Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - Determination & Discipline | From Random Gigs to Pitbull Collabs

Episode Date: April 27, 2026

Tyler Filmore shares how overcoming obstacles in the music industry taught him the power of determination and breaking norms. From refusing to quit when success didn't match his timeline to landing a Pitbull collaboration through one random performance, Tyler reveals the mindset shifts that separate those who persist from those who quit. Raw, authentic, and actionable—for anyone betting on themselves.   Key Takeaways  -Success often comes from opportunities that look small at first.  -Most people stop because the journey doesn’t match their expectations.  -Staying authentic creates long-term fulfillment, even if growth is slower.  -You don’t know who is watching when you show up and perform at your best.  -Taking smart risks is often the price of reaching another level.  -Comparison can destroy momentum if you let it.  -Fatherhood can sharpen purpose and change priorities.   *Socials* Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theshawnfrench Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/476624146831479?checkpoint_src=any Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5kS9tkLGQLcVyRgB3mDznw Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-determined-society-with-shawn-french/id1555922064 Linkme - https://link.me/theshawnfrench Tyler Filmore - https://www.instagram.com/film.oremusicc/ The Determined Society is hosted by Shawn French — a show for people who refuse to quit. Every episode goes beyond the highlight reel to explore the real stories behind resilience, reinvention, and the relentless pursuit of a life built on your own terms. Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all others.. If this episode moved you, share it with someone who needs to hear it — and leave a review. It helps more than you know. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I've seen you say you're the country artist that's almost made it. Writing for Pimple, doing songs with them or on his record label. How did it happen? A shout out to Barefoot Country Music Fest. It was me, Pipple and Blake Shelton. It's not a bad lineup. I just played that USA song for the first time. And I literally, like, was running off stage.

Someone on Pipple's team was there shot a video with me performing. I was like, one of Pipples managers, like, well, I'm like, no way. I don't believe you. Three days later, I got like a text from Pitt. And the next thing you know, like, I got Pitt. nap on the jet for like seven days. What up guys? We're back here in Nashville, yet again at Nashville Creative Spaces at Brand Builders, about to give you another amazing interview. I have my boy Tyler Fillmore with me,

Fillmore music from Missouri, and now he's a country star. Just got done, collabing with Pitbull. He's riding for him. And he's also been signed to Pitbull's record label. So this interview right here, you're going to be seeing this guy headlining all over the United States, very shortly and you get to meet him here first. So welcome to the show, homie. Man, thank you so much for having me. Dude, it's so cool, man, like two years of, you know, being friends from afar. Yeah. Um, you know, it's so funny because like, everybody bashes social media. My wife especially hates it. I'm like, yo, I guess where I meet everybody. That's not what we've built this platform on. And, and, you know, it's been really

cool to see your journey and, you know, to also see you become a father. Oh, Not once, but twice. So, dude, like, I'm just super excited to have you here. I'm happy to be here, man. Honestly, like, same thing. Like, watching everything that you're doing. Like, this is such an honor to be on here. I'm, like, super pumped.

And the whole social media thing, it's, like, it's definitely a love-hate thing, for me, at least. Yeah. But that's where we meet a lot of people. And that's like, it's just such a part of the job. Like, when I started doing music, like, that wasn't the biggest part of the job. And then, you know, as the years progress and COVID hits and TikTok and things,

it's like the game changes. changes because of that platform. It's been a wild ride, but I'm just glad that connected us, you know? Dude, that's crazy, isn't it, man? But no, you're right, man. It's, you know, the game changes. And COVID especially, you know, that's when I started the show. Not because I was saying, like, okay, everybody else is doing it,

but there's just a whole, this burning passion to do something different, to do something bigger. Oh, yeah. And, you know, I've never gone viral. I've never had any of that crap. but I can tell you something. I have really built something along with my team now that I'm very comfortable with and that I feel like every interview we have brings so much value to the audience, you know.

And that's why I'm super excited to tell your story. I want to start at the humble beginnings, man. You know, Ozarks, you know, Middle America. Now you're in Nashville. And, you know, the audience wants to know what people have been through and how they've overcome the adversity through determination and discipline. That's what we do here, man. I love it.

No. I love telling that story and it is a hustle, man. I do it. All of it. I mean, life is. Yeah. Yeah. No matter what you do, there's going to be problems.

There's going to be adversity. And it's like you get to decide if you buckle. Yeah. Which is okay to buckle a little bit, but don't break. Don't break. You know, keep going. So walk us through. You know, you went to Missou.

Yes, sir. Right? Go SEC. M-I-Z. Oh man, Azouz is great. I went there about a year and a half, two years ago. It was the coldest I've ever been in my fucking life. My toes are still frozen.

I went to watch a baseball player that I used to work with, Jackson Beeman. And yeah, man, he went off that week and it was beautiful. But it was literally, I think, 20 degrees. And up there in Turner Field, I think that's what it's called. It's on a hill. And it's windier, and it's cold. So I don't know how you dealt with that. Missouri's got every type of weather.

but, and I grew up in Missouri and Wildwood, but I remember there were sometimes, like, leaving my fraternity house, like there was, like, there were some winters, and I don't know if it's as bad now, you know, climate, there's much this changed, but years ago, like, there were times where, like, the mounds, and we're in Missouri, like, you'd think it'd be, like, a Minnesota thing. There were mounds of snow, like, higher than my head,

and you're walking a class on a sidewalk, you're like, dude, what is happening? Yeah. So we had some crazy winters for sure. You're like, what, 6-2, 6-3? I'm 6-1. Are you 6-1? Are you 6-1? I mean, dude, you look taller than that.

I appreciate it. I mean, I really do hunch. Yeah. I got to work on that. Don't we all. It's like, I'm sitting here trying to like, this posture, you know, like, I'm holding my kid.

I'm like, this is not getting any better. Oh, dude, funny, funny thing about that. Like, you can go lift weights, right? And it's like, that's bearable. But when you're holding a baby that won't sleep and you're walking around trying to give your wife some time, how bad do your shoulder blades hurt?

Yeah, it just, it just, now you get, almost, I used to say I had like, I didn't know if it was golf elbow or dad elbow. Yeah, dad elbow, man. Dad elbow. And I'd be like, yo, I can't believe I'm complaining about this. But like, I would like, I'd like be on stage, like playing guitar. And I'm like, yo, like, what happened?

