Meet Derrick Miller. The NC entrepreneur who is next up on our business watch list. Check out his full interview below and be sure to follow Jukebox Culture on Instagram.
Where are you from and how was life growing up? Im from Charlotte Nc , I grew up on Lasalle and Beatties Ford very close to the city of uptown Charlotte itself. My childhood was riddled with much of the same things any other child living in the inner city would experience. Some negativity exposer to drug addiction alcoholism etc. I watched the effects of drug use and drug dealing and witnessed first hand the outcome when deciding to take that path. Police chases , home raids , shootouts and break ins became something normal. My father worked diligently to get me out out of that situation by starting his land scaping business. Over the course of a few short years I was able to witness hard work and consistency lift our small family out of poverty.
We see you’re a business owner but also a motivational speaker. What got you interested in this field of work? I was driving completely and totally by watching my father lift my family out of poverty therefore I was determined to follow in the same path. He told me “I wish I knew what I teaching you now in my 20s” , that always repeated in my mind growing up and I wanted to achieve the same success. The path to being a motivational speaker however was much more difficult. Up until September 2021 I was completely consumed with hustling , grinding , building to make money. It was something I could do almost like I was born to do so. I could outwork any situation or setback , the dreams and goals I had wouldn’t be denied. On September 2021 I had just sold a property was eyeing another property for business expansion and I became sick. I couldn’t work more than 2 or 3 hrs before id be completely exhausted and forced to lay down and sleep. I fought through it and continued until I started throwing up 2-3 times a day, at that point I realized something was very wrong. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. I was 33 and my kidney had stopped working , I immediately started looking for solutions. I looked for people who could tell me it was gonna be ok, and which steps to take. I found nothing and what I did find told me that my life was over and that death was near. Over 100,000 americans feel that same emptiness every day as part of the ckd community. I want to be the person I was searching for while I was in that hospital crying looking for hope. A voice to tell them you can make it and that its going to be ok.
What do you hope to achieve through your field of work? I hope to be the person I was looking for when I was in my darkest moment. No motivational speaker could tell me how to outwork a disease they had never been through. I want to provide hope to the people who feel like they have a death sentence, whether it be from cancer , job loss , depression , broken relationships. I want to let some people know that its ok to cry and be defeated and that pretending to be tough wont work in every situation. Id like to show them that after all that you can still get back up on your feet.
What is your motivation? My motivation come from my hopes and dreams. I have two children and my dream is to leave them with a stable foundation to start their life with. Ive always hustle for myself until 11 years ago when my daughter was born , at that point I started planning how I could build something for her to carry on. I felt like I was doing a good job working as hard as possible doing as much as possible until I got diagnosed with Kidney disease . At that time I realized I might not be here 60 or 70 years and that my dream wasn’t guaranteed with only hard work and dedication. That realization made me double down and work harder without limitations. My current motivation comes from helping others realize their own potential, being a helping hand that I was looking for in September 2021.
Do you believe qualifications are important, or have you built your business and platform through experience? I believe both are equally important. You need qualification as a form of proof that you’ve done the work to educate yourself in the chosen area. With the qualification you still need to gain experience , Id never want a doctor that only passed written test to operate on me if he had never done it before. Many things can be learned through experience , what your good at , what you can over come , who you really are. I personally built my business with both , but I value my experience far more than any of my qualifications. You have to overcome setbacks and challenges and there is only one way to prepare yourself for that and that’s experience. When I was diagnosed I wanted to talk to someone with experience that could tell me how everything would work. To my surprise 90% of people that beat this disease went on with their life and didn’t leave a how to guide for the rest of us. The qualified doctors couldn’t tell me how to cope with anxiety of possible near death, or the uncertain my future. Through my experiences I grew and became something more than just a business owner.
What are your plans for 2022 and beyond? My plans for 2022 is to host a events and tour with several speakers from different backgrounds to cater to people of all backgrounds. Speaking engagements with schools and businesses are also planned. Im also writing my book which will come in audio form as well. I also will be releasing audio tracks which are all available on spotify under dmotivationmill. My current track “explore” is available right now. I want to impact as many people in a positive way as long as Im able.
Do you have any advice you’d like to share with others? My advice to others is to live their life without regret and fear, we live everyday and only die once make the best of it!Â
