ISI Brotherhood Podcast

157. A Journey from Success to Significance

• Aaron Walker • Season 2 • Episode 157

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0:00 | 46:55

If you've ever built something great and still felt like something was missing — this conversation was made for you.

We're revisiting this episode because Derek Champagne's story is one that doesn't lose its weight with time.

Derek grew up in a teepee, raised by former hippies turned Christians who opened their home to dozens of foster children. From that unconventional foundation, he built a life driven by hustle and heart — managing bands at 11, chasing success in Hollywood, then pivoting through window washing, cookie distribution, and marketing as the music industry shifted beneath his feet.

On paper, he was winning. Inside, he was unraveling.

Depression and a deep sense of isolation caught up with Derek in a corporate cubicle — a far cry from the freedom he'd always chased. What pulled him out wasn't another business breakthrough. It was brotherhood. It was purpose. It was Iron Sharpens Iron.

Derek opens up about one of his biggest fears along the way: that growing spiritually might cost him his edge as an entrepreneur. What he found instead was the opposite — that authentic community and a life aligned with meaning didn't quiet his drive. It sharpened it.

Now, alongside Aaron Walker, Derek helps other men walk the same road from achievement to something deeper.

If you're mid-career and quietly reassessing what it's all for — or just starting out and wanting to build with intention from day one — don't miss this one.

Ready to stop doing life and business alone? Join the brotherhood at isibrotherhood.com/community.

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Opening And Brotherhood Invitation

SPEAKER_00

Discover the brotherhood that sharpens you. The ISI community is free for 30 days. Join now at isibrotherhood.com forward slash community. Well, welcome back to another episode of Iron Sharpens Iron Brotherhood, where we live a life of success and significance. Well, I want to tell you guys, buckle up today, because I couldn't in any way be more excited to have my good buddy Derek Champagne with us. Derek is a serial entrepreneur, and when I say that, I mean it in its truest form. He's got like 15 years of experience now in developing really effective marketing campaigns. He's the founder and the CEO of the Artist Evolution. This is a full service agency that builds really high-level brands for some of the brands that you would be very familiar with. But he also helps with marketing tools and campaigns for startups and many household brands. Derek also has been involved in about a dozen, I believe, other companies, but he's also the author of the best-selling book, Don't Buy a Duck, and he's the host of business leadership series podcast. But really, out of all those things, what's more important to me is Derek's my friend, and he's also now my business partner. Derek, welcome to ISI Brotherhood Podcast.

SPEAKER_03

Big A. Thanks for inviting me on the podcast. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_00

Come on, I am so excited. I've been waiting so long to get you on the show. And we're going to kind of break it down a little bit, fill in the gaps, like where I missed. And I want you to dive right in. I don't want to waste a minute. I want you to dive right in to your story. But give us a little feedback, talk about your family a little bit, business, and let's get into hearing your story.

Family Faith And Priorities

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. I'll start by talking about my family. So I've been married for 19 years to my wonderful wife, Valerie. And I've got a 16-year-old daughter, Emily, and a 14-year-old son, Eli. And they are the center of my universe. And uh, you know, thanks to Iron Sharpens Iron, I learned and was was uh given guidance early on as they were younger about how important these years are and how not to just trade business and success on one side of things in spite, you know, at the risk of your family. So big A, I've got to thank you and ISI for that uh almost nine years ago. Uh you know what's cool, Eric.

SPEAKER_00

I was just I was just thinking about those kids a little bit. Uh Eli was like uh three or four years old uh when you joined ISI and Emily was like seven, I think, seven or eight years old. I've been around, like they can adopt me as their surrogate grandfather if they want to, because I've been around. I've watched these kids grow up from living through you and watching them and all the things that they've acquired.

SPEAKER_03

Hey, you sent them a Bible, big A. You've been a part of their life. Uh you sent them a Bible that we were using at our father-son camp retreat this past weekend. So appreciate that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, man. And you got a great wife. Valerie is absolutely your biggest supporter, biggest advocate, biggest fan, I know. And she works with you, so I'm in the business. And uh, she's just a real staple in your life. So we're all very grateful for your family. So thank you.

unknown

Thank you.

When Success Still Feels Isolating

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, my pleasure. Well, jump in, jump in. Like look, why don't you tell how you got involved in ISI first, and then I want to go back and dive into your personal story.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I think I I love hearing personal stories, big A, so I'm always happy to share mine. Um, I think that's the most unique thing about us, right? It's just the thread of going, okay, that makes sense. Some of it doesn't make sense when you hear somebody's wild background and find out where they are. But, you know, I was at a point in my life about nine years ago where I had been involved in several companies. Aaron, it scares me to think of how old I am that I can say I've been an entrepreneur for over 30 years now. I'm 49. So 32 years I've been an entrepreneur, maybe longer than that. And uh, but I was at a point in my my life where I achieved a certain amount of air quote success. Might have seemed like less to others, more to others. Uh, and I was looking for that significant side. And I I remember we were opening a new office about three hours away as we were expanding our company. Uh, and I was just driving through the mountains each morning and when I go back and forth, and we're just praying, God, bring some people into my life, like show me what's next. I need, I didn't even know what the options were, but I just knew I felt isolation. That was a that was a word that was really strong for me. And I didn't know why I felt isolation. I almost felt guilty for feeling isolation because I had all these blessings and a great family. And so I had this tug in my heart that was like, why am I not feeling completely fulfilled? Why do I feel alone and on an island uh with all of these blessings around me? And I try to go.

