We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stetson Nelson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Stetson thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
The first big risk I took in my life was quitting professional baseball to pursue a career in music. I stopped playing baseball in 2016. I had finished my undergrad and was back home trying to get my bearings on what I wanted to pursue. I ended up having the opportunity to move to Nashville, TN in the beginning of 2017. I was literally days away from taking a job with an insurance company, but as fate would have it, I was able to move to Nashville to begin pursuing my music career. It has been almost 6 years since I made the move to Nashville. It has been a journey of ups and downs, as well as quite the learning experience. Being in a town saturated with talent is great, in my opinion, because it forces you to work extremely hard in order to separate yourself from the competition. I have learned so much about myself: strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, as well as discovering my unique sound and story. I am still working hard at writing songs, singing, and playing. I have made some great friends along the way and I am thankful i took the leap. I am not quite in the position yet to pursue music full-time, but I know with patience and determination I will achieve that goal. In the meantime, I am enjoying the process of daily improvement and bettering my skillset.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My day job, as I like to call it, is as a Large Loss Consultant. I work for a company called Restoremasters. We specialize in commercial roofing primarily, with some residential work. I enjoy the challenge of being in sales. It is a lot like music, where you have to go out and make things happen yourself. Things do not just fall into your lap. You have to be a go-getter and a hustler to be successful. This job is challenging, but highly rewarding, because I get to help people while also being compensated very well in the process.
Regarding my music career, I write primarily country music, but I pull inspiration from many different genres. I enjoy telling a story either based on personal experience(s) or the experience(s) of someone else, in a relatable, catchy song. It is definitely a challenge at times to stay disciplined to continue writing songs, especially when the creative juices are not necessarily flowing easily. I am still working on discovering my unique sound as well as what my “brand” entails. I am most proud of myself for sticking with my guns, trusting my gut, and not listening to people that told me I was crazy for quitting baseball to pursue a music career. It took me almost 2 decades to reach the professional level in baseball, so I know music is very similar in that it takes long term patience combined with aggressive, daily skillset improvement. Over time, I know that I will reach my goals of writing multiple #1 songs and touring the country sharing my songs with fans.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Being a creative person is hard for non-creative people to understand, in my opinion. I feel that pursuing a career in artistry is very entrepreneur based. There is no “road map” to success. It is a lot of trial and error and unknown territory. In my opinion, the traditional 9-5 mentality is a comfortable way to live and there is nothing wrong with it, but that is not how I am wired. I want to achieve at a high level on my own terms and that can be scary to most people. Pursuing a career in music is challenging. You have to invest many, many hours in to your craft and you have to work jobs on the side that you do not necessarily love doing in order to make ends meet with no guarantee that you will even achieve “success.” Most people like the idea of safety and security and a steady income, but I think that is a fixed, limited mindset. If you want to live life on your own terms and build your own dream, then you have to be willing to struggle for many years and delay gratification for a long time before reaping the fruits of your efforts. If you have an entrepreneur type mind, then a creative career is def a goof fit for you, but you have to be willing to handle the uncertainty and the struggle of not fitting into the traditional mold of a career.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My goal and mission is to show people that no matter who you are, where you come from, what you look like, and any other hurdle that may be in your way, that those hurdles can be overcome with discipline, execution, and patience. No matter what level you are at in your journey, you can achieve your goals, if you just stick with the belief in yourself and are not swayed by the opinions of others who are not on the same journey as you and may not understand what you are pursuing. I want to show people that a normal person with no special gift(s) or advantage(s) can make their dreams come true if they do the work and stick with it.