Imagine being a skilled chef; you’re living your dream of being creative while making a great living. Then out of the blue, you develop the onset of seizures. Because of this, you can no longer peruse your passion; you can no longer work in the field you’ve trained years to be in. All your experience and knowledge seem to be for nothing. How do you pick yourself up from this? How do you get over “life isn’t fair”?
The person who belongs to this story is Patrick LeFils, aka “Southern Fellow”. I recently had the pleasure of meeting him, as he invited me for an interview to discuss my artistry and my latest release, “I Always Wanted To”. Our time together became much more of a conversation between friends than an interview. He opened up to me about how he started “Southern Fellow”. He took me through the painful story of how he was no longer able to be a chef because of the onset of seizures. Through grieving, healing, soul searching, and relying on friends for support, he was given the advice to somehow meld his passion for being a chief with his love for country music. At first, one may think…. Those 2 things have nothing in common, how on earth can you put them together AND turn them into a livelihood? Well, Patrick did!
Make sure you check out his website here if you haven't already.
In a nutshell, Patrick promotes independent country music artists, like me. He invites the artist on for an interview, and after talking to them he creates a dish in their name from inspo he gets during the conversation. It’s a dish that represents the artist, and a recipe included for all to enjoy. From here, he hosts writer’s rounds for these artists to showcase their music, and he creates dishes to be served to the audience while they enjoy the music. I’d say Patrick nailed it. He is a perfect example of Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote, “Out of adversity comes opportunity.”
Here I thought I was just saying “yes” to another interview and a great opportunity to play at a writer’s round. I knew they would both be a great way to promote myself and my music; but again, I was pleasantly surprised to get so much for than that out of my experience. I’ve been reminded that life can turn on a dime, and that “it is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop.” ~Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Patrick epitomizes that the most successful people see adversity not as a stumbling block, but as a steppingstone to greatness.
Want to know more about how successful people push through adversity? Here are 10 ways they do it!
As you do so, think about the different obstacles that you have been faced with in your own life. How did you handle those situations? After reading Patrick's story, has it given you a new perspective and approach for how you will choose to respond to future challenges?
Please enjoy videos and pics from Southern Fellow’s writer’s round I performed at Saturday night.