I was like, father injury, bro. I was like, yeah. I was like, it's just so, like, you just get so used to it. I didn't need to switch arms. Dude, it's crazy. Like, to a point, like, when you're carrying a baby, like, it, it does burn. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Especially if you can't get him to sleep. So, okay, so let's go through the beginning. You know, you got into music. in college, right? Yeah. Well, yeah, I kind of high school, I was always in music. I was in choir, but I was really a jock and I was trying to, you know, I wanted to do sports

after high school. But then I ended up, you know, placing in state singing and getting a vocal performance scholarship to Mizzou and then, you know, the rest is kind of history. I decided not to play baseball and go up to Mizzou and chase that and, you know, got a business degree as well and kind of next thing you know finished college went straight to Nashville I always wanted to go straight to Nashville like it was like in high school when I knew I was going to do music and then I had to fun four years in college so I'm glad I did it but yeah it's it was nice to see like when I did some more background dive in because I know your music obviously but I was like I wanted to

know Tyler you know I wanted to know what the journey was I didn't know that you played baseball yeah no I've played a bunch of sports what position of center field oh wow really I was a catcher Hell yeah. Dude. Damn, man. Crazy. I played at LSU. I played in the SEC.

Dang. Crazy, bro. That's awesome. Crazy. And I thought that was going to be my path, right? And it turned out, like, I get to sit in chairs and talk to badasses like you. Right back. What a dream, dude.

I was doing, Chris. I didn't play at LSU. That's amazing. Dude, I was telling my boy, Chris, here, that I feel like I'm in the big leagues. Like, I feel like this right here is my big leagues. And, you know, it's a lot like you. You know, I don't feel we've hit our, I know we haven't hit our P. yet and that's always always hard to deal with man you know it's like you know what you have inside

you how do you really filter that in your own mind because i am positive that you think and truly believe in every fiber of your body that you should be way up here now yeah yeah how do you how do you work through that man uh it's just it's such a grind and and i want to get to be like the biggest household name and it just feels like look like anything else is a lot of politics involved in any industry that you're in it whether it was based anything like when you're catcher at LSU

there's politics involved in every any path you take obviously and uh you know the music industry is a very very hard industry cuffrope, man and it's it's you know sometimes it's bless your heart to your face it's not real and there's a lot of like there's a lot of fake and a lot

of BS you gotta kind of swim through um we just always try to say like true to myself and just know that like I don't take no for an answer. I never really have. I am, you know, I am first generation Hispanic. I'm 50% Hispanic. I think I do have a little bit of that, you know, that, uh, that fire in me, you know, to kind of, I definitely see there's a Hispanic side to me that's like, yo, I'm going to get this and like, no one can tell me no kind of thing. I get that from my mom. But, um, yeah, to, to kind of be where I'm at today, um, there's just different

choices that I made, um, during my career and it was more about betting on myself than it was on anybody else. But sometimes when you do that, what's 100% of nothing? You know, it's nothing. So sometimes I didn't give up percentages of things and I really just kept re-betting on myself and reinvesting in myself. And it's made me very sustainable in life and a way better position than a lot of people that took the wrong risk. But some other people that took, you know, a lot of money from other people and a lot of things like that. And then it didn't strike lightning again. you know, now they're not in the career, they don't have a career anymore.

And I've been doing this, you know, I've been doing this for, you know, I've been in Nashville 13 years, almost 14, and I've never had a real job. And so, you know, like, it's amazing. I'm a songwriter, I'm an artist, you know, I do everything I possibly can in music. And from the house, you know, how the biggest I want to be.

Like, I'm working with the biggest artist in the world with Pitbull, and he's like a mentor, and it's really helped elevate to where I want to get to. It helps me dance between genres a little bit too. That's so dope, dude. I'm a redneck from Missouri, but I'm Hispanic, and I grew up with a pop station and a country station,

and I'm just kind of putting everything out there. I'm exactly who I am, and that's why the album was called Atypical. But, you know, before we dive into all that, it's like really just honestly, like, I think mentally every day, it's just like I can't live through comparison, and I make sure that, like,

I have my focus goals, and I have good support team around me, and I just literally just try to stay laser-focused on that. And the creativity part in my life is so fun. And I feel like that is what really drives me. It's like coming up with song ideas constantly and just thinking about music and like, you know, I have a studio session after this. And it's like just every second of every day, I'm thinking about music. And I just know where I'm supposed to be. And I know I'm going to get there to the top. You know, I feel like I'm in the middle somewhere, but I'm going to get there.

Yeah, I think you're middle, but you're above middle, man. I think we're, we're smelling it. Yeah. Yeah. smelling it. We're on the home stretch. So what I'm hearing is... Overnight success. Yeah. Shit, right? What I'm hearing is authenticity.

100%. Yes. And I think there's a lot of... There's a lot of... There's a lot of authenticity lacking in the music industry. I think there's a lot of people. It's just when you kind of pull the curtain back, I think there's a lot of... There's a lot of fake-made people. And that can be a thing.

And I don't think that's wrong. I just think that that's the life you end up having to live. That's not your past. path, right? And it's so funny because, like, in the podcast industry, I think with anything, there's a lot of fake made. People take in the elevator to success. And you always see the ones that have a lot of capital behind them. They blow up really quickly. But then you find it's very empty. You know, so like I always love the fact that, hey, I'm choosing a lane, right? No one else is doing it how we're doing it, right? Most people are going to sit there and, you know, rapid fire questions move on to the next one. I'm bringing it. out the soul in my in my in my guests to give to the audience so they can learn and there might be other people doing that i don't want to you know sound like i'm altruistic or i'm the only one but i'm listen to a lot of shows like to study yeah right i study nothing is done without any type of preparation but we're also unscripted right we we we know i i know where i want to go with conversations

then i always also lean on my intuition and my in my in my talents to bring out the best conversation, right? So it's like the authenticity part of it, you know, could I be further along if I was rage baiting people and click baiting people? Probably. Yeah. But what's the cost of that? I don't know.

I see a lot of people that rage bait and get after people and somehow they're still living at the top. There's not really a lot of ant. Sometimes I just wonder, I'm like, how do you sustain that? And some people, sometimes they do, which is crazy. You know who's the best at it? Who? The Paul brothers. Oh, yeah, they're amazing.

