We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful David Wood. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with David below.
David, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Confidence and self-esteem was something I really struggled with for most of my childhood and even as a young adult. It was something that I really let cripple me from going after some of the things I really wanted to do with my life. I always had self doubt and feeling like I just wasn’t as good as other people. In my mind I always felt like I was the worst player on my hockey teams, or worst musician in the bands I played in, but really I just wasn’t as confident in my abilities as my team mates or band mates. Because of that, I did suffer as I was too afraid to take risks. I’d try to find things to blame it on like I’m too short, or my parents are too poor, etc. and I just had to play the hand I was dealt. I accepted that I’d have a mediocre life. It wasn’t until I met a really good friend of mine through an adult hockey league team. It was the first time I saw someone who had a similar background to me, but he never accepted it like I had. He was working two jobs to pay his tuition, going home after games to study instead of to the bars, and for some reason he was the one that made me realize there was no reason I couldn’t also change my path. Everyone deals roadblocks and it’s really up to you to find a way around them. From there it was just taking one step at a time, and after a while I started having small victories and hitting small milestones that made me realize I’m a lot more capable than I thought. Even now, I’ve come so far from where I was, but it’s a choice I make everyday to hold myself accountable.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Back in 2020, I started an Indie Record Label, Fogwood Records. I’ve been a musician and artist my whole life, and even though I tried stepping away for a “real job” as data scientist I could never really ignore the passion for music I had. Even though I had a very successful career, I found myself obsessing over a random melodies or something in my head all day. I’d just develop the idea in my head throughout the day, and couldn’t wait to get home to try and flesh it out. The only problem was, by the time I got home I was just too mentally exhausted from my day job. This went on for years. I got married at the end of 2018 to someone who really took all that work I had done on myself (confidence and self esteem) and multiplied it by 10. After about a year of being married she could tell I had no passion for my career and asked me if I could be doing anything else what would it be? My response was to be a musician. Her response was plain and simple, “then do it”. I spent the rest of the evening telling her all the reasons why it wouldn’t work and how hard it is to make money, but she didn’t care. She wanted me to be happy. That night she’d had her sister draw up a logo, and she bought a domain and made a simple website. It was the kick in ass I needed. Then I quit my job and tried to figure out how the hell someone starts a record label. I knew I had the talent, and now I had been given an amazing opportunity. It’s been 3 years and I’m learning something new everyday, but somehow over that time I no longer feel lost, or like I’m pretending to be a business owner. I’m seeing money come in and not just going out. I’m seeing our crazy marketing ideas actually work. I feel incredibly blessed to be in the situation I’m in, and I don’t ever want to take it for granted. Everyday I try to repay that support and belief my wife showed me by making the most of this opportunity, and I can honestly say I’m extremely proud of the label and the artists I get to work with. One of the reasons I wanted to start a label was because over my life I’ve seen first hand (personally and through friends) how much this industry can tear you apart and it often kills the passion the artist had. My goal was to find artists I truly believe in as both a musician and a person, and do the best I can to treat them fairly and help them reach their goals. I’m so fortunate to have a roster of incredible people that are also incredible artists. I want to give them the experience with a label that I would’ve wanted.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would say the single most important quality that’s gotten me this far identifying what I can do, and more importantly, what I can’t. As a small business owners you need to be able to wear a lot of hats, but there are some you need to find qualified professionals for. When I started I tried writing my own contract, but I quickly found out that an actual lawyer could pick these apart. Another quality I needed to develop was to stop overthinking everything. Early on I was so afraid of messing up that I’d sometimes delay things for way too long. Don’t get me wrong, when comes to legal or financial issues I like to check everything thoroughly, but for other things sometimes failing can show you something really important for longterm success. Last, I like to help others if I’m able to. Everyone needs help at some point in time, so I try to be generous when I can. I think because of that I’ve had others return the favor when I’ve been in need.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
I think the most impactful thing my parents did was allow me to be myself. I was never pushed into any hobby, sport, or interest by them. For example, my father is really into cars and loves working on them, and I know when I was born he was hoping to share this me. I did hang out a lot with him in garage while he worked, but I just didn’t care for it. I was more interested in hanging out with my dad and listening to his record collection while he worked. He had a really diverse taste in music and I loved listening to everything from the Beatles and Beach Boys to Motown and Stax. I think my parents just wanted me to find what ever it was that made me feel the way my dad felt about cars. Even if it did mean buying an 8 year old a drum set for Christmas. I can’t imagine that was easy for them.
Contact Info:
- Website: fogwoodrecords.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fogwoodrecords/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/fogwoodrecords/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSH15hBjIv3Tt4Z6XHpxadA
