Vault: Bert got his son an agent

Summary

The Bert Show – "Vault: Bert got his son an agent"

Release Date: June 30, 2026
Hosts: Bert, Kim, Jeff, and additional Co-Hosts

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Overview

In this candid segment, Bert opens up to the team about a recent and personal parenting decision: getting an agent for his 7-year-old son, Hayden, who is passionate about acting. The crew dives into the complexities of supporting children's ambitions in entertainment, the pitfalls of the industry, parental anxieties, and navigating the line between encouragement and over-professionalization.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why Bert Got His Son an Agent

• Bert shares his initial conflict about the decision but explains Hayden's dedication and interest in acting inspired him and his wife to take the leap.
  • "His passion is acting...he really, really, really seems to love it." (01:18 – Bert)
• The agency process: Bert describes joining “the People Store” in Atlanta, a reputable agency that represents actors of all ages.
• Parental caution: Despite doing due diligence, Bert shares industry skepticism due to widespread scams preying on hopeful families.

2. Worried About Scams and Industry Pitfalls

• Kim recounts her own experience being scammed by an agency when she moved to Atlanta, where she paid for showcases and headshots with minimal return:
  • "It was a scam. I mean, it was a total scam." (03:35 – Kim)
• Bert reassures the team and listeners that they properly vetted the agency:
  • "Now we did the research on this place and they're totally legit..." (01:55 – Bert)
• The group offers general advice: any agency demanding immediate payments or failing to provide legitimate audition opportunities is a red flag.

3. The Emotional Dilemma of Professionalizing Childhood Passions

• Bert's concern about lost innocence: He expresses discomfort turning a hobby into a semi-professional endeavor so young:
  • "At seven years old, he should just be able to go in. There shouldn't be any money attached to it... It just feels too professional for a seven year old." (04:19 – Bert)
• Recognition that child interests can be fleeting—but Hayden has consistently loved acting for two years.

4. Navigating Parenting and Fame

• Potential child stardom: The team discusses risks connected with child actors’ well-being:
  • "Is there a part of you that's nervous about him becoming a child actor because of all the ste around child acting?" (05:38 – Co-Host 2)
  • Bert assures he and his wife remain grounded:
    • "He's got two parents that will beat his ass, that will keep his feet firmly on the ground. I promise you that." (05:45 – Bert)

5. Listener Q&A: Advice for Other Aspiring Young Actors

• A caller (Jeff) asks for advice on agencies for his drama-loving daughter. Bert is transparent about his beginner status:
  • "We've only been with them for two weeks, so I don't feel comfortable going, 'This is the place you need to be with.'" (06:34 – Bert)
• Bert endorses “Applause for Kids,” a theater program that positively impacted Hayden.

6. Rethinking Parental Priorities and Approaches

• Bert reflects on shifting from expecting a "sporty" child to embracing theater as his son's "sport," focusing on teamwork and life lessons beyond competition:
  • "If he doesn't [play sports] his sports is going to be theater. So long as he's part of a team and people are relying on him...If it's through the theater, that's cool with me." (07:21 – Bert)
  • "You learn how to win together. You learn how to lose together when you're on stage also." (07:49 – Bert)
• The segment closes with a humorous touch about treating acting as seriously as sports, poking fun at “stage-parenting” parallels.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Bert’s honesty about discomfort:
  • "It was cool when he was acting on stage with a whole bunch of people that didn't know what they were doing...sort of the innocence...then the fact that there's gonna be money involved with it now...I'm also uneasy about it." (05:16)
• Kim’s industry caution:
  • "If all you get is showcases where it's just you and the other students...nobody's there but the friends...then it's a scam." (03:35)
• Reflections on sports vs theater:
  • "At the end of the day, that's the message...You learn how to win together. You learn how to lose together when you're on stage also." (07:45 – 07:49)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:00 – Bert introduces the topic of his son getting an agent
• 01:42–02:34 – Bert shares skepticism of agencies & research process
• 03:20–03:47 – Kim explains her personal experience with a scam agency
• 04:04 – Bert describes Hayden’s first audition opportunity
• 05:38–06:05 – Concerns about child actors and family grounding
• 06:11–07:08 – Listener call: advice for parents of aspiring actors
• 07:21–08:03 – Bert on embracing his son’s passion as a sport and teaching life lessons
• 08:21 – Bert’s self-awareness about advice versus personal practice

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Summary

This episode offers a heartfelt, humorous, and sometimes anxious look at supporting children's dreams in the entertainment industry. The Bert Show approaches the subject with their usual authenticity and wit, raising important points about balancing encouragement, protecting innocence, and staying grounded amid the hype. Listeners—especially parents—will find both practical advice and much to relate to as the crew navigates the highs and lows of modern parenting.

