A career change often starts with a job that does not fit. In this episode, musician and marketing consultant Derek Frank tells Jeremy Van Wert how a propane job, touring burnout and a toxic workplace pushed him toward work that matches his values, including inventing a harmonica and helping launch a free teen tech center.
ᛉKey takeaways
- Derek says the pressure to go to college as a fallback did not fit him, and he now believes a musician can invest in networking and playing instead.
- He describes drumming as a coping tool that grew into a career, and he says practicing helps him get through hard times.
- Derek says he worked harder than everyone to prove himself, and he believes that same mentality later burned him out as an adult.
- A job that paid more but came with a toxic boss, he says, showed him that chasing money can cost more than it gives.
- Derek says getting fired felt like instant relief and became the start of his own consulting business.
ᛃ Moments in this one
ᚠWhy a career change can start with a wrong turn
Derek Frank spent 11 years in Nashville, the city he worked hard to reach, before he and his wife decided it was no longer what they loved. They moved closer to family in the Midwest, and within weeks he heard about a free teen tech center opening in Des Moines. He says it includes recording studio space, drones, 3D printers, VR, coding and robotics.
The path there was not straight. Jeremy points to a theme running through the conversation: some things fill your heart, and others, like pointless work or people who do not share your values, take from you. If you feel you are in the wrong role, Jeremy offers individual therapy and coaching for people working through burnout and direction.
ᚢGrowing up a drummer: music as a way through hard times
Derek started on a drum set his father kept in the basement, took lessons at eight and practiced up to six hours a day. By 10 or 11 he was playing paid gigs, and he says his parents never pushed him because he simply loved it.
He also describes a hard stretch when he was in fifth grade and his mother was treated for cancer. He remembers sitting next to her on the couch with a practice pad after her treatments. His mother is in remission, and Derek says practicing still helps him get through difficult moments.
In high school, he says, he worked harder than everyone else so no one could say he got special treatment. That drive carried him far, but he now believes it burned him out as an adult.
ᚦDo you need a degree to pursue a music career?
Everyone at his high school pushed Derek toward college, and he says the idea of a fall-back plan never made sense to him. He enrolled in a college music program and, within three weeks, saw it was a poor fit. He finished anyway, in his words, because he had started it.
Looking back, Derek says he should have moved to Nashville or Los Angeles, networked and invested the money in himself. He believes his experience and resilience got him jobs, not the degree. He adds that not every school or field is the same, and that some professions do need formal training.
Jeremy shares the experience of being told for years that more school was the answer, and he says most people are too young to know whether a path fits.
ᚨFrom a propane job to a School of Rock
Derek moved to Nashville with his wife and took a job on a management track at a propane company. On his first day he learned he was a driver instead, and he says conditions were unsafe. He decided it was a stepping stone to Nashville connections, but he wanted out quickly.
He applied to teach at School of Rock and was offered the general manager role for a new school on the spot. Derek says it felt like a dream job because it combined education, music and kids, and the school won the national battle of the bands two years in a row. He left after three years when the pay and stress wore him down.
ᚱTouring burnout and the Hohner Pentaharp story
Derek then played full time as a frontman and drummer, often at casinos. He says he never said no, helped everyone and got little back, and that he could see the shelf life of a frontman in his mid-30s. His wife encouraged him to try a job at KHS America for six months, saying the road was not going anywhere.
At KHS, Derek worked with artists and with the harmonica brand Hohner. Not being a harmonica player, he wanted a way to play a blues solo without a year of practice. He asked the technician for a pentatonic harmonica, despite being told it was a dumb idea, and the result became the Hohner Pentaharp.
Derek says the campaign never claimed it replaced the traditional harmonica. It was another tool, aimed at guitarists and beginners, and in his words a gateway to the standard instrument.
ᚲA toxic workplace, getting fired and the relief that followed
Derek says he left his dream job at KHS for a marketing role that paid more, and within a week he saw the owner as a tyrannical narcissist. He describes crippling anxiety, long commutes and the shame of not seeing it sooner. He says nothing was ever good enough.
Months in, he was fired over a YouTube review he had posted on his own channel, which the owner accused him of posting during work hours. Derek says he had never been fired before, and that a weight lifted instantly. He already had some clients of his own, so he used the time to grow his consulting business, and he credits the firing for making that possible.
Jeremy adds that workplaces take on the culture of the leader, and that it can be suffocating. If your job is wearing you down, you can book a private consultation with Jeremy to talk it through.
ᚷFinding purpose in life after the wrong jobs
With his business running and family far away, Derek and his wife moved to Des Moines in three weeks after his wife was offered a job there. He now consults and coaches teams on marketing, and he works at the nonprofit teen tech center, which serves ages 13 to 21 for free and still lets him run his own business.
For Derek, the lesson is that the hard seasons made him who he is. He says many of his decisions were not the right ones, but that is what made him stronger. His advice to his 18-year-old self is to hold on tight, because it is going to be okay. He adds that he is not as cool as he thinks.
If you want to keep exploring questions about purpose and change with others, the Mindful Mutiny community offers real conversation, live Fireside Chats and a course library.
This episode mentions a family member's illness, anxiety and a difficult workplace. If you are struggling, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or your local emergency services.
ᚨ Questions people ask
Can a career change start after burnout?
For Derek, burnout from touring and from a draining workplace pushed him to look for work that matched his values. He says leaving, and even getting fired, ended up freeing him to start his own consulting business.
What is the Hohner Pentaharp?
Derek describes it as a pentatonic harmonica he came up with so guitarists and beginners could play blues solos without learning the usual layout. He says it was not meant to replace the traditional harmonica.
Do you need to go to college to become a professional musician?
Derek believes he did not, and says he would have invested in networking and playing instead. He adds that some professions need formal training and that his view is based on his own path.
How do you know when a job is not the right fit?
Derek points to signs such as anxiety, nothing being good enough and a culture that does not match your values. Jeremy adds that a workplace often takes on the culture its leader creates.
What advice does Derek have for his younger self?
Derek would tell his 18-year-old self to hold on tight and that it is going to be okay. He would also add, with a laugh, that he is not as cool as he thinks.