Trent Straub, aka DJ SkyRocker, shares some incredible things about listening, resilience, connection and much more… plus an old favorite song!
Hey y’all, welcome to More Lovin, the podcast that brings more laughter, light, and love into everyday life. I’m your host LeAnn Austin, and together we’ll rediscover the beauty of connection to your body, your mind, your spirit, and the people you love.
Today’s episode #220: Love Will Turn You Around with Trent Straub
I love observing and connecting with people who bring more love in into their lives and relationships. It is so inspiring to see how each person does it in their own way.
We have the incredible Trent Straub sharing some beautiful love and relationship insights with us today. All right Trent, tell us a little bit about you.
All right, well, of course my name’s Trent, as you said. I also go by the name DJ SkyRocker. Probably the other name I’m most known for. In the past five or 10 years I started DJing in the area and have done, you know, a lot of different events. So that’s my, also what I consider that my fun job.
My regular job, which is cool too. I work at a oil refinery here in Peachtree City. I’m working as a chemist at the moment, so that’s a pretty cool job. One of those things in life that I didn’t necessarily set out to do, but that’s just kind of, you know, where life led me and that’s okay. I’ve learned to, you know, accept that about life and just make the most out of it.
But yeah, I’ll be 52 years young on April Fool’s Day. Ah, I love it. Yeah. So that’s just a little bit about me. I’m married, of course, as you know, and have four kids, two of my own, two step kids, and they’re for the most part, all moved away. But we have one that still kind of lingers, but in fact, she’ll be coming over tonight, I guess, just to say hello and spend the night and go to church with us tomorrow. Ah, that’s awesome. You gotta love those lingering kids, right? Yeah. Well, like I said, we pretty much just have one nowadays, so I guess you’d say we’re fortunate, but we’ll probably get into that more.
You know, you love family, and it’s great to have the close connections as opposed to the far away physical connections. But I mean, you make the most of it and you know where you can and how you can. Yes, absolutely.
Well, when I met you and I can’t even remember how many years ago. And if you live in the Georgia area anywhere, have Trent be your DJ. Oh my goodness. I love that your name’s DJ SkyRocker. That is so cool because, he is the best DJ. Like he’s done both of our two weddings that we’ve had. He’s done the receptions for those. He did a big party. I keep wishing we’d have another wedding or a big party so you could come over and DJ because you are phenomenal at that. So I love that you love to do a variety of things. That’s really cool. Yeah. Thank you.
So, alright, so how do you bring more lovin into your life and your business and how has that impacted your relationships? Well, I think when in regards to my business that we were just talking about that. So, I was reflecting on that a little bit and just the other day, a couple days ago actually, I booked a wedding, you know, and of course when you talk to people, they either, you know, you get connected with them. Either I call them or they call me. However it works, you know, you end up talking to each other and they have questions that they want answered.
And really when it comes to my DJ business, it’s all about like hearing people out, you know, reminding myself that it’s all about making them happy. It’s not about what I wanna do. And it’s pretty amazing too because I think that can go around. I don’t really really know how or why necessarily, but I hear from the customers themselves. The lady I was talking to when I was talking to her, she was like, oh my goodness, it’s such a relief to talk to you, and you know, to hear you. Sounds like you’re really chill and like, not only relaxed but also like, you know, you’re not telling me what music you’re gonna play at my wedding. Because I guess she was getting that, you know, in some parts that kind of blows me away. But yeah, you have to, like, when it comes to your business, it’s all about your customers.
I think most business owners will tell you that it’s not about what you know, unless they want your opinion. Of course, I know that happens too, but, and it happens in my business as well, you know, there comes a time when I’m, you know, they may turn the reins over to me and be like, okay, I trust you to, you know, you can see the crowd or you know, what the crowd is or is gonna be. So, you know, we trust you to kind of fill in the blanks.
But for the most part, particularly, especially like a wedding, you know, brides have a way they want things done and a vision in their mind. And so it’s all about, I think that one of what I’m getting at is listening to people, you know? Mm-hmm. Connecting with people. Like, it’s just being open to other people’s opinions. You know? That’s a big part of life and love. Like if you really love somebody, you have to be willing to hear them out.
Yes. I love, love, love that. And I love that you do that because you’re right, you are chill and you are, you know me. I’d be like Trent, I don’t care what kind of music, you play whatever. And you know how to do that because you do know how to listen and connect with other people and just like you said, hear them out. I think that is so key in just developing relationships with other people and your business. That’s awesome. That is really cool.
Yeah. It’s all about, you know, to kind of get into another aspect of it. It’s like selfishness versus unselfishness. You know, obviously a big part of not just business, but maybe in more particularly relationships. Particularly, you know, family relationships because it’s those family relationships. I’m sure we’ll talk about a little bit more, but you know, they’re the ones that require the most effort, you know?
