We recently connected with Shawn Tyler and have shared our conversation below.

Shawn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I was the type of child that wanted to do everything. My parents often joke that I would come home from school or see something new and say, “I can do that” and try it on my own. My curiosity for multiple things is what saved me from the fear of rejection and made me truly understand to enjoy the process more than the outcome.

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.

I am originally from Marion, OH and lived most of my adult life in Indianapolis, IN. With my bachelor’s degree in Sport Administration, I worked for the NCAA for 2 years pre-pandemic and during that time is when I started my first business; Process Entertainment. My goal was to host a concert for my alma mater’s homecoming (Ball State University) and continue to host concerts, small festivals, travel events, etc. Muncie, IN to Indianapolis, IN is about an hour drive that I would make constantly. Meeting with the school to book the space; which ultimately turned into hosting an outdoor event in the “village area” because the school had first right of refusal to other promotion companies. Meeting with the Mayor and City Council members to get the correct permits; which turned into being strong-armed by the police chief and overpaying for 1 police officer. Having my entire family there to support my concert; which turned into all of them having small jobs prior to the show that I couldn’t even reward them for afterwards. There are so many things that went right for that show to happen completely independently and also so many things I wish went differently. That was the start of it all. Post-pandemic, I stayed in the entertainment space from there; managing a few artists/DJs, booking small shows in Indianapolis, etc. Through all of it, I still worked a full time job in sports as a Group Events Specialist with the Indiana Pacers & Fever. I realized that until I could become fully self-sufficient outside of work that a 9-5 was necessary. More importantly, it was necessary for me to be upfront and honest with an employer about my businesses outside of the job. I was shocked to realize I was not alone in that building and that others had thriving businesses outside of Gainbridge Fieldhouse. I was surrounded by brilliant people that loved entrepreneurship and I was able to work with a few of them along the way. It also made me realize what my next move would be and what direction I saw myself going. If I was going to stay in sports and entertainment, I needed to control my long-term success and revenue potential a little bit more than the hypotheticals you get when you manage artists or host concerts (most of which lose a substantial amount of money). This line of thinking sent me back to school where I received my master’s degree in Public Relations. I knew enough about the space from the revenue generation side that it was time to really lean into PR and marketing for this next adjustment. From there, RiseUp Marketing Agency was born and I began working with artists, local politicians, and small businesses on their digital marketing and overall branding. Because of my connections in Indianapolis, it was the perfect start to that side of my entrepreneurial journey and I am eternally grateful for those that have trusted me with their brands. Currently, my fiancé and I live in Greer, SC where she is a Psychiatry Resident for Prisma Health and I am the Director of Sales for Wofford College Athletics. In this role, I am still able to scale my businesses in the new area and am on track with RiseUp, as well as InvestLink Social, to do what I’ve planned to do for years; become self-sufficient outside of the 9-5. I am also finishing my final degree that will round out my educational journey; Doctorate in Business Administration. My story is slightly different than most entrepreneurs in a few ways, but the appreciation for higher education and management of a 9-5 job are probably the most unique for most in my position. Because I have so many plans and so much appreciation for the process, I want to learn and understand all sides of it before making that final leap. The part that I left out of this entire story is this….I stopped working a 9-5 job during and just after the pandemic to “pursue my dream”. I drove Lyft and worked part-time for FedEx Freight in order to “have more time for my business” and it nearly killed me. Seriously, I have the scar to prove it (on my knee from sheet metal slicing it open; nothing too crazy). The point I’m making is, I’ve lived the “hustle” side of entrepreneurship from with a 9-5 job and part time gigs in order to survive. I will take the 9-5 consistent paycheck with outside adventures 10 times out of 10 moving forward. All it took was for me to open up to my employers of my intentions and good things happened for me. They may not for everyone, but I sure am thankful they did for me.

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

I mentioned previously the “right of first refusal” I dealt with concerning the Ball State concert. That issue is almost a funny and necessary part of how that concert was so successful. I had been planning for months with the Director of Facility Management to host the concert at Emens Auditorium on BSU’s campus. Things were good and the ink had dried on all the agreements needed to make it happen. Out of nowhere, a certain company got in touch with him and told him I was not able to host my show there or anywhere else on campus because, “these are Ticketmaster venues and we have other shows planned”. For those of you that know, then you know. If you don’t, search “what entertainment company is partnered exclusively with Ticketmaster” and you’ll understand my frustration. Anyway, with 1 month until on-sale, marketing that I created by myself done and running, and the capital in place to make it all happen, I was without a venue once again; which was the one thing I knew needed to be #1 on the to-do list. After thinking it over and not panicking (too much) I realized that there was an old festival that used to be at BSU called ChirpFest that was hosted in the village area between these two buildings of an apartment complex. I spoke to them about being the presenting sponsors for a discounted investment and they jumped at the opportunity. From there, it was easier to get sponsorship dollars from businesses in the village because of how close the show was to their front doors. In a way, changing venues saved the show (on the backend anyway) and things ran a lot smoother from there.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

While I was growing Process Entertainment, I met Christian Durfee. He was a great guy from Minnesota who was running a health and wellness company. It was completely by chance, because of our relationships with the same people, that we met and hit it off as friends. We both went through similar successes and issues with the companies we partnered with and had a lot to talk about. Around July 2021, Christian sends me a text that says “can I call you?” I say “yes” and he calls and immediately starts talking about his idea for a social networking platform that educates founders and brings them investment no matter the industry. He was calling it InvestLink Social. I knew as soon as he finished his 30 minute long phone pitch to me that this was something special and we because co-founders. Though it is in the tech industry, Christian valued my knowledge of sales and marketing and wanted me to be a part of it and I am once again eternally grateful for such a genuine person that trusts me to grow with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.riseupagency.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawnofalltrades?igsh=b3R1MXRrbThjdnRo&utm_source=qr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-tyler-ii-m-a-770a4a8b?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app