We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael “Shep” Shepard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Your Vibes Entertainment was birthed after a 15-year side hustle finally went legit. Entertainment has always been a part of my life but it was not until I was 29 that I actually decided to create the LLC. What started out as a wedding and corporate DJ service has quickly developed into a full-blown hospitality and entertainment consulting company that creates the vibe with live music, sound, lighting, festival production, karaoke, trivia, and professional MC services. I could get really in depth on a long and drawn-out process about how I developed the name but it came down to a few simple things, availability and mission. I knew I wanted the word Vibes because of its versatile usage. As Nicola Tesla said, everything in the universe is Energy, Frequency, and Vibration, so I latched on to vibes. The next step was to figure out how I could bookend that word to fit a relatable mission. So, what was my mission? After a decade and a half in the business, I developed a keen talent for reading the room. Even without speaking to anyone present I could, and still can, catch the feels or the vibe of the space. The DJ gigs really put me to the test by challenging me to do my number one job, keep those booties on the dance floor. Always thinking 3-4 steps ahead is key. Once I started doing live music, trivia, karaoke, bingo, musical bingo, and MCing events, the mission finally became clearly visible. My vibe is to create YOUR vibes. Plain and simple, my job and the mission of the company is to not just give the clients the services they have requested or have shown up for, but to also put a twist on things and introduce them to something they may have not every imagined they would enjoy. We like to do things in a way that may seem slightly unconventional. I’ve never been the type to just fall in tow with the way things have been done. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it never really sat right with me. I like to take things to the limit until they almost break or something actually do, and then rebuild it in a way no one ever thought possible. The bar in Dickson that truly has been a catalyst to my rapid business growth, One19, is my science lab. From the way that way I structure my trivia format, to how interactive I am when we karaoke, and even how I produce our live music shows, is all different than the norm. I am giving my clients things they know they want or have requested, but putting a little spin on it that shifts their paradigm a bit. People hire YVE to keep booties on the dance floor, butts in the seats, and to generate a sustainable repeat customer base. With the ever-changing landscape in the entertainment space, one must constantly be innovating and shifting with the tides of customer demands. Some people know what they want, some people don’t, but I can promise you that after one of our shows you will have no doubt in your mind what YOUR vibe is.

Michael, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

It all started at 15 when I DJ’d my little sister’s birthday party. A boombox and a sleeve full of burnt CDs is all I had to work with. That quickly developed into her friends’ parents asking me to do the same. Before long I, had 2 15in passive Yamaha tops and a laptop full of iTunes. After dozens of parties, I realized I was actually pretty good at what I was doing. Business starting picking up so fast that I eventually had to pick up a partner. With my experience and gear, and his connections, our little DJ company, fondly known as JAM DJ, became one of the top go to DJ services in the middle TN area. We were picking up gigs for almost every private middle and high school in the area. When then took on church group dances, weddings, and private gigs of all types. As a couple of 16-year-olds DJing for adults, we thought we were hot stuff. Making more money than we knew what to do with it was evident that we were on to something. This continued throughout high school until we both graduated and went our separate ways. I continued through college DJing fraternity parties and about 10 weddings a year. I kept things going 6 years after college but it still remained a side hustle. But in 2019, a friend of mine was struggling and looking for a way to general more revenue. After chatting about my history of DJing and the gear I had lying around, we decided to start a weekly trivia night. After a few months, it was the most attended night at any establishment in our little town of Dickson, Every Thursday at 7, there wasn’t a seat in the house. Realizing the benefit of we were creating, not just to the business’ bottom line, but also to our local community, we decided to add karaoke and that’s when things really changed. 4 to 5 hour karaoke sessions generated more revenue than the business had ever seen. Next came the live music. In a town of about 55,000 people I did not know if there would be any local talent that we could book, but boy was I wrong. Once we built the stage and put in a full house sound system, artists were banging down the door to come and play. 5 years later, our little Main Street bar, is now referred to as “The Mothership”. One19 Craft Kitchen and Brewery in Downtown Dickson has been my safe space. The ownership is extremely supportive of most of my crazy ideas. They may start out slow, but eventually something works out. We are now hosting some sort of event 6 days a week, Tuesday-Sunday. Monday we are closed for rest and housekeeping. Tuesday is BINGO, Wednesday is open mic, Thursday is some sort of game night or live music, Friday and Saturday are either live music or karaoke, and Sunday is for our new artist live music / brunch and bottomless mimosas. Artists from all over the country have graced our stage and the waiting list continues to grow. The skills that I have developed and lessons learned at this location have allowed me to branch out to neighboring counties and even different states. In 2023 YVE booked over 200 live music shows, produced multiple festivals, hosted writers rounds in several different locations, ran over 160 trivia rounds at 3 different locations, and ran dozens of karaoke gigs for both private and large corporate clients. While I personally still enjoy trivia, karaoke, BINGO, and musical bingo, I have slowly started to delegate those activities to people who are, frankly, better at it than I am. My main focus at the moment is producing live music. I have had to learn most of what I now know, on the fly. There wasn’t really anyone else in the area that knew how to or had the spare time to do it. Thankfully I found a few mentors along the way, and am now pretty much obsessed with the production aspect. This aspect of my business is probably what I am most proud of. From setting up the stage, getting the lighting just right, and running sound, every aspect is this beautiful dance between me, the artists, the audience, and the client. If the sound in the monitors is off, the artist isn’t going to perform and their best. If the artist isn’t at their best the audience isn’t getting the immersive experience they were looking for. If they aren’t fully involved or enjoying the experience, the bar or client’s bottom line suffers. Same goes for the lighting and the sound and the front of house. Live music, if done right, is truly a magical experience. The #1 goal of any YVE event is to give you a different perspective on life. We want to give you YOUR vibes with a twist. We like to add some sprinkles of things you may not have thought about or even considered to be possible. In this wild world we live, a higher vibrational experience is something we pride ourselves in. Something that even if we just make one person’s day better than it was before they walked in, we have completed our mission.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Unlearning previous subconscious paradigms has been one of the most important factors to my success. Self-reflection on why we operate the way we do, why we make the decisions we make, and how we treat those around us, all has a tremendous effect on our personal and professional success. Once you realize that everything in your life is happening FOR you and not TO you, your perception on life completely changes. Life is a tender balance between order and chaos, and we must realize that life’s true lessons are only learned within the chaos. For it is only when the cards seemed to be stacked against us that we truly learn who we are and what we are made of. We must defeat the dragon to obtain the gold. When things are going great, ride that wave as long as you can, enjoy it and thrive. But when chaos inevitably ensues, buckle down and realize that life is trying to show you something that will make you a much stronger and resilient person on the other side. You have leveled up per se. Understand the universe will never give you a task of which you are not capable of handling. Should you fail in completing the task, reflect and figure out what needs to be done differently then give it another shot. Failures are just lessons learned. Waking up every day and appreciating the fact that you actually survived the night and have another opportunity at life, to do whatever it is you find meaningful, is the greatest gift we have been given. Changing your tone first thing in the morning and realizing that you GET to do whatever it is you do, VS you HAVE to do it, starts the day off on the right foot. Sure, whatever the day may bring may not always be the most glamourous, but it’s a gift. The past is just a memory, the future is just a thought, but the now moment is a gift, that’s why they call it the present. Don’t get stuck festering on what happened yesterday, or what may or may not happen tomorrow. You can only truly create in the now moment. Your future moments are just a delayed manifestation of your previous thoughts, feelings, and actions. Realize that how you think and feel, and act in the NOW moment, will eventually manifest itself down the road. That fact alone really makes you stop and completely immerse yourself in the present moment. Be mindful of your present situation, and understand that you created this moment, somehow or someway. Pause and consider anything you would like to be different, raise your vibrations, perceive the situation differently and then become keenly aware of how your surroundings begin to change. The universe is always blessing you. Life is a passionate pursuit of what you find meaningful. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows. It’s not always about being happy or making tons of money. It’s about making a difference in the world. How you make that difference is completely up to you. Give yourself permission to be your true and authentic self, and then push forward in whatever way your bliss may lead. What if things turn out better than you could have ever imagined?

