I recently had the opportunity to interview David Kauffman. David is an amazing singer, songwriter, and business partner of Good for the Soul Music. All of his music can be found on iTunes.
Joe:
I know that you went from a successful career in commercial real estate to pursuing your love of singing and songwriting full-time. Do you remember the exact moment or event that made you decide to do this?
David:
Yes. I remember when my heart decided on a Sunday night, when I was playing music for a youth group and I felt struck by something. I guess I knew it was God, but I was thinking, surely God is not speaking to me. I’m just a guy playing music for a youth group. Then I went home and said to my wife that I would like to do this. I said I want to do this as a career and then it took two years to discern what this was all about.
I kept working with the youth group and writing songs. In the middle of that I wrote a song that was chosen to be the theme song for a 1989 National Catholic Youth Conference. I submitted the song in late ’88 and was asked to perform it at an adult conference of youth ministers. I found myself in front of several thousand youth workers and ministers from around the country. The invitations to perform started coming, so the spark was followed by some success. There were some early signs that said “we can do this.” At the time, I was on my way to becoming a partner in a commercial real estate development firm. Regardless, the voice inside of me was telling me that it was now or never to take this leap of faith. So, I went full-time in 1989.
Joe:
How did faith come into this?
David:
Faith played a huge role in this. We jumped in not really knowing. You’ve got to stay on top of the hill and say this is the vision I have been given and not to get mired in the details of how we might get anything done. I had just won the San Antonio Builders Association Salesman of the Year. I had this huge trophy. People counseled me saying “you’re a fool if you do this. You can grow a real estate development company of your own or you can continue with the company and be a partner. Your future is set.” But it didn’t scare me when people tried to counsel me out of it. I just felt convinced. Missy and I were going to do this.
Joe:
How many years have you been doing this?
David:
20 years.
Joe:
You’ve been at this 20 years. How has that been possible?
David:
For one, it has been my amazing wife. Missy had always wanted to pursue a career. She is an awesome mom to our two daughters, but she wanted more than to be a stay-at-home mom. Her working facilitated my ability to do the ministry. Also, God has given me many songs that have ended up scribbled on yellow pads. I have later performed those songs at the concerts I have given all over the country. I guess you could say that perseverance has played a role. There were not many returns from a financial standpoint until recently. Most of the returns have been what people have experienced and what they have told us about.
From a spiritual standpoint, what has made all of this possible is the grace that returned to us from doing the ministry.
Joe:
Still in the context of what made it possible, tell me about the past two years as your business hit another level and a new chapter—Good for the Soul Music.
David:
All thoughout the 90’s I was on the road singing in 60-70 concerts per year.
Joe:
How many concert do you think you have done over the last 20 years?
David:
About 1,000. The focus of the 90’s was to connect with a recording label out of Nashville, hoping that the connection and relationship would do things we could not do in terms of distribution. So we worked very hard to make that happen. In the spring of ’99, a record came out after two years of negotiations. KLOVE and other networks around the country played my songs. In the midst of all of this, under the surface, I was the most miserable I had been in all that ten years. Ironically, I couldn’t share the excitement other people were experiencing from hearing my songs on the radio. It just didn’t do it for me.
For many people it would have been considered a success. I was a recording artist. I had songs on the radio. It wasn’t until I heard a choir at church sing one of my songs that I was disarmed. It was then that I thought, “Am I supposed to write music for church as opposed to music which is my take on Christianity?”
I was sort of dumbstruck by that but I welcomed it because I was at my wits end. Over the next 18 months I tried to figure out what we should do. One day I prayed, “OK, God, tomorrow tell me what you want me to do and I will be what you want me to be.” The next day I got this message to sit down, be still and write. That is where the record Be Still came from, which was recorded a few months later.
Joe:
How did that lead to your relationship with your business partner, Tom Gallo?
David:
I knew his wife, Stacy, and gradually Tom and I developed a strong friendship. I believe with his organizational and strategic planning skills that Tom was called by God to run an organization. In fact, he has run many of them.
We wanted to run an organization that had a value proposition in its products—some redemptive value to it. So, it was a long journey of conversations and finally, about 2 ½ years ago in December of 2005, we agreed to move forward in the ministry as Good for the Soul Music. With Tom at the helm running the organization, it allowed me to do what I felt God was calling me to do, which was to write songs. What gave us peace on the outset was that we were on the “same page” from a business and ministry standpoint and had a solid philosophy of how to “behave” out in the world.
Joe:
How has it affected your creativity since you have been allowed to focus on the creative product?
David:
It is has been huge. Tom brings not only organizational skills, but he’s not afraid to say, “we are standing on this hill, but look how exciting it will be to be on that hill over there. We can develop the details on how to get there. Let’s hone in on the vision.” I am thinking of a song that will draw people closer to God. Tom is thinking big—we don’t want to just make another recording—we want to reach 30 million people who go to church every Sunday morning with this song. He thinks so far beyond what I’ve allowed myself to think.
Joe:
Would you be doing the same projects you are doing if it had not been for Tom?
David:
No, I would not. I’m working on a theatre production. We developed a whole series of journals and CDs called “COJO”—the companion on the journey series. I’m also writing a treatment for a screenplay.
Joe:
Good for the Soul Music is truly becoming a label, where there are more artists than just David Kauffman. How has that affected you knowing that now you are part of what’s going to become many (a group of writers)?
David:
It is comforting. As the only guy writing, if I stopped, the organization stops. It is much more of an opportunity to endure. That just adds to the richness that Good for the Soul has. It is another facet that other artists can reach an entire group of people that I was not able to reach. So I welcome it.
Joe:
I’m going to say three words and you have to connect the dots between them: creativity, marketing and faith.
David:
My best work is when I am standing on the foundation of faith and answering the call I’ve been given to create. As for the marketing, I can rely on Tom and our staff to deliver it to our audience.
Joe:
Do you have any principles of success that you live by?
David:
Honesty. The most difficult person to be honest with is yourself. When I speak about the writing side of the business, if I write a slapdash of a paragraph, it will come back to haunt me. The heart knows when you’ve got more in you. You’ve got to be honest with yourself about the skills you have and about what skills you are willing to develop.
Open Communication. My business partner and I communicate about all aspects of our business several times a day. Communication skills take practice. The funny thing is that it is not hard work. It is exciting and fun.
Institute Care. The new phrase in our organization is to institute care. One thing we have identified is that it is our job to institute care in the way we work with people, in what we do, and in how we do it. When you get a great team together, great ideas and products naturally flow as a result.
If you create an organization based on the principles of honesty, open communication and care, I believe, then, you’re unstoppable.
David made a decision to pursue a dream and has prospered as a result. We have been fortunate to help Good for the Soul Music develop a professional look and feel for their products. If you are at a juncture in your profession, let us work with you to bring your products and services to market.
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OK. I have to admit it. I’ve been in a funk lately. Fear mostly. Isn’t it always? And then yesterday came along. Just an afternoon of relaxation at Fiesta Texas, I thought. Perhaps we’d ride the log ride. That’s always a thrill (yeah right.)
