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Introducing David Hooper

Today guest, on the Join Up Dots business coaching podcast interview is Mr David Hooper.

David is the go to man if you have a band, are interested in creating music, but don’t know the first thing about getting it out there.

Being in the music industry and the online world since way back in 1982, our guest at first had the desire to be the main man himself.

Strutting the stage like….well a John Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen, but as we find time and time again on Join Up Dots life had other ideas for him.

Six months ago, he released a book called Six-Figure Musician – How to Sell More Music, Get More People to Your Shows, and Make More Money in the Music Business

How The Dots Joined Up For David

As the title suggests, it was written for musicians and the people who work with them — managers, record labels, etc.
During the first few years, David Hooper was able to work on promotions by several big acts… No Doubt, Bush, Run-DMC, Ratt, and others, and the names have got bigger from there. But working with the established is not what excites our man.

As he says “I’d rather build something than add on to it. In my opinion, helping somebody go from zero to 10,000 records sold is much more life-changing than helping somebody go from 100,000 to 1,000,000.

Plus, going from zero to 10,000 records requires more skill…and I love a challenge.”

Well let’s bring onto the show to start joining up dots, as we discuss the words of Steve Jobs with the one and only Mr David Hooper.

Show Highlights

During the show we discussed such weighty topics such as:

How David Hooper did his first recording session at the age of five and was bored stiff….not a good start then!

How its a human trait to always look at the “overnight success” and believe that its not a combination of hardwork, inspiration, more hardwork and risk taking that has built up over years!

How being in the music business was just plain dumb luck due to growing up in Nashville….but he still made something out of that luck!

How Tootsies in Nashville is the greatest bar in the world bar none!

And lastly………

How “One Direction” is music heroin and is made purely to go straight to the veins and hit the right spot with audiences!

Discussed During The Show

Rick Astley Performing Highway To Hell (Live)

Tootsie Bar Live Webcam

How To Connect With David Hooper

Return To The Top Of David Hooper

If you enjoyed this episode with David Hooper why not check out other inspirational chat with Hal Elrod, Derek Rydall and the amazing Rob Scott

You can also check our extensive podcast archive by clicking here – enjoy

Audio Transcription Of David Hooper Interview

Intro [0:01]
When we’re young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here’s your host live from the back of his garden in the UK, David Ralph.

David Ralph [0:26]
Good morning world. How are we? How are we in the world of Join Up Dots? I hope you’re good. And I hope you’re getting more motivational and inspired every single time you listen to these shows, because boy, we’ve had some great conversations recently I you know, I’m doing this as a daily job, but I’m inspired to take it to the highest level possible and certainly from the emails and the comments and I’m getting you guys are as well. Now you aren’t going to be inspired by today’s chat because he is somebody who has a zig and zag with the best of them. He is but go to man if you have a band or interested in creating music, but don’t know the first thing about really getting it out there. Being in the music industry in the online world since way back in 1982. Our guest at first had the desire to be the main man himself strutting the stage like, Well, suppose Jon Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen. But as we find time and time again on Join Up Dots life had other ideas for him. Now, six months ago, he released a book called six figure musician how to sell more music, get more people to your shows, and make more money in the music business. And as the title suggests, it was written for the musicians and the people who work with them, managers, record labels, etc. And he’s built up that sort of knowledge to be able to produce that work. Because during the first few years, he was able to work on promotions by several big acts. No doubt, Bush, Run DMC, and others, and the names have got bigger from there. But working with the established is not what excites our man. As he says, I’d rather build something then add on to it, in my opinion, helping somebody go from zero to 10,000 Records sold is much more life changing when helping somebody go from 100,000 to a million plus going from zero to 10,000 Records requires more skill. And I love a challenge. Well, let’s give him a challenge as we start joining up the dots that he’s live with the one and only Mr. David Hooper, how are you today, David?

David Hooper [2:21]
Fantastic. Thank you, David.

David Ralph [2:23]
You are a zig and zag with the best of them. You really are. Because that on that sort of introduction. There’s so many points that I kind of look at and think right, that’s interesting. I’m going to dive into that. And that’s interesting. I’m going to dive into that. So the first thing that I’m going to dive into really is that you are based in one of my favourite towns on Earth. A place that I’ve had more than enough alcohol consumed and got up the next day and going to get Nashville.

David Hooper [2:50]
Yes, sir. Music City USA.

David Ralph [2:53]
What got you into Nashville because I tell you I’ve had some storeys in Nashville and I was talking about this the other day. tootsies, Wild Orchid. It has brought me down to my knees many times in that bar. Yeah, it is my favourite bar on Earth. If anybody is looking for a drink and has a few quid Ben get a flight over to seize because it is the bar that will it will make you a man even if you are women wanting David.

David Hooper [3:20]
It has brought a few people to their knees. I’m sure you know, you may not know this, but tootsies actually used to connect to Ryman Auditorium, it opens up to it’s a venue here known as the Mother Church of country music where the Grand Ole Opry started, and they still have big show’s there. And all the Country Music singers used to go over to tootsies play pool, have a drink in between shows, or was somebody else was on stage. So yeah, it’s got a long storied history in Nashville still going strong. It sounds like you’ve experienced it firsthand.

David Ralph [3:51]
I experienced it big time. One night, we go in there. And as I say, We drank a bit too much. I’ll be honest with you. And we were standing right at the back on the lower level because you go in there and it goes lower level and then goes upstairs. And I didn’t actually encounter upstairs, I was able to mount the stairs due to the inability of my legs to actually work as they were designed to work. But I did have the ability to reach into my wallet and hand money to this band up on the stage who for $20 would play any song that you wanted. And we were testing them out big time. Now if you think $20 is a lot of money that’s like a night out really that I could do you know, about 1817 pounds. I wouldn’t dream of paying that much just to test out a band. But obviously alcohol was consumed. So I reached into my wallet and the first one that we said my mic said do Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash. I know you don’t want to do that one that they’re obviously going to be able to do that no one there in Nashville. Anyhow, the 20 pounds goes into the bucket. Ding ding ding ding ding ding and off I go. Ring of Fire Johnny Cash. So I thought why can’t get into a good one. What one will Country and Western band not be able to do and so I thought why Honky Tonk women by the Rolling Stones are probably not going to be able to do that. Bang straight on the button, Honky Tonk women blasting out so we thought why Okay, let’s get a good one. Let’s get a good one. So we found country roads by john Denver. And we thought they’re not going to be able to do that. That’s an old song and the bloke got our piece a lot. I’ve never done this song before. I’m not even sure I can do it. But I can ruin any song for $20 $20 goes in the bucket and bang. And now that song country roads Take me home country both has become my anthem to Nashville. Whenever I’m in Nashville. I need to hear that and it takes me back to that night. Throwing the money into the bucket with abandonment and drinking more alcohol when I’m physically Alberta consume. It was a marvellous night, sir.

