My Story

Having played the drums for over 25 years with several bands, including Dove Award winning contemporary Christian band Big Daddy Weave, I discovered I had another dream that would not be denied. JeffDrummer.com is a look into my life exploring the many experiences of life on the road as the drummer with Big Daddy Weave and the way those experiences have developed me into the entrepreneur I am today.

I started a custom drumstick business out of my house in February of 2009. I started with one client and a budget of $500.00. I set a goal of 25 clients by the end of the year. I was blown away to exceed my goal only 8 months later! I currently work with over 75 clients and have a reputation of being known as “The Drumstick Guy”.

I also have an extreme passion to join others in their journey of discovering their own passion. I have found most people don’t truly know what their passion or calling is. I am thankful for the opportunities I get to met with others and help them with their journey. Most people feel their passion should be saved for the weekend. Their dreams of daily walking in their passion are stifled due to the pressures of our society. I am thankful to help other discover what they were created to become.

As I daily try and live out my calling, I enjoy interacting with others while playing in Big Daddy Weave, working on my Internet business at www.Customstix.com and sharing with others who have a similar interest in small business and personal development.

Sometimes we have to learn what we don’t want to do in order to find out what we do want to do. That knowledge comes from life experiences

At the ripe age of 37 I can say I have certainly had a lot of life experience. I’ve had more jobs than I can remember. From the age of 16 I have been gainfully employed. I’ve had jobs from all ends of the spectrum. I’ll list them in order to the best of my memory.

Private drum teacher to numerous students for 17 years beginning at age 16.
Cashier and bag boy at a local grocery store.
Salesman at J. Riggings clothing store.
Janitor for a cleaning service.
Salesman at a bookstore.
Assistant at a university library.
Assistant for the financial aid department of a university.
Assistant for the music department of a university.
Day camp counselor at a summer camp for kids.
Voiceovers for a local recording studio.
Waiter for a national restaurant chain.
Copyright assistant at a major Christian music publishing company.
Played the drums for numerous hotels and restaurants.
DJ’d over 30 private parties and dances.
Production assistant for a audio/visual company.
Office assistant for a real estate company.

I had the following jobs through a temporary agency during and after college:
Service department at a finance company.
Inventory for Sears Department Store.
Inventory for a local hospital.
Passed out food samples at Sam’s Club.
Answered phones and filed for an Investment firm.
Sold cell phones at different retail locations.
Made outgoing sales calls for a small advertising business.
Dipped Ice cream for a local ice cream store at a business convention.
An assistant at two local retails store fixture auctions.

I will add more as I remember them…

What did I learn?

I can clearly remember my thoughts as I was working at many of these jobs. I knew most of them were simply a means to getting me to a “better” job. I’ve always had the mentality of perserverance. It didn’t matter what it was, I knew I could do it if it got me to the next level. The problem most people have in taking this approach is they never really “get there.” What are you working for? Is it more pay, better benefits, better hours, etc…? I had to do some soul searching to really find out what my motivation was. I discovered it through having several jobs, meeting lots of people, and making different amounts of money. I knew at the end of the day what really mattered to me was being able to look myself in the mirror and know I was doing what God had created me to do.

I’ve made job choices based only on the money that I would make. I’ve made job choices based on my qualifications, location, and social pressures. Then I realized that there was so much more at stake when making a job choice that I had not considered. What kind of life did I want to have? That is really the question that I should have been asking. So many of us make career choices based on criteria that really don’t matter. When I’m 65 I don’t want to look back with regret and wish I had served God more, spent more time with my family, or had more fun. I want to look back over my life and know I did the things that mattered.

A short message from Banff, Canada.