SPEAKER_00

Why why why did you feel that way? You did have a level of success. You got a beautiful wife, you got beautiful kids, successful company. And a lot of people that are listening to this episode right now are maybe feeling something similar. But what do you think was there that caused you to fill that void?

SPEAKER_03

Part of, you know, part of it was I know that I'm created to do more. And and how do I how do I use what I have to do more? That was one of the things. I just wasn't even sure. Outside of the church and giving the missions and the offering plate, it's like, okay, great. What what else do you do?

SPEAKER_00

Like when you say more, you mean more businesses or buying more companies?

SPEAKER_03

No, I mean more purpose in life, like more significance around things outside of work itself. Because when you hit a certain point, I was talking to guys this morning, big A, in our masterminds. And sometimes we have these, these, these benchmarks of like, if I can just get to this, if I can just get to this, if I can just get to this point.

SPEAKER_00

Then I'll be happy, then I'll be fulfilled.

SPEAKER_03

Well, then then I'll then I'll relax, then I'll spend more time, then I'll then I'll go on vacation, then then I'll do those things. And so I was kind of at that point. And when you do hit that mark, it's not it doesn't fulfill you like you thought it would. And so you try to make maybe it wasn't big enough. Maybe I need to make a bigger goal. And those things are good for growing companies. It's great for having having those benchmarks and having that grit and hustle, but not when you're trying to figure out as a whole man who am I. And so big A, that's what I was thinking through whenever I met you almost nine years ago, praying through. And you were a guest on my podcast, which uh uh I don't know, eight, eight, nine, nine something, nine plus years ago. And uh, and you your message really resonated with me. And I say you, and now I'm a part of ISI and have been for almost a decade, but back then I was just a man searching. And and that that really resonated with me, that success and significance, and and not doing things alone, not doing things in isolation. And and I hadn't really been honest with myself. The things that ISI teaches, I had not uh I'd had several, I've had I had multiple exits by that point in different companies. I'd had a whole career in music. We'll talk about that in a few minutes. Uh, but uh, and then I had some failures. But I I I never was vulnerable or open and authentic and transparent. I was a regular guy, but I wasn't, I wasn't at that level that I needed to be. And I could start looking back, and even on my business side, I could look, oh man, those the failures I had were a direct result of my pride and my unwillingness to share with others the challenges or opportunities I had because I didn't want to look stupid, or I didn't trust someone else enough to give me the right kind of wisdom.

SPEAKER_00

Like you didn't have anybody, you didn't have anybody at your church, none of your family members, you didn't have anybody that you just let the veil down, you're just authentic, you're vulnerable, you know, you're able to cry, you're able to say, I don't want it to be this way, but it is. These are the struggles I'm dealing with. Like up until ISI, you hadn't really experienced that level.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I had mentors. I had some incredible mentors who were great in business, good Christian men.

SPEAKER_00

But on a regular basis, but on a regular basis.

SPEAKER_03

Got to the point where I could say, here's what my whole life looks like, and and what do I do about it? And and you know, what does it look like going forward? And that's why like ISI covers the the five five parts of a whole man. And when and that that just makes so much sense because if you balance one area and not in the other, then you're off again. And so, yeah, I had men in my life, but not at that level, and I didn't have it demonstrated to me, uh, that level of authenticity and vulnerability. So it wasn't demonstrated to me.

SPEAKER_00

You didn't know that was available, or you didn't pursue it, or other people didn't pursue you to that level.

SPEAKER_03

I didn't know that was available.

SPEAKER_00

You still know it was out there, yeah. Okay, because you're a pillar in the community. I mean, you know, you you you've been around the block. It's it's not like somebody that's not out there in front, but so God tugged on your heart and he said, Hey, I want there's more purpose in your life. There's more more than a lot of people. More purpose.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you're called to do more, you're called to be more. And and there, it's always been a drive for me is not to do things halfway, including uh including in my face and purpose. Like we're going all in on this, right? Which is scary, but yeah, to do it in business, and I want to do the same thing on the other side of my life.

SPEAKER_00

So that is so good. And you know, at the ISI event, we were there and you were sharing, and you and I got to interact and bond and build our relationship, and you've really taken this uh very serious over the past nine years. And now you facilitate two of the groups. You're my business partner here in Iron Sharpens Iron, and uh God's done just uh uh awesome work in your life in this past decade as it relates to every area of your life.

SPEAKER_03

Aaron, you know, it's interesting about that, and you know this, but you know, we're told that God gives us, God prepares us for what's next. And so if we're saying, hey, God, why aren't you giving me more? The answer is, well, what are you doing with what you have right now? How are you stewarding what's in your life right now? And as we continue to steward that better and and explore more and give our heart more and say, Yeah, it's all yours, God starts to give us more opportunities. And it looks different. So I warn people, it it looks different than you think it does, but it's better than you think it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_00

It gives you that peace that surpasses our understanding when you fully submit and you say, Okay, God, I don't understand. We're even dealing with some things currently in our business that we don't really understand, but you're like, okay, I trust you anyway, and I'm gonna follow you. And you've been a real example to me through that, even in our team meetings. Uh, your disposition, your attitude, your heart towards I'm gonna really give it all to God, and I'm gonna work like it depends on me and trust like it depends on him. Because it does, right? And so that's what you've been able to demonstrate through, you know, the kind of character of the man that you are. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_03

Well, when we see challenges, it shows us whether how how important that thing is to us, right? And so if we ask for a better marriage, we're probably gonna have opportunities to be tested in that. If we ask for a better relationship with our son, our daughter, we're probably gonna be given opportunities to have that tested. And a lot of times men or anybody see that test and they get discouraged and go, well, that doesn't work. No, no, that that is the lesson. The lesson is to lean in when you start to have that test and that challenge. That's the opportunity for you to deepen your faith or your growth in those specific areas. So it's no different in business, especially when not when you're doing it with a purpose. You're gonna be challenged. Like you have to expect that you're gonna be challenged on it. And if it's worth doing, you keep doing it. Well, we're doing is worth doing. So that that's not even a question.

