We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Kelly and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
What has helped me most is giving up the idea that I have to have a perfect product before I can present/promote it to my audience. If I waited until my product was perfect before sending it out into the world, I’d never have anything to promote. Being okay with an imperfect product allows me to move ahead, gain momentum, increase audience interest & participation. I get feedback from my audience as to how I can tweak the product to make it more desirable, thus giving my customers more of what they want. It’s a similar concept to that of Carol Deck’ s Fixed vs Growth Mindset … Put the best possible product out, imperfections and all, and learn from your customers how you can make it better. Improvement over time, rather than perfection at the start, is the most important factor behind whatever success I’ve achieved.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a professional musician, which means that I make money making music. I specialize in traditional Irish fiddle music and song, but I was trained as a classical violinist from age 9 years through University. My mother relates a story where one of my private violin teachers told her, “Your son has absolutely no talent for the violin. You are wasting your money on lessons for him.” Of course, she didn’t tell me this story until after I got a full scholarship at the University of Utah for violin performance. What I learned from this is that motivation is more important to a person’s success than innate talent. Growth vs Fixed Mindset again.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If we’re talking post-pandemic shutdowns where everything is back to normal, then I would definitely start by showing my friend all the traditional Irish spots in Los Angeles & Orange Counties. I would start with The Auld Dubliner in Long Beach for a Sunday afternoon trad session, followed by the open session & ceili that I host every Wednesday at Griffins of Kinsale in South Pasadena. Friday & Saturday we’d visit The Tam O’Shanter on Los Feliz in LA for one of the many wonderful pub bands and ceili dancing, or a concert or three at the world famous Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena. If we had any time left in our schedule, we’d check out one of the many House Concerts that are hosted in this area. There are so many quaint venues in SoCal for this niche music!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I mentioned Carol Dweck’s theory from her book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” … probably one of the most important new theories in Success Psychology we’ve had in several generations. Also, my wife, Lynda Beaver, who is my biggest fan. I have so many fans who have supported me, both financially and professionally, that I could never give a complete list in this kind of forum. However, a short list must contain David Burns, Sam Miller, Diana Tallie, Diane Tappey, Dale & Sherry Woods, Jack & Troll Pin, Joseph Griffins, Padraic Conroy, Aedan MacDonnell, Ed Bell … see what I mean? Even a short list is too long! One other deserves special mention as a mentor: Chanti Niven, motivational speaker & personal coach of Chanti Niven International.

Website: https://www.fiddlin4you.com

Instagram: Fiddlin4you

Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/michael-kelly-80b45512

Twitter: @Fiddlin4You

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fiddlin4you

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/fiddlinfool

Other: https://www.sligorags.com

Image Credits
Richard Takenaga; Connie Takenaga; Lynda K. Bruton

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