We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stanley Shotwell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Stanley, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Throughout my short, yet, full life of 32 years, there were times when I believed that I had “arrived” at what I thought was my purpose for living. Whether it was me being a musician to me being a psychologist in the schools, my life has been filled with seemingly random experiences with no true connection; however, my perception of my life experiences changed when I began to see how they were indeed connected and were preparing me for where I stand today. In these experiences, my purpose for living – at least, my current understanding and belief of my purpose – was birthed.
As a child, I grew up in a very musically-inclined family. My dad played the drums for different gospel groups back in his day; he even sung for President Bush with his fellow police officers in their singing group “The Peacemakers”. To either sing or play an instrument was almost an expectation of my dad’s for his children; I was no exception. To some extent, I got my start with music early by participating in a music class in elementary school but, eventually, I started taking the craft more seriously by the time middle school came around and I joined the band. At this point in life, I was deeply in love with music in all its conventional and unconventional forms; I spent hours listening to anything that had a melody in it – from mainstream music and to lesser-known music from video games. Music was a therapy for me then before I even knew what therapy was. I would continue to play in the band all the way through college. Music was very much a vehicle for me to ride in and see wonderful sights – like being invited to play at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York. Even more, I was able to touch the hearts of listeners as I played my trumpet, helping them experience that joy that only music can bring. Though the passion for music burned hot, I found myself drifting into another area of study: psychology.
I got my bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. At this point in life, I was very interested in the mind and how people thought and why they act in the way they do. Though broad at first, I eventually came into the more specific area of study of school psychology. For seven years now, I have been helping children and adolescents who struggle in school academically, behaviorally, socially, and more and ascribe to them an educational diagnosis all in the hopes of meeting them where they are to help get them to where they should be. This line of work has been hard and yet rewarding at the same time. Though music had taken a seat on the back burner of my life, it remained a therapy to me as I listened to the concerns of young minds and helped them to harmonize their thoughts and emotions into a symphony of growth and healing. Much like it was for me with music, I thought I had arrived again at my purpose in life. But as life is a symphony of its own, and sometimes, its melodies change unexpectedly, I found a new passion that has captivated my attention and drive to this day: media and ministry.
My current passion has been short and long all at the same time. I had always had a love for technology; in fact, I became known as the tech guy for my family and friends throughout my early years. About six years ago, I started volunteering for the media ministry at my church. By then, I was already a budding photographer, but I gained more opportunities to stretch in that area and others related to media such as graphic design. My creative bend, though being shown in a new way, continued to flourish and abound. Things were going slow and steady until the pandemic hit. Like many churches at the time, my church really poured into the media ministry to continue operations and spread the gospel online when people couldn’t come together. It was during this time that I saw exponential growth to the point that people started asking me to do work for them for pay. I didn’t realize until recently – December 2022 to be exact – that I had a gift for media work.
My pastor and mentor had a sit-down moment with me to help me with my bad habit of procrastination, and the spirit of the conversation was essentially a wake-up call for me. My pastor said to me “even the work that you do at the last minute draws circles around what people spend hours doing”, but he lovingly asked me to imagine “what would your work be like if you gave it 100% attention and effort? How many lives could you impact for the greater good?” It was after that conversation that something awakened in me – a burning desire to do ministry for God and do it tirelessly and in excellence. Ever since that day, I’ve been going hard in the craft, and God has blessed every step of the way to the point that my work has gained national attention; to top it off, new opportunities for more work and exposure have not stopped coming to me throughout this year so far.
Today, I stand at the intersection of music, psychology, and media ministry. I realize now that all my experiences have culminated for this very moment. Every morning I sit and think “what did I do to get here?” Being the Christian young adult that I am, I believe it was all God-led. Everything seemed like random experiences until this year. What was once thought to be random and irrelevant experiences is now known to be God preparing me for the path I am currently on, and I am forever grateful and humbled to be able to do what it is that I love to do and touch the lives of many. I would not change anything I experienced up until for the world. I have come to understand that the exercising of my life’s purpose can change in appearance at any given moment; however, the nature of my purpose has always remained the same – to be a help. I have found my purpose again. Even though those early beliefs of me arriving to my purpose in life was not the path I was to trod on forever, those paths interwove into a unique and beautiful path that I am currently on. For those wanting to know their purpose, I believe you find it by living and doing. Along the way you experience what I think of as lesser purposes – purposes not inferior in quality but step-ladder purposes – that lead you to greater purposes. Keep living and doing what you love, and you will find yourself standing at your intersection of experiences that lead to your purpose.
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?
Currently, I am employed by my local school district as a School Psychologist. On the side, I am the Media Ministry Director for my church and an assistant Media Director for another church here in Memphis. I do freelance work as well in all things media – such as photography, videography, and graphic design. To sum it up, I’m a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy that likes to learn new things.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three qualities that were impactful in my life journey so far is being a man of my word, having a good work ethic, and not being afraid to step out of my comfort zone. If you are looking to find your place in life, just continue to live and do what you love. Don’t let anyone steer you away from doing what that inner voice is speaking for you to do. Every life experience is valuable and helps propel you down the path made just for you.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
My parents laid the foundation of all that I am today; others have come along the way and added to that foundation. One person that has been very influential in helping me get to where I am today is my pastor/mentor/spiritual father. The dude is the best.
Contact Info:
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