From Teepee Life To Jesus

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you never learn through the success. You only learn in the valleys, right? And so we have to go through this. So those that are listening to this interview right now, just reflect on the areas that you're going through, the valley. There is a mountaintop, and God's gonna walk you all the way through this to that point. So just continue to be obedient and relinquish that to God and trust Him in all that you do. So let's go back. I want you to take us way back these early childhood years and share with us a little bit more about your journey.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, happy to do that. Uh was born in Rhode Island. See, I'm gonna start, you said start at the beginning. I'll make this part go a lot faster, I promise. Born in Rhode Island, my when I was just a little baby, little kid, I had an older brother, a year older, have an older brother. And uh my parents decided to uh leave, leave where they were, and uh, and they found a place on the map called Arkansas. They'd never heard of it before. They actually hadn't heard of it. Maybe they had. I don't think they were teaching Arkansas on East Coast books for some reason. Nashville probably made it in the books, but and uh and so they moved there. They bought uh they were they were part of the the hippie movement of the 70s. And so they uh they bought a Winnebago, they bought some ovation guitars and threw their little long-haired babies in the pen inside the vehicle and off they went. And uh they they we were living off the land. We lived in a teepee. Uh we would bathe in the river.

SPEAKER_00

I think they would heat the big in a real teepee. You're not talking about you saw me a picture of that teepee like that.

Music Work Ethic And First Businesses

SPEAKER_03

We lived in a real we we lived in a teepee. It was it was not a it was not a fashion trend, it was where we lived. Uh we upgraded later to a shed, and then eventually I think we had a trailer, but uh the teepee was where we lived for a while. Uh my dad had uh uh had we had they'd made some money in some gray areas that they that allowed them to buy that land and those things. And so uh we were out there living off the land, and my dad was just this this kind of there were honestly drugs were involved, and they they were just hippies. And my parents split up uh during that time. So my dad stayed out in the woods, he was just this long-haired mountain man living in the woods uh on 40 acres, and I mean just like Bigfoot. And uh my my mom took my my brother and I and we we they split up and we were separated, and that's that's when my mom uh met a preacher who told her about Jesus for the first time. And she had never heard about the Jesus that she heard, and it it immediately changed her life, and she had to bring this preacher out. So she brought the preacher out to the woods to meet her her husband. And uh, if you see my dad now, it's pretty crazy because they're so he's such a meek and and calm and you know funny guy. You're they're two different men, and uh and she brought him out there. My dad right then, right then became a Christian, accepted Jesus and and got rid of everything he had, all the bad habits, all the land, all the stuff they had there, and uh put it, put it in the offering plate at this little little Baptist church. And uh, I grew up my whole life with my dad. My dad was making like minimum wage,$314 an hour, something like that. So he gave up what he had, and and there was no gray areas in our house. My dad led by example with that. It was it was uh we're gonna help other people, we're gonna do what Jesus called us to do, and and and that's the way we're gonna live. And so that's the way we were raised, uh uh strictly that way too. And so when I when I was pretty young, still, my I think I was six years old, my parents adopted three girls. And that whole story in itself I won't tell today, but it's a miraculous story in how they came to to be with us. Uh, and then then after that, they built a house. Uh, and they built a house that I don't think there was a carpet finished on on the house until the day I left or wallpaper. It'd be very clean, very, very nice house, but they built it themselves with their own hands. And uh and they uh and they weren't carpenters. And uh and then we then we started bringing in foster kids uh into our home. And so I I I don't remember how many kids and and people that live in our house, but 50, 60, 70, I don't know, a lot, the Salvation would army would call us when somebody needed a place to stay. And my parents would go and pick them up. They were literally the example of take your shirt off your back. And my dad worked 70, 80 hours a week to provide for us, to give us a you know, Christian education, to uh raise us up in that way. And as part of that, Aaron, that that the music part of my life is when my parents as new Christians, they started a Christian band. And so in the in the 70s and early 80s, they were touring around. They even they I mean, they were touring around churches and playing all over the country. And my mom wrote a uh a play that was uh called His Name is Jesus that was played all over the country. People were playing that, and then we would go and play. And so I would just I'd be on the road at three years old, you know, opening for them with the guitar or singing with them and then doing sound for them, and then at work to playing the bass and the violin. And so I just I grew up around all of that and seeing that all the time. Uh and so that just music was just a natural expression for me. That's what you're supposed to do. Music and ministry too. And so uh when I was, I think I was 10 when my brother and I started our first band. And it was it was my brother and I, and then the son of the of the musicians that my parents played with. So it was like second generation musicians, and and that that became a real love for me, that in business. I started liking entrepreneurship type stuff at a very young age. And so I was managing and playing in a band, I think, at 11. I think I was managing the band by 11, maybe 12. And we would book shows all over. So my dad was driving us to Nashville to play showcases. And when I was old enough, I I you know had a we had a like a bus and we had a light sound. The youth group could rent a you know, a light show or a smoke show or you know, all these things. We had our own sound systems, and we were pulling. I mean, we it was a business, it was a ministry and a business. And so we did that for a lot over a decade. And didn't hear it for me was school?

SPEAKER_00

Any where you went to school? I absolutely went to school. I played basketball. This was nights and weekends. It was like we're on the road at 10 and 11.

