now.”

I could have sworn that I physically jumped.

I’m sure people will have said this to me before that moment. A parent, a friend, a teacher. But often we’re not receptive to things we’re not quite ready for. So in that moment I must have been ready. I wasn’t Mr Stallone’s biggest fan. I wasn’t anyone’s, but right then I was listening.

With this thunderbolt, ridiculous in its simplicity, and the blind faith of youth, I got up and wrote to the drama school.

Armed with Sly’s conviction, a C in O Level Art and no theatre background, I met a welcoming regime of relaxed interviews and an expanding intake. Much to my and my family’s surprise (I hadn’t told them what I was up to), I was offered a place on the Stage Design course.

And my world flooded with colour, followed by best friends, love, loss, a career in theatre, film, TV and marketing; first nights, hard times, wrap parties; a husband, children, fun, wonder and gratitude. All teaching me repeatedly to heed Sly’s wise words.

Thanks to the power of belief and beginnings. Thanks to Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone. I’m passing on the gospel, knowing that someone, somewhere might be listening and needs to hear it today.