Today we’d like to introduce you to Darrell Halk.
Hi Darrell, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
If you would have asked me when I was a kid what I wanted to be, I would have told you that I wanted to be a baseball or basketball player or a pastor. As I hit my mid-teenage years, I realized that the calling on my life was to be a youth pastor. I began to be mentored by my youth pastor and knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Then when he made some mistakes in his life that really let me down it sent me on a journey of trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted to do with my life. I ended up deciding to pursue juvinile probation and attend Sam Houston State University and ultimately changed my studies focus to psychology and English. While at college I discovered my love for youth ministry again when being mentored by a youth pastor named Tim Ramsey at Fellowship of Huntsville Church. While in college I also started a Christian Fraternity on the campus that later became a chapter of National Fraternity Beta Upsilon Chi. After graduating from Sam Houston State in 2000, I made the decision to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to obtain my masters in Christian Education specializing in Student Ministry. This began my career in youth ministry that spanned churches in Lewisville, Huntsville, and Denton Texas from 2000-2013. In 2013 I joined the staff of Cross Timbers Church in Argyle in various associate pastor-type roles including connection, pastoral care, and counseling.
Throughout my ministry journey, I always had a passion for business and entrepreneurship. Starting various businesses including a Christian booking agency for musicians and speakers and a sports memorabilia business called Halkman Sports that specializes in private autograph signings with Athletes and Celebrities. Halkman Sports has been in business since 2007 and has worked with people such as Pudge Rodriguez, Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn, Ron Gant, Spud Webb, Jennie Garth (90210), Corbin Bernsen, and Corbin Bleu (High School Musical). I also spent time in bank brand operations management.
In 2016 to help my family facilitate a move to Argyle I got my Texas Real Estate license. I intended this step to be a side hustle to bring in additional money and had a small goal of selling three homes a year. At the end of my first full year in the business, I made six figures and was added to the leadership team at ERA Cornerstone Realty. Over the last 7 years, I have been a multi-million-dollar producer and joined the staff of ERA Cornerstone Realty as Director of Recruitment and Mentoring. My position is helping new agents get their license and mentoring and onboarding agents who join our team. In 2018 I left full-time ministry at the church to take open this role. As of today, I still hold this role as well as helping clients buy and sell real estate and personally investing in real estate.
In 2022 I rejoined the staff at Cross Timbers Church in Argyle in a part-time role working with Middle School and High School students in the church, supporting students in their sports and activities, and serving as one of the volunteer chaplains for the Argyle Football Team.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I will say this, I am an achiever if you can’t tell by my resume and biography. I push myself really hard and sometimes this can cause me to burn out easily. I have learned over the years that I need multiple things going to find fulfillment but to make this a healthy thing in my life I must prioritize things like rest, exercise, reading, and most of all staying consistent in spending quiet time with God praying and reading the Bible.
As with anyone, there have been times in my journey where I have worked with unhealthy leaders that made it hard on me to maintain my passion in what I was doing. Specifically, when I think about my time in ministry, it is not an easy profession. You are walking with people through tough things in their life while trying to also stay healthy yourself. I had to learn how to not internalize everyone else’s hurt,
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Halkman Sports?
I am going to focus this answer on my celebrity memorabilia business.
We specialize in private autograph signings with celebrities and athletes. What we offer is opportunities for fans and collectors to send their items in for a fee to be signed by athletes and celebrities that we have set up autograph signings with. The celebrity only has to meet with us and our team, but the collector gets access to get autographs from celebrities and athletes that may never have public appearances in their area.
I started and admin numerous autograph groups on Facebook (baseball private signings, football private signings, basketball private signings, celebrity autograph signings) that have 5k-20k members where we advertise these signings as well as other websites and our personal website and groups.
I believe what sets us apart is that we have been in this space since 2007 and have become a leader in the industry that other promoters respect and look to for advice and a chance to promote in our groups. We are very focused on making sure our customers feel cared about and that they are happy with the product they receive. We are collectors as well so that sets us apart in that we think like collectors and know what matters to them. Relationships is also a huge focus for us because we know that if we can create friends and fans from our customers, then they will keep returning to us.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Take care of yourself first physically, emotionally, and spiritually or you won’t be any good for your family, your business, your employees, or your customers. A healthy leader is a strong leader.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.halkmansports.com; www.nortexrealestate.com; www.darrellhalk.com
- Instagram: dhalk halkmansports
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/dhalk; www.facebook.com/halkmansports; www.facebook.com/dhalkera
- Twitter: durkel777