David Hooper [5:57]
Well, you may be excited to hear that today actually broadcast their bands live via webcam. You can watch them online. I think it’s two T’s dot com. Okay. You may be able to even phone them up and do request from London.

David Ralph [6:13]
I’m going to do that I’m not going to pay any money. So you’ve had enough out of me this time. Give me a freebie. I’ll, I’ll promote your me show. And that’s all you’re getting out of me. But um, yeah, it tootsies. I’m going to put that on the show notes. So if anybody sees sort of a night at home watching this band, but I’ve been talking about, then please go over there because it’s going to be amazing. But the show isn’t all about tootsies, no matter how much I love the place because it’s about you. And so how did you actually what you raised in Nashville, or did you end up in bear because it’s kind of music Central,

David Hooper [6:44]
born and raised in Nashville. And that’s actually what got me into the music business. Because that’s what everybody does here was kind of like, being in Detroit. Everybody was making cars for a while. And here in Nashville, we do music and I started playing music, singing music did my first session when I was five years old, and took it from there.

David Ralph [7:04]
Can you remember what your first session was when you when you got up on stage?

David Hooper [7:08]
Well, this is a recording session in the studio. And I do remember it because it was long and boring. And I thought I would never do it again. It was awful. Not very entertaining at all. It was for a children’s album. Like a Christian. There’s a lot of contemporary Christian music here. And it was a contemporary Christian kind of a vocal kids chorus kind of Barney kind of thing. Like kid, you know, kids music.

David Ralph [7:33]
Counter wrong with Bonnie. Bonnie.

David Hooper [7:37]
Well, I don’t know. I never I never got to hear that one. I don’t know that it was ever released. But yeah, it was my first introduction into the music industry. Was it the I love you. You love me that that one that Bonnie does it was something like that, but it probably mentioned Jesus or God or something like that. Yeah. I love Jesus. You look

David Ralph [7:57]
Yeah. Yeah,

David Hooper [7:58]
yeah, we we we do that a lot. It’s a huge lot of people don’t know this about Nashville, huge publishing town. And not only for music publishing, but also for book publishing. And a lot of it is religious based. The buckle of the bible belt is where we are.

David Ralph [8:12]
So so well, the people just before we sort of move on and really delve into your history, but people that are not aware of Nashville, other than country music is a lot more than it than that, isn’t it?

David Hooper [8:23]
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. This is really an entertainment town. We’ve got a brand new Well, two seasons, a national TV show about the city called Nashville, which if you’re in the United States, you’ve probably seen it. But yeah, it’s definitely more than just music. It’s book publishing. It’s the business of music. It’s a producer town really a lot of big acts of recording here that you would never know. Because they’re not country music bands like mega death. Elvis recorded a lot of his stuff here. I mean, huge, huge x huge Pop Albums have been recorded here.

David Ralph [8:58]
Neil Young, what is your music? Your musical taste? If you were driving along in the car? Is it country that you put on or do you put No,

David Hooper [9:07]
no, absolutely not probably everything but country. I’m really an r&b fan. I love old soul music Memphis soul music. And really, this is gonna sound cliche, but really everything. I don’t listen to a lot of rap music. I don’t listen to any country music. But really everything. Growing up as a musician, I learned how to appreciate all types of music, everything from our grain to Led Zeppelin to classical music, jazz, all of it.

David Ralph [9:34]
So what is it about country music? You don’t like divorce in bed dogs? What was it?

David Hooper [9:39]
You know what it is the older country stuff, the kind of stuff that you might hear at a tootsies where it was working class people. My father was also born in Nashville and actually grew up around some of these guys. He knows Brenda Lee, Brenda Lee grew up in a trailer park and went to school with my dad. That’s an example of where country musicians used to come from. She was always on tour, even when she was a kid. And nowadays, it’s just produced music. They take somebody who’s a model or who’s an actress and songwriters write this stuff. studio musicians play it. And to me, it’s just not very authentic. It’s produced for mass consumption in the Midwest.

David Ralph [10:15]
So so you like the dirty kind of

Unknown Speaker [10:18]
record? Yeah, I want to hear somebody.

David Hooper [10:21]
Absolutely. And to take it back to Christian music, something that we refer to all the time on my podcast on red podcast, when you got somebody that’s not being authentic, they come off. Really too, too polished. We call it Christian singer hair. Because you’ll see these guys that are Christian musicians, Christian rock and roll bands. They’re just a little bit too clean. I think what makes musicians Great. I’ll give you a great example music example. AC DC. It’s so raw. If you listen to the first AC DC record, if you listen to it in headphones, the guitars are out of tune. They’re not in tune with each other. And that’s what makes those albums great. I like the raw nitty gritty, just dirty feeling of it. Because it’s real. It’s a moment, it’s something that we can share, because we’re not perfect either.

David Ralph [11:10]
You have a similar age to me. And so you went through the 80s Do you remember an artist called Rick Astley?

David Hooper [11:16]
Oh, sure. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Very great. Singer. Yeah,

David Ralph [11:20]
amazing. Singer. I saw him in concert recently. And he did Highway to Hell by AC DC. Can you imagine Matt?

Unknown Speaker [11:31]
Did he pull it off?

David Ralph [11:31]
He did. Yeah, he got on the drums. And he was drumming to an inch of his life while singing at the same time. Yeah, I feel like I might put that on the show notes as well, because I’m sure that’s on YouTube. There’s always a video on YouTube. Yeah, I I agree with you. And I think the key thing to what you were saying there, David, and it applies to every successful artist, and entrepreneur, businessman. And anyone that I’ve spoken to over the last hundred plus shows is authenticity, isn’t it? And I know it’s a dirty word. Now, being unique to yourself, everyone talks about, but it does separate you from the rest of the crowd. And in many ways, it does make your life easier because you’re playing directly to your inherent skills.

David Hooper [12:17]
Yeah, I would agree with that. I think the since we’re being authentic, I think that it is a buzzword right now. And I think people try to kind of force what they call authenticity, which by definition makes it an authentic and authentic. So yeah, I got I got mixed feelings about it. But I do think there’s something to be said, for raw emotion that comes from creation that comes from a podcast like this that comes from being on stage that comes from music, certainly any kind of performance, and not having everything so polished and perfect.

David Ralph [12:55]
Did you know when you’re being authentic, and you’re not being a cliche of yourself, there is a certain point isn’t there when artists start to buy in to what people expect them to do, and then play up on it. And that authenticity then becomes a caricature. Are you aware if that ever happens with the artists you work with? Or yourself?

