We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shea Gable a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shea, 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 definitely get the work ethic from my daddy, Jerry Gable. He was an entrepreneur (Gable’s Feed & Seed) as well. He ran multiple business’s. The one he ran the longest was a farm supply in a small town of Raleigh, Ms. We are country folks, so those values and life style was passed down. He made me work at what we call a feed store. I remember when I was 12 years old the school I went to was right across the road from daddy’s business. When he would get 18 wheeler loads of feed or fertilizer in he would call over to the school and tell the principal he needed me to come help. So I had no choice but to leave class and walk across the street and get to work. When I was around eight years old I had to sit in the yard and sell watermelons all day. He would stack them up around a tree in the front yard where I would have shade and put me to work. I’d say when I was around twelve or thirteen he built me a gazebo in front of his business out by the road and once again put me to work selling watermelons. Back then all the kids in our community had to help the neighbors in their watermelon fields, hay fields, chicken houses, and just ever how they needed us. For so long it wasn’t any pay. We just had to do what we were told and live with it. As I got a lil older we might get a few dollars if that. There’s so much more I could say about my daddy and how he taught me to work. I use that same work ethic in my music business (Rockin’ G Entertainment) today. Back then as a child I couldn’t stand the fact that he made me work like that but now I’m grateful that my daddy did it his way and not mine. I lost my daddy to cancer in 2018 so this is really hard for me right now typing all this.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My name is Shea Gable, owner of Rockin’ G Entertainment. This business goes back to when I was nine years old. My cousin that I called Uncle Clark Gable played guitar. He would often sit on his porch with an old black man named Doodle Agee. They played the blues and I was told that they didn’t like for people to stop and watch them. I remember walking thru uncle Clark’s yard one day and seeing them play. After I was told they didn’t like an audience I let them have their time cuz I didn’t want them to stop. I spent lots of time up there but usually they played in the evenings that I can remember and back then when it got dark kids had to get home. As we say we had to be home when the street lights came on. So I would sneak out of the house and go stand in the woods so uncle Clark and Doodle couldn’t see me. Then I would just enjoy the sound of the blues flowing thru the trees. When I turned 15 years old my daddy bought me my first guitar and my parents put me in guitar lessons. Fast forward to years later I was always around horses growing up. In 2014 I hosted my first organized trail ride. It grew to as many as 250 riders. Including 40 wagons. We would take the wagon train around 15 miles that led us back to the camp. Every event had live music where there would be a concert the night of the ride. It reached as many as 400 people at the concert. All the rides were benefits to people in need. Being that I had music in my life from an early age I decide I wanted to start a business as a promoter and hosting live music events. After my daddy died I took it hard and my use of alcohol turned into what would start tearing me down. Mental health took a toll on me at that time. In 2005 I lost my best friend that I worked with, played music with, and most of all he was like a brother to me. I took it hard but I don’t think my mental health hit me until the loss of my daddy. In 2020 I told my self the music business was what I wanted to do with my life but I knew I wasn’t mentally ready. So I turned to God and asked him to help me learn to be humble, have patience, and give me strength to get my self to the point that I could take that step. God blessed me by 2023 that I was strong enough to take it on and make it happen. So in those few years of self healing I used that time to get my ducks in a row. In December of 2023 I started my music business of Rockin’ G Entertainment and went to work. With my passion for suicide awareness and mental health awareness I figured I could use my platform to spread awareness and help those that struggle like I did and still do. I hit the ground running to grow my brand and network as much as possible to grow where I could help artist reach their musical goals as well as use my story to hopefully get people to open up to me and help them with mental health. In 2021 I booked Justin Jeansonne. He’s a country music artist from Mobile, Alabama. From that point forward we grew closer in music and a friendship. About a year ago something happened that really took a toll on me and for a moment I thought to my self there was an option to end all these struggles. This one scenario hit me hard and I thought to my self that taking my self away from all this would end my pain. I turned to Justin that day and with his love and caring for me he turned my day around for the good. I knew I wanted to advocate mental health but from that moment on I knew that as he took the time for me, I needed to take the time for others that need support in these mental battles. I always say it’s very possible that Justin saved my life that day. There’s a lot of artist that struggle with mental health. About the only good thing that comes from it is they write a good song. So as I travel through this journey of chasing live music, God is blessing me so much with growth to the point where it’s helping my business. Most importantly I’m given the opportunity of the gift God has given me to talk to people and get them to open up to help them thru their struggles. I’ve gotten some great opportunities in the past 15 months getting to meet bigger name artist and have industry professionals enter my world in whichever fashion it may be.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Owning a business is not easy. Dealing with the public is really hard at times as I watched my daddy all those years. Seen many different walks of life enter his store. He taught me everything I knew that I brought to my business. Of course the music business was a whole different ball game. However, there is still key components of any business that a person should factor in and always stand firm with to succeed. First, you have to have an open mind when entering the entrepreneur world. Don’t just have the motive of becoming rich. For greed will shadow your mind and cause unwanted mistakes that shouldn’t be present. Second, focus on being humble, having patience, becoming strong at heart to navigate through all the storms of owning a business. Third, set goals that you know you can reach. Don’t go overboard with it. It can be a six month goal. I always tell my self and others that “Any progress, is progress. There’s many other key things I could mention in advice for success, but those three things will benefit an entrepreneur just starting a business.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
Networking has been the key avenue for my music business especially in the past year. By focusing on networking first over money I’ve grown tremendously! In helping artist get seen by industry professionals. Booking them shows to help put money back into their music. Connecting them with others that will help them grow. Helping artist grow their social media presence so they can be seen by the right people to grow. A lot of artist have mental health. So with my focus of networking and growing my brand I believe that it’s made me credible to them in the means of the relationships we have made happen to where they often open up to me about their struggles with mental health. All these things go hand in hand and it’s very important to me to use my passion to hit all these areas in their journey so they can grow. Manifesting positivity is the greatest super power i have put forth in my life to make this business prosper for my self and artist.
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Image Credits
All these photos were taken with my phone.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
