Having been blessed enough to work in the industry I love for over 25 years, I've come to learn many things about it. One of them being the fact that people in the entertainment industry are constantly being encouraged to reinvent themselves. I understand the reasoning behind this concept but also find the need for people to be very careful when attempting to do so. Because the truth is, the more people try to “reinvent” themselves, the greater the risk becomes of getting further away from who they really are. This problem can become an even more compounded issue when you're not sure who you really are to begin with.

I remember getting a call from my manager one day about a “slam dunk” commercial opportunity. Apparently, Gatorade was rolling out a new ad campaign, and the description for the attitude and voice of the commercials, read as follows: “The voice prototype for this campaign is Dan Cortese or a Dan Cortese–type.” Well hello, with that my manager opened his Motorola flip phone, placed a call to the casting people in charge of the campaign and let them know that not only could they get a “Dan Cortese–type,” they could get Dan Cortese. The only thing that closed quicker than his flip phone was the deal. All I had to do was go in for a voiceover session and just be me.

The script was pretty straightforward and so was the direction I was given by the producer. “Bring a lot of energy to it, but bring even more Dan, because that's what we want!” So, I did what I was told. Not only did I bring a lot of Dan, I even left some for them to nibble on after I was gone. The session was over relatively quickly. Not only was I pleased with how it went, but this had all the makings of the easiest job of all time. High fives and handshakes all around, and as I headed out, I even got a wink, a thumbs-up, and a lip-synced “nailed it” from the tech in the recording booth.

On the way home, my manager called me to see how the session went. I expressed my excitement about what had transpired, making sure not to leave out the thumbs up and lip-synced “nailed it” part just as a little added extra proof that he should really be proud of his client. He listened intently, then I could hear him take a long drag off of his Marlboro Light before saying, “Yeah, it's not going any further. You didn't get the gig.”

In the midst of me trying to figure out if he was joking or not, he took another long drag and exhaled. I could almost hear the smoke staining the bonding on his teeth. “They said you did a nice job, but you weren't Dan enough, and that's specifically what they wanted.” I wasn't Dan enough. As simple as that comment was, it sent me reeling a bit wondering what exactly WAS “Dan enough.” I mean, for the love of God, I got a thumbs up and a lip-synced “nailed it,” that led me to believe there had to be a good amount of “Dan” in that audition.

The truth is, that day and that comment sent my mind and career into a slightly different direction for a while. Whether it was consciously or subconsciously, when it came to work or work-related outings, I found myself always trying to give people more “Dan.” It didn't matter if it was an audition, a meeting, or even making an appearance as a guest on a talk show. I would always be respectful to people working there, but at the same time, I'd give off as much of an IDGAF attitude as possible. Because that's who I thought people thought “Dan” was—that was the “Dan” they wanted.

When I shot new episodes for MTV Sports I felt the need to be bigger, more extreme, more in your face, more “Dan,” I guess. I even found myself going into full on “Dan mode” when I'd meet people who were fans of mine. I truly thought that's what people wanted, that was the “Dan” they wanted to hang out with. Looking back now, I wish someone would have grabbed me by my bandanna and said, “Hey bud, let's bring it down a notch.”

A few weeks later, I remember my manager giddily letting me know that he got a call from the good folks at Disney and that Jeffrey Katzenberg had requested to meet with me. Yep, that Jeffrey Katzenberg, not Geoff Kazenburg, the plumber from Poughkeepsie. At the time, he was well known across the globe as the chairman of Walt Disney Studios and I was known as the chairman of being “more Dan.” So the fact that he wanted to meet me was not only a huge ego boost but something I viewed as a major career opportunity.

The meeting was set up as a breakfast at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. I would have been happy with the IHOP in Hollywood, but to each his own. I met my manager in the lobby and we were instructed to make our way into the lounge area outside of the dining room and wait there. As we made our way in, I remember walking with the proud purpose of a man who was about to have a meeting with Jeffrey freakin' Katzenberg. Once we got to the lounge, we were greeted by at least another five actors and their agents as well. They all had the same look of purpose that I did, but with every new guy who'd appear, it would diminish ever so slightly.

The truth was, we all had breakfast meetings with Jeffrey. Initially, I thought, “Damn, poor Jeff must have some sort of eating disorder.” Then I came to realize that he was the man, and this was how he chose to do business. It was almost like speed dating except with bagels and lox…and with one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.

Each one of us got 10 minutes with him and the hopes of having him buy into whatever we were selling. When I was called in, my manager accompanied me, and the last thing I remember him saying to me was, “Just be you, be Dan.” I would have rather he said, “Good luck,” or even, “Don't suck,” but either way, the seed was planted.

The meeting was going really well and I felt like we were getting along quite nicely in a Disney sort of way. I was just being me. Then Jeffrey asked me a question along the lines of how I was hoping to change people's lives with my talents and almost as if someone pulled the windup string on my back, I attempted to be “more Dan.” Without thinking I remember starting my response with, “Let's be honest, in the intergalactic scheme of things, I'm not curing any diseases, I just want to entertain people.” I followed that up with some more verbal diarrhea that my brain has wisely chosen to courtesy flush from itself.

When I finished, I remember feeling quite proud that I had displayed just the right amount of “Dan.” After a brief pause, Jeffrey looked at me, smiled, and said, “Well, that's where you and I see things a little differently.” He proceeded to tell me stories of many successful projects he'd helped to create, like Lion King, and not only the financial success they'd had but the differences they had made in people's lives. Now some of you reading this may consider that a bit obnoxious, but when you're stating facts, it's just called the truth.

The meeting came to an end shortly after. I stood and shook Jeffrey's hand and thanked him for his time. He looked at me and said, “Good luck with everything” Now if you Google translate that from executive speak to layman's terms, it translates to, “Hey bud, next time bring it down a notch.” Point taken, and two lessons learned:

1. Don't be the person that you think people want you to be, be the person that you know you are. That's a lot easier said than done, but a very smart man once told me, a good place to start is to truly not give a shit as to what others think of you, then go and grow from there.
2. No matter what business you're in, are you in it just to be in it, are you in it to just make money, or are you in it to make a difference? Do the best that you can to be a positive difference maker.