Celebrating the power of possibility. I'm Derek Spratly and I believe that anything is possible. Welcome to Anything is Possible. I'm Haloran Hilton Hill and these are great stories about great people whose lives prove that anything is possible. Today my guest is Derek Spratly. Welcome to the broadcast. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me. I have admired you for years. Wow. Didn't know that was coming. I have admired you for years and let me tell you why. You're original.
One of the first things that I noticed about you is that you think about things differently and asymmetrically. That's correct. You'll look at something and everybody else is looking at it this way. You always walk around to the other side. I love that curiosity. I love the fact that you are a solution engineer or a problem solver. I always just admired how steady you were over time. To have you here with me today is a high honor. It's a pleasure and honor to all of you. Where are you from?
I'm from a small county in Virginia called Sarie County, Virginia. It's across James River from Colonial Williamsburg. What was it like growing up there? It was great. Our county goes back to 1620. Everything about the settlers, even slavery, war. We had Indian warheads. We had cannons. It was great growing there. My county is small, but African Americans ran that county. I was able to see some people that looked like me in leadership positions.
It was a great mix between very diverse. We got along well. It was a tremendous growth. My family, my dad grew up on a farm. It was hard work. He instilled hard work on me. Very simple. Man, kind of stoic, but when he talks, everyone does listen. Man, a few words, but when he speaks, it means something. My mom is outgoing, just a very creative, artistic, great singer. It's kind of a mix between my mom and dad. I think I go between being quiet for hours, working alone.
When I have to talk, turning it on, I do what I have to do. I'm comfortable in both situations. When did you have an idea about what you wanted to do with your life? My dad was growing up in Virginia. I actually had an uncle named Malcolm Dodson. He actually was an accountant. I always knew I wanted to be a person that actually understood money. In America, it's a capitalistic society. Those that have the money, that can work with the money, can make the decision.
I wanted to be a decision maker. I was like, I want to be an accountant or a stockbroker. At some point through college, I decided, you know what, I want to go to law school. It's not that I'm argumentative. I guess I could. My wife and kids would say otherwise. I just wanted to be in a position where I could make change by being in a position where I could effectuate change by having some aspect of control or of money.
That's kind of where I ended up practicing law. Then I decided to come to Knoxville. I needed to get away. I have a huge family. Where'd you go to school? I went to undergrad at Norfolk State University. I have a degree in business management. I worked all of you through college. Sometimes at least two, four-time jobs while I went to school four-time. The question that you're going to ask is, did I sleep? No. That's how I was able to do that. Let's just get that out of the way.
I did college much the same way. I worked through school and paid my own way. That was so beneficial. Yes, it was. Because once a work ethic is installed and instilled, you can apply it to so many different things. It really does change things for you. You came to UT to go to law school. Correct. I came here in 1991 to attend law school. Going to Norfolk State was the HBCU. It's right there at Virginia Beach. It had its own challenges.
Challenges to focus. There were a lot of opportunities to do things. When I came to Knoxville, I was diametrically opposed in one aspect. Everything that Norfolk State wasn't, UT was. But it was great for me. I've had the best of both worlds, I believe. Strong African-American background, HBCU, then UT is very few people that look like me. What was that like? I understand that you had some turning points and difficulties because what you do and what you were doing is so rare.
Right. When we came here, I'm pronounced to me and the other students of color, UT was actually on the consent decree. Meaning there was some systemic institutionalized racism. Well, I didn't know, but when it came, it was a lot of tension when I came to law school. It was a difficult transition in the sense that imagine coming to a place and finding something out, you're here. When it worked out, diversity that I experienced actually helped develop me.
If it didn't destroy me, then it was going to make me stronger. Well, if you're in an environment where it's not conducive for you learning from the standpoint that some people may not want you there, my personality, flattery has never really worked with me. But when you say I can't do something or you don't want me to do something, it tends to make me push even harder. So I dug in and it just made me stronger in the process.
And I don't want to act like it was a horrible experience across the board. It wasn't. It's just a transition. And when I came out, you couldn't get a law job. I think I was one of the only clerks for a while. African-American, there was a clerk. People kind of made it known that there wasn't a place for us. Even when it came to interviewing for jobs, we were right out name on the board and it miraculously disappeared. So they'd send us to Chicago, Atlanta, sometimes Nashville.
But it didn't make me bitter. It just made me more determined. Clearly, I stayed and it seems that worked out. So you finished law school. You're trying to find work in the legal field here. What was next? So I actually clerked at an office that was called Piper Waters and Witt at the time. And so I don't do, and you and I have had some brief discussions before about politics, but I don't normally buy into the narrative because everyone says, hey, you have the Republican, Democrat issues.
