Eric Wheelwright (shown in picture), who is he really? Is he the young entrepreneur that was featured on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine? Is he the man that graced the cover of In-Tune Magazine with an in-depth article regarding movies, music and more? Or, is he the musician and song writer that composed the incredibly mesmerizing and captivating CD, “Journey, the Story of Life”? The answer is “All of the above”. Eric Wheelwright is truly a “jack of many trades and a master of each one”.
The first time I heard the name Eric Wheelwright I was on a road trip with a friend who had obtained a copy of Eric Wheelwright’s original, limited addition CD, “Journey, the Story of Life”. My friend had loaded up his CD changer with music that he thought would be good driving music. About three hours into the drive, the song Genesis, from Wheelwright’s “Journey” CD came on. Immediately, the song caught my attention and I wanted hear more. Then the song faded out and up came the second song on the CD. It started with the sound of the ocean crashing along the shore. In the background you could hear the singing of seagulls. On top of the ambient sounds of the beach lay an alluring piano accompanied by soft orchestral strings. Again, I was intrigued by what I was hearing and wondered where the song would go from there. Suddenly came a crash of a cymbal and a hit of a bass drum mixed with a collage of seductive strings, piano and horns. I was fascinated by the change up and thought that there wasn’t much more that the artist could do to surprise me, however, I was wrong. Just when I thought I had heard all there was to hear in the song, the mood of the song completely changed. It was like watching a movie, only it was a movie that the song had lead me to create in my own mind. It was amazing. I was listening to a song with no words and yet I could here a story being told. When the song ended, I found myself wanting to hear it again. Hesitantly, I asked my friend if he would mind if I played the song again. He chuckled and said, “Sure, go ahead” and then he began to laugh. I asked him why he was laughing and he said, “Did you notice that the Journey CD was the last one in the changer”? He went on to explain, “The reason I put this CD last is because when ever someone is riding with me and Journey comes on, they always want to reply it over and over again and it ends up being the only CD we listen to for the whole trip. I figure”, he said, “if I wanted to listen to anything else I had better put Eric Wheelwright’s CD last, otherwise I wouldn’t get a chance to hear the other CD’s”. Suffice to say, my friend was correct. I did request the song over and over again.
A month later I was at the airport, preparing to catch a flight from New York to L.A. There was a man sitting in the boarding area across from me, reading an issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. On the cover of the magazine was a picture of a young man. Next to the man were the words “Eric Wheelwright – From 60 Second Ads To 60 Minute Shows”. I thought it a coincidence that in only a month’s time I was introduced to two individual with the exact same name when the name was such an unusual name. In fact in all of my life, I’ve never come across anyone named Eric Wheelwright. At the time I didn’t realize it was the same Eric Wheelwright that wrote and arranged the CD “Journey, the Story of Life”. I had never seen a picture of him before then. Besides, what would a recording artist be doing on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine?
Two weeks later, I was in a Walgreens picking up a few things when I wondered down the isle with all of the magazines. Lo and behold, there the name was again. This time it was on the cover of In-Tune Magazine. There was a picture of a young man who resembled the other individual on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine, only in this picture the individual’s hair was short, nearly bald, while on the Entrepreneur cover the hair was a bit longer on top and faded on the side. I figured the chances of there being three Eric Wheelwright’s out there who were all making headlines were pretty slim so I assumed that maybe the Eric Wheelwright on the cover of In-Tune Magazine was the same person who produced the “Journey” CD.
Later that year I received an invite to a premiering of the Steve Harvey movie “Don’t Trip, He Aint Through With Me Yet”. The event was well put together, complete with live entertainment and all. It was a Hollywood style red carpet event with a number of celebrity guests”. There was also a 30 minute short documentary style movie called “Inside The Mix” featuring Steve Harvey, that premiered along with Steve’s movie “Don’t Trip, He Aint Through With Me Yet”. The 30 minute short opened as any movie does, displaying the logos and brand names of the companies responsible for the production of the piece. First came a Clear Channel logo, followed by a Wrightway Enterprises logo. Then came the opening credits for the film. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read the directors name. It was non other than Eric Wheelwright. At that point I became obsessively intrigued with finding out who Eric Wheelwright was. After the movies had ended I went up to the person who coordinated the event and asked them if Eric Wheelwright was in fact on the invited list for the premier. She told me that he was on the list and that he was standing behind me, speaking to Mr. Harvey. Attempting to not come across as a star struck fan, I walked up to Eric Wheelwright and Steve Harvey and introduced myself. I told them that I was a journalist and explained to Eric that I was very interested in interviewing him. He politely asked what the interview would entail. I told him that it would be a biography style piece but that I did have one question that I wanted to ask him right then and there if he didn’t mind. His reply was, you can ask but I’ll reserve the right weather or not to answer”. “My question is” I said, “Are you the same Eric Wheelwright who wrote and produced the CD “Journey, the Story of Life”, or is that someone else”. He and Steve both laughed and Steve replied in that manner that is all Steve Harvey, “You dam right it’s the same Eric Wheelwright. Hollywood aint got enough room for two of um”. Eric then replied, “I’ll take your card and have my assistant contact you to set up an interview”. Not wanting to overstay my welcome I handed Eric my card and told him that I looked forward to hearing from him”.