They're so smart, dude. They are so smart. Like, they're so good. I watch all their stuff. I watch their show. Like, they're genius. Paul American, you watch that? I watched it.

I need to watch that. Coe read told me about that show last night. I thought it was good. I heard it's good. And honestly, like, everything, like, I see what they're doing. But it's also just like, it's very entertaining and they're very smart. They're the, I mean, you look back at, I don't know how old you are, but I'm 47. I'm 37.

Okay. So, back in the day. when Tyson and Holyfield and all those fighters, Lennox Lewis, I mean, you had Don King. Like he was a king, he was the, no pun intended, but he was a king of promoter.

Oh, yeah. But now it's, dude, it's the Paul brothers. Mm-hmm. I mean, like, if you even look at, like, what they did with Tom Brady, I smelled that a mile away.

Oh, it was amazing. I was like, okay, cool. So they're going to do all this. They're going to promote the flag football thing. And then Gronk's going to get pissed off and then they're going to fight, right? And then they announced, you know, and I know Garank, right?

Because he's been on the show. I message him like, hey, dude, get it done, man. But, you know, he's awesome. Oh, dude, he's great. But I do think the Paul brothers are being their authentic selves. Yeah. But they just know something that not many other people know. They know the algorithm.

They know how to grab people into the screen and shove them right in the face and then not get off their videos. But again, back to the initial point is, I don't think they're being disingenuous. No. Dishenuine. I think they're being themselves. And I think they understand things that we don't understand.

but the one thing that I always hold on to and I think you're a lot like me in this regard is like if we move from being our authentic selves we're not going to be happy at anything we achieve because it's not real that's how I feel yeah yeah very well said that's it yeah I've had a lot different opportunities to not be my authentic self uh and you know we've even dabbled in like maybe reaching for something that wasn't fully me and then having to pull back and then find myself again, but that's just a part of learning who you are as an artist and, you know, what I want my career to look like and what I want to look back on and be proud of. But, yeah, man.

Dude, as a father, that is more important than you realize. Yeah, no, I feel that. It changed my life two years ago, even that. Let's talk about that a little bit. Back into some more country stuff. So, you know, your oldest is 21 months. Yes. And then your newest baby is what?

A couple months old? No, yeah, like 40-something days old. Oh, dude. So like a month. Yeah. Like, dude. We're the NICU for like half of that. Yeah, you told me that.

How was that for you, man? You and your wife. How did you work through that? I was more like, she started working at Vanderbilt, and I was like, all right, we get a free birth. This is sick. And then we go on the NICU and I'm like, this deleted the whole purpose of getting a free birth.

It's like, well, come on, man, be better. How much money we were racking up? It's 17 days in here. What are we doing? Oh, man. Was the baby early? Really early, yeah. And actually the baby dropped like,

the day my album dropped basically like midnight of that same day and I had to I was playing the House of Blues in Houston and then came through the night and I was gonna do a pop-up just for fans that we announced like the week of

and we were gonna do these like pop-up unplug shows that's personally just for me it was just more like I want to supersede the super fans and markets I haven't been to in a long time haven't been in Austin in a second

to play probably since like 2019 oh damn and so maybe yeah and that was for radio so like honestly like we're on our way to Austin and we had hit team of hit venues had the band and I was like yo we finish house of blues

we're going to Austin we're do a pop-up we're doing another pop-up in Fort Worth and like move there and then we'll fly back like it was all just like on the fly teams hitting up the venues like Fillmore hell yeah like come in and like I would do like an acoustic unplug thing that we had set up

we ended up doing a couple of them before before the album launch but then the other ones all got canceled and rescheduled because my baby was born on, you know, on basically on the release day. So we had to veer to the airport in Austin immediately from Houston because we're on our way. And then I get on the plane and then someone said something, like someone on my team said something to, you know, the person on the plane. So now it's a whole ordeal and everyone's like staring at me the whole flight and they're like, is he going to make it to see the birth of his child?

It was like a real-life movie for everyone, I guess. And then, like, they paused on the plane. I run off the plane. I had my dad, like, waiting out in the Nashville airport, jumped in the car, took me straight to the airport. My daughter was born two hours later. They had, like, they're kind of, like, trying to hold her off on not being too dilated and, like, where she was.

And, like, I got there. And then it was go time. And then, yeah, it was crazy. What was, was there anything else going through your mind? Because you obviously knew it was early, right? And it's like, so you're having to rush the airport. Oh, my God, can't miss it. But then also, was there ever?

Was there other worries that you had to work through in those moments? Yeah, so many worries. I mean, honestly, like, my first kid, like, the birth was not easy. And there was a lot of things that were very scary during that. I'm not going to go into all that. No, no. During the birthing process with my wife and everything. So, like, that was always in the back of my head.

And then it kind of started happening again during this birth. And then the baby wasn't, like, fully breathing with her lungs. And so all of a sudden, I was like, here we, and it was just, it was super nerve-wracking the whole time. Yeah. But now everyone's healthy. It's amazing. It's such a blessing. And I wouldn't trade it for the world, honestly. It's a, and you know, I don't know. I think we're done after two, but. I mean, it ain't easy. No, it ain't easy. You know, it ain't easy, man. It's the biggest blessing in the world, but it's also so damn hard, man. And nobody is honest. You know, we talked about it, you know, when you got here, we go Chris back here. Him and his wife were about to have their first. Shout out to the Peterson's. Um, you know, sorry, I was just so blunt. I said two, two words to him and I walked up, I go, hey man, there's not, the first three months of that baby's in your life. Your life is over.

Your life's over. Your life's over. Because no one just, no one says it. Everyone like, or we forget. And I get it's such, like I said, a blessing. It's amazing, like, miracle. And it's the best thing ever. But like, like your life, especially with your first kid, like, eight. And look, I live a life as an artist. Like, you know, like, I'll go out. Like, I work all day. I, I go to the studio. I write, I got shows, I'm traveling constantly, then you're talking to people, like,

your social meter is drained at all times, like doing this. And so then like, when you get home, like, you need those hours of sleep just to kind of run it back again. And then next thing you know, it's like, well, I can't drink as much. I got to like pull this back. That's hard for a country artist. Yeah, hey, come on. And, you know, it definitely, that definitely made me less of a degenerate and a better person. But the shell shock of like, just think, no one. telling me how bad those three months were going to be. And when I say bad, I just mean like a life awakening experience

of like, yo, like they depend on you every waking moment and like, and then it's just like something switches in your whole life where it's like I think I'm a whole different human now. I operate my business differently. I've had more

success. I've had a growth in success since my child was born. Like it's honestly like maybe I wasn't fully doing it right. Maybe that's why it was such a shell shock. Honestly, you don't look like, you know, you're too crazy. So I feel like it's not going to be as much of a shell shock, but maybe you're hiding this from me.

