We recently connected with Devan Everytime Walls and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Devan, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I grew up in during a day in age where you needed to know how to fight just to live. I can remember back to the days when I couldn’t even walk, but my dad made me fight my older brother who could walk; and I had to fight him every day. The thing is, (or was) that I was a huge blob of a baby with BIG hands. I was able to pull my bigger, skinnier brother down with no problem and rest my weight on him and man (baby handle) him. Until one day, my older brother must have done some pushups, drank some milk, ate some Wheaties or all of the above. He stopped letting me beat him. In fact I couldn’t beat him again until I was 13. During the timeframe while he held the title for undefeated king of the imaginary ring, I never once saw my brother back down from a fight. Matisfac, (that’s how we talk) I never seen him back down from a fight ever in life. When I was 4, he had a fight in front of the house with two people who were both bigger than him. He stood there and scrapped. I hid behind the house. I heard my mother’s voice in my head saying, “If you was THAT close to the house, you could have came and got me and I would have jumped in!” As soon as I saw moms, that was the second thing that came out of her mouth, in those exact words. The first thing was, where was you at while Mikee was getting jumped? In that moment I vowed to be the first one to throw hands next time I got the chance. And I did. I wasn’t even in high school yet, and I was coming home from playing ball by myself. I heard a crowd of people making commotion. All I know is one of them called my brother a word that would get me canceled if I repeated. I said who you talkin’ about? As soon as he said, this B!=+(# @! @$$ /|/!&&@, I threw a left hook – even though I’m right handed. I fought three of the people there. My brother had two on him. My Cousin had two on him and my other cousin had two on him. Alltogether, it was 9 vs. 4. When we got home, moms said, “What happened to my baby!” I was fine though – all except for an indentation left in my forehead by somebody’s high school ring. One of us said we got jumped. Moms was a straight sanctified OG! She said, “Get in the van. Let’s go get them!” They are very lucky we never found them all in one place, because when we found the ones we grew up around, we made a truce – simply because the ones we knew, we knew – and because they were no longer with the ones we didn’t know, which happened to be their family – Understandable. We on the same thing! The next time I saw my brother fight, it was against a giant nick named BIG and dude earned his name. Big said, “You can jump in at any time!” I can’t lie. I was afraid again! Mikee was too. He was crying and bleeding, but he never stopped throwing punches. I didn’t even think to grab a weapon. That’s not how we fought back then. When I became a grown man, I never needed an advantage to fight. I either won with no advantage….. Or I lost even when I was disadvantaged. But like Friday, the movie, I lived to fight another day. Why was this the point I made about the subject, What did your parents do right? See my dad was with my mom every day of my life except or one and the times she was in the hospital. Pops worked a job that was so hard on him, he ended up getting mesothelioma. He would be at work without fail to the point where the only way he wasn’t to be at work was you had to drag him out on a stretcher. Mr. T is what they called him – even though his name was Mike Sr. A.K.A. Big Mike. And what does this story have to do with me being a rap artist, creative designer, public speaker, or business owner? Easy. In the time I grew up, you was either bussin some heads, or your head was the one gettin’ bust (that’s how we talk). It came as no surprise that life is a fight because fighting was instilled in me before I could walk or even count. But I somehow knew, even at the age of less than 1, that my dad was teaching me how to survive because life was going to be full of fight situations. Yeah, unlike my older brother, I backed down a few times, but I picked up from him that I could have made it just like he did, if I had heart. The more you get to know me, you’ll now understand why I have the grit I got to this day. (SO HARD) -Everytime

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?

It all started in high school. When I enrolled and attended my first and only free formal educational curriculum, it was the St. Louis Public School, Normandy Sr. High. When I walked between buildings for the first time, I said to myself, “This is my first time getting a free education. There is something up here that will make me financially free. I just have to look hard enough to find it.” That was 1997. I graduated in 2001. It took me 15 more years to find out what I had already learned in high school that would lead me to financial freedom; and another seven years to research and develop it. The good thing is TODAY, all of the tools are either available on social network platforms or either became part of the do-it-yourself market. I am not only highly proficient in using the tools of the trade and speaking the language of the craft, but I am also a veteran musician who has been on tour with entertainers who appeared on MTV and VH1. I really get this community and am an expert both on the performing and event planning side of the business. Everything, I reiterate, EVERYTHING in media is event planning.