Transcript

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[Kim]

Car.

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[Bert]

Dear Bird Show, I gotta tell you something that Stacy and I did with Hayden a couple of weeks ago that I've been conflicted about.

[Co-Host 2]

Okay.

[Bert]

But we did it anyway and it's rolling along, so it's something I'll have to deal with. But this sounds so weird to say and so elitist to say, but we ended up getting Hayden an agent.

[Kim]

Mm.

[Bert]

Hayden, his passion is acting. And how old is he? He's seven.

[Kim]

Seven.

[Bert]

And he has been with this, this one sort of company learning how to act the last couple of years. And he really, really, really, really seems to love it.

[Co-Host 2]

Right.

[Bert]

And look, I haven't been around enough, six or seven or eight years old old, to know if he's really talented or not. But I do know that he really loves doing it.

[Jeff]

So

[Bert]

I ended up getting him an agent. Said he wanted to. He wanted to act more. And he was. He started throwing around the TV stuff. So we ended up signing up with this agency down in Atlanta called the People Store. And I think they do, like, models, but they also do a lot of actors and actresses, stuff like that. Of all ages. Yeah, but the whole industry, to me, I think from the outside looking in, like, I'm always a little bit nervous about any talent agency because you just don't know if you're getting scammed or not. Now we did the research on this place and they're totally legit and we've got a friend that really digs them also. But it just seems like it's such A money making thing. Because I think everybody wants to believe that their child is really special in an area. And I think in this industry, especially entertainment, man, you will listen to what anybody says, so long as you're just. You're handing over the money.

[Kim]

All right, so I have to confess something. So when I first moved to Atlanta because.

[Caller]

Oh, no.

[Kim]

Yeah. It just made me think of this when I first moved to Atlanta because I had been a theater major in high. In. In high. I had been dead a lot of theater. And when I was in college, I was a theater major for a little bit. But my acting skills, like, I'm much more comfortable being myself and doing speeches or being on the radio than I am trying to do a role. I can't do that very well. So. And my interest when I was in theater was more of playwright than it was actually being on stage as the actor, you know, herself. So I got out of it. But when I first moved to Atlanta, I thought, well, let me. Let me pursue this again. So there was some agency like in Midtown that I thought, well, let me. It'd be cool to be extras in movies or to do something like that. You know, let me just try it out because I'm 22 and I'm green and I can do this and I'm new in town and here I am. And so, yeah, it was a place where the only thing that I did was some showcase. That's another thing is if. If all you get is showcases where it's just you and the other students you're in there with and there's nobody.

[Caller]

Nobody's there.

[Kim]

Yeah, nobody's there but the friends of the people that you're in there with. So I ended up on a showcase one time. But. But yeah, in. The money that I spent. Spent was for headshots and for everything. So this. It was a scam. I mean, it was a total scam.

[Bert]

I get nervous about. I'm not worried. Honestly, I'm really not worried about the place we're in.

[Kim]

Right. But I'm just saying when you. For other people, like, you have to do research because if it. Yeah, if it ends up that they want money immediately for the head, we. It takes. We need the money for the headshots and everything. Oh, and. And like I said, if they don't get you gigs, then it's a scam.

[Bert]

Yeah, they actually have. They booked him while we were all on vacation last week that he had an audition for a commercial for Children's Health Care of Atlanta, but he was out of town so he couldn't do it. So they're already starting to generate some of those. So I'm cool with that.

[Co-Host 2]

Right.

[Bert]

It's just the, I think just what's bothering me is like I sort of feel like it's seven year old, he should just be able to go in. There shouldn't be any money attached to it. Like we shouldn't. It just feels too professional for a seven year old.

[Co-Host 2]

Yeah.

[Kim]

I mean, so. But it was Hayden who initiated that he wanted, because I, he didn't say

[Bert]

look, I want an agent.

[Co-Host 2]

Right.

[Kim]

I'm just curious where the decision for the agent came. I mean where, why that decision was made?

[Caller]

Why did you go with the agent rather than.

[Bert]

I think he's told us, you know, at the end of the day, I mean, at seven years old you don't know. But he says that he wants to be in TV and he wants to be in movies and he wants to be an actor. So I think we took a look at that and we said, look, if he's really serious about this then let's get him some formal training and let's get him an agent now. Now in six months he may not want to do that at seven years old on Tuesday you want to do one thing and on Wednesday you want to do the next. But for, for two years now he's been totally into it.