Unknown Speaker [13:18]
Yeah,

David Hooper [13:19]
yeah, definitely. It does happen. Because I think that with artists, and this is really anybody, this could be a blogger podcaster, anybody who’s got something that starts small, and they grow it, they’re being creative, they do something. And it works. It gets more people involved, more people are wanting to see what’s next, there’s more pressure on the Creator, and you start to second guess yourself, and you start to play for the audience, rather than do something that was working for you. And you kind of forget where you came from. And you start to try to second guess yourself and just not really make good decisions, I think, because you’re so worried about failing, rather than taking those chances, which is how you got there in the first place. So yeah, it definitely happens. It’s something to watch out for. And I think there’s, I think it’s kind of the natural progression of things. I think everybody you know, you start raw, and then you go and you kind of mess things up a little bit. And then you get back and find your your true path. It’s maybe like the third third generation of what you’re doing.

David Ralph [14:27]
I’m well, I used to be a big elton john fan. And then I kind of went off the ball with him. But I can see his music now. And even if you don’t like own john, you have to sort of respect the man that he’s been going for 200 years, and he still banging away at the piano. But if you listen to his music, now, it’s very similar to his very early stuff. And there’s a kind of rawness to it. And it’s a lack of production. And a lot of the music, since I suppose often, Johnny Cash did an album that was really stripped back to basics when he did hurt. And, Ben, I know Neil Diamond did one and it seems to be a production value that is now raw and open. And do you think that is when somebody is finding their real self when it’s all stripped down, and all the production values that they might be hiding behind is taken away?

David Hooper [15:20]
You know, some of that I feel are, it’s due to trends in the music industry, there was a time when there was really big productions and orchestras would come in, and then it got a little bit more what I will call lo fi. So some of that, I think has to do with trends. Some of it has to do with contracts, that they have more creative control. Some of it has to do with making so much money, they just don’t care anymore. I don’t know the answer to that question. I think it’s an interesting one. I think it’s interesting to see creative and successful people and and how they’ve navigated that I think that can help us all navigate the things that we get into. But I think one of the interesting things is to think about, how do you have that rawness For example, let’s say you have like New York Dolls? I don’t know if you’re familiar with them? Or maybe here’s another example from around that time, early kiss, yes, early 70s, New York music, you know, that was pretty raw, when you listen to first kiss records, you can tell they were done on a budget, they had maybe 510 days to get in the studio and do something and then you listen to the later stuff. And does it have that urgency? Well, I don’t know the songwriting might be better, but they’ve got millions and millions of dollars to spend just a lifestyle in general, they’re not starving. So they’re not as hungry. They’re not as young. There’s a lot of things that can affect art and creation. So how do you keep in touch with that? I don’t know. I will tell you this, that I think some people, certainly musicians, actors, creative people kind of get into that starving artist syndrome, let’s call it where they think they have to go do drugs, they think they have to live a wild and reckless life. I don’t think it comes from that either. So I don’t know. But I know what it’s not. And I don’t think it’s done through abusing yourself through drugs or something of that nature.

David Ralph [17:10]
There’s a kind of romance Bo isn’t there in in a bizarre, twisted way of the tortured artist who been because he’s so tortured, comes out with some amazing work of art that people look back and go Ah, yes, it’s because he was doing this and he was on drugs. And he was all that kind of stuff. It builds up the mystique doesn’t it that that? Yeah,

David Hooper [17:31]
yeah. But that’s all marketing, though. Because Nashville, the way the city was built and how the music business was built is all about marketing. It’s not really about the music, music. It’s always existed, and it’s been here. But this became a Music Centre because of the marketing guys. And a lot of what we believe about music has to do with marketing. And a lot of what we have believe about creative people has to do with marketing. You probably heard the stuff about Sylvester Stallone selling this dog and writing the script for Rocky. So yeah, like one night, there’s all sorts of things. And it’s like, yeah, if you kind of hit on it on the inside it it doesn’t really there’s a lot of lying by omission. Let’s say that there’s a hint of truth to it. But yeah, we we romanticise that kind of thing. I think what you don’t see, I think this is really, really tough for bloggers for podcasters for creatives, is that a lot of guys are I’ll take it back to kiss. Now I don’t know about the guys that are in the band now. But the original drummer, he’d been around for 10 years before he joined kiss. So he’d been around since like the early 60s, a lot of musicians have been around 10 1215 years. We don’t talk about that. We don’t talk about the hard work. We don’t talk about the writer that had to write three or four screenplays that got ditched. For one got accepted. We like to talk about the instant success. That’s a whole lot more fun. So I think there is romance, I think a lot of it has to do with our own marketing. What do

David Ralph [19:00]
you think as humans? And I’ve touched on this in other shows as well, because it interests me. But why do you think As humans, we like to benchmark ourselves against success. We like to look at these people and think that it was so easy for them. And even if we start reading their biographies, and we realise that but three years, I had no money and I was scrimping around and they were, you know, really struggling on every area that they turned, we still kind of go, it was easy for them, it’s never going to happen to us.

David Hooper [19:31]
Well, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that when you’re personally involved, it’s accelerating, accelerated, and it’s amplified. And when you get personally involved in creating something, it’s easy to underestimate how tough it is to come out with a book, a great work of art, a blog, a podcast. So I think that we, you know, we we don’t have the full storey so we kind of fill in the blanks, but we also underestimate how tough that stuff is.

David Ralph [20:02]
How tough was your life it looking back? Obviously, you know, this must be the pinnacle of your life being on Join Up Dots. You can’t You can’t get any better than this. Now don’t laugh David.

David Hooper [20:13]
Yeah, there was there were there was there was Oprah, Larry King and Join Up Dots. You’re correct. Yeah. I think

David Ralph [20:18]
I’d like to be in the front now. And Oprah Next, you know, you could have done that one. But how hard was your life going through it? Because when I was getting the, the introduction together, and joining up your dots, along a bit seem pretty systematic. It seemed that it flowed from one thing to another. But in all conversations, that was never the case. So how much effort did you have to put in to be able to get to the point when, you know, you could release your book and you were marketing for people and people were coming to you for your experience?

