From Olympic Dreams to Broadway Star: Lessons from Wicked's Jordan Litz

How a college swimmer found his calling at 26 and became Broadway's longest-running Fiyero

When most guys are figuring out their career path in college, Jordan Litz was laser-focused on one goal: making the Olympic swimming team. By 26, that dream had been crushed by the likes of Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. Today, he's Broadway's longest-running Fiyero in Wicked, having performed the role over 1,400 times.

His journey from pool deck to Broadway stage offers powerful lessons about resilience, reinvention, and finding success after your original plan falls apart.

When Plan A Doesn't Work Out

Litz competed at the 2012 Olympic trials, swimming the same events as Phelps and Lochte. "It was never gonna happen with those kinds of guys around," he admits with refreshing honesty. Instead of clinging to a diminishing chance, he made the tough call: hang up the goggles and move on.

The rejection was crushing. "I still miss it every single day. I loved the grind." But here's what separated Litz from guys who get stuck replaying their glory days—he channeled that pain into discovering something new.

The Lesson: Sometimes the best thing you can do is let go of a dream that's not working and stay open to what comes next.

Finding Your Second Act at 26

While studying vocal performance (something he'd always done on the side), Litz reluctantly auditioned for The Sound of Music. That reluctant audition changed everything. For the first time, he experienced the magic of combining movement, acting, and music together.

"I wanted to make sure that I could make a career out of it before I went all in," Litz says. So he tested the waters with regional theater, got positive feedback, and decided to take the leap.

The Lesson: You don't have to be 18 to discover your calling. Stay curious about your interests—they might just become your career.

The Power of Transferable Skills

The discipline, work ethic, and mental toughness Litz developed as a swimmer didn't disappear when he left the pool. Those same qualities that made him an elite athlete became the foundation of his success on Broadway.

"I took the skill set that I developed from the swimming world—the determination, the hard work—and applied it to this new career path. I think that's a huge part of why I was successful."

The Lesson: The skills you develop in one area of life can be your secret weapon in another. Don't underestimate what you're learning right now.

Handling Rejection Like a Pro

Getting Fiyero wasn't easy. Litz auditioned three times for Wicked before landing the role. The first time, after five callbacks, he was certain he had it. The rejection call was devastating.

But here's what kept him going: perspective from his wife Julie, who reminded him during a walk through Central Park that career success is important, but relationships matter more. That same bridge where they processed his first rejection became the spot where he proposed a year later.

The Lesson: Rejection sucks, but it doesn't define you. Having people in your corner who remind you what really matters can be the difference between giving up and trying again.

The Two Rules for Success

After years in the business, Litz has distilled career success down to two controllable factors:

1. Work harder than everyone else

2. Be someone people want to be around

"You can't control the amount of talent that you have—you're already born with it. But you can control memorizing all of your lines and being more prepared than anyone else when you walk into the room."

As for being likeable? "I've seen so many people that are less talented than the other guy get the job because you want to be around them."

The Lesson: Focus on what you can control—your effort and your attitude.

Balancing Success and Life

Even living his dream on Broadway, Litz faces the same challenges many young guys do: balancing career demands with relationships, health, and personal time. He's honest about the struggles—commuting from New Jersey, getting home at midnight, waking up early with his daughter.

His approach? Structure and intentional time management. "You schedule free time to spend with each other" rather than hoping it just happens spontaneously.

The Lesson: Success requires sacrifice, but it shouldn't come at the expense of what matters most. Be intentional about protecting time for relationships and health.

The Real Message

Perhaps the most powerful moment in Litz's story comes from his favorite line in Wicked: "It's not lying, it's looking at things another way." This encapsulates not just the show's message, but his own journey—taking a devastating setback and reframing it as the beginning of something even better.

For guys in their twenties wondering if it's too late to change course, if their dreams have to look like everyone else's, or if rejection means they're not good enough, Litz's story offers hope. Sometimes the life you end up building is even better than the one you originally planned.

The Bottom Line

Your twenties don't have to follow a script. Dreams can die and new ones can be born. Success isn't about avoiding failure—it's about what you do after things don't go according to plan.

As Litz puts it: "Don't stop taking everything so seriously. The stresses of your little young life are so much less of a big deal than you think it is. Feel free to take those risks that you're afraid to take."

Sometimes the best thing you can do is let go of who you thought you'd be and embrace who you're becoming.

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