(Jim and his husband Troy)
Listen on –
When a person comes up with an idea for anything, for it to succeed, they have to believe in it even if other people can’t see it or don’t believe it. There are countless stories of successful people who didn’t give up when things got hard, they just refined their product and kept learning.
When I had the idea to start a podcast, I would say that was certainly the case for me. I had a good bit of support early on, but I think I believed in it considerably more than I had reason to. That being said, I’m very thankful to the people that listened to early drafts of my episodes and gave me feedback that would ultimately help me refine my product to a point where it was presentable.
Jim Sullivan, principal oboe of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, was one of the three conversation episodes I had done before I released anything to the public. Because of that, Demondrae, Kevin, and Jim had to trust me that although they didn’t know what this would sound like, it would still represent them well.
All this is to say, I’m so thankful to Jim (I often spell it Gym because I think it’s funny, but now I have to really stop and think to make sure I spell it Jim) for trusting me and being totally open while talking with me. It means the world that he believed in me enough to be a part of this project early on.
Even though Jim and I are good friends, I learned so much about him while talking with him for this episode. He’s an inspiring person, and I hope people listening are able to be inspired by him as well!
Check out the Spotify playlist I made for Jim’s episode. It features a few of the Robert Shaw recordings that Jim was talking about during the episode (he’s also playing on the B minor mass recordings, so that’s pretty cool too), as well as some artists that Jim feels influenced him as a musician and as a person. Enjoy!
Until next time,
Ryan