But I went to a conservative Republican firm and they gave me an opportunity to win no one else would. So I clerked there and there was a ladder and then I stayed on. So it wasn't difficult to you. And I wanted to practice in a firm that was an association because I liked to be in my own boss, even though I had their background. So I started out in private practice with no salary from day one. I have not received a salary in 29 years.
So in this kind of context, how do you find work? If the whole thing is, I don't know about black lawyers being in the mainstream. Right. How did you break through and how did you get work and how did you get clients to trust you up against that narrative? So you start by solving problems. Take the cases that no one else wants. And that's what I did.
And I created good relationships. John Gill, who worked with the attorney general's office, I used to house sit for him and his wife when I was in law school. Great people. So great people. He actually offered me a job four or five times. I just wanted to be on my own, but great guy. And so I had great relationships with people.
And what I learned is irrespective of what people think about you, if you can make money or save them money, then they'll get over whatever idiosyncrasies that they have. So that happened for you? Yes. Yes. And so I actually just did a bunch of cases where I had problems. People kind of noticed it. And that's actually how I got to the Delaney estate. Who is this artist, Buford Delaney, for people who don't know?
So Buford Delaney is a Knoxvillian and he and his brother are probably the greatest, arguably the greatest brother duo of paintings ever held from the state of Tennessee. I'm in charge of Buford's estate. So he's an abstract expressionist also, though he was someone that I think he was misunderstood.
And it took a while for everyone to appreciate his genius. The good thing for him was, like me, I just made myself Buford in the sense that I never want to be known as just the good black lawyer or African-American attorney. You know, so I want to be a great attorney who happens to be African-American. It's glad that I am African-American. So with Buford, I wanted people to recognize him as a great painter. He was African-American and gay.
So I did not deny any of those things nor trivialize them yet. I didn't want that to be the only area that they focused in. So it took years. And I participated in Gay and Gotham and all the other events where they wanted to promote African-American artists. But for me, it was important to just let it be seen. So a few years later, I worked with Michael Rosenfeld from the Rosenfeld Gallery.
And he and his wife, Hallie, have done, we've done, we've had a tremendous partnership. They're excellent in what they do. If you ever in New York, go check out their gallery. I will check it out. I work with him and together we tried to maintain this narrative to promote his greatness. So over years, we worked. You're working on this for? Yes, 25 years. Are you still a sports agent?
No, but what I do is I consult with some schools, some coaches, because so in 2006, I had a daughter that was born and passed away. So at that point, I had to make a decision. It was more important for me to surround my family and be more present. Not that I wasn't never not present, but even more, they needed more attention. So I still had some players Eddie Moore, Keon White side.
And actually, when she was born and when she died, they were in town because they had injuries that ultimately ended their career and they were in town for second opinions. So I wanted to be true to the people that I had. So I worked with the athletes to transition in life because for me, sports representation wasn't just getting contract signed. It was about a holistic approach.
So I wanted to help them spiritually, financially, emotionally, help their families because oftentimes, for whatever reason, the family structure could be dysfunctional. So it's a lot of work that goes beyond just being a sports agent. So at that time, though, when I lost my daughter, we had to make some decisions to take her off of life support. So it was just some tough decisions. Talk about your faith and your family. Well, my parents, people asked me, did I grow up rich?
We were probably lower middle class, but I was rich in faith. My parents raised me for the ammunition of God. And I've always been a person to kind of sit back and watch. And they weren't hypocrites, which was good. They actually lived the life that they preached about. So I would see my dad pray and go through problems and just imagine I was born in 67. So I witnessed some things in Virginia. And my dad was strong.
I always had integrity in everything he did, the way he treated people, the respect he commanded because of his integrity. My mom just was full of faith. We were praying for everyone. We were delivering food, apples, everything. So faith has always been an issue. But like most people, especially when you have a kid that likes to figure things out on his own, I did my own thing for a while. But that foundation was in me. And I knew at some point, you know, I had to go back to what God had for me.
And when I reflect, I probably was a little rebellious spiritually only from the standpoint. I knew the responsibility that came and I could see that God wanted to do some things. And honestly, I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with it. So I'm a Christian, born again, many years. Spirit Field at the age of 14 went through a period of time where I was not led by the spirit. I was led by the flesh. Yes, yes. And I've been very forthright telling my stories to my children.
And actually, I use this ministry to people, to particular people that failed, that had some of the same issues. What do you talk about? I talk about learning that God's righteousness is imputed to me. So honestly, it wasn't until 2017 that I even learned to ask for mercy. Really? Yes. I went through an internship with infusion ministries and realized, man, I never asked for mercy for myself, but I freely give it to others. And I got convicted.
And I learned about the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, which meant that, hey, it really wasn't about me. I just had to take hold of what He'd done for me. So I could be like, hey, I'm righteous. So then my past wasn't always a burden for me. So no condemnation, right? For those who were in Christ. So now the condemnation for the years that I didn't walk the walk that I was talking, a.k.a. hypocrisy, right? I could let that go. Talk about your wife and kids.
