Travis Morris on Taking the Road Less Traveled
"The main thing that drives me is knowing that tomorrow is never promised at all." - Travis Morris
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Travis Morris is known as “The Hype the Hype Man of the Valley” at Fresno State. He is a Business Marketing major and percussionist at Fresno State University. At a young age, Travis realized he wanted to be an entrepreneur while still in high school. While viewing them as failures, he also took valuable lessons from those experiences and continues to apply them. The energy and passion he brings to what fuels him are unrivaled. Travis understands everything he's doing is part of the journey to learn and grow. The major through-line for Travis is music. He started playing saxophone in sixth grade and would later switch to cymbals. Travis aims to impact others, and music has changed him positively.
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Show Notes:
[00:04:05] Introduction
[00:04:40] What was Travis' Original Instrument?
[00:07:25] Cymbals Being His First Choice
"So for cymbals, for some reason, I felt like it matches my personality in general, I really like a loud environment, so I'm going to pick something that likes matches me."
[00:09:52] First Step of Being An Entrepreneur
“My first one because I did it with like a few friends, and the issue was we couldn't separate friendship from business.
The second one was just all bad. We invested in it, but we never really put the work in for it.”
[00:12:27] Taking The Road Less Traveled
“You don't have to be everything Society wants you to be, be something you want to be. So that's always been like my main thing. And I tell myself this every single day, take the road less traveled, do something nobody else wants to do.
Like playing cymbals, nobody wants to play it, but you know what? I'm going to do something with it, and let's see what happens with that. I've just taken that role. It's like, you know what? I'm going to be different, and I'm okay with that.”
[00:13:41] Looking At Failure
“But I really write those things down. This is one way not to do this. This is another way not to do it. It's another way to do it, and that way, it could just build my brand back up and help me as a person, try to encourage others, Hey, don't do this, and you don't want to start something for yourself. Don't do this, don't do that. And it just pushes down. That's how I look at failure.”
[00:15:41] You're Only Going To Be 20 For So Long
“Why do you like it? You're only, you're only going to be 20 for so long. That's how I think of it, you're only going to be 20 for so long. So it's just, keep on pushing it. I still live with my family going to school, so I'm fortunate enough to, I grew up in Fresno and my father, he graduated from Fresno state as well.
So I'm lucky he knows that if something does happen, I'll have money or anything, I have a household where I'm like, okay, well I have my family support. I'm not alone with anything that I do. So like when I see something doesn't go right, I'm like, you know what? It's cool; let's take the next step.”
[00:18:21] Boogie Mode
[00:20:19] What is authenticity?
“So honestly, I've always, especially at a young age, always had a lot of energy, but even like when this video got released, and people started seeing it everywhere. That's when people are like I went to high school with him. He's been like that for years.
You guys don't even know. When people finally see and ask is he really liked this? I'm like, ten times out of ten, every single day I'm like this. And it helps me, you know? Be the person I am and be okay with it. So like that's how I really like to define my authenticity when it comes to that performance side of it.”
[00:23:05] Learning From His Parents
“So they really instilled in my brother, and I was like, you can be yourself. You can do something great with yourself. Just by being yourself, and I think that's what really hit me. It goes back to what I said before, taking that path less traveled, doing something that you wanted to do, and being okay with it. Like who cares? I've been judged so many times just like, Oh, why are you like this? Why are you like that? Why are you screaming? Why are you doing what you're doing? And it's just because, and my answer to them is, it's just me. That's just how I am. And that's generally how I am. People are freaked out sometimes too.”
[00:25:11] Do People Wonder How You Get This Done?
[00:27:10] Making Time For Yourself
[00:30:32] Not Paying Attention to Negativity
[00:33:05] Advice to Others
“Not everyone's going to be like me, you know? I feel that's what makes me unique, but that's what makes everyone unique. Everybody has a unique trait that they have that makes them themselves so I would say being okay that people are not going to agree with what you're doing, but it doesn't matter because at the end of the day you're going to, you're going to be the one living with this.
You're going to be the one putting your head to your pillow every single night, knowing that I'm doing this. They're not the ones doing this, and there's something I'm going to run with. I'm going to run with it for 100% nothing less. And so I think that's what I would tell other people. Forget about what everyone else says. Hear it. Yes, you're going to hear it, but don't let that inflict on what you want to do with your dream.”
[00:35:02] How Do You Confront Negative Self Talk?
[00:37:30] Mentors or People He Looked Up Too?
[00:39:06] Being Impacted By Performance
“I watched this show when I was younger. This group is called Post Percussion. And I literally cried watching like how much passion they had. I'm like, Whoa, if there's something I want, I want that, what they were doing right now. I want that. And so I go back to that show sometimes, and I'm like, yo, I watched that live, and each and every day, I want to strive to have that same feeling that those players had when they were out there performing their show.”
[00:41:30] What Is Travis Working On?
[00:43:36] How Do You Get New Information?
[00:45:27] Mr. Ford
[00:48:09] Lifting Other People Up
[00:50:07] When You Feel Unfocused What Do You Do?
[00:50:54] Where Does His Vulnerability Come From?
“It's okay not to be okay. And if you believe you're okay, then you're definitely not okay.
That's like the big thing. I felt you were Oh yeah, I'm always good. I have friends like that. They're like, no, I never go there. I don't have any drama. You're definitely not saying something, then. Nobody's perfect. Everybody's going through something might not be on this same level or spectrum that maybe this person is going through. But you're definitely going through something.”
[00:55:13] How Would You Recommend Someone Find Themselves?
[00:59:31] Visualization - Fixed vs Growth Mindset
[01:00:51] What Well In 2019