Yeah. They’re the most rewarding, but yet at the same time, they require the most effort. You know, when it comes to other relationships, like your coworkers for example, you can always, and I do, walk away from them. And exactly like, I know I have to deal with you. Yeah, later, we’ll do it again tomorrow.
That is so true. Right. But families, it’s developing that connection. Yeah. And that’s the most rewarding connection too. You know, so that’s why, I’m pretty sure that’s why, it works out that way. You know, it’s supposed to be that way. The most rewarding things in life usually do require the most effort. But that’s the thing, like with listening is, it doesn’t mean you always have to be like working and trudging away at it all the time. In fact, sometimes, you know, it’s just the opposite.
You just have to kind of sit back and observe and listen, and yes, the things that really don’t require that much effort, maybe in a sense they do if you’re, if you know, if it’s harder to listen, and you wanna give somebody your input or advice. But you know, just listening is vital. Yes, listening is vital. I love that.
Well, tell us what is something that you love about you and why? Okay, I was thinking about it and I think one of the things, well, there’s several things I I love about myself. Of course, my talents that, you know, I was blessed with and that are a part of me I really, really love and am thankful for those.
But one thing that came to my mind was resiliency. I mean, I’m really, again, thankful for that attribute that I think I’ve developed over time. And I say that and it hasn’t just been me, you know, resiliency is all about, like also giving and letting other people, you know, taking that advice that you need at certain times. And just, you know, handing your life over to, as they say, a power greater than yourself. Sometimes even, you know, that’s what makes you resilient as well.
You know, it’s not just about that. In the end, it’s all about bouncing back, you know? Yes. And that’s helped me a lot in life. Because it’s as, you know, I think as I think a lot about the world we live in, and I think, you know, I’m part of the Gen X group. You know, you think about being Gen X and it’s like sometimes it feels like I’ve lived like five different lifetimes at least, you know, maybe like seven.
Or sometimes I’m like, wow. It’s like I think back to when I was a kid, that seems like another planet ago or 2 million years. Yes it does. How did I, yeah, and so a big part of resiliency too is just not, you know, not making mountains outta molehills. It’s just kind of roll at the flow and then just like, you know, let the rising and the setting of the sun can take care of a lot of things. And just doing what you can, doing what you can when you can, and trying not to force too many things.
Yes, I love that you love things about you. Like it was just like, yeah, I love things about me, because when we have compassion and love ourselves, it makes it so much easier to love other people. So the fact that you recognize that, and resilience is one of my favorite words. It’s that bounce back factor that you talked about. Oh my goodness. That’s key. That’s so cool. Yeah. We all, and I think everybody in the world needs that, needs to recognize that about themselves.
And everybody has that, you know, within themselves. It’s not like an unattainable characteristic. Yes, for many. I mean, it’s one of the, you know, instead, it’s really attainable for anybody. It’s just a matter of letting yourself bounce back, or opening up your mind to different opinions and realizing that you can rise above and, you know, overcome challenges that come your way.
All that stuff. And again, it’s not easy, you know? I have that, and again, going back to family, unfortunately, you know, it’s your family that sees you through the hard times. It’s like, it’s easy to say that, but when you’re putting the work in, sometimes you know, your family, like we talked about, someone that’s gonna help you. And so it can be a struggle sometimes with, you know, when you’re trying to get it done, but again, if you don’t try to, like I said, make mountains outta molehills, you know?
That’s the biggest thing. Just, you know, setting goals, simple goals, little goals lead to big goals and yeah, so those goals are a big thing too. Yes. I love it. Just those little tiny things. Oh, that’s so good. Well, tell us, when you think about connection with others or with yourself either way, what comes to mind? Anything, I know you’ve mentioned a little bit, but anything specific comes to mind?
Right. Well, I probably was thinking about this the most often. It’s like, ’cause when I thought about it, my mind automatically envisioned like a piece of paper. And, you know, this has to do in particular with today’s day and age. Wifi networks and radio towers and TV broadcasting signals.
And you know how you have the main source and then you have the lines that extend out from each of the main sources. And in this day and age, you know, it’s like this is a great thing we’re using like Zoom, for example. The internet. The point I’m trying to get to is that connections are everywhere around us. It’s just a matter of who and what we want to connect to. Yeah. And sometimes it can be, you know, it’s not an easy choice sometimes.
Sometimes we end up, you know, we can connect to something and not even realize we’re necessarily connected to it mentally, you know. And again, I think that has a lot to do with how things are in this day and age with technology and things like that. So it’s worth thinking about definitely what we’re connecting to.
Obviously, you know, people are very important, but again, we need to decide what people are the most important to us and, you know, will be the most beneficial to us in the long run.
And also. What connections, you know, we can offer to others. Kind of going back to what we were talking about, the beginning with the DJ experience and things like that make those meaningful connections because there’s a lot of things out there that we can connect with. A lot of good and bad ones.