You're not drunk at 10 a.m. So that's good. That's a good start. I think it'll be okay. Yeah, he could be. It could be. He could be on that bottle, man. Yeah, he could be on some gummies.

We don't know. We don't know, man. Which is fine. Yeah, which is great. Yeah. Those are great for fatherhood. You can do that in Tennessee. You can.

Oh, wow. Yeah, we got THC on Draft at the bar. Oh, really? Oh, yeah, that stuff's good, man. The THC Seltzers, so good. I'm a huge fan. Big fan. Huge fan.

Big fan. And that was something I found in fatherhood, and I was like, these are great. Yeah, it chills you out. Yeah, it still kind of occurs by anxiety, you know. Yeah. That's the other thing, dude, as a father, I mean, the amount of anxiety that I feel so many times, you didn't get to meet them, but my wife and my youngest was here for yesterday's shows, and they had to fly back because I had to pick up, you know, my two oldest from school

and get them home. And so they're probably at the airport now, but the amount of anxiety that I feel not traveling with them is insurmountable. Like, I cried leaving the hotel room this morning. It's just it's the amount of stress of father feels that we don't talk about. And, you know, I don't know if it's because men are supposed to be strong and you're not supposed to talk about these things. But, bro, the moment I had a child is when I started,

worrying about a billion different things every day. Yeah, it's so real. Yeah, man. Yeah, dude. But dude, congratulations. You're doing it right, man. Thank you, man. You know what, man?

Like these things, you know, it's like anything, fatherhood and being a parent, you know, for the moms out there, too. This is for you. And, you know, you have your careers and you have everything going on. And also, well, by the way, sustaining a marriage in a relationship and connection, right? there's adversity in everything you know and we have to fight through those moments and do the best we can and not worry about the outcome right like the gift is in the struggle the gift is in the struggle with you becoming a new father again you know your music everything that's what

builds you into who you're going to be for when you break that threshold because it's coming it's coming and like you need to be ready for it right and and all these moments prepare you. I agree. I feel like even the ride to this point from a career aspect, and you say that moment's coming, it's like,

if it all ended tomorrow, like, I feel like I've already accomplished everything, I mean, so much of everything that I've ever, like younger me, when I first moved to Nashville

13 years ago, will be looking at me like, you did it, you made it, you did it. Like, everything you wanted to do, you did it.

I mean, I've pretty much played every huge venue across America and in Europe. I've, you know, I've been on most TV shows. I feel like everything that, you know, maybe, I don't know, it's just weird. I just feel like, I feel like I've accomplished so much. And I've broken barriers and I have certain accolades that some of the biggest artists in the world don't have.

Wow. So I feel like I'm at a point where it's like I'd be so proud of what I've done to this point. I have to remind myself that because I'm such a driven person. And I still have to fight to not compare myself and everything like that. But, and there's so much politics. And it's just like, you have to just understand, like, everyone has an agenda. And you just got to stay and do what's best for you and just hope that other people will continue to align with you to get you to where, you know, that big moment is.

But I feel like even if I was like at Pitbull's level or when I get there, I still feel like I'm going to be working towards another level. It never stops. I feel like I'm never going to stop. It never stops, man. And I'm glad you. brought that up because that was one of my questions if everything ended today would you be proud i'm so proud and and that's something that i struggle with as well it took me a long time to say

that yeah but i i'm telling you since the kid like i i truly like where i'm at today i'm like yeah i just feel like i'm i'm so proud and i i need to say that i allowed more because like sometimes i'm like i'm so i'm so critical of myself and trying to make sure i make everyone happy and i had to learn like, I'm not going to make everyone happy. Can't. I can't be overly loyal anymore because people are now, inadvertently, even if they don't mean it, leaching off me and taking stuff and taking my valuable time and not giving back the same energy and I'm just allowing it to happen. Dude, I go through that so much, Tyler.

I mean, you know, anytime I have someone on that's of any type of level, oh, can you talk to him for me. Can you do? I'm like, but like, I work to get here. I'm just going to give you the keys of the kingdom, but I also love helping people. So it's like a constant, it's a balance, man. And, you know, it's hard. You know, but what I struggle with is what you seem to be, I think you're further ahead than I am in the, if everything ended today, you know, if podcasts were no longer a thing, would I be proud? I would say yes, but I would be like,

damn, another almost? Another almost, man. Yeah. I mean, think about that. So many almost in my life. It's crazy. There's two words right there.

Another almost. I don't know if I can shoulder another almost. You know, but also I look at what we've created. We've been in rooms with Jay Leno, you,

Jana Kramer, I've interviewed William H. Macy, been in the room Tony freaking Goldwyn, bro, from scandal. Like other podcasters are looking at this, be like, that's the goal. And then me three years ago, you know, or even a year ago, be like, that's my goal. But things shift, right?

You're like, okay, myself like you, I'm a heavy driver. Like, I have to be the best I can possibly be. And I am nowhere close. And, you know, one question I wanted to ask you, because, you know, you say, like, you want that household name. I also want that. Yeah.

I crave it. I know why I want it, and I'll get to that, but I want to know why you want it. What is the main underlying variable, the reason why you want that? I think anything I've ever done, and I think sports kind of ingrained that into you, but I'm a no-quit, like, take no for an answer. I love someone telling me I can't do something. Put gas in that engine, baby. Yeah, and so it's just ingrained in me.

I don't fully have, like, and like I said, even when I got to that top, I'm probably still going to be chasing the biggest part of that top. You know, like, whatever I could do to beat. It's just the grind is so fun to me. I love that. And rewarding, and especially when I'm doing something that I love, like music and writing and performing.