David Hooper [20:50]
Well, I think me ending up in the music business was somewhat just kind of dumb luck. I happen to be born in Nashville happened to go to a school, that was at the end of what we call Music Row, which are two streets 16th and 17th avenues in Nashville, full of publishing companies full of labels. And just being around people, like I knew people that were successful in the music industry, you run into people here, it’s just part of our culture. So I think that was just kind of dumb luck. As far as difficulties, I think it’s always difficult to start a business to be successful at a business to maintain a business. I’ve been doing this for about 20 years at this point. And, yeah, there have been some lean times, lean times, man and the opposite. Like, I’ve got to dig out of a hole just to get the zero kind of times. I don’t know that it was tough, though, because I was so engaged in the work. And when you’re busy working, it’s not like I was, you know, lost in the desert for 400 years or something of that nature. And I wasn’t doing anything I was calling, working. And looking back on it. And this may be just kind of I think this is probably me not being in the middle of it. Now I can look back on it and just have kind of selective memory. But yeah, it I don’t know that it’s necessarily been that tough. There have been lean times, though.

David Ralph [22:19]
Can you remember some of the real lean ones is a storey that you can share with our listeners where you were just, you know, eating cold baked beans out of a tin and?

David Hooper [22:30]
Yeah, I’ll give you one. I was fortunate I was I was working for myself at this time. So I was making a living, the bills were being paid somewhat. But I was putting everything that I had to get out onto the road, and to get more clients. So I remember going down, I was getting ready to leave for Philadelphia, and the flight was booked, the hotels were booked everything is it’s good. And I walked down to the bank, I’m live an urban neighbourhood or I did at the time. So I will walk down to the bank to the ATM machine. And I had to get some money out for maybe like cab fare something that I got maybe 2030 bucks out however much I don’t know. Just have a little bit of cash on me. And when you take your cash out of the ATM, it gives you a receipt says Well, here’s how much you took out. Here’s your balance. And I remember my balance was 12 cents. And it was kind of funny that it was just 12 cents because that to me that was kind of even worse than zero. It’s like yeah, you’re you got a little something, but it ain’t much. And I remember going to to the hotel. This is this is it’s embarrassing to say but i think it’s it’s part of it. I I think I you know, I use my credit card, I think the credit card may be maxed out at the time. I don’t remember what the deal was because I got in the hotel. And I use my credit card to get in, you know, to check in with ID and everything. But I knew that I wasn’t be able to pay for the hotel bill not then. So I just walked out and went back caught my flight that was already taken care of. And I got home and of course they build me. It wasn’t like it was going to be declined. I just didn’t want to have to go through the the process of paying for the hotel bill at the end and say sorry, so your card is declined. And that was the only one I didn’t know what I was going to do. So I wanted to leave town. So yeah, there’s been a few lean times like that, but they bill you for it, and you eventually make the money, pay it all off and live another day?

David Ralph [24:32]
Does it make you stronger, because one of the things so worries me about my life is I really haven’t had any rough times. I’ve had times that have been difficult. But I’ve always been in employment, I’ve always been able to pay my bills, I’ve always been able to pay the bills, you know, go on holiday every year with a family and all that kind of stuff. And I’ve been having these conversations where people have been giving me these really, you know, difficult storeys where they were sitting in a car, and they were just about to end their life before I changed it to a positive. And I kind of picked myself. I haven’t got anything like that in my life, you know, am I am? Do you need bad is it is it? Does it give you something because you really have nothing left to lose. But you go forward and you keep on going forward, because you never want to go that far back. And being in that kind of comfort zone that I’ve always lived in live my life is that the real killer of dreams because you haven’t got anything to prove?

David Hooper [25:29]
will comfort can kill dream. Certainly, I will say this, I think that once you have survived something, another example of this, I was in federal court. And on the receiving end of a lawsuit, very, very scary. But once you go through something like that, and you see that you survived, I think it does make the other things that come up easy to survive that you you’ve probably known people that have been divorced, or a lot of successful people, they’ve been through a bankruptcy. And once you’ve find out that you’re not going to die. It’s pretty easy to push the gas a little bit harder the next time. I mean, it can it can be some some people, some people I will say they tense up, they’re so scared. They’re scared of going back there. But there’s two ways to look at it. I try to look at it as Hey, it didn’t kill me. So I’m good.

David Ralph [26:20]
Well, but that’s the thing, isn’t it? That is the thing. And listeners listeners Listen to this. We’ve said this before. And you know, I do repeat myself. But hey, I don’t care. And it’s a daily show. But if you are in a job that you don’t like, there are other jobs. And if you do leave a job and you go into another job, and you still don’t like it, then do another one. I think so many people think that the next move the next transition, the next relationship has to be but one, they’re frightened of actually giving it a go. And you’ve got to break a lot of eggs to make an omelette, you’ve got to be able to move on, you’ve got to try these things. And some things work. Some things don’t. Some things are mega successful. When you think how was so successful, it was almost like I was playing, I wasn’t really doing anything. But that is what makes life intoxicating. And that that comfort zone that we’re talking about when you are just on a daily basis going through the motions, because you don’t really want to try anything that might rock the status quo. That is the real killer of dreams. And as David was saying, is not going to kill you. It’s very unlikely about leaving a girlfriend because she’s she’s a mental case is going to kill you unless she goes after you with a knife or something. But that’s a different storey. But everything else you can try. And if it doesn’t work, you can move on to something else. What do you and David?

David Hooper [27:36]
Yeah, I agree. I agree. I think that part of life, I try to look at business like a game, I look at marketing, like a game, certainly, in that I’ve got something that I want to show you is valuable, you’ve got money, I want that money, and I tried to present the value in a way that you want to give the money to me, money is just a way of keeping score. I look at life in general as a game to you can’t screw it up, and you’re not going to get it right. So you might as well go for it.

David Ralph [28:09]
Richard Branson, and I’m gonna play a little little speech by Jim Carrey, because I like this speech. And he sort of cements what you were just saying. But Richard Branson says, I don’t believe in work, I don’t believe in play is just living. And he kind of blends a lot. So he earns his money by doing things that interest him and makes him feel creative, and all that kind of stuff. And that’s really what what life is all about. I think now, I think that’s what life is all about. And I spent years and years and years in corporate land, just doing mind numbing work just because it was a paycheck. But now I think to myself now that there’s more to life than that, and you don’t have to settle for boring jobs just to pay the bills. You can look at your passions, you can find your authentic self, and you can create paths. And I’m going to play a little speech by Jim Carrey, which really says back really, really well. And I love this or put it into many of my shows. Now, listen to this.

Unknown Speaker [29:01]
My father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you

David Ralph [29:27]
love. What do you reckon about those words, Mr. Hooper?

