Meet Brian Revels

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brian Revels. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brian below.

Hi Brian, thank you so much for joining us today. There are so many topics we could discuss, but perhaps one of the most relevant is empathy because it’s at the core of great leadership and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your empathy?
I never knew my father growing up. And there was never anybody that really took his place. My mom was my biggest champion. That dichotomy made me focus on things like worth and love and loyalty. It made me listen to people’s story’s more carefully. I was already an emotional kid but that all turned it up a notch. I thought I was broken and looked for the brokenness in the world from an early age, to commiserate with it or try and fix it.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a songwriter by night and an ad writer by day. In November, the first song off my next album is coming out and it’s been a hell of a journey getting here.

In the past 5 years, I’ve uprooted and relaid the foundations of my life. In 2020, I left a life waiting tables and occasionally recording music in Atlanta for an advertising writer’s position in Anchorage, Alaska—my first time living outside of Georgia in my whole life. I met some lifers there, but long story short: Halloween of 2021 I was moving again, this time to Chicago, IL where I lived for 9 months until I met a gorgeous girl from Rochester, NY and moved yet again, for love and, hopefully, for good. That was August of 2022.

Now, I’m still moonlighting as a musician with the eCommerce Don Draper day job, but my days are also filled with a stepdad’s responsibilities—two dogs, a 6 year old, a partner, and the split level in suburbia we all share—and I’m not the least bit mad about it.

I’m healing (and being loud about it on TikTok, if ya want a front row seat). Everybody be on the lookout for my song “Anywhere with You’ out November 3rd, featuring the love of my love, Jenna Robinson.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I’m not sure that what works for me would work for anyone else and that’s sort of the best lesson I’ve ever learned. We all have these superpowers that make us, us. For me, I have a general curiosity that keeps me a student of life. I know a little about a lot, but there’s not a lot I know a lot about. The other side of that coin is my lack of focus. And that’s probably the second best lesson I’ve learned: your biggest superpowers are born from your biggest problems. Like my generalist nature means my focus sucks, but my frenetic focus also gifted me the ability to play like 5 instruments. Not well enough for people to call me for studio musician gigs, but well enough for me to write my little lyrics over. And that’s the one thing I know. I can write a song lyric. If you’re good at something, say that shit out loud. We’re not doing anyone any favors playing small.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
I’m part of the sober songwriter epidemic. September 2nd marked a year without alcohol for my partner and I.

It makes life get real real, but that’s real good I think. I figure you can stay buzzed til you die and have a pretty good run, but I’m trying to transcend, to live a life I don’t need to run from—and to heal from the one I have been running from.

I think this being human thing is a big deal. I don’t think we’re going to grow wings anytime soon. I think our next evolution is a spiritual one. Where else can we go? This *motions at everything* ain’t everything. And I no longer want the static of my coping mechanisms (which I still have plenty of) to limit what I can become.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
“Anywhere with You” Album Art photo by Jenna Robinson; all other photos by Chad Edwards

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