And then knowing that I'm doing something that I'm so passionate about that I love. that's like my favorite thing in the world. You can do that for a living. And so like if I can like do that at the highest level, I just feel like it doesn't solve anything or make my life any better. Like I said,

I'd be proud if it all ended tomorrow. But it's like it just is the competitive drive in me to be the best of the best. And that's like, I think it's just who I am and I don't know, I have a full answer of why. I just,

and like I said, when I get there, it's not going to be like a, all right, what do I do I do now? I did it. I'm just going to make it. I'm just going to keep doing it.

I'm just going to keep doing it. it. Like, I'm just going to keep doing it and, and keep chasing things that I love musically and, um, you know, trying to break barriers that like maybe people don't expect because that's something I love. And I'm just going to find new versions of, of things that I haven't tried yet. And, um, because music is so versatile and there's so many paths and so many directions I go and can go. And honestly, like, there's not enough years in life for me to accomplish all the things I want to do in music anyway. Like, I'm just going to do every. I'm just going to do every. And I'm just going to do everything I possibly can and then

like I said, I'm already proud. So it's okay. You know, I look at your music and it's, every song I listen to makes me feel good. Hell yeah. So when I look at you and when you're that household name, because it's coming, you're going to be making people feel good all over

the globe. Appreciate it. That's big. That's impact. And for me, you know, when I reach that household name, when I reach that, I'll never be Joe Rogan. I'm going to be Sean French. Yeah, man.

Right? I'll, you know, I can't be him. I can't be these other big names, but I can execute at the highest level of what I'm capable of. And being that household name for me, I want to walk in places and people go, holy shit, that's Sean French. Here's why.

It's not an ego play. Yeah. I mean, it's not a, look at me. I'm this, you know, dude that was a salesperson that turned into one of the biggest podcasters of the world. what it is for me is impact. When I get messages and I get them daily, bro, this guy reach out to me from New Zealand,

going through something with his wife. She made a mistake about four years ago. He's trying to work through it. He's in New Zealand and he found me on Spotify and sends me a message and didn't ever think I would write back, that's what I'm after. Yeah. Like that right there because,

and then when I responded with a voice, I was like, whoa. Like, dude, thank you. I'm like, bro, I'm a human that cares about other humans. I never want to lose that touch. You know, now granted, as things grow, it's going to be harder for me to do it. But, you know, for me, it's just the impact, man.

Like, I want to help people. And if I can reach the top, then I know there's a bunch of people that their lives are improving because of what I'm doing. Yeah, I love that. I'm still on that impact. That's great because that's exactly,

I feel the same way. That's amazing. I already knew that's, like the underlying variable, right? Because you're not a big flashy, look at me type of dude. You're like, you know, your music is thoughtful. Except my hair styles. Your hair's fucking fresh.

They're always weird. They're always weird. I love it, man. The hair. Man bun lasted too long. I'm sorry to everybody. What's that? The man bun lasted too long.

I'm sorry. Oh, yeah, dude. I mean, I like that one. But I like this. You got to, it's, you have like the, the big league haircut right now. Like, all the baseball players are doing that haircut, the mold it. Take it the dad mullet, dude. Yeah, dude, it looks good, man.

I couldn't pull it off. I can't even grow that much hair. I mean, dude, it's kind of a hassle. It looks dope, though, man. It's your vibe. You know, it's crazy because, you know, I've seen you say you're the country artist that's almost made it.

You know, do you actually believe that or do you use that for fuel? I actually believe that. Yeah. There's so many circumstances in my life where I'm like, And you watch people pass you. Like I said, the comparison thing. It's like, you watch people like,

but it's politics, it's money. They're, you know, nothing is what it seems. That's all I'm going to say in music and what we do as artists and everything like that. Everything that you see as an audience member for 85% of it, you were told to see what you're supposed to see. It's crazy to me. Completely controlled. And I love that because you're doing.

doing it differently. You're a disruptor. I love disruptors. I'm a disruptor. I'm not going to do what everybody tells me that I need to do in order to grow. You know, now if it's logical and it makes sense and it's aligned with who I am. Yeah, you're not disrupting just to disrupt. You're disrupting because it's a part of what you're doing. And it's truly who you, it's your values, what you believe in. And you're not going to let anyone else come in and change those values or your direction because like, this is what makes you who you are. So you're going to, you're going to drive that force. And I feel like, yeah, sorry. Yeah, no, it's great. No, what? Has there been a point?

Because I always talk about this. And people always say, like, oh, no, I've never thought about quitting because, you know, I just, that's not who I am. I've thought about quitting a hundred times. But I just can't because I love it. Has there been ever a point where you're like, I just need to move on from this, man. Like, this is too hard. But then you quickly go, what the fuck am I talking about? I know it's a hard question.

It isn't an act of thought. Like, I think I'm crazy. I just, I don't think there's anything else. Like, I can't. Like, I just, there are so many hard things that I've gone through in the music industry and in my career. Um, but never was I going, it almost was just like, well, I'm just going to prove you wrong. I love that. Um, but yeah, I think there's days like, no day.

Yeah, you question everything. And there's days where I'm like, yo, like, like, life I've built's pretty sweet. Like, I really don't want to leave and play that show. I really don't want to go to this thing, but I know it leads to this thing. And so it's like, I just want to stay home with my family this weekend. And since having kids, really, and since being with my wife as well,

like, there are moments where I'm like, I'd rather just do, I'd rather, you know, but that's not life. Yeah. What am I going to do? I don't, there's nothing else I'm going to do. So it's funny because like to your point, like I feel like this is what I'm really good at. And like if I don't do this, what am I going to do? Yeah.

I'm not going to go back to corporate and have someone tell me where to be and what to do and check in on me and do one-on-ones every freaking week. And, you know, no. I'm glad I did it because it built me, right? And I learned how to talk to multiple different types of people, you know, but. it, you know, every time I think of like, man, I'm just tired. You know, like my legs are tired. You know, I've taken too many stairs and I'm just worn out. I just sleep on it.

You know, I, and I wake up in the morning and, you know, tired. That's the cost of this, man. Like, you get to be tired. You get to be stressed. You get to have adversity and overcome these things. I just think it's super important. So I'm glad to hear that you don't go deep into like, Yeah, I'm done.

