“From Avocation To Vocation: How I Turned My Hobby Into A Career” With Rising Star Kazy Tauginas

An interview with Phil La Duke

Build your own playground. Don’t worry about pleasing other people. That’s a surefire way to end up being miserable. Find a way to pave your own path. My good friend and producer Antoine Allen says it best, “You gotta validate yourself, man.” At the end of the day, you have to be happy with what you’re doing.

As a part of our series about entrepreneurs who transformed something they did for fun into a full-time career, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kazy Tauginas. Kazy is a former restaurateur and Golden Gloves boxer turned actor. Growing up just outside of Chicago, Tauginas played a different sport each school year, settling on figure skating before he discovered a natural talent for boxing after college. His grace on the ice helped him in the ring, where he fought in 13 amateur bouts. After trying his hand in the restaurant business, Tauginas turned to acting and writing, a passion that led him to the New York Film Academy, where he graduated from their Conservatory Acting for Film. Tauginas has…