Meet Michael Shepard “Shep” | Owner and Head Vibe Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Shepard “Shep” and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
There really isn’t a balance to work and life. If you are following your bliss in pursuit of what you personally find meaningful, your work is your life and your life is your work. The balance between how much time you spend with your personal affairs vs your work affairs entirely depends on the demand both of them require at any given time. The support system you surround yourself with in life and work soon become your family. Your friend circle eventually turns into a dot and the steps you take should always be in the direction of the life you wish to live. Ask any artist, once a flash of inspiration hits, that becomes their only focus. Nothing else matters at that point. The only task at hand is to manifest whatever it is that is required to accomplish the mission.

The only way in which this can be accomplished is through extremely transparent conversations about what is going on in your life. There is no way that any of us can accomplish our dreams alone. My home life is complete with a wife and two children and I could not succeed at any of what I am doing without them. They all are in the know about my schedule and trust me to continue to make the tough decisions between what my work life requires at that particular moment and what they need from me. It has taken many trial and error periods trying to figure out what I say yes to and what I say no to.

In the beginning, I was saying yes to everything just to try and gain traction, and honestly it was causing a strain. But as time went on, and the success of the business began to grow, so did the support of my system. Missing ball games, birthday parties, and the opportunities to just spend time with the ones you love is all part of the sacrifices you have to make.

One thing I have learned along the way is that trading time for money is a fickle game and that delegation creates exponential growth within your company. It multiplies your time and what once took a week to accomplish, now takes a significantly shorter period of time. As things have progressed, I have started to niche down in my participation in my company’s day to day activities, and learned to delegate the rest. This has allowed me to now say yes to more things in my personal life that I was not able to do previously. Whether it’s blood or not, family is family. Choose them wisely, and the sky is the limit for everyone involved in the process.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Hospitality and Entertainment is in my blood. I have always felt called provide an experience to people that is unlike they have ever seen. The true dedication to my craft is what sets our company apart from others. We aren’t in it just for the dollar signs. Our mission is to give the client what they are asking for and then put our own little twist on it. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t always make it drink. But one think you can do is make the horse thirsty. We want people to leave our experiences wanting to come back for more. The majority of our business is based on referrals. Preparation, practice, and day of execution is what keeps our company up and running.

The road to today hasn’t been easy in comparison, but if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. There are many weekends where I will work 40+ hours and run on just a few hours of sleep and a cat nap here and there. But somehow and someway the universe provides me with the strength and energy I need to accomplish whatever task is at hand.

Working this hard doesn’t come without a few lessons learned. The first is to surround yourself with a support system that truly aligns with your mission, and your mission aligns with theirs. When everyone is sharing similar brainwaves, the solutions come easier. It is a collective consciousness. Second, there are rules to the game. Some rules are meant to be broken and old paradigms shattered. Other rules are set and it takes an act of congress to get them changed. In my line of work, I work with a lot of city authorities and organizations that can’t just change their rules on the spot. It is my job to always be looking around the corner to try and prepare everyone, whether directly or indirectly involved, for what the future holds. There are plenty of times where we have run up against issues and audibles must be called. The game plan has to be changed last second. But if you are prepared for the worst, everything eventually works out.

Our business is unlike any other because of the talent we provide. Our goal isn’t to just throw a party to get it done. We want the client saying, “WOW, I had no clue it could be done like that. Great Job. We will definitely be calling you again.” Our prices tend to favor the upper side of the scale, but it is worth every penny. From top-of-the-line professional equipment, road tried artists, and subcontractors who have proven themselves over and over, the experience with YVE is something you will never forget.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I know most about my hometown and would love to show them around for a day. Dickson may be labeled as a small town but the amount of creatives living here never ceases to blow my mind. From food, to retail, live music, and incredible outdoor amenities, Dickson is a perfect town to enjoy yourself without feeling overwhelmed. Most of my friends are 30+ years old and going out to a club or standing shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of drunken strangers isn’t really their vibe, or mine. The sweet spot between comfortable and fun is right where we live.