A few weeks later I received a call from Eric’s assistant who explained to me that Eric’s schedule was pretty full but that he was inviting me to shadow him for a day the following week. She went on to say that I could do the interview during his momentary brakes and transitions from one place to the next. I eagerly accepted and found that it would be the perfect opportunity to really find out who Eric Wheelwright was.
I met Eric at his very plush and elegantly decorated Michigan office on a Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. When I arrived he was just finishing up a briefing with his assistant Kelly. The receptionist announced to Kelly that I had arrived, who them informed Eric. Moments later Eric stepped into the lobby, warring an Italian style, three-piece suite that was obviously tailored to fit him perfectly. He walked over to me and extended his hand to give me a firm handshake. “Hello Ken”, he began to say, “I hope you didn’t have any trouble finding us”. I’ve interviewed a number of celebrities, politicians and business men during my 20 years as a journalist, but there was something quite different about Eric Wheelwright. It was clear that he was the CEO of the company, however, he didn’t seem to have the stress and the worry that come with such a demanding position. His demeanor was very peaceful and extremely pleasant. I got the feeling that his employees loved working for him because of his posture; however, it was very plain to see that when it came down to business, you had better do your job.
He lead me into a conference room where he proceeded to prep me on the days events. He also informed me that if during the day I were to become hungry to be sure to let him know. He explained that often times he’d get caught up in his day and wouldn’t stop to eat. He went on to say that he had been skipping lunch for years and so for him it was no big deal. As a result, there were times when he had to remind himself that others who were with him may be hungry and so he made it a point to tell anyone who was spending the day with him to let him know when they became hungry or simply wanted to stop to get something to eat.
We went over his schedule. I couldn’t believe how much this man fit into one day. There was a 9:30 a.m. meeting with his department supervisors at Wrightway Enterprises, which is the multi-media/production firm in which he is the CEO. At 10:30 a.m., he made his rounds and personally greeted every single one of his employees at the Michigan office. He told me that it was important for him that his employees new that they were all a vital part of the company and that he personally appreciated their dedication and hard work. He felt the only way to truly tell someone you appreciate them is to do it personally and so he made it a point to speak to each one of them at least once a month, if not more.
I was amazed by the reception he received from his employees. Each of them greeted him with such genuine compassion and affection. It was obvious that they truly cared for this man and not just because he was there boss. He asked each of them how they were doing and if there was anything they needed. If there were any that had something to say to him, he stopped and listened. He never gave the impression that he had somewhere else more important to be. When he listened, he gave the employee his undivided attention. In one instance, he went to an employee who seemed to be a bit down. He asked the employee how he was doing. The employee explained that he wasn’t doing too well. He had just found out that his wife might have lupus. Immediately Eric took the employee by the hands and began to pray for the healing of the employee’s wife. I was in aw. I’ve heard people say that I’m going to pray for you, but this was the first time I had actually seen someone do it right there on the spot. When he finished praying for the employee, he embraced him and told him to trust in God.
After Eric had finish making his rounds we wound up back in his office where he checked his e-mail, made a few calls and took some calls. There was one call that he took that I found quite surprising. It was from a man by the name of Vincent Yarbro, the CEO of Nitty Gritty Productions, another multi-media company. Vincent was calling Eric to get advice about some new video editing equipment he was thinking about purchasing. I listened in amazement as the CEO of one company offered sound advice to the CEO of a competor. I couldn’t believe it. This wasn’t how you were supposed to conduct business. What benefit is there in helping a competor? After the call had ended I asked Eric why he would help someone that was in competion with him. He replied, “No one is in competion with me. Everything that God wants me to have I’ll have regardless of anyone else. When you understand that principle, you’ll understand that a man doesn’t have to be selfish to succeed”.
