Readiness is built, not felt
Hey, Nikki here.
This week I sat down with Adam Wells, systems engineer for Ed Sheeran for the last 9 years, now running the sound team on one of the biggest stadium shows in the world.
He didn’t get there by chasing the job. He got there by saying no to it, more than once, until a production manager gave him the confidence that he was actually ready.
That kind of patience isn’t always common, where the instinct is usually to grab the bigger title the second it’s offered. Adam did the opposite, and it’s exactly what made him good at the job once he finally took it.
Why this one matters
It’s easy to think readiness comes from one big break. Adam’s story shows it’s built quietly over years, through small jobs, setbacks, and opportunities that don’t seem significant at the time.
After losing nine months of work when a tour canceled, he spent nearly two years rebuilding his career one job at a time.
Looking back, those years weren’t detours. They were the reason he was ready when the biggest opportunity finally came.
#1 The floor-sweeping years matter
Adam’s first real job in audio was maintaining gear and sweeping floors at a Welsh production company called Sonalyst, tied to a group of veteran engineers. He wasn’t mixing shows. He was just there, absorbing how Tina Turner’s monitor engineer and Dire Straits’ production manager actually worked.
Takeaway: The years nobody’s watching are usually the years you’re actually being trained.
Try this: Name one skill you’re rushing to skip past right now. Spend one more week with it on purpose before you move on.
#2 Rebuilding is part of the job
That first big tour falling apart cost Adam nine months of work overnight, right after he’d quit a stable job for it. Instead of waiting for the next big break, he called every audio vendor in the UK and pieced together small jobs for almost two years, until those contacts eventually got him into Ed Sheeran’s camp.
Takeaway: Careers aren’t built in straight lines. They’re built in the decisions you make after things don’t go according to plan.
Try this: Name one contact you haven’t called since you needed them last. Call them this week, just to stay in the loop, build the relationship, and not ask for a favor.
#3 Someone else may see it before you do
When Ed Sheeran’s longtime systems engineer left, the production manager pushed Adam to take the role. Adam kept declining. It wasn’t fear of the work, it was that he hadn’t yet trusted his own readiness.
But others had noticed what he hadn’t: years on Ed’s crew, a deep read on how the tour actually ran, and craft that had been sharpening the whole time without him giving the credit it deserved.
Takeaway: The people who’ve watched you longest sometimes see your readiness before you do.
Try this: Think of someone who’s pushed you toward something you talked yourself out of. Ask them what they saw that you didn’t.
If you want the full conversation, listen to Episode #68 of The Giggs Podcast with Adam Wells.
— Nikki
P.S. One line I loved: Adam’s advice to his younger self was simple. “Slow down. Genuinely slow down.” He said the mistakes that live in your head rent free are almost always the ones made in a rush. That’s true backstage and everywhere else.