My friends know me, and unique eats and great music is where I live. This may come as a surprise, but some of the best music isn’t on Broadway. It’s the spots that lie on the outskirts I truly love going to. Live Oak on Demonbreun is one of my top spots. There has never been a time where I have walked in and there isn’t at least one incredible artist on stage. It is a large venue with plenty of room to spread out. The sound is also some of the best that Nashville has to offer. We would also probably venture outside of town to places like Kimbros in Franklin, either of The Basement venues, or Fox and Locke in Leiper’s Fork.

As for food and a unique place to eat, Blue Moon Grill in West Nashville is one of the best spots. The food is always consistent, the drinks are great, and the dock style outdoor seating provides an experience like none other.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
At the top of this list is my wife. No question. There isn’t person in history that has ever reached their true potential without the support of a strong significant other right by their side. Not only does she fully embody the marital vow of unconditional love, she continues to challenge what the true definition of love is every day. All is fair in love and war as they say. She knows me better than anyone else and really knows how to challenge my thinking process. The difference in perspective she provides on situations that I felt sure of, shakes my paradigms on a regular basis. When my mindset becomes limited, she provides the words of encouragement needed to expand my thinking. When I’m on my soapbox, she had no problem kicking it right out from under me. When I need support, she does whatever she can to raise my vibrational level. When my ego gets in the way, she’s very keen on how to quickly humble me. Everything is always kept in check and the balance between order and chaos continues to be restored.

The three others that I spend the majority of my time with are my hospitality business partner Morgan, my photographer/media guru Alisa, and my brother from another mother, Parker.

Morgan and I have a love hate relationship. The nature of the business we are growing together requires a ton of tough decisions to be made and we don’t always agree, but man do we work well together. Where I need help and support, she provides it and vice versa. She has provided a space for me in my hometown of Dickson to use as somewhat of a science lab. She has graciously allowed me to test and develop all of my crazy entertainment ideas that either eventually make it out in the world or don’t. With out One19, aka The Mothership, Your Vibes Entertainment would not exist.

Alisa, well she’s going to make us all famous. Her skillful eye behind the camera has captured some of the most epic moments along this wild and crazy adventure. We have a ton of fun together and her network has gotten us into places and situations I could have never dreamed of. We are extremely supportive of one another and provide each other with tons of opportunities to grow both personally and professionally

Then there’s Parker. He has a flip phone and is a self-proclaimed “bush-kicker” and storyteller. There are very few people I have ever met in my life that have such an attractive energy field as he does. Every time we go out together, it’s like being with someone famous (which he kind of is in some circles). Parker is, by far, one of the best (or luckiest) networkers I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Like all things in life, it’s not the grades you make, but the hands you shake, and you can guarantee that whenever Parker is around, you’re going to get yourself into some wild situations and meet some truly incredible people. He likes to kick the bushes and rustle up anything that may be stirring around. He’s the king of working himself into situations that most of us could only dream of. As we like to say, he starts the fire, and I throw the gas on it.

Lastly, I could not ever have done any of this without the support of my family. My mom and dad have always been extremely supportive in all the wacky ideas. Their words of encouragement and investment of their time, talent, and treasure over the past years has provided me with the opportunity to quickly scale my business from a couple of speakers and gigs every so often, to a full-blown festival production set up and multiple gigs every single week/weekend.

Pick the people you can go to war with are my only words of advice. I don’t care what algorithm you come up with, but when times are tough and it hits the fan, that last thing you want is to check up and everyone you thought was part of you squad, is gone. When things are going good, it’s easy for people to say they will be there with you and share in the light, but it’s within the dark times that you need your ride or die crew the most. Everyone always comes out the other side stronger together.

Website: https://www.yourvibesentertainment.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourvibesentertainment/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourvibesentertainment/

Image Credits
Alisa Thayne with Thayne Media