Who in the world is Drake Campana?
If, like the rest of the internet, youâre only now learning about the singer who recently came close to topping the Top 100 Mexico music chart, you would be forgiven. In fact, you could even be forgiven for thinking that Drake Campana looks an awful lot like Californian-born actor Drake Bell.
Props to you, because you would be absolutely right.
More Money Isn’t The Only Answer
Bell was the subject of a blog post we did here several years ago about his bankruptcy. Our point then? More money doesn’t help solve your issues if you don’t know how to budget and save correctly.
According to his social media, the singer made the name change in November⊠November 2019 that is. Maybe it took a global pandemic, or just chalk it up to more 2020 weirdness, but the change has only been picking up widespread internet attention in the last few weeks.
I imagine by this point, you might be saying to yourself, âokay, that might be a little interesting. But what the heck does his name change last year have to do with a finance post or Stacking Benjamins?â
To that I say: great point. The first thing that needs to be explained, Campana is Spanish for Bell. The second thing you need to know is that, for whatever reason, Drake is immensely more popular in Mexico than he is in the United States. At first glance, itâs easy to dismiss this as another celebrity stunt without much planning. I think Drake is owed a bit more than that though. Before I go further, have a look for yourself at the tweet that started it all:
Drake wrote, âMy social networks will now only be in Spanish, no more English.â
So our lesson today? If things haven’t been the way you want them, there’s no time like today to make a change. Whether it’s your money, your career, or your life, there is less stopping you than you imagine.
What Drake is doing here is pure branding and positioning to capitalize on a market advantage he recognized. This was an incredibly smart play. Sure, the singer could have stayed Drake Bell and gotten along fine. But, he saw both that he had a largely untapped market that had already proven to be profitable, and he has the ability to communicate and sing in Spanish. With a simple change in stage name, like Spiderman, he could reboot his career trajectory with minimal relearning on his part.
The Takeaways
You can do the same.
While we can feel one way or another about celebrities, we canât deny there are some good lessons to be learned here. Whenâs the last time you gave your professional and personal life an honest, thorough review? Have you given any thought to what your skillset could help you achieve in another market or industry? Are there new skillsets or knowledge that you could easily grasp if you slowed down and thought strategically for a moment?
Itâs easy to get caught up in the here-and-now, and Iâm not saying that from a pedestal. Our podcast schedule can keep things pretty packed, and even when we see a business opportunity, we donât always have the bandwidth to adapt as quickly as we would like to ourselves.
Don’t Let Profits Get In The Way Of Making Money
All things being equal, putting 100% of your time and energy into keeping the ship afloat and moving will guarantee that the Benjamins keep on stacking, but making the choice to never slow down and innovate is dangerous. A captain who’s always out at sea doesnât know about all the advancements coming out in ship technology. He has to spend some time reading, studying, or “sharpening the saw,” as Steven Covey says. If they’re always sailing the ship, they donât have time to collaborate with other captains and get the benefits of their knowledge. Yeah, it feels good to keep doing the thing you know will bring in the profits, but eventually, the wind stops blowing in the sails.
You wonât know the exact moment the wind stops blowing, but one day youâll wake up and realize youâre stuck. You can pull out the oars and work your way back to shore, but itâll feel pretty slow going when everyone is speeding beside you in their motorboats that you didnât have time to research or invest in.
In short, take the time to recognize an opportunity. Are you making that time? Is it in your calendar?
Admittedly, that extended metaphor may have got away from me, but I think the point stands. Just ask Drake Campana, his Itâs Only Time album debuted at #81 in the United States. In Mexico? He almost hit the summit of their charts at #4. Having an album at #81 is nothing to scoff at, and Iâll most certainly never do it. But that wasn’t good enough for Drake. He saw the Benjamins, and he followed them down to Mexico. Maybe you don’t need to pack your bags to find your next great thing, but donât be afraid to pause a moment and ask yourself, “Would my skills serve me better elsewhere?”Â
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