We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ryan McLaughlin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ryan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on would have to be one of my most recent pieces titled “Lost Cause” by the infamous Sam Weston Bedichek, a.k.a., Weston B. himself. I had the honor of filming and directing the official music video and it hits hard for me.

What started off as an instrumental beat offering alluring bells and somber chords, yet epic and uplifting at the same time, turned into a powerful and impactful message about the struggles and hardships of mental health, addiction, suicide, and coping with the loss of loved ones affected by these circumstances.
Sam wrote this song essentially overnight and came to me with the idea of a deep and relatable music video and without hesitation, I was on board with the idea. We both have lost friends and family to the vices of drug addiction and mental health ailments, so this is paying homage to them. We want this piece of art to be a beacon of light for those lost during their battle for sanity, for peace, for their life. You are loved and appreciated – you are NOT a Lost Cause.

Ryan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Ryan McLaughlin and I am a musician, entrepreneur, and modern day “visionary.” I dove head first into the world of arts and specifically music at an early age. At the age of 14, I picked up guitar and started forming as many bands as I could until something finally stuck.

After about a decade involved in the industry, I learned a lot and realized how much of the “creation” or “production” side of things is extremely vital, yet fun and exciting at the same time.

I noticed other creatives taking it upon themselves to learn how to film, produce, and distribute music/videos. So I decided to try it myself. I had a rather rough start to my early adult life – from being homeless, to living in a foster home, emancipating myself at the age of 16, and couch surfing until I found some stability in my life. All I knew was survival instinct and that I needed to power through each day with a positive mindset in order to live the life I dream of.
I’ve always had the inclination and fascination of working for myself and being my own boss; of course with the help of others and creating a team. I believe that is one of the most important aspects of running business, building a team you can trust. Sam Bedichek is a fellow musician in the St. Louis area that is the epitome of a kind soul and creative. After sharing the stage together and our bands, mine being The Greater Good and his Shapist, gaining some traction in the scene, it didn’t take long for our paths’ to cross and to find out we have similar interests. We teamed up to create WalkfloW Productions. Our company offers audio and visual production services for aspiring artists. From recording/mixing vocal stems. to fully produced songs and music videos. One thing that sets us aside from others is that we build a strong relationship with our clients and work hands on with them, in doing so, offering Artist Development as well. Being musicians ourselves, we truly understand how hard it can be, so we like to make it as comfortable and affordable for our clients.

We really do want to see the full potential of all the musicians we work with to help them be better fit for the major leagues in the industry. Hence why our motto is “First step to the next step.”

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I believe one of the most rewarding aspects of being a creative is making something that can impact somebody so hard that it can change the direction of their life and/or perspective for the better. The fact that a video or song can “move” you in ways that words cannot, is a phenomenon in and of itself. It brings me an indescribable feeling of purpose when someone tells me that my art helped them get through some hard times in their life.
It’s the Love that you give and receive in this industry that surpasses any monetary value.

Have you ever had to pivot?

While I was living in a foster home in Upstate New York, in a foreign land where I knew nobody, I had no money, car, job, and sometimes nowhere to go. I was kicked out of my foster home for covering up for my foster sister’s drug/alcohol additcion by stashing her paraphernalia in my room. I never partook in drugs in my life, so there is no way that any of it was mine. I took the fall, moved out and stayed on my school playground for a weekend. Then one of my only friends at that time, Jack and his mom Erin, took me in to crash on their couch until the end of the school semester. There’s a lot of wild things after that moment, but long story short, I needed to make my way back home to St. Louis for various reasons (one of them being a court date I needed to appear at).
I had $1 to my name and kept in my wallet because my grandmother gifted me the wallet with the dollar in it, stating that it’s “good luck to give a wallet with money in it – you’ll be wealthy later.” It always stuck with me to this day.
I had to go to the local library to print off my plane ticket back home – it cost $1.
With that being said, I now had $0 and couldn’t afford a second carry on. So it came down to either my clothes or my guitar… so I left all my clothes behind in New York and started over with just my guitar and the clothes on my back. To this day, I think that was one of the best decisions I ever made. I made sure that music and my drive to be a successful creative remained near and dear to me. Who knows where I’d be today if I decided to put music on the backburner and follow a different path.

Contact Info:

• Website: walkflowpro.squarespace.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/walkflow_
• Facebook: facebook.com/walkflowpro
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjOc5lvvzTshLvpqRL_m4UA
• Other: linktr.ee/WalkfloW

Image Credits
@Kayleescanvasphotgraphy @OriginalDaVinciArts @RyanTGG (Self)