You know, I'm done. I mean... I see it happen around me all the time. But I'm not in it. You know, I think I've... I think the whole thing is... I'm chasing just being me. You know, if the goal at the end is impact, like you were saying,

like, it's just like, this is what I'm here to do. So it's like there's not really an alternative. And that's what I love about this conversation because, you know, the vibe to the audience is so on brand with our show. It's like, okay, this man is staying true to himself. And like for the audience listening and watching,

that's what you need to be. You need to be true to yourself. You need to stay in line with who you are and what your core values are. I mean, I cannot stress that enough. You can never sell out your core values and your integrity because you might be able to achieve something. But if you do, you have to live with that every day.

Like I cheated or I was someone different than who I really am. How that's not success. it could look like it. Oh, yeah. But like, that's not, that doesn't feel good internally, man. Mm-mm.

You know? Fuck. You mentioned, you know, you've been through so many hard points in your music career. What was one of the hardest points for you that you had to overcome? No, I feel like one of the harder ones

in the recent years was, uh, parting ways with my manager, my previous manager. Mm-hmm. Man's my best friend, best man in my wedding. So making decisions that were just like

something I had to, do for myself um you know it's just like i have to make career decisions and i have a family and i have things that i have to do to get to where i need to go um i'm a very loyal person and i feel like uh i feel like that's been taking advantage of in the past uh you know whether there's previous band people or a label or things like that so my whole thing is just like um yeah i think that was really tough. I think I don't know, I think there's been a lot of different breaking points in my

career. It was hard to go into a label and then get out of a label. You know, COVID didn't help with stuff. You know, now being signed a Pipples record label and finding my path there and everything is just, I found myself, like everything was supposed to happen

for a reason. And I mean, shit, I'm aligned with Mr. Worldwide, man. It's been a, I never thought that in a million years. And like, and that wasn't like a, like, there wasn't like a path to get there. It's just things happen in your life that, you know, think your direction changes is still going towards the top of the mountain, but how you get there, everyone's path's different. And I think if there was a direct way to do this, everyone would do it. Yeah, exactly.

Maybe, but it might be too much work. They might say, yeah, exactly that. You know, I don't want to do all that stuff. I mean, that sounds like work to me. Yeah. You know, it's um it's interesting because you you mentioned um you're you're aligned in working with pit bull and you said that one of my questions was um that i was thinking about like did you ever think you were going to get there but you already answered it um that that's pretty damn big tie i mean i i i don't that's like me aligning with joe rogan yeah because because because to me you know pit bull is the best of the best like he's a genius like he is so big and you know you're some dude from Missouri bro and not and writing for people doing doing

songs with them or on his record label like what was that path like how did it happen because here's why I asked this question because there's somebody listening right now that doesn't understand that they are so close and they stop and all of a sudden they could hit something like I could hit something like tomorrow something could happen for me and my in my brand that is on level with what you've done with Pitbull so walk

me how did this all transpire I mean to even like say something about what you just said it's like I feel like there's people will quit or give up because it didn't go like the way they have it in their head but it's like it's more about like

it's the non give up mentality but also like I don't think enough people chase something that could turn into something else. I think enough people, like, they want it like, okay, I want to play this show and I need this amount of money.

And that makes that valuable to me for my time. I think for myself from day one, even becoming one of the biggest independent country artists in the 2000s, as I started my career and built that, um,

the determination of that was because I didn't, I never said no to anything. I flew to Buck Owens Palace and opened up a show full band, I think for Cana Smith for $250. I lost like thousands of dollars. Love that, dude.

And I did so many things like that. I have multiple tours. I can tell you exactly how much money I lost on every single tour. But it was all because it was leading towards something else. And I knew that this opportunity would open another door

or I just prayed that would and like it always has every opportunity that I went and took it opened some random door that led me on another path but it's the people that don't go take those risks and that means like in my personal opinion that means you don't want it bad enough like this is it for me like this is all i'll ever do this is it and and whatever path leads me to get like that's what's going to happen like and everyone around me knows that like this this is this is it so i will take a lot of risks that other people won't because I think that something can turn out from that

opportunity and that's just with the whole pit bull situation not a crazy risk I'd actually open for him in 2017 I think or 18 it was me Pitbull and Blake Shelton and Pendleton

Oregon not a bad lineup yeah crazy but yeah like it was I I didn't when you got it you're like what is this show and then like show up and it was just amazing like everything about that was awesome i didn't really get

to hang or like really sit with um with pit bull at the time um and you know i'm on my come up and stuff so i kind of try to stay out of the way and i'm just i'm there to my job as an opener is to get the crowd warmed up and do the best live show i possibly can and then i just move out and i'm just i try to be respectful of every other artists and their time and who they are if i get the opportunity to hang with them or they want to meet me cool but i'm not like i don't I'm not Germy. I don't do any of that shit. So we didn't really connect there.

He did FaceTime my mom during the meet and greet, which was hilarious. That's cool. They were talking Spanish and everything like that, which was awesome. But she took all my time, really. Thanks, Mom. In that moment, thanks, Mom. But, yeah, then it was years later. I was opening Blake Shelton again playing a festival for like 45,000 people.

A shout out to Barefoot Country Music Fest. in Wildwood, New Jersey. I've played it twice now. This year will be my third time playing it. I'm playing it in June. So, super pumped to get back to that festival. And that festival is a very special place in my heart. Shout out to Bob Durkin.

Great festival. And I literally, like, was running off stage, and I just played that USA song for the first time. I don't know what compelled me to do it. The band knew it. We didn't have it out. It was not released. And I was about to go on the Bright Young tour after that.

And so I was like, I want to try this song. and so the rap on the bridge was different. I actually wrote a whole different rap and I had written it a certain way. And it was just like a fun live song that I wanted to do. And I ran off stage, like someone on Pipples' team was there

checking out the festival, whether he was going to do that in the future or something like that because he loves country music and he's obviously done festivals that are multi-genre and stuff as well. He was Mr. Worldwide. So someone that was checking him out,

shot a video of me performing. I was like, hey, like, I was like, one of people's managers, like, well, well, I'm like, no way. I don't believe you. I go on a tour bus, and the next thing, you know, like, they come up. And I had a bunch of songs in Spanish, actually, at the time, because I was translating some other stuff in Spanish. My mom was coming to studio with me and making sure I didn't sound too gringo in my accent.