SPEAKER_03

I'm like, No, we weren't full-time. It was nights and weekends, and it, but it was all it was all I thought about. Like when I wasn't it, it was like this in a couple things happened for me, and the really great side is for from my upbringing is I really learned uh to have a heart for others because I saw it by example. And actually, that's a whole we may get into that later, but to the point where it almost hurt to have a heart because you'd bring people in and you'd you'd love on them and you try to adopt them, and then the kid would go back to their family. While that was beautiful, you felt uh you felt that tear of your heart because you didn't see them ever again. That happened multiple times. I can tell you their names right now, I won't, but uh people that are still children, they're adults now that are still real close to my heart.

SPEAKER_00

Do you keep up with any of them?

SPEAKER_03

I don't now, no, no. There was one time when I saw one of them and I hadn't seen this young man in uh I hadn't seen him in I think three years. And he was really little. I think he was two when he when he had to go back to his family, and he saw me and he knew he said my name Bubba, and he recognized me as soon as he saw me. And uh, and it was that was a sweet moment. Uh, but just just having a big heart like that that my parents did. And the the the the uh my viewpoint on it and my brothers for a little while was that we were we were the the first two first two born children, and and then we you know the family gets bigger, you don't get the same amount of attention, and then there's a lot of people and the money spread. And and so, you know, we we lived on a dirt road, government cheese. My dad worked hard, but you know, we there was a lot of people in the house, and you know, people come over and say, turn on the air conditioning. I'd be like, we don't have air conditioning. They're like, You gotta be kidding me. It's 105 degrees outside and 80% humidity. You must, I'm like, we don't have one. Uh well, can we at least watch TV? I'm like, well, we don't have cable, but we don't have video games. Nope, we don't have that. So now you know why I played music.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, nothing. That's all there was to do.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so I'd play in my room 10 hours a day on in a summer, just trying to practice you know, bass stuff and learn some of that. And so uh music, uh business was always exciting for me too, Aaron. So while I'm doing music, I started liking business. And the music is a business, right? So the day I turned 18, I went and bought my bulk mailing permit so that I could start sending out hundreds of media kits out. Like it was like I couldn't wait till I could do it myself.

SPEAKER_00

Did someone introduce you to business or did you just figure it out on your own? Or what got you?

SPEAKER_03

You know, I watched different people, and this this was a defining moment for me. There was two actually. Uh, when I was 13, I think, 14, I went and worked at this fast food restaurant. And by the way, my family will tell you this day, nobody knows how to wrap a burrito like me. Like, I I you wrap a burrito in front of me, you better do it right because I I know if it's all right. I was slinging a hundred tacos at a time by myself in a drive-thru. Yeah, like and I took a lot of pride in it. So I I think I was 14, maybe 15, when I became a manager of that restaurant. Uh, and that that owner of that franchise uh just he he saw a work ethic in me. And so he really invested in me. He taught me PLs, he taught me how to clean the right way, how to manage your staff. At 14 years old, he didn't look at me like an age. He just said, that man wants to do more. He's hungry, and I'm gonna and I'm gonna, and that's a shout out to Gene from Taco Mile from many, many years ago. And so, yeah, that was my first step. And the next step I had, but there wasn't a lot of money in fast food, right? No, and my next lesson was a guy that that uh was working his way through law school washing windows. Washing windows. And so he invited me to go work for him and he was paying me really well. And remember, I he didn't make much money back then. I think he was paying me like 20, 25 bucks an hour in the 80s.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, man, yeah, that was huge.

SPEAKER_03

And so he would just go knock on doors there, and he did not care what people thought. He didn't have an appointment, he would show up, he'd walk through your flower bed and knock a flower over. He was it was interesting. He he had that part missing, right? That some of that customer service part. And he would just bang on a door and go, Can I wash your windows, hundred bucks? He'd go on the next door,$200, inside out. And he'd go through and he'd have he'd have thousands of dollars at the end of the day. And I'd never seen anyone do that. I didn't know you could make money like that. And so that those two guys probably were the first two that showed me hard work, do it right. Here's how to understand what it takes to run a business. And the other guy was like, Yeah, but let me show what you can do if you're not afraid to go hustle and not afraid to be, no, not be too proud to work. And so the I I ended up buying that company from him, that window company from him early on because it was making a lot of money. And then we we just went and kept growing accounts and and building corporate accounts and things like that. And so that those are my two probably first two that showed me that what was possible. And and Aaron, the biggest thing that showed me is there's no limit. There's no limit to what you can do. If you'll go out there and figure it out, and I think people need to know that. Some people don't realize that. They feel crazy.

SPEAKER_00

That's what's instilled that mindset. That's the reason you have that mindset today. It's the same thing today. Yeah, nothing's impossible. Right.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you might be thinking too small on something, right? I think we can get our business to this. Maybe it can do more than that, right?

SPEAKER_00

Hey, I'm Aaron Walker, founder of Iron Sharpens Iron. Every successful man needs a band of brothers to push him to grow spiritually, personally, and professionally. Each week I meet with like-minded Christian business owners in our mastermind groups. We share wisdom, tackle challenges, and we hold each other accountable to grow, not just in business, but in life. Don't do life or business alone. Join the brotherhood that will challenge, encourage, and sharpen you. Visit isibrotherhood.com and take the first step today.

