Today we’d like to introduce you to Reed McDonald.
Reed, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Born to Parents Terry & Jami McDonald I grew up in Mckinney, Texas just like my father and attended Mckinney High School. From ages 8-12, I modeled and acted for various brands including JCPenney in their Christmas Magazine, Belk, and Hasbro. All through school, I played baseball as well as ran lights and sound for theatre productions. I ended up getting a baseball and theatre scholarship to Wayland Baptist University north of Lubbock. My baseball career was my main focus but as I started to stray away from it I changed my major to something I was more passionate about, business. The high school jobs I had gave me a good foundation to start thinking about running my own business as I worked for small businesses themselves.
After my Sophomore year at Wayland Baptist, I transferred to East Texas Baptist to finish my undergrad. I am currently getting my MBA as a Student-Athlete and striving entrepreneur at East Texas Baptist University. My baseball career ended but my athletic career did not as I am on the ETBU Track & Field Team, I run the 100 and 200 as well as throw the Javelin. In my free time, I started CountryUnderdog.com to promote lesser-known music artists, a venture I would like to invest more time in once I graduate in May. While I get my masters, I will be the grad assistant for the Cross Country and Track & Field team where I will handle recruiting and social media. My goal after college is to find a job in business preferably in management while investing and growing Country Underdog with my partner, and eventually full-time support “Underdog” country music artists to keep doing what they love and share with the world the music we are passionate about.
Has it been a smooth road?
There have been many athletic, mental, and scholastic struggles along the way. While ultimately I have been blessed with the family I have, my struggles just include your typical kid growing up stories. Friend drama, girl problems, popularity, stuff like that. Athletic struggles come with dealing with the ups and downs in baseball and learning how to get better, having a work ethic. Towards the end of my college baseball career, it was hard to come to terms with the fact that it was time to stop after 17 years. A few days after no longer playing baseball the ETBU Track 7 Field coach contacted me and wanted to bring me onto the team for my speed. It was nice to finally feel wanted and needed. It was a struggle to get physically in shape for track, but for my senior year, the struggles built a foundation to succeed.
Advice is no matter how many struggles big or small, they are preparing you for something greater. A greater purpose, what you are doing right now might not be what you ultimately are supposed to be doing. Follow happiness, follow passion.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
CountryUnderdog.com is a mass-media country music promoter, blog, and merchandiser. A source for all the up-to-date underdog country music news. Started by one year ago to help independent country music artists gain more exposure.
There is Nashville country music which most of us hear and know the big stars of, then there is Texas Country, Red Dirt, Americana country music that we believe is better than Nashville, more authentic, tells real stories and just sounds better than Nashville’s overproduced pop country music. Nashville has all the money and the radio stations though. Country Underdog has the goal of helping the movement and on a national scale being THE spot to find new Independent country music artists and songs. Along with helping artists through promotions, Country Underdog is also starting a lifestyle brand in the same name featuring hats, t-shirts, etc.
Country Underdog is at the forefront of the Texas/Red Dirt country music industry with always up to date website an social media platforms t show new song releases, news, interviews, weekly playlists, videos, and merchandise. Country underdog as of right now is only a website/social media company with no physical location, but we travel and support shows of our “underdog” artists with the ultimate goal of spreading awareness of the artists on a national scale. We expect to be able to do that the longer we are around and when the opportunity to sponsor big concerts arises. Due to a lack of companies that put in the time and the money like we will in the Texas/Red Dirt music industry, we expect minor competition once we really get going and build a strong market position. Then the next competitor is Nashville itself. We believe in our brand, we believe in our market, we believe in the artists, we believe in the music.
While there are other social media pages and websites that focus on our industry, we believe we have the structure and have the most to offer regarding promoting lesser-known artists. Some of the bigger companies tend to focus on the bigger stars, Nashville country, make artists pay a bunch for an advertisement, or do not have the ability to put in the time as we can. This is why if Country Underdog can start to gain a loyal following, the money will come in which will allow us to continue promoting artists for free on a larger more national scale, which would make our “underdog” artists the top dog.
Country Underdog offers country music throughout the US, where customers can go online to the site to either find new music, listen, or even promote their own music. On the site, there is a subpage called events, where there are posts about when and where artists are performing so that customers can possibly see their favorite artists live in concert. Country Underdog also sells hats and shirts with different styles and colors for customers to purchase online.
Country Underdog plans to continue to grow and purchase full-time office space and hire project managers, team members, programmers, a social media team, and more. We would love to start a Youtube channel discussing Underdog Country music and have guys on the show to play music in the studio live. Someday we plan to grow into Country Underdog Records and be the label for all the lesser-known guys that need to be heard.
Pricing:
- We promote “Underdog” Artists and Bands for free
- 21.99 for the Classic Country Underdog Hat (Black/Black, Tan/Brown, Grey/Black)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CountryUnderdog.com
- Phone: 9728321255
- Email: reed@countryunderdog.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/countryunderdog/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CountryUnderdog/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CountryUnderdog?lang=en
- Other: www.CountryUnderdog.com/shop
Image Credit:
PC- @SydneyMarieRoss
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