We recently connected with Derrick Murphy and have shared our conversation below.
Derrick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?
To be honest, my family & friends have been my biggest supporters….From my days of playing basketball up until this point has been nothing but love!
I think they support me the way they do because I have never been the person that has asked for a hand out or very little favors. In addition, my drive, work ethic & overall growth from the idea I presented to my core family & friends, has made them taken me more serious which has had everyone all very proud of me!
What I tell & joke to anyone starting a brand or business, tell your family & friends, hear me out while I self-fund my dream. Once I need to reach a new level & need your support, please do not be hesitant to contribute with your finances, resources or connections! You can only go so far, ALONE!
What’s not appropriate is being that person who consistently has ideas and no execution. In addition, initially asking for some type of financial contribution when you probably didn’t exalt of your options before asking for any type of financial support!
My grandmother has always said, people help those who GENUINELY help themselves & this has been instilled in me since the 1980’s.
On the flip side, once you reach a certain level of success, please remember who’s been there for you & supported you along your journey. You will have some family & friends look & act differently towards you. Please be aware of them individuals! This is due to the fact they believe you owe them something or just because you are family they are deserving of your time & riches.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Ball is LIFE!! When I say that initially people look at me funny as it’s a joke, then when I hit them with basketball helped me get an education & graduate, basketball has helped me travel the world, things I learned from playing basketball has transferred over to me as a family man, mentor and entrepreneur.
Now as a Coach & Development Trainer, I help people especially student athletes know there is life more than sports! It is easy to stay in that bubble & be comfortable just being an athlete. What is going to happen when you get hurt, something tragic happens on a personally or just get too old to play the game as the highest level?
I show people with some strategies I used, in addition to leading by example that even after playing ball 2 decades ago, I continue to find ways to be successful & my passion for sports and life keeps me wanting more for myself and those who love me.
There are many moments that makes me proud, the biggest proud moment is when a person I trained, mentored or coach reach out & say what I told them or showed them helped them navigate through some tough times that changes their life! Then my typical response is, I am just being a vessel, now watch the Lord really work!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Yes, many that follow me now think I am an overnight success & because I am a natural with connecting with people that I do not put in much work. Let me be very truthful, as an award winning content creator, I NEVER went to school for communication, journalism, branding, nothing close to this at all. I put in a lot of work researching & studying the best in sports journalism like Jemele Hill, Stephen A. Smith and other media personalities that’s been reporting information for years.
I know deep down, God knew I needed this to find a way to get back in sports because my physical attributes was not going to be at a high level as it once was & I was willing to start from scratch to earn my way into having a reputable name as a content creator in the sports industry.
Also, making health a key priority for your everyday life. Working and improving my mental, physical & spiritual health has helped me elevate to new heights as an independent brand that people with educational backgrounds and way more years of experience in journalism still can not fathom how I’ve been able to accomplish the goals I’ve reach!
What you put out, you will definitely get in return!
How did you build your audience on social media?
Yes, I’ve built my audience on social media by following some very dope people of all walks of life. Whatever social media platform is your favorite, be sure to follow as many people on all of the platforms that are active in because you never know when you comment or reach out, they can remember you followed them from a notification, a comment you made on their post or even possibly attending an event to where you made the physical connection to show how genuine you are. Remember through all of this, “Quality over Quantity”!
Also with your audience, please do not be afraid to see how you can support them. This has been my way of doing some cross promotion with some very influential people in the world!
Whether they are a celebrity, family, friends or just “everyday” people they can tell if your intent is to take, take & take. Instead, with my track record of collaborating with so many great individuals, I have learned to put my pride aside & find people that are much different than me so I can learn from them & take what I can to incorporate whatever that maybe to me personally or my brand to display versatility. Being put in a box is hard to get out of, If you have so many people in your support group or audience who all specializes in the same thing!
My advice to anyone starting their social media presence, is 1st be patient with yourself & people. Enjoy & TRUST the Process! You have to build the trust of the people & show that your brand is really legit in its respective industry. With a strong 7 years of experience as a brand competing with mainstream outlets & people with much “more experience” than I do, once you show them you got what it takes to work with whom ever & you put your money where your mouth is, this will increase your chances of securing a commitment of another great person who is willing to support an underdog!
Your name is being talked about in rooms, you have no idea about!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dmurphspeaks.com
- Instagram: @itsdmurph
- Twitter: @itsdmurph