Cookies Partnerships And The Milk Aisle

SPEAKER_03

And so I'll fast forward and move a little faster here. But uh, you know, I I uh sold a couple little companies. I had I had a cookie distributorship, so I owned Famous Amos and Jackson Manila Wafers and Marietta and uh Murray cookies, all these different brands. And I brought that franchise from uh uh from uh California to to Northwest Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. And uh my customers were Walmart, Walmart Super Centers, all the major grocery chains, all the convenience stores. And so, like if you were buying any of those products, I was getting a percentage. Uh, and that taught me a lot about business too. I learned about rotating your warehouse and your image. And how to pair products together so they sell better, right? I share this story sometimes, but when we would put our cookies on the shelf next to Nabisco or the other brands, we'd sell a certain amount. When we would get the manager to put a display up right next to the milk aisle, people would buy it. We could not keep it stocked. You had to have somebody full-time in every single store just stocking those cookies up. And each time you're making two bucks a box or$1.50 a box, just think about that. Like it's just, and so it's worth it to figure out how do you pair something with something else that's complementary. And that's why when we do partnerships, it's like, yeah, I learned about partnerships at 19 because we realize you partner with this with the Walmart manager and the milk aisle, you're gonna sell more. And so there were just great lessons along the way about how to move product and how to how to have people do impulse buys, and and that that's a win for them, right? You're not tricking them, they're buying something that's even better for their experience. And so I sold those, and you know, I'd all I'd been doing music all this time as well and playing in different projects and and uh not just Christian music, just all kinds of music. And so uh I was ready to go try something else. And so I I moved to California and I I went to music school out there at a musicians institute. Uh uh it's not it's it's MIT, but it's not the MIT that people go, You went to MIT? I'm like, Yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, don't tell anybody.

SPEAKER_03

Different one than you're thinking of, yeah. And that was an incredible experience here in like every single room in the class. I mean, you you played music 12 hours a day. It was so intense that I would have to soak my my wrists in bowls of ice several times a day to get the uh the tension out because you were playing so much. I would do that during the day, and then I would be in the studio at night or recording, or either in the studio recording or playing shows. And we started the the band that I played with there, we started to just do more and more stuff in the music business. And of course, my entrepreneurial side, I started managing projects and booking bands on the on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. And and uh, you know, after about a year and a half, we were the we were considered the local band in Hollywood. So we went from being, you know, I went from dirt road guy to to you know playing the bass player Johnny Depp's Viper Room in in a year and a half. And so it was just it was a different life, as you can imagine, from what I came from. I mean, Hollywood life and Arkansas life, big difference. Uh, but I but I really got to see that world and do quite a bit in that world. And I'm really proud of the projects that we that we did while we were out there. Um did a few companies in LA at the time too. Uh, but it was a tough industry. I mean, I I remember, I mean, you know my story, but you know, we we we were there at the turn of the century when Napster started and Limewire. And anyone who knows those words I'm talking about is probably could be a part of a lawsuit, right? For downloading music and videos. And it was just the it was the Wild West. And so labels started buying up bands and then shelving them. I remember going to going to restaurants and seeing servers or bartenders who were musicians that I knew from top 40 radio. And they were unable to play their songs and they were locked in. So they're they're basically, and so that was the industry just turned upside down. I mean, what an institution the music industry was prior to 2000. And we were there just on the cutting edge of it, and then it just changed a lot. And so a lot of fun in Los Angeles. Uh uh got to do some really cool stuff. We got to do stuff where we, you know, MTV, that was one of our highlights. I don't like MTV. They picked our our project, our band is their favorite band from the staff. So we were an MTV staff favorite band. Um, and so just had a lot of momentum from those kinds of things and touring and playing and uh putting music on silly TV shows. Uh that we didn't choose the placement, but they just got bought up. And so, you know, to this day, uh it's pretty funny when I get my licensing uh checks in, they're for a few bucks each, and it's like, I don't know, real world keeping up with the Kardashians, that kind of stuff in in Uruguay or you know, Peru.

SPEAKER_00

It's it's just so you're still getting royalty checks even now? They're tiny.

SPEAKER_03

One year my accountant said, uh one year my accountant said this is costing you more than you're paying me more. But yeah, every quarter, every quarter, uh we get checks still to this day.

SPEAKER_00

So that's cool. I want you to send me some happy to do that.

Leaving LA And Losing Identity

SPEAKER_03

And so, Aaron, uh I hit a point in that business, in that in that uh industry that I was just exhausted. And I was 29 years old and I'd met my wife. And I'd bet she was my girlfriend. I'd met her, and and uh we we went to visit northwest Arkansas, and she's from New York, and so we'd spent a lot of time in New York or California. Went back to Arkansas and I said, Man, I said, I really love that place, but as we're flying away, I'm I'm acting all big city, even though I grew up on a dirt road, right? I'm like, I don't think I'd ever live there again. It's New York or LA for me. Eight weeks later, we're we're planning our move and uh to Arkansas, and so we did, and so we came here and I was working for a uh uh a uh I was working with an oral surgeon who owned, I mean, just an entrepreneur that owns so many different companies. He owned part of NBC Suites, and I mean you you name it. We know guys like that in ISI, right? Um in fact, I've aspired to do that sometimes, got myself in trouble getting my hands in too many things. And he just had a whole portfolio of companies. And so I started a product for him. Uh he'd asked me to start a sales product when I was in California. And uh I said, hey, I'll do that, but I want to manage it. And it was in the dental field, just it was out of the left field, but it was when the industry, music industry was changing. And uh, and so we built that up and and uh put it to all five disciplines, a dental, so oral surgeons, uh proslodonists, et cetera. And uh, and I got to know the dental world from that. And so that gave me an opportunity. He was in Northwest Arkansas, and so we decided to make a pivot and move here. So I left the music industry. Uh, what I thought was gonna happen, Aaron, was that the band I was with, they couldn't possibly survive without me because uh not because I was a good singer or a good bass player, I was proficient, thought I was pretty good, but because I was the one that was doing the business side of things. You know, I'm the one that would book us on tours and make sure that we got no other bands were doing this. That I'd get us 50% of our money up front three months in advance for for a big music hall for two nights. So like we were able to fund things differently and run it more as a business than a lot of people that were out there or competition that was uh trying to tour. So uh I left that business and I found myself uh I was supposed to have ownership in an agency, some things changed, but I was really trying to go, hey, I'm leaving this industry, it's exhausting. I can't be doing midnight events. I mean, I'm that's just not sustainable. And everything started at 10 or 11 or 12 at night. And so, you know, moved moved back to Northwest Arkansas and I found myself in a cubicle in Bentonville, Arkansas, uh, where I didn't think I'd be. And the ownership thing didn't work out, and I'm here I am now on salary, working inside a cubicle in Bentonville, Arkansas. And if you've grown up in Bentonville, Arkansas, which I love, Walmart's a partner of ours, one of our companies. But if you've grown up here, you're not your first thought is not, I want to stay in Northwest Arkansas and work in a cubicle. You want to figure out how to get out back then. And so here I was back. And uh anyway, should I keep going, Aaron? Or do you have any other questions for me?

