Tools in the Toolbox

Former professional wrestler and current WWE backstage worker Adam Pearce recently reflected on Facebook about his journey to his current work:

But the things that I was exhausted by had given me tremendous experience along the way that afforded me incredible opportunities, the biggest of which was happening during that period of time. Since the end of 2013 in between my bookings, I would periodically fly to the newly opened WWE Performance Center in Orlando to freelance as a coach and trainer, and eventually as a TV and Live Event Producer.

That was all by design. I had taken it upon myself along my two decades to learn how to train/teach, how to book, live event production, and perhaps most valuable of all, how to write and produce wrestling television. I always planned for the day when I wouldn’t be taking bumps, because I love the business and knew that I wanted to be sustainable and reliable and accountable to it long after I was putting on tights and boots.

I planned ahead. I put tools in my toolbox. And WWE gave me the ultimate chance to use them.

One of Pearce’s main goals with this post is a response to claims that he’s doing backstage work due to injury – that he was forced to, rather than he chose to. Rather, he took steps to learn about production and coaching so that when he couldn’t perform at a suitable level any more, he could keep working in other areas.

He repeats the phrase “tools in the toolbox” throughout this piece as he shares his intentional seeking of opportunities to be trained on other areas of the business. Wrestling, after all, is hard on the body, and with the knowledge that he had a shelf life for that aspect of the industry, he prepared himself for life outside of the ring.

He continues:

The point of this rant is simple: I don’t wrestle full-time anymore because 45-year-old me chooses not to. And the fortuitous part of that choice is that 45-year-old me doesn’t have to.

I planned ahead and put tools in the toolbox that I knew I was going to have if I wanted to be a productive member of our industry long after I was done piledriving people and wearing ten pounds of gold.

And my example is a clear one to anybody that wants a lifelong career in our industry: Amass as many skills as you can; learn from everyone you can. There is a lesson in every experience, good and bad, right and wrong. And there is always a reason to put a new tool in your toolbox.

Sometimes people who have trained extensively for one line of work may worry that they will only ever be able to do that single thing. I hear clergy colleagues express this worry from time to time: they wonder how their skills for preaching, leading Bible study, and pastoral care may translate to non-pastoral positions.

Part of this is a matter of reframing. If you’ve been preaching for years, that means you have years of experience in public speaking. Leading Bible study means you know how to lead a presentation and guide a small group conversation. Pastoral care may translate to the ability to actively listen to the concerns of clients, customers, and co-workers. Pastors amass all kinds of learning experience in administration, organizing, planning, public relations, and community leadership that they may not be aware is happening.

Before I had the earliest inkling about wider church work, I already happened to be amassing experience in serving in leadership on denominational committees and networks. I didn’t necessarily seek that experience for the purposes of what I do now, but it did nevertheless become a tool in the toolbox that I’ve called upon more consciously in recent years.

Sometimes these tools need to be sought out, and other times they’re already in the toolbox without our knowing. Pearce’s basic point is to keep acquiring them so that when it’s time for one chapter to close, you have options to start writing the next one.