Meet Seth Van Dover

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Seth Van Dover a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Seth, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I would say I developed my hard work ethic first in high school and then into college and so on. I went to highschool at Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock, Arkansas. This school was very tough for me, and while I wasn’t the smartest person in the room, I realized that if I worked harder, I could achieve anything.

I then went on to college at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and graduated with a Civil Engineering degree with a focus on Structural. This was definitely tougher than high school, but I again, realized that if I kept working hard, I could get the degree.

I then moved back to Little Rock and worked at Garver Engineering as a Bridge Designer, while playing music on the side when I could. I believe that me learning and creating this hard work ethic definitely bled over into my music career.

I left my job at Garver in Little Rock, Arkansas this past January and moved down to Fort Worth, Texas to pursue a career in music.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Halfway through my Sophomore year at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, in March of 2020, Covid hit and we were all sent home to do online school. Two weeks into doing online school, I had to find something to do in between classes so I borrowed my moms friends spare guitar. As a kid, I played the drums for a couple of years just for fun, but this was my first time picking up a guitar, so I really did not know what I was doing or how long it would last.

I immediately fell in love with the guitar and have not looked back since. After graduating with a Civil Engineering Degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, I moved back to Little Rock to work for Garver as a Bridge Designer while playing music on the side.

I left my job in January of this year (2024) and moved down to Fort Worth, Texas to pursue a career in music. Since moving down to Fort Worth, i have played gigs all around Texas, Arkansas, and Colorado!

I recently had two singles, “Fort Worth Will Do” and “Letting Go” and have some more music coming soon!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I would say the three biggest skills that I have learned during my journey are: hard work ethic, patience, and having adversity.

The music business is very tough and it is a long road ahead, but you just have to keep your head down and work hard. Also, you will most likely fail one-hundred times before you succeed (obviously an exaggeration) so it is important to not get discouraged when you get told no or don’t succeed.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most impactful thing that my parents have done for me is support me. No words can describe how helpful and how grateful I am to have such good support behind me. They lift me up when times are hard and cheer me on when things go my way!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Headshot: Tracy Van Dover
Instagram: @vandoverphoto

Action Shots: Herschel Heath
Instagram: @herschel.png

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