SPEAKER_00

Okay. No, I'm loving this. I'm loving, I'm learning. We're going somewhere with this, I promise. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And so uh, and so I was working there in the band that I had been a part of, good friends of mine, by the way, on my podcast, they're the intro-outro music now. That's that's my old band. And uh, and not only did they not not break up, they thrived. Uh John Mayer, he uh who's a big artist, he he heard a song, a song that I had helped write but didn't get credit for. And uh, and and it wasn't mine, but I was part of writing it. And uh he he made it his new favorite song. In fact, there was such a mix-up that the world thought that that song was John Mayer's, and so it really blew up. Uh, Australian Idol picked it up, they recorded it as for the Australian Idol winner, and then that they just it was just from there, there was like rappers in Europe taking them on tour to do you know ensembles with them, and so it got bigger.

SPEAKER_00

Your checks would be bigger if you'd gotten credit for that now, right?

Founding The Artist Evolution Agency

SPEAKER_03

It got way bigger and they went on for a bigger ride. And here I am again, by choice, left six months after I leave. Uh, and I'm sitting in a cubicle, Batmill, Arkansas. And I heard my my my drummer buddy, who's my friend of this day. Like we we our parents were in a band together. We played for 19 years in bands together. And so like you become like family. So I Aaron, I'd already been mourning the loss of my band of brothers during that time. I left because I wanted to do something else, but you don't realize that the people you're in the trenches with people that are in in pro sports go through this, people that are in the military go through this. You have your people that just go through stuff with you and and go on a journey with you that that is hard to explain unless you've been a part of it. And and so I lost that. So I was really struggling with my identity. In fact, to the point where people would say, What do you do? And man, I didn't know how to, I could barely open my mouth because everything that I was that I had created this image of was gone. I had built an image of Derek being a musician, a businessman, uh in LA, just all the things I thought were cool to Derek as a child who didn't have those opportunities. I built an adult version of what I thought was cool, and it was all gone by choice. And I heard I heard an explosion in my head while I was at work. I heard a boom, I heard a bang in my head, and my mouth tasted copper. And I had to go to the emergency room because I thought I was having a brain injure. They did all these tests on me and they said, You're fine. And so I went back again a few days later. Same thing in my head. Went back again, third time in a week. And the doctor pulled me aside and said, Hey, Derek, I gotta talk to you. He said, Uh, you're not sick, you're unhappy, you're going through extreme depression. He said, You've either got to learn to like the life that you have or you have to create a different life. I just created a different life and was miserable. And so I had been working at that at this agency that was, I mean, we had you name a client that's the biggest in the world, that's who we worked with on a high level. And I went in and I and I pitched an opportunity for ownership with them. Like I've got this idea for direction. Looking back on it now, I wasn't ready for that opportunity. So, man, kudos to me for thinking I was, right? Of some unfound confidence. But I had I had experience as a business owner and I and I had ideas. And they said, no, we don't want to do that, but we're about to let some clients go. They don't fit our MO anymore. And if you want them, you can have them. And so I went out in the parking lot. It was a lot like a Jerry McGuire moment. And I sat in my car and I started dialing a few numbers. And the first guy I called who's still a client to this day, 18 years later, Dr. Randy Layers. And I called him and I said, Hey, I got bad news, we're letting you go. I said, The good news is I can take you on. And it was real quiet. And the the way the artist evolution started is after that pause, he said, What time can you get over here? And he's with me to this day. So that's how the artist evolution started. We'd started the I had been a passion LLC I'd set up to help artists around the turn of the century. We hadn't done a lot with it. And so I had an LLC ready to go. And so we took the artist evolution, plugged that in right then, and here we are 18 years later, uh, helping all kinds of brands all over the all over the world. So wow.

SPEAKER_00

That's wow. That's my story to get to hear. So is the is the name the artist evolution, you're the artist in the way you've evolved? Is is that fundamentally where you came up with that name?

SPEAKER_03

That's how it is. Yeah, helping through the evolution. It was specifically originally made, Aaron, to help people figure out how to turn through disruption and how to grow, like happened to artists when I was in Los Angeles. Wow. So specifically for that. And it really resonated with our clients. They liked it because they considered themselves artists and creatives as well. And so they they leaned in and adopted the name, or we would have changed it. Uh, but it got we're called TAE more than the artist evolution at this point in time. Uh, but yeah, it the name has stuck for us.

