Meet DMV Musician Wes Watkins

Meet Wes Watkins from the DMV area who is a musician and author.

About Your Hustle

Business / Project Name

Motivation + Drive = Purpose

How did you get started, and how did you get to where you are today?

I got started in the music industry as a kid. My first major show at the age of 8 was playing for the legendary Richard Smallwood. As I grew older I went from just playing in church then Go-Go bands in Washington DC, Hip Hop artist, Blues and R&B artist. Playing for different artists and groups allowed me to work with people such as Travis Greene, Koryn Hawthorne, Chrisette Michelle, Carolyn Malachi, Marcus Johnson, Ryan Leslie, Backyard, Northeast Groovers, Lissen, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and many more.

My journey to becoming an author came from personal struggles between 2012 and 2014. During that time I struggled with depression, alcoholism and fighting for custody of my son. Going through all of that and healing gave me confidence to share my story. I wrote my first book in 2018. Additionally, my new book was released this month. The inspiration for this book came from my personal experiences of feeling like I had no purpose. I had no identity of who I was or who I was created to be, therefore, I thought I didn’t have purpose. As a result of not having an identity, I lacked vision on how to operate in my purpose and see what my purpose was. However, the things in my past that I thought disqualified me actually qualified me for my purpose!

Challenges and Obstacles

Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of your struggles along the way?

As a musician being on tour while trying to balance being a dad was the biggest struggle. When you come home from tour you need to be sure you have work at home. Furthermore, as an author, book sales are the biggest struggle. Making sure I had a solid team was the key to pushing through and making sure my book got the visibility needed to sell.

About Your Product / Service

What do you do? What are you most proud of and what sets you apart?

I am most known as a drummer. However, I am most proud of myself for pushing through no matter what challenges I faced. The music industry is not the easiest industry. I have had huge artists ask me to be on their album then have their drummers recreate my work and cut me out. No matter what, I’ve kept on going even though situations like that make you want to walk away from it all.