David Hooper [29:31]
Yeah, I think that was great. I think that was great. I’m here in a city full of people that used to be songwriters and musicians or always wanted to be in, it was a shadow career, they watched it from the sidelines. So I’ve seen it. And I’ve certainly seen people that have had these steady union jobs, if you will. 10 2025 years of the same company just let go. And they don’t know what they’re going to do. So yeah, you can definitely, definitely fail at doing what you don’t want to do. And I think you might as well go for it. I do think that. With that said it’s it’s not I mean, it’s it’s it’s two different things, if you really want to go for it. That’s where the real risk in life, I think it’s because if you, you know, you’ve heard the joke and said, You need to marry an ugly woman. Because when she leaves you, just like all women will, you won’t care. And I think that’s the same thing about getting a job that you don’t like, it’s a lot that’s playing it safe. And if you fail, you don’t really have skin in the game. I think having skin in the game is very, very difficult. Because you actually care. Because if it doesn’t work, then what? But yeah, I agree with Jim,

David Ralph [30:50]
when when did you know that you was on your right path. But the things that you do on a daily basis excited because at the beginning, you were just making it up, you were just finding your way and doing different things. And a lot of the kind of the talents, the natural vibe that you had moved into something else. So was there a point when you kind of went Now I do want to be Jon Bon Jovi, this is the dream, and I don’t really want to be doing what I’m doing now, or was it just a natural? Oh, this is an idea. And I actually quite like this.

David Hooper [31:19]
Yeah, I think it was a natural progression. I was working as a musician through college and a little bit after college. But the issue with me is I wasn’t like a great musician. I was competent, but not great. I was able to fill venues. And people would say, like, Hey, you know, you’re not that good, how you fill in these venues. And that’s the element of being in a band being in a band is like running a business, you’ve got to have a product, you’ve got to bring people to your events, you’ve it’s just a micro business. And I really liked the business. And I didn’t necessarily necessarily like being on stage, I like being in the studio and creating, but not a lot of other things like loading in and loading in equipment, or, you know, standards, smoky bars, and things like that. So I think to me, it was a natural progression, it’s like, well, I really enjoy the creativity. And I really enjoy some aspects of this. But the best thing about what I’m doing here that I’m good at is the marketing. So it’s just transition now how I got into working with more entrepreneurs and other creative individuals that came from people seeing what I was doing with musicians and saying, hey, you can do the same thing with us. All the techniques that you’re using for musicians will also work with us. And that was, I think that was also a pretty smooth transition. I don’t I don’t think anything was like an aha moment or where I had to kind of go against the grain. It was just using my skills and saying, Yeah, I could do that. And having a willingness to want to start over and a willingness to want to grow as a person and as a marketer, because it would have been very comfortable for me to stay solely in the music business, and just die here. That would have been really, really easy for me, but I don’t want to do that. But But you must have had fact that those limiting thoughts when you’ve been so ingrained in the music business, and being a businessman and entrepreneur, somebody totally different comes up and says I’d like you to work with me. There must have been a bit in your head where you went, Oh, no, no, I just deal with music. This is what I know this is the safe approach before you actually been went into it and experience but your skills could transition? Did you did you not have those kinds of limiting thoughts at all? You know what not really, and here’s why. Because Because the music industry was so affected by online downloads and piracy, if you will, when other industries started to come in to that space, such as books such as film and television, people were contacting me, so I was already working outside of the music industry was a slow transition. And working with, again, creative entrepreneurs and creative companies. So it was to me it was just the next logical step. Now, here’s where I did get caught up is that my identity was music based. I own music marketing, com, people, when they think about me think about the music industry, I host a syndicated radio show called music, business radio. And, you know, you’re hanging out with rock stars. And it’s not uncommon for me to be out and somebody will recognise me or somebody when they hear the voice will recognise that. And that’s happened in the weirdest places. And you think, man, I’m not going to give that up? Because it’s that little bitty hit of you doing something, right? And it’s somebody that, you know, it’s something that makes you special and makes you somebody that people would want to be and it’s like, Can I just leave that behind? So yeah, there was some elements of that. And for me my new identity as a new person, but as far as actual work not really

David Ralph [34:52]
is fascinating bat bow, but you almost a slightly sort of schizophrenia in that way. But you can actually create a personality that can works for that, and a personality that works for that. And is that something that is difficult to maintain? Or now has it just merged into one and you are who you are?

David Hooper [35:13]
What do you mean, who I am, who I am?

David Ralph [35:15]
Well, you are now and you’ve created your brand, where people know you for all areas of your work. But at the beginning, when you were saying that, you know, you they expected you to be a musician person, you must have projected what they expected to work in that environment. And then when you work worked with offers or marketers or something, you must have changed your personality something so that they got the person that they expected in that environment, is that true?

David Hooper [35:43]
Sort of. I mean, the reason that people expected me to work in music was basically my own marketing. And I could come in as kind of like the music guy, and be something like a little bit different is kinda like the new kid at school with the outside style or different haircut or different ideas. So in some ways, I could kind of ramp that up. It’s like David can show up in jeans and a T shirt. Oh, it’s okay. Because he’s in the music business. Yeah, that that was kind of expected. So it wasn’t like I was, you know, trying to be somebody different. I was all corporate wearing a suit and tie or anything actually kind of took it took the other side a little bit further, maybe, you know, like, come in with my hair dyed purple or something. So Oh, yeah, that’s the music guy and kind of give them what they wanted. And that came from the showmanship of me working with entertainers, because that’s what we do, is we, I mean, I don’t think that any musician necessarily likes purple or red hair, but that’s what people expect from him.

David Ralph [36:39]
When did it become one? Just David Hooper, when did you actually go? Do you know, I’m not trying to play to any audience, I’m just being totally myself was it was a key point.

David Hooper [36:52]
Well, I think I’m still there. And one of the things that’s helped that out, it’s just a body of work that’s happened for 20 years of owning property, owning the music publishing company, having published some books, and having like an intellectual property portfolio, that where I’ve got money coming in, regardless. So I’m not beholden to a company or an employer, like a lot of people would be, I’ve got a little bit more freedom than some people. And that’s just because of the choices that I’ve made over the last few years.

David Ralph [37:27]
And a wise choices nowadays, David, fearless or majority, as you’re saying back on the conversation. There’s risky choices now. And it seems the risky choice is working for the same company for 3040 years, whatever. Do you think that most people now with the power of the internet and the power of building Connexions across the world, and the ability to start things very cheaply using online technology? Is that the true route that majority of people should be going on? Because it’s the route that I want my kids to go on, I would dread But Michael growing up to work in an office for 30 years, like I did, when I can now see them having these daily conversations. But they have got a life, but they can create. It just takes time, effort and enthusiasm.

