Here’s a story about an audition that turned into a callback that turned into a booking that turned into a firing. All in a week’s time. To make circumstances particularly unusual, the boot came in the midst of my fitting.

As I was escorted upstairs by a PA, I thought about how cool it was being one step closer to shooting a national commercial. I arrived at the fitting location and found a mix of folks preparing for the big day.

Wardrobe wasn’t quite ready, so I went to holding, which was next to what looked like the war room. About ten minutes ticked by as I waited to be called, but the call never came. Instead, a request to call my agent was made by the PA I met earlier. “Sure,” I said. “What should I tell them?” The PA didn’t know, so he asked, again, that I call my agent. “Of course. Do you need to speak with them?” This time he offered, “It has to do with contracts.”

So, I excused myself to make the call. It was then I learned that, behind the scenes, moves were being made to cast my backup. Details were sparse, but my team was working to keep the deal together. In the meantime, I was asked to hang tight.

On my way back to holding, I was met by the PA, who was preparing to excuse me. I let him know I’d be standing by a few minutes per the direction of my team. Around the room, no one seemed to know what was happening, but I was welcomed to stay. After an awkward ten minutes, I got word from my agent that the deal was off.

Long story short, my team did a fantastic job protecting our interests. All in all, this was a great experience. Deflating at first, but I took comfort knowing my team made me the priority and was not prepared to settle.

I’m sharing this one for the creatives trekking through their own battlefields. You win some, you lose some. And sometimes you lose the ones you win.