So I was just like, oh, I'll play this stuff for you and like whatever. And then it's like three days later. I got like a text or an email from Pitt. And it was like, I'd appreciate the opportunity to be on that U.S. to say a song because he'd heard the video got sent to him and everything and then sent it over blah blah and then the rest is kind of history i you know then it was like then it was like um now i don't even know if you fully know i don't know if he knows this but um then it was like hey like let's get together and talk about like releasing the song and stuff and so he's on tour all the time

and um he's like can you be in in uh bentonville arkansas like tomorrow or something and um i was like Of course. Sure. Like looking at my schedule, I'm like, I don't even know. So I looked at my wife and I was like, let's get in the car and go. And call my team up and they're like, what are you doing? I'm like, they didn't make any sense to anyone. I'm like, I'm going to go meet Biphol.

And what someone, he just asked me to meet him. Yeah, you go. It would be in Egypt. I'm going to figure out how to get there. Yeah, 1,000 percent. Whatever. On top of a freaking pyramid. Yeah, get out of here.

I'm going to get there. And so I don't even know if he realized, well, I think he realized it afterwards. But I, you know, we just jumped in my wife's car. And we, you know, I drove like nine hours and got there and got to watch and perform and meet him and hang out in person. And then next thing you know, like, he was like, yo, like, you know, we stayed and then stayed there the next night. And then I'm trying to figure out we want to do the next night. And we're having dinner talking about like the song and everything. Just getting to know each other.

It was awesome. And then it's like, what do you want to do tonight? And I'm like, well, Jason Aldeen and all them are playing the same. at Walmart Ampitheater tonight and like Hardy and everyone and so and DJ Silver and everyone and so I literally like

sent the text to my country family I was like I'm gonna show up like backstage I got like couple cars and then they're like yeah come on so I roll up and like Jason Aldeen walks up

and BOC with Live Nation and who else Hardy and everyone's there and they like walk up backstage and I'm like oh yeah I brought Pitbull by the way Yeah.

And so... Oh, man. People ends up, like, bartending in between the buses, like Jason Aldeen's bar and stuff. He was bartending? He just walks in, starts bartending, like doing the thing.

A dope dude, man. Yeah, he was amazing. And he's like, always like, he's serving people, but he's checking on me. I'm like, I'm like, what, dude? It's off. It's going on.

And so, yeah, he's absolutely the best. And so that was a great hang. And then he, you know, went up to us, like, as we're getting ready to leave there. And he's like, we got going on tomorrow. Like, my wife had to get back to, she works at the hospital.

and she's like, oh, got to get back and kind of looked at all, she kind of looked at us and was like, but, you know, Tyler can go with you. And so I got pitnapped on the jet for like seven days. Pitnapped. Pitnapped. Pitnapped, baby.

Point of the time. Pete. You know, that's a good experience. That's the best thing. It's just funny to say it that way. But, no, it's in, and just became fast friends and, like, a mentor to me and has helped shaped my,

career in the last four years and has been nothing but the absolute best and uh so i'm just thankful and anything he needs or anything i can be a part of uh it's the first thing that i will do it takes all priority because i believe in him so much and he believes in me so much and i i don't want to ever let him down he's he's he is what you see and it's i think it's very rare these days that you meet someone that is exactly who they portray themselves to be and that's why i aspire to do and And so being right and him and learning from the best, I think, is only going to help me be the best version of myself. And I still got a lot to learn. And I'm not perfect in any way.

And I've made a lot of mistakes even in the last four years. But he's been nothing but supportive and helpful. That's beautiful, man. The one thing that I want the audience to realize out of this, and then, you know, back to that day at the festival, right? You're just doing your deal. You're doing your craft. you are executing what you know how to do and you want to do it the best way possible.

So if you're present in the moment and you give your best performance, you record the best show you can, you don't know who's watching. Yeah. And look what happened. So for you guys listening and watching, show the fuck up.

Always. Show up. Show out. Yeah. And don't listen to anybody. Like if someone tells you it's not a good idea, but your gut is telling you like, this could turn into something.

Okay, what else do you have going? Like, let's just say it's tomorrow. And someone's like, hey, there's this opportunity. It's pay $0. You're actually going to lose money. But if you show up, there's an audience of people that potentially could see it that could turn into something. And you sit there and you have no obligations the next day and then you don't take that opportunity. I don't know what to tell you.

You know, it's interesting because I can relate to this 110%. I lose money every time I travel. I lost it for Fashion Week when I walked. I'm losing it now. I lost it in New York. I lost it in L.A. when we traveled to do Jay Leno. I lost money doing that. I paid it.

No brand paid for a sponsorship. Nobody paid for anything. It was our hard-earned dollars to the show that we paid for. But you know, what's crazy is when I think of like, yeah, I lost it. or I spit money. It costs me money, but the brand building

is worth everything. And if people are so proud that they can't go and do something for free, they'll never make it. In June, I'm speaking at the biohacking, a world biohacking conference in New York for $0.

You know, I was like, hey, maybe we can get a hotel to give me a stay. Maybe we can get, you know, a flight taken care of. But, you know, so it doesn't cost me that. But, you know, the thing is, man, it is such a beautiful point because, yeah,

you may be losing that, that money value, right? But what you're gaining is so much bigger. And people do not understand that. You know, soon, you're not even going to have to ask those questions. It's going to be, hey, Sean, we need you to come here, right? I need you to speak. And we have 50 Gs budgeted for you. Will that work?

Yeah, man, that'll work. Yeah, that'll be nice. That'd be nice. Love it. You know, hey, maybe we can get a hotel. Don't worry about the hotel. Speak for 20. It's like, I'll speak for much less than that.

I speak for free. You know, like, you know, but it's. Who's going to be there? Yeah, who's coming, you know? But that's the beautiful part. Like, you don't know who's going to be there. You don't, like, that's the thing about your story, dude, as you're talking about Pitbull.

You did not know that that manager or representation was in that crowd. So if we stay present and. And if we stay true and we just execute our craft, we don't know. We have no idea. I don't know who's going to listen to this show. Like, you may send it to somebody massive. And they're like, yo, I want to meet this guy. And I'm like, holy shit, what just happened?

What just happened in my life? That this is a thing now. And so, like, the audience needs to understand that because that's what this show is all about. That's what the themes are. like, yo, keep going when you feel like you can't because you don't know when it's going to hit. And that's also the sexy part about it, right? It's like, yeah.

