We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Caleb Vaughn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Caleb below.

Caleb, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

I have a lot of opinions and interests in a lot of things. I consistently am thinking of how the world works and my place in the world. I seek to see people be the best they can. At times that means that I share opinions to offer perspectives that haven’t been considered and I’m willing to make people uncomfortable. Because being comfortable means you aren’t growing, never getting better or striving. Due to my unwillingness to allow status quo lives to be around me I am misunderstood as insensitive or lacking grace. I’ve frustrated and bothered people when I share my thoughts on different topics.

So this helped me become an author, this being misunderstood about how I care for others helped get me into writing. I’m not the biggest writing fan because the process of actual typing, simply is unappealing to me, however it is a means to spread a message. A message that can’t be erased. Some of the best things about being a writer is that whatever message you want to present you can do so exactly how you want to without any interruptions and you can talk about whatever you want. The reader can’t stop you in the middle of reading because they disagree; they have to finish reading! They can’t cut you off, they have to consider all you’ve said and you get to consider the way the message will be received. In a real life conversation we speak out of turn or things come out wrong, but in writing it can be edited and ruminated on before being presented. Best of all the explorations of what you may present is endless, even if the topic has been explored you can put your spin to it and dig out a new area and perspective. I’ve now written 5 books and in each one, though different topics, I’ve presented my ideas fuller and stronger and I still challenge but I consistently encourage. Always pushing people to be uncomfortable and continue to grow.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m from Rochester NY. My hometown has about a million people in the metro area and is about 300 miles northwest of NYC. I do not have a New York City accent haha.

I’ve been given the beauty opportunity to do so many things but it started all when I was 16 in 2008 and asked about if I had music to be able to provide to a local church’s block party. I am big into Christian musical art (Hip Hop, Dancehall, Pop, Jazz, Afrobeat, Soca, Gospel) and had been building my library at that point so I came with my iPod Nano and played music and had a mic and that was the beginning of my life as Dj S.O.A.P. (Son of a Preachaman) after that day and to this one I continued to have different opportunities in deejaying, rapping, writing poetry, emceeing, dancing background, acting, speaking, radio show hosting and eventually writing. I love to be able to touch people and see them be uplifted and encouraged and as a communicator I’ve been blessed to do so in all of these different mediums in my purpose and gifting.

There isn’t really a particular accomplishment that I am proud of as this “career” as a creative is fun in itself where I continue to think, consider and present. I do love the space I’m in where I can look back and see all I’ve done and be very happy that I was fully me and I’ve always been able to express who I am. I was always able to complete the project. Especially in writing; many people talk about writing one book and spend years on it or never end up following through. I’m proud that I completed the journey 5 times all before turning 30! I love that all I’ve done gives me credibility in speaking to others about obstacles they have and even ways to work through them. I have much life ahead but my experiences and places I’ve been take what I say away from theory and add real live application.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My journey as a writer started because I had for years been told that I should write a book. I would share things on social media and people would say “that should be in a book” or “if that was in a book, I’d buy it”. I didn’t really move on that because I thought book writing would be a lot and hard to do. However in 2017 one of the most embarrassing things in my life happened to me. Earlier that year I had been accepted in to my Alma Mater’s PMBA program and of course told many people. I posted on my social media, the whole deal. I was excited to go to grad school and get this amazing degree. What I wasn’t ready for was how much a challenge the program would be and despite my best efforts I was not able to earn the minimum 3.0 GPA needed to stay in the program. I earned a 2.7 that first semester and was dismissed. I didn’t even tell anyone besides my family and even apologized to them for failing.

In the time I now had because of that experience one day I found myself in the library on campus and the thought came to me about writing a book and I googled how many words it would take to write 100 pages. I also recalled what I heard about writers a in a podcast where the host said “you’re essentially an expert on the subject” at that time I only really thought of myself as an expert on me so I put together ideas about my life an how that could be used to encourage others from what I did wrong and began to write.

I wrote for the next 8 months to get the manuscript and in the spring as I was still writing I also applied to other programs for an MSA in Organizational Leadership. Around the time my manuscript was being edited I got accepted into Central Michigan’s MSA program and would begin that fall of 2018. I didn’t make the same noise about this because I was still embarrassed for what had happened in the PMBA. I released my first book “Quarterlife Conversation” about 3 weeks before starting my MSA. I would then go on to go 4 straight semesters with a 4.0 GPA en route to a 3.68 at graduation. I also wrote 3 other books in grad school. “Face to the Future”, ” Unicorn on a SOAPbox” and “Black Father Black Son”

I now can tell of my testimony of fighting back and locking in and still getting to my goal. Not only did I graduate I had an amazing GPA and accomplished cool things along the way. My story was not to give up and keep on going. I still have my dismissal letter just to be reminded of that feeling when I got it and I promised myself that I would turn that situation around.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal in who am…my purpose is helping other people connect with their purpose and to be fully themselves in all spaces they are in. I believe there is a specific assignment and reason each person is here and for the time they are here. I believe the ways I communicate help to connect to people in different ways, who engage differently and who are operating in different places. My diversified communication skills allow me to reach them. I want those who would connect with me to impact others in a meaningfully life changing way. No status quo around me

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @djsoap92
• Facebook: Caleb Vaughn
• Twitter: @djsoap92