Meet Larry Barrett | CEO, Musician & Mentor

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

Hi Larry, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Persistence, I believe is the most important element in the success of my brand. There was many times I gave up with just as many times as I decided I couldn’t let go. First it was a dream and I played with my ideas. But as time went on things became more serious. Without much finances, I just kept doing little things that I could, and amazing things began to happen. I began to believe again. I learned that although money is important in the fulfillment of your business goals, it is not as important as Persistence. I have lost money serveral times to the point I never thought I would survive but my beliefs and desire to proceed kept me going. As I grew mentally, spiritually and of course financially, I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Along with persistence, I learned discipline. That was like the icing on the cake. I am happy to have gone through my challenges because of who I have become and the status of my business through discipline and persistence.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
In 1983, Phy-Tur Records was created originally as the engineering division of Barrett Bros. Entertainment in Chicago. After seventeen years of performing regionally with my brothers, I moved to Texas and established the brand as a label and entertainment company, My first CD project was put out in 2003 titled “Never Give Up”. At the time Yolanda Adams had a song out of the same name that was doing phenominally on the radio. I kept pushing though the many challenges and successfully had the song playing on 172 radio stations across the United States. Not making one dime was challenging psychologically and financially. And to make matters worse, Southwest Distributors whom had won the National Distributor Award of the Year in 2000 and in 2002, went under and my product was lost. During this time my life was in turmoil but I kept pushing. Recognizing the need for more stability and control of the operations, in the LLC was formed. In 2009, I created We Inspire, Inc. A non profit organization dedicated to helping disadvantaged youth and adults and went back to school. After graduating in 2013 with a degree in Music Business, I began to put on small concerts at the Knowledge-First Empowerment Academy and life became grand again. In September 2017, I had a major fall and the menicus in both legs amongst other injuries and decided it was time to come home. In 2018 I registered the company in Chicago and got with my brothers and we decided to work together again and fulfill our destiny in the music business. At this time, we have 2 new singles on the Gospel market (Praise God and Can’t This Be About Love), and many more to come. We are “PHY-TING” for our Families We are “PHY-TING” for our Health We are “PHY-TING” for our Children We are “PHY-TING” against Crime We are “PHY-TING” against Poverty We are “PHY-TING” for our Communities and as a community we must PHYT-4-LIFE!

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?
If my friend eats pork or ribs, I would definitely take them to Pork Chop Hyde Park at 5121 S Harper in Chicago. There is also Mora’ Asian Kitchen which has 2 locations (Bolingbrook and Aurora). I have friends performing all the time so we would definitely check out Tricia Tribble and Boss Movez where ever they may be performing. Her schedule is on her website at www.justtrishmusicdiva.com. Dependent upon when my friend would be coming, my new location would be up and running and we could have dinner there while watching a performance or enjoying a fantastic presentation by a motivational speaker. Oh yes, we would have fun. And this is all without having to go down town. If we go downtown, there are various plays to attend. Of course all of this is dependent upon Covid’s permission, but even so we would make it do what it do!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There has been many influences in my life. My family has always been a dominant influence in my life. We have gone through many things in our lives and sometimes in the past we have fought. But we have made it through and the music we are now making is reflective of that growth and the vision our mother had when she was alive. Outside of family, James Allen; superintendent of Knowledge-First Empowerment Academy, was influential in my learning the important of learning and sharing that learning within my community. Watching him for 10 years as he built his school from nothing but an idea to now being one of the top online educational facilites in the South and Midwest helped to give me direction and to crystallize my thinking. I would be remiss if I did not mention my son and my daughter. My son has raised his two children almost single-handedly while pursuing his dreams and my daughter has now been blessed to become the executive director KLEO Family Community Center on the South Side of Chicago where they provide for the youths of the entire Washington Park community. Just thinking about the both of them wakes me up with a smile on my face every morning.

Website: www.phyturrecords.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/phyt4christ
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/phyturrecords
Twitter: www.twitter.com/phyturrecords
Facebook: www.facebook.com/larryturtlebarrett
Yelp: We Inspire, Inc
Other: www.weinspireonline.com