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

Wes, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In order to become successful it takes God, Faith, Confidence, Consistency and Motivation. Without Faith and Confidence you will lack the Consistency and Motivation to achieve your Vision. We often want to skip the process and move straight forward to the success but it takes time. True success is not overnight and takes time to achieve. When obtaining success you must also have patience. The journey to success can be discouraging because of the hurdles you will face. It really took me years to find success in different areas of my life being a drummer, author and entrepreneur. The amount of times I thought about throwing in the towel because the obstacles felt so difficult but didn’t made me fight harder to make sure I was successful. One of the biggest moments of my life on the road to success was when I had the opportunity to do my first Drum Clinic in Amsterdam back in 2014. There was no money involved and they could barely afford to bring me over themselves. For some reason I saw the Vision of what they wanted to accomplish and what it could do for me. The amount Faith I had in myself made me jump off the cliff and go forward. I got the money together and went to Amsterdam to do my very first International Sold out clinic. Having that amount of Faith and Confidence in myself landed me in my first international drum magazine on the front cover with Quest Love. After I did that clinic it pushed my career in a way I had never experienced. This was the first time I had this amount of Faith and Confidence in myself and it pushed me to be Consistent!

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.

My name is Wes Watkins and I am from Annapolis/Severn Md. Growing up I played drums in church and ended up playing in GoGo Bands, Jazz, Blues, Gospel groups and for different artist. I recently finished up touring with Tony Toni Tone and have worked with many different artist over the years such as The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Carolyn Malachi, Marcus Johnson, Doug E Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, Raheem Devaughn, Chrisette Michelle, Koryn Hawthorne, Chuck Brown Band, Travis Greene, Sirius Company, Got My Own Sound and more. Outside of music I started my own Fedora Hat line (GMOS Hats) and wrote three books and partnered up with drumstick company (Wincent Drumsticks) to create my own Signature drumstick line. Over the years I have worked so hard to get to where I am now. The amount of work I put into my craft has given me great results and I still keep putting in work so I can go further than where I am now. One thing I am most proud of is not quitting. The entrepreneur/musician game is not for weakhearted and I love it so much. It is very easy to get discouraged in this arena but I thank God that I never gave up and can show my kids how to keep pushing forward.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

One thing that helped build my reputation in this market is my consistency, professionalism and practicing my craft. My name and my brand mean everything to me so I make sure I stay consistent. I show up on time, stay prepared and I communicate with people in my field. Professionalism is a huge part of my reputation and I am proud to be in these different markets having success.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My main goal and mission driving my creative journey is showing my kids you can be whatever you want if you work hard and stay consistent. I never want them to feel the process is so hard they want to throw in towel. Making sure my kids see me working hard to accomplish my goals gives me Motivation to keep pushing. I understand how important it is to set the example for them so I have to stay strong while accomplishing my goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gotmyownsound.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wes.watkins.16

Image Credits
Maurice- Taylor