My wife is a mighty woman of God. We've been married 23 years. It'll be 24 in July. She has a master's degree in education, but mainly she's just a godly, loving, kind person. And great mom, great wife, she understands me. She gets me. So, you know, there are some people, there's no perfect person. There's no perfect spouse. There's no perfect Christian, right? But she's perfect for me in that she allows me to be me.
She gets me, which is probably kind of complicated because when there's a person that's all big picture, sometimes the short term, you're looking at what about this, what about this, what about this? And she just trusts me. I have faith in God and that stems back to losing my child. You were asking me about that. Just that really solidified it. You know, she lived a few days. She was on life support. We had to make a decision to turn her off support.
And I was like, because I am a lawyer, I know what comes with that with families that go through those traumatic situations. So I prayed and I asked God, I was like, Lord, my wife needs to get to the conclusion that we need to take our daughter off of life support because the doctor spoke to me and I trust God. And I'm like, if God wants her not to pass away, then, you know, I understand what you're saying.
I trust your expertise, but there's a doctor that has had this little bit more experience than you. Well, but I know the trauma, the tragedy, the things that bring, that cause problems in relationships. Hey, did we turn her off too fast? She waited two weeks. So it was really troubling. It's a hard decision. Yes, it was really troubling me. So I literally turned my face to the wall and was like, God, you have to let her come to the conclusion also.
She shows up, Eddie and Keon bring her to the hospital because she was at another hospital then released to go home. And she walks in and she says, we have to turn her off. So we made the decision to go off life support and heal her till she passed away. But that moment, then I have to go back to the room and now you have to determine if you have faith or not. Right? Now, that's where the real journey begins. So I go back, the nurse just made a room for me.
And it's funny, while I was with her, oxygen levels were high. But I have gone two days or no sleep. And they were like, Mr. Spratly, you have to go take a nap or something. So they made a room for me about this size. And I went to sleep. Then someone came running in. Why did you leave? Why did you leave? I was like, you told me to. So, but she was gone and she passed away. But all of a sudden I went back to that room and I lay prostrate on the floor. And I said to God, I say, Hey, I trust you.
You know, I don't understand, but I trust you. I said, when the perfect comes, we know all things. Right? So I pray and literally I don't hear the audible voice of God. I wish I did. I probably could do a lot better in life if I did. But I had a peace and I said to him, I hope you don't take this as me being an arrogant. I said, you lost your son. I lost my daughter. I feel like we're even. I said, I'm going to trust you in the process, but I can't do this anymore.
And literally I got up and for the most part, never question it again and just continue to have faith and trust him. Even though I didn't understand knowing that one day by faith, I'll understand why things happen. So what if, you know, she passes away because the fourth child had to be born. And if I were going to say, Hey, I'm stopping at three. Do I really want to know that? Right. No. So sometimes ignorance is bliss. And so just trust him.
And so really we've just taken the things we've learned going through that process. All my failures, I try to help other people so you don't have to go through the same thing and show them that you have a loving God who cares for you and irrespective of your circumstances and your situation. Don't turn away from the person that loves you unconditionally.
If you had to give me a final note on possibility, because your life has been an amazing possibility from dealing with big art cases to being a sports agent to just navigating life and loss and love. All sorts of possibilities have emerged. What are your thoughts about possibility? Well, Ephesians 3 and 20 is one of my favorite scriptures. And it tells me that the power is within me. He wants to do exceedingly above whatever we ask or hope for.
According to that power, I'm paraphrasing this with us, which is the Holy Spirit. And I gave you Galatians 6 and 9. So you put that together about he wants to do more for me than I want for myself. And so I hope very big and say, Hey, well, you're going to do more. Okay, then I say, as long as I don't quit, if I persevere, and I'm working within the frameworks of your will and the purpose of my life, then I can actually sit back and relax. So anything is truly possible.
That's how I live my life. I try not to ever get to the point where I feel that I can't win. If so, I know I need to get back in my word, right? And I try not to surround my self with people that's pessimistic. Because if you're going to be a trailblazer, you're going places where no one's ever gone. So the people around you, and it's not even intentional for most of them. They can't affirm you. They can't, and they can't see it. And so God has given me the ability to see things, right?
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence. The things not seen. So even though I don't see it physically, spiritually, I see where I want to go and trust him to take me there. And I've learned I'm weak, man. I have so many limitations and shortcomings. People pointed out to me quite often, okay? But by trusting him, realizing my weakness, he's strong. Then I have an expectation to do what others think is impossible and make it possible through him.
Derek Spratley, thanks for being on the broadcast. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate you.