David Hooper [38:15]
That’s a very good question. And another that I don’t know the answer to, I can tell you this, that I am 100% certain, just like 100% of people don’t need to go to college, not everybody belongs there won’t say that 100% of people need to do their own thing. I think there’s some people that just don’t have the tenacity, they don’t have the skill set, they don’t have the drive the want. That’s not to say that they couldn’t develop those things. But some people, if you’re going to play it small, if you’re going to play it safe, you’re better off getting the job, it’s a much, much better place for you. Because otherwise, you’re just going to get kicked around. Now, if you’re willing to get beat up a little bit, if you’re willing to take risk if you’re willing to do the daily work, because it is slow and gradual process that it takes for you to become a great entrepreneur, a self employed person, it’s not just like winning the lottery one day, you’re not there. And the next day you are, I think it’s a great opportunity. And I’ve never seen it fail. There’s always room for people who are willing to do those things. But it’s not for everybody.

David Ralph [39:24]
I kind of wish it was but I take your point totally. I’ve worked with people who are just plotters, and in an organisation you need plotters, you need the people that are rock stars, you need the people that just sit there and I don’t argue and I don’t challenge the status quo, and they just do their work. But I do think a lot of those people as well can actually make a better life for themselves by finding jobs within that job that they enjoy that plays to the streams. You know, I’ve seen people that are put on sales jobs, and I’ve got to make 100 calls a day. I hate it. But it’s what has been they’ve been told to do. I’ve seen other people that are sat on a desk, where they’ve just got a load of paperwork, and they plough through and you can see but they’re clamouring for a bit of conversation and sort of inspiration or whatever it is to actually challenge their passions. And I think that is the shame when people are actually unemployment. I don’t want to go down the entrepreneurial route, but they just lose their Mojo and they get lost in these big organisations.

David Hooper [40:26]
Absolutely, absolutely. I have a it’s an administrator that I work with. And administrator would be like the people who handle the paperwork for the copyright of your of your publishing catalogue. And there is a woman there. She I wouldn’t say that she’s necessarily anti social, but she doesn’t have the ability to have a conversation like you and I are having a conversation, she prefers to be alone, she’d rather be alone. She likes to work where there’s nobody around, there’s no distraction, it’s a perfect job for her. If you’re somebody who’s more talkative, there’s a perfect job for you, not necessarily being self employed. But that’s something that we absolutely agree on that there’s a perfect job for you. Some people want to be self employed, some people don’t. But within either of those things, you can be a creative, you can be an administrator, you could be an accountant. Are there different jobs within those? They’ll be perfect for you? I have you got children?

David Ralph [41:24]
No. So a hypothetical question then, if you did have a child, and I’ve got five of them, so you can share one of mine tonight? Do you reckon that you would inspire them to go down a similar creative route as yourself or, you know, or one that they, as I was saying, I would love my son to be a dolphin trainer or you know, just somebody that creates his own income? Because I think if you create your own income now, vain, you are safe to a point? Would you do that? Or would you say to people still owe your kids, you go to university, get your qualifications, you know, and go that route?

David Hooper [42:05]
Well, the best part about growing up in a music city like Nashville is, you get to see that making a living from your creativity as possible. And I hope that what I would do for not only kids, but really for everybody that comes in touch with me would be that, yes, it is possible just show you it’s possible that there’s a guy who has done it, because he’s done it, you can do it, it’s not impossible. So I would hope that I would do that. And what my kids would choose to do, that’s going to be up to them. Not everybody would be would be a match for for creative living, let’s say. But it would be possible or a possibility

David Ralph [42:49]
of a strong vibes between you and your five year old, five year old that was in the, in the choir or whatever it was in that boring recording studio? Are you kind of doing stuff now that touches on the passions that you had as a little five year old? Or was it that you just put into that situation?

David Hooper [43:08]
You know, I think with that I was just kind of put into the situation. I was going to a church. And that’s what everybody did. And everybody here took music lessons. And that’s just, you know, some some cities, you’ve got a soccer programme, some cities, you’ve got tennis, whatever, we had music. So I think that was just luck of the draw, if you will, I will say this when I got really serious, it music, and I was about 15. I think what that did for me that writing or radio or podcasting test for me now is it gave me a voice. So in that case, I would say yeah, there are a lot of parallels there.

David Ralph [43:48]
Once you like that, boys, well, why don’t you don’t mind sitting behind the mic, because I’ll be honest, I love this. I love this more than I’ve ever done anything before it. Even if I’m really tired. As soon as I press record buying, it’s like a, you know, it’s not Rocket Power flooding over me. So do you have that same kind of feeling? Do you come alive when you’re doing these kind of things? Or is it still a job to you, because you’ve been doing it for so many years.

David Hooper [44:17]
I’ve got something to say. And it’s different now than when it when I was a kid, like when I was a kid, you know, I was going through whatever kids go through, and you feel like you’re not being heard. And you’ve got all these feelings that are going through you. And I just wanted to, to have somebody knowledge them these days, because of my work with musicians because of my work with entrepreneurs, marketing work. I’ve got things that work. And I think they will benefit people, if they’ll listen to me to help those people get their books out, get their art out, get their music out, get their podcasts, get their blog out. So I’m very passionate about those things. And it’s a different kind of want to get that message out there. But a lot of ways it’s the same thing when you’ve got something that you think needs to be heard. Speak it.

David Ralph [45:16]
Did you like listening to yourself when you first released your podcast? do you do? Do you listen back to yourself now? Or do you just record? Throw it out there? Man? That’s it?

David Hooper [45:25]
Well, yeah, I’m listening to a lot of myself now, because I’m doing all the edits for this new one. The radio show, I do not edit myself. And I’ve got an editor for that. And it’s funny because those guys are always telling me, David, you need to do this need to do this, it’ll make the editing easier, it would have been great. If I could have set in with those guys earlier on. I think I’d be a much better broadcaster than I am now.

David Ralph [45:48]
In what way what what kind of advice that I gave you?

David Hooper [45:51]
Well, for example, if you make a mistake, don’t start in the middle of sentences pause, start the new sentence, it’s easier to cut revenue, splice two sentences together, mumbling running words together. Coming into the mic too hot. When you’re starting a sentence, those are three of the big ones.

David Ralph [46:09]
But I kind of like all that, because I think it kind of becomes live it becomes a little bit more shambolic. It’s real. Again, there’s certain shows that I have listened to. And I listened to them. But they’re almost too polished now that there’s something going from them, because they’re now Uber successful. And they’re just going through the motions. And I want to see the things slightly going wrong, or the conversations that don’t quite work, or the ones where the the guest argues back. I love that. I don’t like it too much, actually. And I will actually say to them to mine, I am the host, you got to agree with me sometimes. But it makes it sound interesting, doesn’t it? If you know, I had a lady on the show, who I basically open my mouth and she just went for me instantly. And although it was a little bit difficult at a time, part of me was going basically interesting. You know, this is this is this. There’s a spark here, that’s going to make a good show. And I kind of like that. Did you think that the polished final versions lose something if you’re not careful?