SPEAKER_00

So hey, thank God for Randy, because if it wasn't for him, the artist evolution would be you better never go up on his rates, is all I can tell you. Nope.

SPEAKER_03

That guy's he's been grandfathered. He's locked in.

Running Brand Campaigns Through Disruption

SPEAKER_00

He's grandfathered in. That's right. That is so cool. Well, thank you for giving us that background. So what's exciting and that's going on now in TAE and the life of ISI, uh, what are the things that give you a lot of energy today?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, uh, a lot of things. You know, we'll we'll probably talk about some pivots, but there's a lot happening and changing in the world right now, which if you don't have the stomach for that, oh there's not an industry that's not going to be disrupted. We've been telling people that for a couple of years, right? If you haven't been disrupted, it's coming. People say, Well, I don't think me. Well, now it's coming for everybody. And so, you know, to have the stomach for that as an entrepreneur is important. But, you know, we've been going through that as well. And so as we've seen pivots happen at the artist evolution side, we've made adjustments really in the CPG, like the consumer packaged goods space. And so we work with a sister company that I'm a partner in as well. And and we're doing brand sourcing and brand activation campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world now. Uh, in fact, we're in London next week. Our partners are, and we we basically are helping brands that want to be great in the United States uh to have relevancy. And we're doing that in-store and uh out-of-store too. So from influencer campaigns to great content to driving traffic to Walmart.com or Home Depot.com or in-store traffic or exciting promotions and campaigns that are happening, we're managing those. So, you know, you're you you pop on social media and you're you're doing a 100 gift card giveaway for your favorite soft drink, there's a chance we might be the ones doing that. Um we're behind the scenes orchestrating that and and optimizing and getting results. So we get to write the campaigns too, so it's a lot of fun. That's on that side of the business. Uh, my biggest passion, Aaron, as you know, is is in and focuses on iron sharpens iron. And and I've had the because of how we've built our company and because of a great team that we have in the Arts Evolution, um, I've been able to come over with what is probably the thing I consider the most important and was overly protective of for a long time, and that's time, because we have a limited resource of time. So I have the privilege of getting to put the majority of my time focused on iron sharpens iron and and talking with men who are different stages of their journey in life. Uh, I don't know everything, you don't know everything, but man, we know somebody who does, and there's probably not a story that we haven't heard. There's probably not a business scenario, a marriage scenario, a father-child scenario, uh, et cetera, that we haven't seen firsthand with hundreds and hundreds of examples that we've personally been able to work with over the past you longer than me, but me for almost a decade. That really is exciting for me to see men who get unstuck.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Derek, don't you think that God has really prepared you for this, Tom, because of your background, the way you grew up, the opportunities that you've had, the work ethic that you've got? Uh God's really instilled in you a heart for men. Uh what is it about that process that most excites you? Like you're able to talk to these high-level business people every day, and then just people that have, you know, small business owners that have startups, you know, or some of them are household names, obviously. Uh, what is it that gives you that desire to help them be well-rounded rather than just being successful?

SPEAKER_03

You know, uh a couple things. So I think one of the biggest ones for me that resonates, Aaron. So there's several reasons why, and I wouldn't get into them, but one of the biggest rewarding ones for me is to see peace. And I just see so many men that don't have peace in their in their lives because they're dealing with things a certain way, and peace in their marriage, peace in their business. And I personally went through that for many years. And I said, Man, I'd give imagine how my wife felt when I said to her for about two or three years, I would pay any amount of money in the world to just have peace. And my friends would say, You need to go to church, you need to talk to God. I'm like, I'm praying. I just feel a dissonance. I don't know what that dissonance is. And I would pay any amount of money in the world. Like you couldn't charge enough. Aaron, we know men like that who have found peace. I'm one of them. And and it wasn't that they weren't a Christian, it's that they had a misalignment. And they they just couldn't figure out how to get unstuck from whatever that friction or or multiple friction points were. And it's just suspicious cycle. And so seeing men get clarity in that way is probably my favorite part of get of doing what we get to do. Seeing them have peace and then obviously to have purpose and and and be well-rounded at home, the family part is really important to me too. Because I understand the business side. I make a lot of mistakes in business, but I know how to figure it out. Uh, the family part is one that's harder to redo. You know that. You you preach that all the time.

Signs You Are Out Of Balance

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you've only got one shot at it, right? You don't get a do over. So what would you say to the listener that's listening out there right now that's chasing a level of success? What would you tell him are the first steps that he should consider? What kind of evaluation should he take or deep dive within himself? What are some of the telltale signs that they're not well rounded?

