Meet Todd Hostetler | Creator & Companion @ 1000Sun

We had the good fortune of connecting with Todd Hostetler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Todd, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I am from a small town about 40 minutes North of Dayton, Ohio. When I was growing up, I did everything I could around music. I took piano lessons, joined the choir, and started in the school band. Music had a massive impact on my growth and I quickly aligned with it and found it massively fun to entertain people.
After graduating high school, I went to college 30 minutes away from home to study graphic design. Soon after starting my classes, I realized they were teaching everything directly from the books. Me, being stubborn, thought “I can do this without going into massive debt” – and dropped out.
Dropping out caused me to go on a search for myself, who I was, and what I valued. After some much-needed looking, I found that music and design were still MASSIVE influences and passions in my life. Armed with this knowledge, I set out to learn everything I could about producing and audio engineering. Along my journey, I met an artist and his manager and clicked with them almost instantly.
Though we got along fast, we didn’t start working together right away. I leveraged social media and my knowledge of graphics to connect with and become Head of Graphic Design for a hip-hop record label in Nashville. We did promotions such as a 10k away giveaway and advertised in Times Square.
After the record label, I decided to niche down to more local and audio engineer at a studio just outside of Dayton named Moves Media. They are a content house for artists providing multiple ways for artists to create and connect with their audiences.
About a year passed and I decided to try a new route in music. Contacting the artist and manager I clicked with in the past, we all teamed up and created a music-making machine that was unstoppable.
Now, as almost everyone knows, music isn’t something that quickly pays bills. So my newfound partners and I needed to be scrappy. Leveraging their knowledge of social media (having to learn to use it to grow the artist page), my partners offered social strategy and management to small businesses in the Dayton area. With my background in graphics, we promptly added a “graphics + web design” leg to the business and were rolling.
We served the Dayton area for 2 years before deciding to go on a journey of self-improvement. Since then, I have started a design agency and have helped many businesses take their branding and user experience to the next level. I still make instrumentals and audio engineer when available.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a musician and graphic designer. My art is sound and visual. I set myself apart from others by being human and understanding. With user experience design being a massive part of my design side, I value understanding, accessibility, and positivity. I get excited when I have the opportunity to help others overcome business challenges by leveraging user-focused strategies and am proud of the work I have done to this point to help companies better reach their audience.
The journey to get here was not easy and continues to be difficult at times. One of the conceptual models that I love that I hear over and over from speeches and books is that there is never going to be work that is “easy”. I know the adage “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”, but I don’t think that is inherently true. I think all work has some difficulty – but are you passionate enough about what you do to enjoy and push through the trials and come out the other side still making it work?
This is something I work with to this day. I love what I do and wouldn’t trade it, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. It means that I’m more willing to push through the suck bc I love the work.
One of the biggest lessons that I have learned through my journey is the power of kindness and empathy in business. Being kind and just being a human to someone will take you farther than any sales tactic or marketing strategy ever will. Execution is important, but don’t put up walls or a facade to seem “professional” – it is received as ingenuine as it feels.
I want the world to know my story of how you can take an unconventional route and not have anything other than determination and perseverance to make it work. I dropped out of college one semester in bc I saw that I could accomplish the same result without the debt. I learned audio engineering and producing from YouTube and my peers – without having to go to school or go into debt to make it happen. There is no set way to make it happen, find the path that aligns with you and your passions and make it happen.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Dayton, Ohio has a lot of hidden gems in the city. If a friend were staying in Dayton, we would have a food-heavy trip. For dinner on the first day, we would go to Canal Street Deli and eat classic deli-style sandwiches while playing old arcade and pinball games. The next morning, we would go to Ghostlight Coffee for breakfast. With coffee in hand, we would walk along the river downtown and see the different areas of the city with the “flood marks” showing how high Dayton’s worst flood got. For lunch, we would make our way to Agnes, a Caribbean eatery with outstanding sandwiches. With lunch in hand, the next stop is Dayton Arcade / Hub / Entrepreneur Center / Coworking Space. It is a beautiful coworking space that is a block of renovated buildings with restaurants, office spaces, & countless businesses. We would walk around and see the rotunda in the center of the office spaces and the gorgeous renovation work done. Working at the hub for a bit, we would then get dinner at Grist Provisions a block away. This Italian eatery offers a casual, fine dining experience that is sure to bring a little Italy that you didn’t know you needed. Shortly after eating, we would then walk a few blocks to the Fire Block District to the bar Two Social. They offer a social experience, including video games, board games, axe throwing, corn hole, and of course, alcohol. From here, we would hang out and play some games.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are countless people that I would love to credit!
Eddie Saunders Jr || Speak Friend || Mentor || Eddie has provided guidance and objective insight to me for as long as I can remember. He is always willing to not just lend an ear and listen to me vent, but give amazing feedback and guidance on how to move forward. He is the one who introduced me to the first design software that I massively leveraged.
Bulent Tastan || Moved Network || Mentor || Bulent is the mentor I didn’t know I needed at the time I needed him. He initially entered my life as an investor in a company I was working with but quickly stepped into a mentor role for me. He constantly challenges me, my mindset, and what I think of as the best version of me, forcing me to constantly be aware of who I am and how I grow.
Kameron Seabrook || OBAI || Support || Kam is the artist I met with along my journey who has been a brother to me as we both have grown over the years. I have learned more about myself, how I work with others, and how I need to grow from Kam than I ever could myself. He always offers a fresh perspective in my life. I view Kameron as a brother and as a healthy “rival”.

Website: https://1000-sun.webflow.io/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saucier.todd

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-hostetler/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sauciertodd