Singer-songwriter Terril Van Hemert says the key to growth is to "do the how"—stop planning and start acting. He keeps a voice recorder for songwriting ideas, distinguishes joy from happiness as something independent of circumstances, and tells his younger self not to chase others' definitions of success.
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Alright everyone, welcome back to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner, and today I have Terrell Van Hemert with us. He is a singer-songwriter and a person who likes to have fun. And welcome, Terrell. I'm pumped to have you on, man.
I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me.
Awesome, man. So I'll dive right in the first question. The first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
So I accepted a worship coordinator position at a summer camp in 2016, and to say I was terrified would be an understatement. And as the summer went on, I found myself wondering why exactly I was in this position. You know, like, I realized people could play guitar better than I could, people could sing better than I could, but I really wrestled with that throughout the summer. But I realized that in life you have to be willing to step into roles that you're uncomfortable with, and it's in those times when you are stretched and that you grow. Yes, it can be painful, but as you look back, you realize just how far you've come. And what was I taught that summer? That I could sing and I could play very well, and that the Lord didn't have me in that position for my skill, but because of my heart towards worshiping him.
And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
So as a singer-songwriter, having a handheld voice recorder in your pocket at all times, because you never know when those times of inspiration will come to you, that you can just pull it out, you can sing the song or the melody and then you can listen to it later and add to it.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily like industry-specific, if you will.
So don't think how you're going to do something, just do the how. Meaning don't overwhelm yourself with asking, all right, how will I accomplish this task, and getting stuck in that cycle of constant research, but just do it and then learn from what you have done.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
That advice that I would give myself would be don't chase after someone else's idea of success.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
In my opinion, I don't believe there is a key to happiness. Meaning happiness is so often based on our circumstances. So I like to view life through the lens of joy because when I have joy, it's not based on my circumstances. So no matter what I'm going through, even if the situation is bad, it's crappy, it sucks, I'm still able to be joyful where I'm at.
And next question is, this one's kind of tough, but what's the best book you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from it? Or maybe it's not tough for you, but a lot of people think it's tough.
So, a book I've read recently and I really enjoyed it is called Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley. The reason I read this book is because I am one of the leaders for something called Ski Church up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. You know, I was trying to figure out, all right, how do I communicate to this audience effectively? And the piece of advice I learned from it, or one of the pieces of advice, was to pick a single point and to focus on that point throughout the message. Don't get sidetracked by 4 or 5 different points. Pick one point and keep going over that.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
Favorite quote, "If at first you don't succeed, Then skydiving definitely isn't for you. By Steven Wright.
That quote is incredible. Thank you, sir.
The reason being is because oftentimes we view life like we're constantly skydiving. And when you skydive, you have to make sure you succeed. But in things like business, you can do things, and if they don't work out, you can try something different. So having that playfulness of mind that, hey, if this doesn't work out, I'll try something different. And that's why that's one of my favorite quotes.
Yes, and now it is also one of mine. I've never heard that one before. That's good. Thank you so much for coming on, man. Last question for you is, where can people best find you online?
Yeah, so you can find me at terril.me. You spell my name T-E-R-R-I-L, then it's dot me, M-E.
Awesome, man. Thank you again for coming on. We really appreciate it.
Thank you for having me. One last thing, if people would like to hear more about singing-songwriting, please, please contact me. I'd love to chat with you. And if you'd like, you can send me a text message or whatever. My number is 605-553-1154. I'm always open to chat.
Awesome, man. Dude, very giving of you. Thank you.
You're welcome.
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