Build Systems So Family Wins

SPEAKER_03

You know, if they have trouble being present at home, if it's it's easier for us to work than not to work. If you if you say I'm if I if you could say I would rather work and that's that I could do that all day long and I'm a provider, that's one one flag. It's not a flag, but it means, oh, you're the type like me, like Aaron, right? We're I could work 20 hours in a day and it's not work. Work's not even work for me. That's awesome. If you got a family, and then if you're also having the friction point going, I'm having trouble being present at home or don't have the same energy level at home, there we got a problem here. Like that, that's a red flashing light on your vehicle. You you you need to take note. And this is my this is the the cautionary part for me, Aaron, that that actually makes me sad, is that a lot of men say, and I was one of them at a point, say, no, no, I I want to put God first and I don't want to sacrifice my family. But there's such an allure for them of hitting that success side to see what it's like to get the money or the things that they'll give a lip service on the family faith side, but they won't go all in. And they're gonna have to hit a brick wall before they do it. And so my caution is don't wait, it will have it'll happen. I'm telling you, I could tell you so many stories. Aaron can too. Don't let it happen to you where your casualty is your family at the expense so that you can make a certain amount of money or get a certain car or certain vacation homes. We all want that, we all like good stuff. Aaron says it all the time. We like nice stuff. It's good to have it as a resource. But don't do that and make that your like, don't give lip service to God and family and not actually put it behind there. And I would challenge you guys as a way to test that and be careful. I mean be careful because you you will get an answer, is really ask God what is most important to me. And are you willing to give God everything? And if you do, things are gonna look different. It'll look different for you. You you might make more money than you thought you were after that, but it's gonna look different because you're gonna see your money differently. You're gonna see your things differently. And man, what comes at the top as precious is your relationship with Jesus and your family. And that that just rises to the top when you really lean in. It just glaringly becomes shinier and more important. And you're still gonna have it won't take away your motivation. Aaron, that was one of the things with the ISI, if I can just throw that in, that I was scared of when I was really going deep into ISI and unpacking things, those unresolved things from my my childhood, the storming years and with all so many people in the house and all that. And I was scared to unpack it because and I was scared to give everything over because I was afraid I was gonna lose that mightest touch, the Derek mojo that people said I had. And I was like, if I unpack everything, where's my motivation gonna come from? If I really do give everything over here to this side of what I'm saying, significance is will I have any motivation to do this? Do I have to, yes. The answer is yes. More motivation, purer motivation, more support around what you're doing, a God calling around what you're doing. So yeah, you can do both. Don't be scared of that part. But that was my, honestly, if I'm being honest, that was my fear was I would lose my secret sauce if I went that direction.

SPEAKER_00

You know, Derek, there's not an applicant ever that has joined ISI. We've had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds over the years, the dozen years now we've been doing this. No one says, my family's not important. Everyone says, my family's the most important. And then we go through the interview process and I really discover the amount of time, effort, and energy that they're spending growing their business versus the time that they spend with their family. But don't misunderstand me, those that are listening. There's times that we have to hustle, there's times we've got to be away, but we don't want it to be the average of our life all the time because the relationship capital that you're spending with your spouse and with your children, you don't get back. And they're gonna find someone that gives them attention. You may not like the attention that they're getting. And you're like, that's our responsibility to be the husband, to be the father. First and foremost, the the occupation is by means to make money, is a tool to live our best life. But what we do is we get that misaligned and we start having these great aspirations for bigger, better, shinier, faster, grander, just a hundred thousand more, then I'll be okay. Just one more business, then I'll be okay. And in the rearview mirror, you look, and the years are ticking by. You know, little Billy wants to pitch baseball, but you got to send one more report, or Susie wants you to be at her piano recital, but you know, daddy's just got to go on this sales job, you know, this appointment. And so, and then we look back and we go, man, we can't recover that. Right. And I wasn't at every single thing, and most people are not, but listen, if it's a one-time event, you you got to be there, right? If it's something that's really, really important, don't miss those things. People call me when our live event is going on. They said, My son's 16th birthday is this weekend. Same, I said, Don't come to the live event. Like, go be with your son, 16 years old. You can't get that back. And so all we want you to do is to evaluate this and go, hey, what is it that I'm missing that I can't get back? I tell everybody I can't.

SPEAKER_03

We want you to grow your business, right? We want you to grow your business.

SPEAKER_02

And effectively, ISI just says, let's not do it like a knucklehead. Right.

SPEAKER_03

Let's let's go in and let's help you get better systems and processes and give you your time back and bring in the right assistance and do the right automation. So, like, yeah, let's scale, but not at the cost. And so, you know, it's not it doesn't have to be an either or. There are sacrifices in life, but if you do it smart with the right people around you, you can do both.

SPEAKER_00

And we've had so many people across. Accomplished that in ISI today, they're running their businesses very effectively, as you are a testament to that yourself. You've got the artist evolution, right people in place, right SOPs, the right processes and systems. They know the mission, they got the vision, they know exactly what it is to do, and you're thriving as a result of it because you've worked smarter, not necessarily. Well, we're able to actually get out of the way, right?

Where To Follow Derek

SPEAKER_03

And and you know, that's that's one of the things, Aaron, too, that was the hard lesson of getting out of the way. And there's all new lessons you learn once you're not needed the same way, too, right? But but uh, but you know, to be able to focus instead on removing uh removing friction points and building bridges instead. Uh I can focus on my family and keep that balance uh and have better people in place than me doing it. There's people that are in in their positions that are better at what they do than I do. You want me doing a social media strategy, or do you want the 24, 25, 26-year-olds that are excited about it and are secondhand nature with content and those things, right? Like you don't want a 49-year-old, 50-year-old man doing it. You want me out of the way.

SPEAKER_00

Derek, how can our audience follow you, connect with you? What is the best place they can reach out and maybe just uh make an introduction and connect with you?

SPEAKER_03

You know, uh DerekChampaign.com is a great spot. I think all my stuff should be on there.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah. Derek, thank you so much for sharing your story and this time with us today. Guys, I hope you take what Derek has unpacked for us today and do an evaluation of your own life. Think through am I being the whole man that God intended me to be? Personally, professionally, relationally, financially, physically. Am I living a life of success and significance? Or am I just on a pathway to have a level of success? Hey, we'd love to talk to you. We'd love to help you in the future. Until next time, we'll see you again on the ISI Brotherhood Podcast. Thanks for joining us today.