David Hooper [47:16]
Yeah, I think there’s a fine line. There’s a fine line sometimes like with podcast, and in particular, you’ve got guys that don’t do any edits. And to me, that’s just sloppy. They don’t do any show prep, they don’t do any kind of any kind of planning. They just throw it out there. And it goes on and on and on. And I think it doesn’t do the audience justice for that to happen. Now, with that said, you can certainly over edit everything. And they’re guys that have all the great equipment and the compression and the limiters and the noise gates. And it sounds like a robot. It’s like Taylor Swift singing and everything’s been auto tuned, it’s too perfect. So that’s not real. So yeah, it’s a fine line.

David Ralph [47:58]
I like doing this. And I think I’m a sort of a hybrid, I think I’m a hybrid between the two. I don’t spend that much time editing, but I try to make it seem like it’s edited. I’d like it to sort of sound vaguely live, as you said at the beginning, before we started recording you said is it’s going out live, you know, and I kind of I find that fascinating. But you can create this vibe, where people are listening, and they don’t know which way the conversation is going to turn. And from one show to another, it will be a different one. And some will work, some will fly, some will grow and some will die. I just made up a poem that I’m a musician. And I think that’s the brilliant thing about this format that you can get your voice out, and certain people will grow and really love it. And other people will hate it. And other people will tolerate you. But once again, I suppose I’m coming back to the same thing. It’s authentic to me. And it’s authentic to you. We haven’t programme this. This is a conversation that we’re having.

David Hooper [48:54]
Yeah, and I do think that’s a whole lot more interesting. You’ve seen a lot of podcasts in the last couple years where somebody will have 10 questions, the last the same 10 questions every single time. And that’s very comfortable. For listeners that don’t like surprises. It’s very comfortable for the editors. It’s very comfortable for the host when you don’t have to follow up with things. But I think I said it to you. I don’t think it made it to the tape. You told me about how this show is going to work. I said, Well, that sounds scary and exciting. Because here we go tapes Roland, you could screw this up big time. I don’t think

David Ralph [49:28]
we had bo David so far. Do you? What do you think? Do you think that this is an Emmy Award winning show?

David Hooper [49:36]
Maybe maybe? I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s funny. Funny. You mentioned awards, because there’s some awards coming up that will just say there’s some awards that I’ve had opportunity for. And I’ve been thinking about that a lot. It’s like do these things even matter? awards at you know, I think people vote with their wallets. I think people vote with their listenership I think people vote by giving you their attention. And it’s really up to them.

David Ralph [50:04]
It’s validation, though, isn’t it? It is validation?

Unknown Speaker [50:09]
What awards are

David Ralph [50:10]
Yeah, you know, being nominated, I think nominations are great. I would have a problem actually accepting award, I’ve always had this little kind of fantasy in my life, where I win an Oscar. And if any actors are out there listening, I’m sure it’s very hard. But I’m sure there’s a lot of you that are just pretending you basically pretend to be someone else. And you’re very good at doing it and you pretend to be someone else very well. And I’ve always had this little fantasy that I’d win an Oscar and when I got up there, I’d go. Right? Thank you very much for this. And to be honest, it was the only show that I ever did, or the only film I ever did, because I just wanted to see if I could do it. And that was it, you know, and it would just be that validation for me that people bought into my work more than actually getting the reward. You know, I could never get up and do one of those speeches and currently and all that kind of business and etc, wouldn’t be me at all.

David Hooper [51:05]
It’s a very interesting thought, I think, again, working in the entertainment business worked with a lot of guys, and you see them in the arc of their career. And you get to the point where you’re thinking, well, if only we sell 10,000 records will be successful, then they get to 10,000. If only we sell 100,000 will be successful, don’t feel successful at 100,000, then it’s a Grammy then it’s a platinum record, then it’s you know, and I think that’s the reason that I just don’t care about awards at all. Because I’ve seen it doesn’t really matter much. Now, if you give me money, well, at least I can deposit that in the bank. But even that, if you don’t have your intrinsic, internal motivation, that’s not going to help you upset a lot of very miserable millionaires.

David Ralph [51:55]
And very happy poor people.

David Hooper [51:58]
I know if you

David Ralph [52:00]
Hi, I’m going to play Steve Jobs speech in a moment, because I’m aware that we’re taking on towards the hour and I need to play better. So I’m going to sort of provocative, but I was reading a book the other day and I they were saying but the poorest countries in what in the world have almost zero suicide rates. And the richest countries in the world had the highest. That’s fascinating, isn’t it?

David Hooper [52:23]
Yeah, yeah. It’s, it’s amazing to me when you see these guys that are good looking, and talented and rich, and they’ve affected people with their art with whatever they do. And they’re so miserable inside. But with that said, kind of to take it back to the beginning of the conversation. We never know what’s really going on inside. And we don’t know, the full storey because we’re just given what marketers want us to have. So I know there’s always more to the storey. And I never make judgement on people. But yeah, it’s it’s sad to see do people can’t be happy,

David Ralph [53:02]
be happy. That’s what we don’t worry, be happy about that make a good song actually. Right. Let’s good advice. It’s good advice. Yeah, Bobby McFerrin said that, Steve Jobs, let’s play the words of Steve Jobs. Because although your our conversation has migrated away from this, I am always fascinated to see whether these words are relevant to your life, and and other people in your surrounding area as well. So this is him.

Steve Jobs [53:28]
Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.

David Ralph [54:04]
Can you connect the dots when you look back? Is are those words true to you?

David Hooper [54:09]
Yeah, absolutely. Because the skills I developed as a musician allowed me to sell people in my business. those skills also helped me with radio, later on radio helped me with podcasting. The writing skills that I had, as a musician, being able to tell a storey helped me with books. Blogging helped me with books, the marketing helped me with books. Absolutely, you build upon those skills, and that’s why it takes so long. It’s not just one skill that we utilise. It’s very many skills that we combined to what looks like one skill.

David Ralph [54:45]
Did you find those words comforting for others, but the people not ready yet to take a leap of faith? Or to change direction or whatever? Do you think people will listen to those words and buy into them as much as I do? And you do other people that are creating their own paths?

David Hooper [55:04]
I don’t know. I don’t know. I think we it’s like the old saying, when you need to less than the teacher appears, whatever that saying is, I think you hear that stuff. When you’re ready to hear I’m sure they’ll touch some people. But sometimes people get so caught up in their own mess. It’s hard to see the forest for the trees.

David Ralph [55:25]
I’m going to ask a couple of questions, but I’m going to send you back in time to have a one on one with yourself on the Sermon on the mic. And the two questions I’m gonna ask you is have you ever taken anything from zero? In the introduction? You said you’d rather help somebody go from zero to 10,000 records? Have you done any one that gone from zero to a million? From from nothing to that we would recognise these people? Has there been huge successes?