[Caller]

So if he said he wanted to be a cop, would you have gotten him a gun, A taser?

[Bert]

I'd have put him in the academy. So I'm not really sure what I'm conflicted about. I just know I'm a little uneasy about sort of it was cool when he was acting on stage with a whole bunch of people that didn't know what they were doing. Also sort of the innocence, all that and then the fact that there's gonna be money involved with it now I'm kinda happy about it, but I'm also uneasy about it.

[Co-Host 2]

Is there a part of you that's nervous about him becoming a child actor because of all the ste around child acting? So if he gets like big gigs,

[Bert]

he's got two parents that will beat his ass, that will keep his feet firmly on the ground. I promise you that.

[Caller]

Are those the reality TV stars?

[Co-Host 1]

Yeah.

[Bert]

Right, right.

[Caller]

I'm just, I wanna make sure we're, I just wanna make sure we're all clear when we're talking about who.

[Bert]

Well, just because. And I'm not on a reality TV show yet. Oh yeah, but just because you're on a reality TV show doesn't mean you don't have your feet on the ground.

[Caller]

Okay, Kim.

[Kim]

All right.

[Bert]

Hey, Kim. Good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Jeff]

Hey, Bert. How are you guys doing?

[Co-Host 1]

Good.

[Bert]

How are you?

[Jeff]

I'm good. I was wondering if you would tell me again who your son's agent is. My daughter does plays, and she keeps hounding me that she wants to do tv, and I have no idea what steps to take.

[Caller]

Just put an ad on Craigslist letting the world know she's available.

[Jeff]

Kim, that's why we love you. Jeff.

[Bert]

I don't know enough about this agency yet to say if they're good or not. We signed up with this place called the People Store, but we've only been with them for two weeks, so I don't feel comfortable going. This is the place you need to be with.

[Caller]

Right.

[Bert]

You know what I'm saying?

[Jeff]

Okay. So, yeah, I mean, I know Hayden does a lot of acting. Right. He does plays, or didn't he?

[Bert]

Yeah. He was in a place called Applause for Kids, which I can endorse because he was with them for so long.

[Jeff]

Right.

[Bert]

They've got two different locations, and they handled them with kid gloves, and he's ended up loving acting more now than when he before he went there. So they must have done something right.

[Jeff]

All right. Yeah. Well, that's what my daughter does. She's 11, and she's been in a couple of plays, and she auditioned for Annie. She didn't get it, but she loved the whole process. So, yeah, she's really into it. Wants to be a movie star. Yeah.

[Bert]

I said this before, like, for Hayden, it took me a little bit to adjust to this, but, you know, I always thought that I'd have a kid that loved to play sports and stuff like that. And while now I'm sort of at peace with him never being on a baseball team and not playing soccer. If he doesn't his sports is going to be theater. So long as he's part of a team and people are relying on him and he's relying on others, and he learns teamwork. If it's through the theater, that's cool with me. At the end of the day, that's the message.

[Kim]

Because the adolescence.

[Jeff]

Yeah, absolutely. Whatever they love.

[Kim]

Yeah.

[Bert]

You learn how to win together. You learn how to lose together when you're on stage also. So it's the same premise. It's just a little uneasy if sort of that the innocence of just being on stage and just acting for the love of it is gone. And now that there's some money exchanged.

[Kim]

Jobs.

[Bert]

Yeah, it's like a job.

[Caller]

Are you gonna.

[Co-Host 2]

He doesn't know that though, so it's still fun for him.

[Caller]

Are you going to treat him the same way you would if, like it was a baseball game? Like if he puts puts out a lousy performance, are you going to sit him down and go, Mr. Mark.

[Co-Host 1]

Yeah.

[Caller]

What are your lines? What are your lines? You keep up till two in the morning in the baseball field?

[Bert]

Well, you popped into my head because we had this chat a long time ago about parents that have kids that are in baseball, right, that are like 7, 8, 9 years old and they really seem to be good at it and they're hiring coaches at 7, 8 and 9. And I argued against that. Like let the kid be a kid. Forget about him being a pro at 7, 8 or 9. And then a couple of years later, I feel like I'm doing just the opposite of my advice on my own kid when it comes to acting.

[Caller]

Now that I know those little ankle biters can be profit centers, I'm gonna have to reevaluate where Jessica and I are on having kids.

[Bert]

Oh, I'll let you know.

[Caller]

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