I’m neck deep into a platform I built for nonprofits to raise funds using music videos as their advertisement medium. I call this platform Bizanthem Marketing. At first thought, one might ask what do music videos have to do with nonprofits? Everything. The story told is all journalistic. It just so happens that the medium is music. A Bizanthem medium could also be a documentary or a podcast. We will still attach a donation link that funnels funds to the nonprofit; and a percentage to the artist and/or production team.

Simultaneous with solving fundraising objectives for nonprofits, this platform will also provide residual income to the performing artists and creatives whose contributions help produce our Bizanthems. This is significant because even A-List celebrities have barriers to accessing their royalties. Bizanthem Marketing, or Bizanthem Network Solutions, circumvents this barrier by paying the creative team every time we collect a fee from a donation we help our nonprofits generate.

How would a nonprofit pay for a Bizanthem? The best answer to this question is that it’s all negotiable. If a nonprofit doesn’t pay the production team up front, then the production/journalism team will still make their profit after the donation phase has started. In this case, the production/journalism team will have to use their creative design skills up front to get things up and running. If the nonprofit puts a down payment on the production, that nonprofit could negotiate a higher percentage of the funds raised if they so choose.

What sets me apart is that even the greatest creative designers of all time say, and I quote, “There is no silver bullet in marketing, that answers all the hot button questions at a fraction of the cost.” -Josh Weltman. I looked Mr. Weltman up and told him that on page nine of his book, both he and the person he was quoting was wrong (that’s how we talk). Look. It’s bad enough I said the man’s name. So go ahead and cross it out but keep the meaning of what I’m saying. I told Mr. Weltman, I know for a fact that he was wrong because I got truckloads full of silver bullets! I ain’t say it that gangsta, but you undestand (that’s how we talk).

Josh Weltman got everything else in the book 100% right. For example: The fundamental tools we use to tell a story are spoken word, written word, images, videos, and music -Josh Weltman, Therefore, (and behold the silver bullet) the same tools used in telling/selling stories are the SAME EXACT tools used in making music videos! Y’all don’t hear me! It’s ok. It’s OK! I can show you better than I can tell you!
Who are you hoping to serve with your project?

I want to serve the nonprofit sector and the creative design/journalism community. Our target nonprofit is one that is highly active and visible in the region they impact. There’s also a unifying person of influence, like a Track Star or Golden Gloves Champion at its helm. Activities such as galas, expos, and conferences are indicative of a nonprofit organization that fits the profile. Nonprofits of this stature will have a community of supporters who will both donate via the pay links attached to our Bizanthems as well as share the Bizanthem in their social circles.

We are seeking nonprofits in rural communities undergoing rapid real estate development. The overcrowding of these kinds of community’s counterparts could potentially hide the momentum of our work amid the noise of metropolitan activity. A community like Edwardsville, IL would be perfect because many eyes are pointed at this place due to the development of mixed use real estate projects, yet have less noise in terms of metropolitan activities than, let’s say, St. Louis, Miami or Los Angeles.

Here’s a time where I put my money where my mouth is! I pulled this right off the synopsis of my resume. “Creative Director CEO of Bizanthem Network Solutions whose launch (a creative design I made over 70% of) drove over $700,000 in web traffic conversions during a single tax season.” Again, I pulled this right off the synopsis of my resume. “Laser focused leadership with superior results in academic teaching and music instruction proven by leading all the sixth – eighth grade students to honor status as their teacher. Master in the application of graphic production software. Force multiplier in professional development, consulting, and public speaking sectors. Persistent, goal driven, strategic problem solver who slashes ad spend by 35% through innovative design solutions. Provocative goal driven Project Manager whose charter education, entertainment, and visual performing arts background will solidify paramount development within each protégé under my guidance. My experience in music, public speaking and business has led to being LinkedIn with diverse thought leaders in multiple industries and sectors with whom I can leverage collaborations for niche projects.”

