I spoke to Gene Simmons, who co-founded KISS back in 1973 and was also the bassist and co-vocalist of the band. KISS has exceeded worldwide sales of more than 100 million albums, 40 million of which were in the US. The merchandising machine of KISS has over 2,500 licenses to date and the band has broken box office records set by both the Beatles and Elvis.Among Simmons projects include the KISS Golf Course inLas Vegas, the Kiss Coffeehouse inMyrtle Beachand his reality TV show called Gene Simmons Family Jewels, which has been on air for nine seasons. He is also a partner with the global restaurant chain called Rock And Brews and has written two bestselling books.

His new book is called Me, Inc.: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business. In the following interview, Simmons talks about the importance of hard work, pursuing your passion, moving to where opportunities are and more.

Dan Schawbel: How are you able to balance your personal and professional lives, especially as an entrepreneur who is involved in so many ventures?

Gene Simmons:Honestly, theres no substitute for hard work, and being at the right place, at the right time, with the right thingand Ive been blessed to have found my soul mate, Shannon, with whom we have two great kids, now fully grown. Most of that, came from Shannon.

Schawbel:What does it take for you to manage all of your businesses and keep your brand consistent and relevant?

Simmons:Im probably not a good example of consistency and relevance. While I would recommend the latter, I simply trust my gut. And it has earned me a good living. I would never question why I do things. Sometimes, they have no relationship to each other. But everything seems to work out at the end. Call it luck. Call it blessed.

Schawbel:How did you originally pursue your path as a musician and what do you recommend to other people who are trying to find their own path in life?

Simmons:Unfortunately, a new musical act will not have the same opportunities I had. In my time, there were record companies, who paid you advances, non-recoupable against any failure the album might have. And they paid for tour support. And they put up posters in record stores. And they paid for videos.The record industry was the single biggest reason why bands had a more than even chance of succeeding.now, unfortunately I do not see the opportunity for another Beatles, or Zepplin or even KISS. The chaos that exists on the Internet with filesharing and downloading, prevents a sound business model to exist. So its going to be very difficult for new bands to get any kind of traction.

Schawbel:What are some of your branding and marketing tactics that the average person can use to get a job or advance in their career?

Simmons:It bears noting, if you live in a very small town no one has ever heard of, it may be to your advantage to move to a large city, where the action is. That means, if you want to be in country and western, move to Nashvilleother forms of music, move to New York or LA.

Read more:
Gene Simmons: His Secrets To Building A Brand Name

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