You know? The unknown, man. I mean, it's scary, but it's fun. There's too many people playing checkers when they need to play chess. Oh, come on, dude. It's just a lot of like, it's just like people need to change their mindset. But there's a lot of risk. It's not for everybody. Yeah. And it is stressful. It is exhausting. And

it is scary as hell. But I don't know what it is. Maybe it's us being athletes It's, you know, that I truly believe that that ingrains a skill in you, you know. And then like, you know, like the cost-benefit analysis of everything, it's just like, I'm always ready to just take a risk on the cost and hope for the benefit. You know, it's so funny because like, that's the business agree talking, right? And I love, no, I love it, dude. It's great.

It's true. You know, my wife is always like, no, you're worth more. I'm like, but baby, listen, you got to look at this. Look at everything that's building. Soon we won't have to ask. Yeah. It'll just be like here. That's what we're working towards.

Creating that value is priceless. It's massive, dude. Man, I know you got to get a session to get to, man. Talk all day. This is, dude, this is fun, man. I feel like I could do like a two, three hour show with you. I know, dude. So much to talk about.

I'm flup off. I know, dude. We're almost at an hour right now. And it's just like, it's like, bang, you know. I have to run back another episode. No, we, dude, one billion percent. Like, whenever you want, man, I have a feeling, you know, we've made some contact with some representation up here. And I think we're going to be up here a lot more.

Okay, sweet. You know, and I'll do everything out of here and at Nashville creative spaces. Dude, this is, I mean, you want to talk about profession, like a professional place. I, you know, Chris Peterson has been amazing. Rory Vaden has been incredible. And, you know, some of the biggest names in my industry, Rory and brand builders built the back end, built the, you know, the everything about what they were doing. So I have him later today. I'm really exciting because I was going to have like a one-on-one meeting too

because I want him. It's time now. Yeah. Right? Because I think that when everybody starts, everybody wants to be seen, but they may not be ready to be seen. And that was the case because years ago,

about five years ago, I was looking to, you know, hire them to build me. I'm like, what are they going to work with right now? It's like, good luck, dude. like I know you're great, but no one's that good to, you know,

to build a house out of no material, you know? Such a good point. Yeah, man. So it's just, it's been a blessing, man, and this conversation has been so valuable. And I always love getting to meet people, like you said, that you've been connected with and just kind of see if they're really about what they're about. And

dude, you did not disappoint, man. Right back after you. Yeah, thank you, man. It's, you know, we always have to be authentic. We're crazy. We're nuts, dude. It's exhausting to put yourself out there on social media and in the public and be yourself and then always show up like that. You know, I think a lot of people struggle with it.

But for me, it's hard because, not because it's a hard act to do because I'm just being me, but you get hurt in the process a lot. You get taken advantage of. There's so much of your social media that can, like, sustain for the long period of time too. Yeah, man.

One more question for you. You know, this show is about determination and discipline. You know, when I created the show, was at a point in my life where I felt like I needed to make a change. I was unhappy and no amount of money would fulfill me. And I just, I started really kind of looking under the hood of successful people.

And what I found is they, you know, they did what they needed to do no matter how they felt. And so when I built a determined society, my thought was, I have to wake up in a world or I want to wake up in a world that everybody chases their dreams, no matter how they feel emotionally at that time. You know, and this is a question I always ask,

I bet I'd say about 90% of the time because I always forget, too, because ADHD is crazy. But what is your definition of determination? My definition of determination? I think it's just the no-quit attitude. It's just kind of what I've said earlier. I mean, I think that provides, like,

if I'm not going to quit, then I'm clearly determined. So it's the never give up. It's the, I don't know. It's just whatever's been ingrained in me that is a part of who I am that's not going to change. I think there's a lot of growth in change. But I feel like the determined part of me is not going anywhere because I'm just so competitive. And even though I don't want to live through comparison and stuff, like, you still got to compete.

Every once in a while, you know, I'm looking over like, okay, I got this. Oh, yeah, I just beat them out. Okay, we'll get the next thing. And that's fun, dude. Competition is fun. Yeah. And that's why we do a lot of things in our life too. It's fun.

Everybody has a target on someone's back. I have mine. I got one, yeah. And we don't have to just, we'll talk about it off camera. You guys don't need to know it because it's for us. Oh, yeah. But I mean, it's not malicious. No, I'm not going to do anything negative, but I just want them to eventually see where I'm at.

And then I just kind of want to smile and walk away. Exactly. Exactly. I love that about you, man. Well, dude, that was a great definition. determination because what most people don't understand, it's not this loud, sexy thing. It's the, it's the, I don't want to go to the gym, but I'm going to put my shoes on anyway and see if I can walk out the door.

Yeah. You know, I don't want to write this song, but maybe you just write two sentences. You know, it's the ability to continue to move forward, even if you're 100% that day is about 25%. Yeah. You have to still do something, man. So thank you so much, man. Chuck coffee.

Dude, dude, this was great coffee. Cheers, I appreciate you. Oh, man. Thank you so much, dude. Looking forward to doing more with you. Can't wait. We still got, dude, we got to get Forster moving, man. We got to figure out what we're going to do.

I agree. I mean, let's go. I think like a determination fest. I love this. Oh, man. We could do something. We'd be fun. Agreed.

We're going to, yeah, we'll talk about that. Let's get some things rolling. Yeah, for the audience, we've been side texting and talking on the phone about this. We've got a couple weeks. It's going to be nuts. And we'll definitely let you know when it's going to happen. But for the audience, share the show with somebody no love and trust. And if you haven't already listen to Tyler's music, it's Fillmore music, one L, and you need to dive into it.

You need to listen to it. It's great music. If you like hip-hop, you like pop, you like country, then listen to the damn music and support him. Very, very proud of him. I've known him for a couple years, and I'm just ecstatic at what he's becoming as a father. and in his career. And so feel more music, guys. My favorite song is Betchigana.

That's such a thing. I love it. Oh, my God, that song is so good, man. Hell yeah, bro. And then don't forget, Yeeha with Pitbull. That's a dope song, too. If you got children, don't play it around there because Pit Bull goes hard. Pit bull goes hard.

But thank you again, guys, for listening. And until next time, stay determined.