EARN IT YOURSELF: THE PHILOSOPHY

Please take a few minutes to read the following from the creator of the Earn It Yourself (E.I.Y.) philosophy, Sarah Saturday:

"Earn It Yourself" is the idea that one must earn one's successes in life the right way, without compromising his integrity, ignoring his instincts, or turning a blind eye to his values. He must earn every dollar in his pocket by means of his mind and his will-not by means of others' pity for him, or by begging for alms. It is not a philosophy for those who make "fame" or "fortune" their goals; rather, this is a philosophy for those whose goals are tangible, and have substance and meaning.

I have been practicing the Earn It Yourself philosophy since the days when I was in a band in rural Wisconsin. I dropped out of college and quit my job in order to focus all my time and energy on booking and managing my band. I had been in bands for 6 years before that, but it wasn't until I was in a position where I was completely responsible for the business side of my band that I realized the value of earning my success, one phone call and one basement show at a time.

I came up with the name "Earn It Yourself" (E.I.Y.) after years of struggling with the infamous "Do It Yourself" ethos of the underground punk and hardcore scenes. I had been practicing D.I.Y. since the start of my last band: booking all our shows myself, releasing all our albums with our own money, distributing our CDs online and by touring, handling all the management of the band, and even screen printing our band t-shirts by hand. We were heavily involved in our local D.I.Y. punk scene, and had a reputation for being the hardest-working band in the region.

As time went on, my band started to gain a following. We began touring, and lots of people started hearing our music. We were getting asked to headline regional shows, and were offered guarantees to play. Suddenly, we were winning contests on the radio, getting reviewed, and landing opening spots for national acts. All my hard work was finally paying off, and I was able to pay my bills and the band's bills. I was proud and excited, but surprised to find that the many people who had befriended and supported us in the beginning were now proclaiming that we were "selling out."

At first I was crushed. I couldn't understand how it was OK to work hard using the D.I.Y. work ethic, but not OK to reap the benefits of all my hard work. I spent several months trying to understand how such a contradiction could exist.

The answer was E.I.Y. -- an all-encompassing philosophy that allows a band, company, or person to set their own goals and reach whatever level of success they desire, so long as they have put in place their "personal philosophy," or their own set of beliefs about how they should live their lives, and go about achieving their goals. To live by the E.I.Y. philosophy means achieving your success by working hard, doing what is right, resisting the temptation to take the easy way out, standing by your values even in the most difficult times, never cheating or buying your way into the spotlight, earning the respect of your peers, choosing your goals for the right reasons, applying the do-it-yourself approach to build your career, working your way up, and never compromising your integrity.

In 2004, I had reached a crossroad. I was frustrated with the lack of progression in my band, and trying to decide what to do with my life. I called one of my mentors, Kevin Lyman (founder of the Warped Tour) for advice. As it turns out, that was one of the most important calls I would make in my life. Kevin had been looking for a new person to work full-time in his office, and he offered me the position in California. Three weeks later I was moving into my first L.A. apartment -- I was 23, broke, terrified, and exhilarated.

Over the last six years, I have met and worked with hundreds of bands, both big and small. I have worked with almost every record label, booking agency, marketing company, management firm, ad agency, and production company, and have gained a perspective on the music industry that I never dreamed I would have. I now have the kinds of contacts in the industry that I would have killed for, once upon a time.

But none of it has affected my E.I.Y. perspective and personal philosophy -- if anything, my experiences have only strengthened my point of view and ignited my desire to teach the next generation how to earn their success the right way. It's more than just being in a band; it's a way of living your life so that you can die knowing you spent every single day working towards something that you deserved.

EARN IT YOURSELF: THE PURPOSE

We made this website because we are all musicians and music-lovers who have a logical outlook on the future of music. We can see where the industry is failing, and we can see where there is a need for this new approach to achieving success in the industry. We believe this approach needs to be rooted in philosophy, which is something that has been left out of most areas in our world for far too long. We believe that people who have a personal philosophy that they live by will be the ones who save the world.

A philosophy is a comprehensive system of ideas about human nature and the nature of the reality we live in. It is a guide for living, because the issues it addresses are basic and pervasive, determining the course we take in life and how we treat other people (It's not about WHAT you do, it's about WHY you do it.) The word "Philosophy" comes from the Greek φιλοσοφία [philosophia], which literally means "love of wisdom." We believe that you can only gain true wisdom by living consciously, purposefully, and with a desire to do what is right.

We want to see good music thrive, and shitty music get trampled. We want the bands and people who know what their values are, and who stick to those values, to be rewarded for their integrity. We want people who feel isolated from their fame-and-money driven peers to find sanctuary here, among other people who know who they are, know what they believe, and know when something is right and when something is wrong. We want to support and promote people who live their lives by the code of values they have set for themselves and who do not compromise those values or their integrity for the sake of anything that is not earned rightfully and honestly.

Earn It Yourself is for those of us who don't enjoy being handed things for free, or as a favor, but prefer to get what we want by proving that we deserve it. It's for those of us who refuse to beg, refuse to bow down, refuse to cheat, and refuse to steal.

Earn It Yourself is a philosophy that empowers people to take their dreams into their own hands, to take control of their own destiny and purpose in life, and to achieve their goals with a clean conscience and absolute conviction that they deserve every penny and every success they earn along the way. It's not just the journey, it's the HONEST journey. It's not just the destination, it's the MEANINGFUL destination.

Verum et factum convertuntur: "The true and the made are interchangeable; one can know with certainty only what he has created himself."