Why I Chose To Create My Own Path

Why I Chose to Create My Own Path

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TEN YEARS LATER, THE PATH CAME FULL CIRCLE

This May marked ten years since I started working for myself.

Ten years since I walked away from the security of a corporate career at Universal Music Group and decided to bet on what I believed I could build.

At the time, I didn’t agree with the price tag that had been stamped on my head—or the ceiling that came with it. I believed I was capable of more, especially creatively. More importantly, I wanted to build a life on my own terms: one that allowed me to do work that excited me, make something I was proud of and remain close to my wife and kids.

That belief became Create Your Own Path Productions.

The name wasn’t just branding. It was the entire idea.

THE BLUEPRINT FOR A DIFFERENT LIFE

Before leaving UMG, I spent a lot of time reading and thinking about what the next phase of my life could look like.

Tim Ferriss’ “The 4-Hour Workweek” challenged the traditional assumptions I had about work and success. Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Crush It!” and “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” showed me how creativity, entrepreneurship and media could be combined to build something of my own.

Those books became part of the blueprint.

They helped me see that I didn’t have to accept someone else’s valuation of my potential. I could create work around the life I wanted instead of continually rearranging my life around my work.

That didn’t mean the journey would be easy. It meant the journey would be mine.

A FULL-CIRCLE MOMENT IN NEW YORK

This past June, that journey brought me to New York City—my favorite city outside of Los Angeles—for one of the most meaningful shoots of my career.

I’ve known the founders of Dad Gang since before Dad Gang existed. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to help them produce several launches as they’ve grown the company, its community and its impact.

When Gary Vaynerchuk joined Dad Gang as its fourth partner, they brought CYOPP to New York to help announce the partnership. We filmed a podcast and produced skits at Gary’s Flyfish Club.

Professionally, it was an incredible project.

Personally, it was surreal.

I was meeting and creating with someone whose ideas had helped influence my decision to rebuild my life ten years earlier. But what stayed with me most wasn’t simply meeting Gary. It was the real conversations about growth, patience, fatherhood and what it means to be a man.

For a moment, I could see the entire journey at once.

Ten years after deciding to create a life on my own terms, I was in New York producing a project for friends I had watched build their own company—alongside one of the people who had inspired me to build mine.

That was the full-circle moment.

THE PATH IS NEVER A STRAIGHT LINE

Over the past decade, CYOPP has taken me into rooms, cities and creative opportunities I couldn’t have predicted when I began.

My relationship with Ron “Boss” Everline allowed me to work with Kevin Hart, Russell Westbrook, Matt Barnes, A$AP Ferg, Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons, Jason Maraz and more. We created work for brands and organizations including C4 Energy, JPMorgan Chase, Amazon, Fabletics and many other brands.

My mentor Shai and his amazing company H1 Media have given me the privilege of working with Yamaha Guitar Group, JBL, Harman Kardon and AKG. Building relationships in the sports world have allowed us to launch two campaigns with Easton Sports and to see our work in places like Dick's Sporting Goods and Amazon.

My partner Jason Ramirez (pictured with me above) is a brother and a creative partner the likes of which I couldn't have dreamed of and the work we have created together will define my career. I’ve worked alongside many other incredible clients, collaborators and friends who trusted me with their stories.

But the real triumph isn’t a client list.

It’s the life that the work allowed me to build.

It’s being a filmmaker, business owner, professor, husband and father without having to surrender one identity for another. It’s being present for my boys while continuing to pursue ambitious creative work. It’s knowing that the difficult days, uncertain stretches and inevitable setbacks didn’t stop the larger vision from becoming real.

The path hasn’t been straight, and it certainly hasn’t always been easy. But it has been mine.

THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING IN THE VISION

None of this happened alone.

I’m incredibly grateful to every client who trusted me, every collaborator who brought their talent to a production and every friend or family member who supported the vision—even when it was still just an idea.

Thank you for being willing to take a chance on a husband and father trying to recreate his life.

Ten years later, I’m proud of what CYOPP has become. I’m even more excited about what we’re building next.

If you've read this far, thank you. I wanted to send this out for all the people on the fence. If you’re sitting with an idea, questioning the ceiling someone else has placed over you or wondering whether it’s too late to create something different, remember this:

You don’t have to know exactly where the path will lead before you take the first step.

Sometimes you have to create it as you go.

—Robert Teegarden Founder, Create Your Own Path Productions

LET’S CREATE SOMETHING TOGETHER

CYOPP partners with companies, brands and people who have meaningful stories to tell. If you’re planning a campaign, branded series, podcast or film and want to explore what we could create together, I’d love to hear about it.

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