Here’s where I’m going with all this. I will not walk alone on my hard days that are inevitably ahead. I recently established a panel of like minded journalists to journey alongside me. We are panelists on the same podcast, The New Godfathers & The Godfamily where we have grown folks talk about the subjects of amazing cars, beautiful real estate, finance secrets, relationship tea, and lifestyle improvements. We are also members of a Facebook Group with the same name as our podcast. Our members call themselves The Godfamily. Think of The Godfamily as the nuclear power plant that promotes, shares and supports the various works curated by the panelists along with our Facebook Group as the place where The Godfamily can share their own spotlight about their work or business as well. What this means is we have an incredible source of sources from which to draw compelling stories and talented assistants.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Can we normalize ACTUAL support in 2024 or what? Because the lack of support and even the wrong kind of support can be lethal to an artist. if they ain’t built like me (you know how WE talk). Peep. Imagine the guys who invented the airplane being disrespected when they came home and then imagine if it worked. Meaning, what if it stopped them? Now, I get the most support from my wife, so that’s not what this is about. The part I NEED the world to undestand (that’s how we talk) is that people who are going to change the world, which is actually all of us – because every soul added to the world changed it on arrival – whether you know it or not; but people who are going to change the world need encouragement. That’s first and foremost. I have people who know my address that don’t support my art. They might acknowledge me in other areas, just not my life’s work! HELLO?! If everyone I knew made up their mind to share my work on social media for 30 days, I would reach the world in a month’s time. I feel like I could literally beg some people for support – the kind that COUNTS – and they wouldn’t even respond.

Or….. How ’bout this – (you already know).

You get people that go left field on you and support you in ways that won’t count. I had a music industry consultant who said, “Remember the commercial with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan? The one where they were bouncing the ball off everything until it went into the net? Even though the shot swished, it still didn’t count because it was out of bounds before it went in. This is a two-edged sword. On one end, the artist NEEDS to know what actually counts as a score and on the other end, the would be supporter NEEDS to know when they are dealing with an artist who truly knows what THEYYYY NEED to do to score.

I had a close person to me offer me an investment to go to the studio and drop five songs. At first glance, a person on the outside looking in would say. That’s IT! That’s all you NEED RIGHT THERE! But that all depends. First, that investor should look for signs that show him or her that the artist truly knows what THEYYYY NEED. Or, he or she could just listen to the artist say, “Hey, fam (you know how WE talk) that’s actually not what I NEED. I done already HAD hit SONGS. Sure, they changed my life in the sense that they made me more money….. But the money didn’t come in fast enough to transcend THE GAME (that’s how we talk). Instead, I told that same person to invest in my BUSINESS!!! If they would have, I would have been able to create Bizanthem Network Solutions WAAYYY sooner (how we talk). But no. This person told me that the only way I got their investment is if I played by their rules. WOW?! So you’re going to entrap me? So I gotta take a detour and go the long way to my destiny, when you’re right there ready/not ready to “help” me? So….. Yeah….. THAT’S that support that’s ANYTHING but SUPPORT!

I been forgave em, but somebody still NEEDS to hear this!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I actually wish I could go back and do this again. When I say “Go Back” I mean be a kid again without actually rewinding the hands of time – because no one can. So I probably will do this in real life. OK. So, when I was in high school, I used to get off the school bus way up by the second to last stop. I had to think of something that everybody no matter where they at in the world (you already know) would relate. Y’all know the picture of when Martin Luther King Jr. Gave the world famous, “I have a dream speech?” Yeah. So times that by five or prolly ten and that’s the distance between my real bus stop and where I jumped off. I got off just to walk through this neighborhood called Bel-Nor and I would intentionally get lost walking from there on my way to Bel-Ridge (where I actually lived). I did it because Bel-Nor was and prolly still is the opposite of Bel-Ridge (you fill me). Where as Bel-Ridge A.K.A. “Ridge Town”, (as we affectionately call it) has boarded up houses and grass tall enough to hide people, Sweet Unassuming Bel-Nor has brick houses, front yard rose gardens, GAZEBOS, (had to look up to spell cause (you know how WE talk), and community walking paths for exercise and serenity. So I would walk through this whole nother world (that’s how we talk) just so I could freestyle and not worry about messing up because WHO out HERE in Bel-Nor would know me? If you ain’t know, now you know, freestylin’ is how you learn how to become a better rapper. Now I freestyle while I write so that the bars come off more authenic. (THAT”S HOW WE TALK).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1046986746467326
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_new_godfathers/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bizanthemnetworksolutions
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devan-anderson-walls-12892b125/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/Nc0h_wuw2SI
• Other: I had a gut feeling about a few songs that took artists worldwide and I was right. 100% right. I got that same feeling about one of my own songs and I just want to thank Major League Records because I said the same thing to them I’ve said to others who could get me the shot I need. These people happen to know a HITTER when they see 1. #welcometothemajors -Everytime Terance Onmyshit Williams thank you for the barz! (“23” Range Rover Autobiography $174,685 (618) 985-7798) https://fb.watch/pX4OdK3rJO/

Image Credits
Al Kellog: Rafiki Expressions