David Hooper [55:56]
Yeah, there have been you mentioned some of them earlier.

With that said, I don’t like to be like that guy that takes credit. For something I thought that was kind of lame, you’ll see these guys that, oh, you know, I discovered such and such, okay, great. But the truth is, there are huge teams that work behind these acts. And help them sell records, get their image together, clothing, artwork, get the songs written and get the songs produced, get the songs distributed. So I’ve never been in a situation where I feel like, you know, I was like that guy that, you know, saw somebody on a street corner and groomed him to where he was elton john, for example. But I’ve been part of some some fun projects.

David Ralph [56:48]
Because I remember seeing and I don’t like this programme at all over here. It’s called X Factor. You had American Idol. And I remember Simon cow auditioning one day, and they were all individual singers. They just got up. And they all failed. And he said, Look, hang on, let’s bring you back. Let’s put you five together and see if you can work out something together, you know. And I look at that. And I think that is amazing. Because now one direction, like a huge band, you know, whether you like it or not major, major major. And he just saw these five individuals on a stage amongst millions of others. And he just went right over, put them together from there. And he’s created one direction. And man that is, you know, that’s amazing to have that skill to be able to do that. And he’s done that numerous times.

David Hooper [57:37]
Yeah, yeah. And that’s something I would say that he’s not

maybe responsible for the success as far as them being musicians, but for putting them together. And when you listen to one direction, stuff, it’s obvious that somebody has touched that that that stuff is like musical heroin, it has been designed to just go for that and make you feel something. It’s amazing. So yeah, that that would be maybe a that that would be a different situation. Those guys aren’t really musicians, maybe so much as they are. entertainers. Yeah, I you know, it’s a different thing. Certainly having having X Factor American Idol or whatever Simon’s got his hands and, you know, helps to, to make things happen in a more quick way than most people would be able to do.

David Ralph [58:30]
And the second question, before you go on the mic is, where do you want your life to go? Is it going to be same old same old that you’ve been doing for the last 20 years? or what have you got a really big dream that you’re working towards?

David Hooper [58:44]
Yeah, well, I’ve just sort of on music marketing. com just a couple days ago, announced that I would not be updating that site, it’s already started transition, I’m just starting to make, make it more clear, kind of come out of a closet, if, if you will. And that is that’s happening now. And I’ve got a new podcast at read podcast.com. And things are going more of an entrepreneur direction, because I’m looking to get with people that aren’t necessarily looking to make money or not necessarily looking to be famous, but are looking at impact on the world. And I want to spend more time working with those people. So that’s the direction things are going now, if you told me that 10 years ago, I would have never believed you. So I don’t know that I could necessarily put those dots forward and say that I’ll be doing that in 10 years. But I’m sure that this will get me to the next thing that I do need to do.

David Ralph [59:36]
And can you see people when when they walk into a room and they you know, strike up a conversation? Can you see something different in people now, after working with so many people over the years?

Unknown Speaker [59:47]
musicians? You mean,

David Ralph [59:48]
anyone businessmen? Can you see a spark when you talk to people? And you think Yeah, they’ve got something but I don’t know what it is. But they’ve got I suppose x factor. They’ve got the X Factor or the American Idol or whatever. Can you see that across all supply?

David Hooper [1:00:01]
Yeah, I think so. I think there’s so much that can get you off course, though people change and because of that plans change. But yeah, there’s definitely something special that you can see that might be one of those things like the dots, though, that you look back on it, and you can see it. Because there’s certainly a lot of really talented, beautiful, amazing people that don’t, for whatever reason, have that internal drive that it takes for them to be successful. But yeah, I’d like to think that I can, although it’s not 100%. Right?

David Ralph [1:00:36]
Well, let’s see if you can spot talent in the young David Hooper, because this is the parlour show, when we send you back in time to have a one on one with your younger self. And if you could go back in time, and sit next to a young David, what advice would you give him so I’m going to play the music. And when it fades out, you’re up, this is the Sermon on the mic.

Unknown Speaker [1:01:02]
Here we go with the best beer on the show.

David Hooper [1:01:20]
If I had to go back to my younger self, what I would tell him as far as business goes, would be to go ahead and take the risk, you don’t need to bring in partners, and lean on them solely for the fact that if something fails, you’ll have somebody to share that failure with because you’re always out working people. And you are the creative force and engine behind every partnership that you have had and will have. So go ahead and own up to the responsibility, take 100% and move forward. Without those partners, you will not only be able to do it your way. But you will be able to handle any kind of problems yourself. Rather than having to share that blame and play it safe, you’ll have a better product a better service, a better experience because of that. As far as people, I think it would be beneficial for you to let other people in. Because you’ve got this wall man, and you can’t do it alone. Let people take care of you. Let people love you let people experience who you really are. You don’t have to play it safe, or think that you’re going to get hurt. You are more indestructible than you know. I

David Ralph [1:02:47]
love that. I really do love that because I think that’s true. And I think I’m very much lie about I’ve always had a wall around me. And I kind of opened the wall and stick a leg out every now and again. And when I close it back, and I don’t know why I I think that is a common trait of many people, isn’t it?

David Hooper [1:03:04]
Yeah, I think so. Definitely. Definitely in the entertainment industry where you have very, very

Unknown Speaker [1:03:12]
injured people that are very raw.

David Ralph [1:03:16]
David, how can people connect with you?

David Hooper [1:03:20]
The best way brand new podcast read podcasts, which is real entrepreneur development. And that’s it read podcast.com and you can get me on Twitter, David Hooper, just one word David Hooper.

David Ralph [1:03:35]
And I will put all those on the show notes and I will also put the links to tootsies wine bar and also Rick Astley doing Highway to Hell. It’s gonna go viral. I tell you, it will go viral.

David Hooper [1:03:48]
He’s known for that.

David Ralph [1:03:50]
Absolutely years. Let’s roll with the best of it. Well, thank you so much for spending time with us today. joining those dots will be alive. And please come back again when you have more dots to join up. Because I believe

David Hooper [1:03:59]
David, it’s been a pleasure. Thank you so much. Absolutely,

David Ralph [1:04:01]
sir. Because by joining those dots and connecting our past is the best way to build our futures. David Hooper. Thank you so much.

Outro [1:04:11]
David doesn’t want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self you are wants to become so he’s put together an amazing guide for you called the eight pieces of advice that every successful entrepreneur practices, including the two that changed his life. Head over to Join Up Dots.com to download this amazing guide for free and we’ll see you tomorrow on Join Up Dots.

David Hooper: The Musicians Marketer Shows How To Go From 1- 1,000