After he finished answering his E-mails and calls, we left the office to make some rounds to other companies who had departments that were being managed by W.E. By 1:00 p.m. I was beginning to feel a little on the hungry side and although Eric had told me to let him know when I was becoming hungry, I felt awkward about telling him. I felt as if I would be interrupting his schedule and after all, the man was kind enough to allow me to shadow him, who was I to make him deviate from his plans. At 1:15 pm we left one of the offices. Soon after, we pulled into the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant named “Armando’s”. “Your going to love this”, said Eric . We ended up having lunch at this quant, cozy restaurant with some of the best Mexican food I had ever tasted. Eric insisted that I tried their Mexican sandwich with chicken. I was expecting a chicken breast between two pieces of bread. I could have never been more wrong. The waitress brought out a huge plate covered with a large soft tortia shell which had a mountain of finely grated chicken, brown rice, peppers, onions and a delicious brown broth. On top of that was another soft tortia shell, which was covered in so much melted cheese that the cheese poured over the side and onto the plate. From the first bite, I knew why Eric had recommended the dish. It was incredible. I had never tasted anything like it.
An hour and a belly full later I was ready for a long nap, however, there was still much to be done. Eric had a 3:00 p.m. appointment at the HQ soundstage in Farmington, Michigan. He was meeting with a set designer who was constructing the set for a Honda commercial that Eric was directing. On the sound stage, it was quite obvious that Eric was very experienced and good at what he did. He walked in, greeted the designer and introduced me. The designer presented Eric with several sketched ideas of the set. Eric flipped through the pages, made several marks, suggested a few changes, handed the sketch pad back to the designer and the meeting was over.
We then left the soundstage and headed back to W.E., where Eric changed from a suite to something less formal; jeans, a brown, cotton pullover, long sleeve shirt with the Fox network logo on it and the tle of the show “Bones” on the sleeve. It was a shirt that had been sent to him by a friend who was one of the producers of the show. By now it was almost 5:30 p.m. I asked him if his day was over and he replied, “My W.E. day is over. My Legacy day is just beginning”. I looked at him with a puzzling stare, making it obvious that I had no idea what he meant. He called his assistant and told her he was leaving the office for the day and would be at the recording studio if she needed to reach him. Thirty minutes later we pulled up to a building in downtown Detroit, where Eric was once again greeted with sincere admiration by the security guards. Eric spent a few moments exchanging words with the guards, inquiring about there families and then proceeded to the elevator which we took to the 3rd floor of the building. We stepped off of the elevator and made our way down a long corridor until we were standing in front of a door with a monogram inscribed on it reading “Legacy Productions”. I then understood what he meant when he stated that “his Legacy day was just beginning”. We walked into the suite where a receptionist greeted him. She informed him that his appointment was already there, waiting in “Studio A” for him. He thanked the receptionist and invited me to join him in the studio. We walked into the studio and there waiting for him was another assistant by the name of Sean, his lead engineer Will and recording artist Iroc. Eric asked Will to pull up a track that he had recently created for IRoc and explained that it was the track that he wanted to be used for the theme song of a new show that he was producing. There were several other tracks that Eric had produced as well that he wanted IRoc to take a listen to. They spent several hours going through a library of music while IRoc wrote down the number of the tracks that he really liked and wanted to use for his upcoming release. Around 10:00 p.m., my stomach began to grumble. Eric glanced over at me and said, “Let’s grab you something to eat and then I’ll drop you off at your car”. I said my good byes to everyone at Legacy and told Eric that it wasn’t necessary that he feed me again. I was grateful for the first time. Suffice to say, he wouldn’t hear of it. He had the receptionist call in a carry out at a place called Coney Island. We stopped to pick up my food and then Eric dropped me off at my car.
While I’m not certain if everyday in the life of Eric Wheelwright is as eventful as the day that I shadowed him, I am certain that Eric Wheelwright is a person who will leave his mark on the world. I discovered that while Eric Wheelwright may be the young entrepreneur that was featured on the cover of both Entrepreneur and In-Tune Magazine, and he may be the musician and song writer that composed the captivating song “Journey, the Story of Life”, above all, however, I discovered that Eric Wheelwright is a man of great compassion, honor, love and wisdom. He is a true example of how we should treat our fellow man. This is who Eric Wheelwright really is!
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