Story & Lesson Highlights with Jon Wheeler

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jon Wheeler. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Jon , thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
Yawning. Socials. Coffee. Breakfast. Bathroom. Not necessarily always in that order. Generally though I’m at my most productive and the beginning and end of the day, so… basically I try not to waste it. I write if I can, I think that’s when my brain is most ‘open for business’ but some days writing can’t always be the priority.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a self taught musician, guitarist and tutor. Music has been my full time occupation for almost twenty years since I basically got to the point where I was spending so much time playing music, I quit my day job.

I teach guitar, ukulele and mandolin. I run a set of local, acoustic music clubs, host open mic nights, and play in a variety of duos and bands. This year I started tutoring on an online songwriting mentorship platform called ‘I Am A Songwriter’, we have about thirty mentees, mostly in the U.K. but some in the States, which is very varied and very exciting.

I write and record my own songs under the name “WestingWay”, after the street that I grew up on, which I record with one of my best friends at his home studio in Hampshire…..and I have a few co-writing projects in the making, most notably with a local country music artist called Kate Harding.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
Long before I began my music career, I worked for a building company. It was small, a few of us running it, several full time tradesmen and a joinery shop, very much a family business, and it was run by the founder’s daughter and her husband, Dave.

Dave wasn’t a builder by trade, but he knew how to be organised, and as such he had a very different approach to most of the people in the industry. I think a lot of people found him infuriating, but for me he was the standard to aim for. Energy, hours, commitment, and lists….my goodness, the endless lists of things to do…..But thirty years later I still do my ‘to do’ lists ‘Dave Style’ and I still cross them out with this funny little vertical squiggle her had.

I think he taught me that it’s perfectly possible to do anything you want to do, but you do have to work at it, and you don’t have to do it the same as everyone else to be ‘successful’ (whatever that really means).

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
No.

But there have been times I’ve really needed to take a break.

I think some people think that being a full time musician is just one long party, and, don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful, and some parts of the job are quite frankly epic, but, it is like any job, in that regular work is the key to some level of stability. For me, that means odd hours and difficulty taking any more than a few days off at a time. So taking a proper break is difficult – but it is necessary.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That success is only measurable by Spotify plays and Instagram followers, stuff like that.

I mean, that is the definition of success to some people, and that’s fair enough, we’re all different. That’s generally the outsiders view though, which is not necessarily the one you want to be concerned with. I think you need to be more concerned with what success means to you – for me, it’s having a normal life but a relatively abnormal job, but like I said, everyone’s different.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
Other than worrying about getting old, and not being able to do the things that bring me joy, I don’t think there’s much really.

I try to concentrate on the things and people that I want to put time into, and I don’t leave much on the table. I suppose a lot of people might say something like ‘stop wasting time’, but I can’t really do much more than I do. Sometimes time does need to be wasted. I don’t like it, but there it is.

Live life as fully as you can, then you don’t need to worry too much about how long there is left, you’ll have done all you can do in the time you have.

Right now, getting on with it means finishing my next single ‘I Get That All The Time’, which will, fingers crossed be out in January 2026.

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