I love that you say like being intentional about what we choose to connect with, like being with people and things. What are we intentionally connecting with? Yeah, and I love that you know your DJ experience in doing that. That does give people such a beautiful opportunity to connect because connecting through music I think is amazing.
So I love that you share that because that, I mean, sometimes all we remember is a song. We don’t remember, like the lesson or the whatever, the teaching, the whatever, but we remember the song. So I love that you do that.
Oh yeah. Not only, I’m sure you’ve experienced it too many a times, but you know, I’ve been thinking a lot lately, again, with music is, it’s crazy talking about, you know, the more you’ve lived too, you can hear a song that you know from your youth from the days of your youth, and it’ll take me back to a particular time, a moment in time, which is some random place that’s like really, like, wow.
It wasn’t necessarily a, you may not see it as a real memory. In the sense that, you know, that a memory that you carried around with you at all times that, that you can access or that you do access all the time. But sometimes you just hear a song and it can like take you back. And I experienced that a lot with music as well.
It’s one of the reasons I love music is, you know, I can be in a challenging frame of mind, like a bad frame of mind and you can put on music and it’ll instantaneously help you out of whatever rut you might be in. Absolutely. Yeah, it’s it.
I think music is a great nervous system regulator. It just calms you down, you know, depending on what you’re listening to. If you want it to, it can really help create some calm, you know, safety in your world. So That’s awesome. That’s why we do it at parties and at weddings. That’s right. And things like that. The fun karaoke. Yes. Oh, that reminds me. We need to do that again with my family. I’m glad you said that. Yeah.
Well, is there anything else you share and where can my listeners go to connect with you more and learn more about you? Well I do have a Facebook page. I dunno if you could share that. I don’t wanna absolutely spout it off. Yeah, spout it off. Tell me the name of it, and I’ll also put it in the show notes, but remind me. Yeah, it’s just facebook.com/DJSkyRocker So that’s where I put all my photos and videos and in that I’ve done of different events. And also, you know, information that you can find on me.
So Awesome. Anything else you wanna share? No, I was good. Okay. I was thankful to be on your podcast. Ah, it is so fun. And my favorite thing that I’m excited to talk about, our last question is, what’s your favorite question or quote about love and how has it shaped your life and relationship?
I’m excited for this one. Tell us about it. Well, again, I was talking to my wife this morning about, you know, mentioning to her again about how music is such a great source of inspiration and so many songs about love, right? Yes. That I could mention, and I kind of just picked one out of the blue.
Again, going back to days of my youth that, you know, some singers that aren’t around so much anymore. And one song in particular I was thinking of was by Kenny Rogers, and it’s a song called Love Will Turn You Around. Yes. Oh, and it’s from a movie actually called Six Pack, and I don’t remember seeing it and I need to go back and watch it again. But Kenny Rogers stars in it himself. He’s actually a NASCAR driver and he adopts six kids, orphans and makes them his pit crew during a NASCAR series, I guess. Oh, I gotta watch that. That sounds cool.
Yeah, so I have a blended family, you know, I was adopted when I was born, so that’s pretty cool, you know. That’s why I’m kind of partial to situations and stories like that.
But that’s that song, Love Will Turn You Around. It’s all about a man that’s going along and, you know, doing all that he can and thinking he knows what it takes to survive and get to life. And then, out of the blue, like a shiver to the soul, you know, love comes and he, out of the blue, turns him around and teaches him things that he never knew were possible. So, hmm, basically a great, great song: Love Will Turn You Around by Kenny Rogers.
Oh my goodness Trent. I think I’m gonna cry about this, just because I’ve forgotten that you were adopted and just watching, and just seeing your life’s journey and what you’ve done and how you have turned things around.
And when you told me that song, I was listening to it yesterday and I’m like, I forgot how much I love the song, now I’m gonna go watch that movie too. I’m gonna as well. That sounds so good because it really, I mean, more lovin is the turnaround and that is definitely something to think about.
That is the turnaround. Right. And I love that you exemplify that. I love that you’ve taken some really tough things, and you’ve turned it around. You just decided to be resilient and add more lovin in your life, and I’m so grateful for that. And the music and everything that you share, I’m so grateful for that. So thank you for sharing this with us today.
You’re welcome. Thank you. I love your insights and I appreciate all you do. So thank you. I love you and your personality and your husband too. And your whole family is, you know, you have a wonderful family. Ah, well thank you. Thank you Trent. Sure appreciate you. And here’s to love will turn you around, listening, connection and more lovin. Have a good one y’all.
Thanks for tuning in. If you are ready to take what we talk about here and make it personal, let’s work together one-on-one. I’ll help you calm your nervous system, strengthen your relationships, and create more lovin, laughter, and calm in your life. You can find all the details at leannaustin.com
Until next time, keep choosing fun, connection, and a whole lot more lovin. Have a good one y’all.