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

This one book changed my life completely. While there are hundreds of books and videos that have chipped away at my old paradigms, this book provided me with the road map in which I use to direct myself in any given situation. The Four Agreements (as well as the sequel, the Fifth Agreement). B.I.P.A Always do your Best, be Impeccable with your word, Never take anything Personally, and never Assume anything. Your best is probably different every single day. Most of us may perform at the top of our game somedays, while other days we may be a bit weaker. Best is a relative term and should not be compared to others. We are all built different. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look to others for inspiration, but do not compare your middle to someone else’s end. Comparison is the thief of joy. Be Impeccable with our word. Words are magic and come attached with feelings that send out vibrations to the universe. Those vibrations eventually manifest themselves in one way or the other. If you spend your time doubting yourself, blaming others, or gossiping about today’s tea, the universe will reflect back to you more and more situations that match those vibrations. The universe never says no, it always says yes. It does not judge what is right or wrong for you, but merely reflects back to you exactly what you put out. So, if you don’t have anything good to say, whether it be about yourself or someone else, don’t say anything at all. Or, try and frame the situation in a way that reflects a positive and hopeful situation instead of a negative one. Don’t take anything Personally. Everyone’s external environment is a direct reflection of their internal environment. What other people say or do, is not your problem and should not affect your emotional state. Sure, sometimes words of encouragement or discouragement, can be used as fuel, one way or the other, but you should never allow your external environment to affect your internal environment. If you do, your life will be completely controlled and things will continue to happen TO you, not FOR you. “Those who anger you will soon become your master. For they can only anger you when you allow them to” – Epictetus- Lastly, never Assume anything. I think we all know where this one is going… it spells it our right in the word. Assumptions are merely guesses at what you personally think is going on, when the majority of the time you only know a small percentage of the story. It is not bad to prepare for any given situation, but this should be done via clear communication with yourself and those around you. Should plans, conversations, or expectations not be fleshed out to their most realizable depth, assumptions could potentially be made, sending things into a downward spiral. You never know if the information you are gathering is truthful or fully developed. You will save yourself a lot of heartache if you just let things be the way they are via the way you understand them and proceed in accordance with the above three lessons. This leads right into the fifth agreement, Question everything. It spells it out in the book as to, “be skeptical but learn to listen”. Awareness is your ultimate savior. Become aware of what you believe and why. Where did those beliefs come from and how long have you believed them? Are those beliefs limiting or ones of abundance? Have you just fallen in with the way you believe things should be? The way things have always been? Who taught you your current beliefs, and did they learn it from someone else? Did that person even know what they were talking about? The truth will set you free. But truth is another relative term and personal situation. What holds true for some is not what holds true for others. We are all the director of our own movie. We get to decide what happens, and that is our ultimate truth.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yourvibesentertainment.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourvibesentertainment/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourvibesentertainment

Image Credits

Thayne Media