The Wilderness and the Wind: Why Your Journey is the Success You’ve Been Seeking

In the world of aerospace engineering, which Roy Moye III knows quite well, there is a concept called “thrust.” It is the force that moves an aircraft through the air. But thrust doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It requires resistance. It requires a journey through the atmosphere to prove that the machine can actually do what it was designed to do.

During my conversation with Roy, we spent a significant amount of time talking about his “wilderness” years—the nine years in corporate aerospace before he took the leap into full-time music and entrepreneurship with Stem Music LLC. It’s easy to look at Roy now—Grammy-nominated, local celebrity, successful business owner—and think that his “success” began the moment he quit his job.

But I challenged Roy on that, and I want to challenge you on it today. Success isn’t the destination. Success is the journey.

“Success is you becoming the person you were meant to be, in order to succeed.”

The Arrival Fallacy

Most of us suffer from what psychologists call “The Arrival Fallacy.” It’s the belief that once we reach a certain milestone—the promotion, the 20,000-word book draft, the thriving business—we will finally be “successful” and, by extension, happy.

But here is the truth I’ve learned through my own transition from a 23.5-year Air Force career to becoming an author and head of a department: The “arrival” is usually just a 15-minute high. Once you get there, you realize the goalposts have already moved, and the stakes have gotten even higher.

If you don’t learn to embrace the journey, you will spend 99% of your life feeling like a failure while waiting for that 1% of time when you’re standing on the podium. Roy and I discussed how his time in the cubicle wasn’t “wasted time.” It was the “flight prep.” Every spreadsheet he managed and every engineering problem he solved was building the discipline he would later need to manage a national educational brand.

Defining the Journey of Success

In my Core 5 Framework, I often talk about the interplay between where we are and where we are going. Success is the consistent application of your values over time. It is not a trophy; it is a trajectory.

When I spoke to Roy about his journey, I shared my perspective on why the middle part—the part where you’re tired, the part where the “wilderness” feels endless—is actually the most sacred.

1. The Journey is Where Your Character is Forged. You cannot handle the weight of a calling if you haven’t built the muscle during the journey. If Roy had been handed a Grammy-nominated platform in year one, he might not have had the “extreme ownership” mindset required to sustain it. The journey teaches you how to handle “No,” pivot, and stay grounded when the “Yes” finally comes.

2. The Journey Provides the Context for the Calling. Roy’s calling—using music to teach STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math)—wouldn’t exist without his engineering background. If he had skipped the “boring” engineering years, his music wouldn’t have the authority it has today. Your current “wilderness” is providing the very data and experience you will need to serve people later.

Learning to “Bloom” Where You are Planted

Roy used a beautiful metaphor during our talk: he said he is currently in a “blooming” season. But you can’t bloom if you haven’t spent time as a seed in the dark, and you can’t bloom if you haven’t grown deep roots during the rainy seasons.

Embracing the journey means recognizing which season you are in.

  • Are you in the Clarity season, just trying to figure out what the next step is?
  • Are you in the Courage season, where you have to take a leap into the unknown?
  • Or are you in the Consistency season, where the work feels repetitive but you know the growth is happening underground?

I told Roy that the reason he is successful today isn’t because he’s on a board or on a stage; it’s because he stayed true to the “Flight Plan” even when the visibility was zero.

The “Wilderness” is Not a Wrong Turn

Many people feel that if they haven’t “made it” by a certain age, they’ve failed. But as we discussed in the episode, the “wilderness” is often where God (or the universe) is doing the most work.

In the Bible, the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness. It wasn’t because they were lost; it was because they weren’t ready for the “Promised Land” yet. They had to shed a “slave mentality” and adopt a “sonship mentality.” Similarly, Roy had to shed the “employee mentality” and adopt the “entrepreneurial calling” before he could truly take flight.

If you are in a season of struggle, stop asking, “When will this be over?” and start asking, “What am I learning right now that I can’t learn anywhere else?”

The “Flight Plan” Forward

To embrace the journey, you have to change your metrics for success.

  • Old Metric: Did I hit my goal today?
  • New Metric: Was I consistent today? Did I move the needle one inch? Did I learn something new?

When I sit down to reflect on my goals, I don’t just look at whether I hit the goal of writing the 20,000-word book draft; I look at the strategic narrative of the day. Did I show up? Did I connect with my family? Was I a person of integrity? Did I learn something new that will improve me?

If the answer is yes, then the day was a success, regardless of the “outcome.”

Closing Thoughts

Roy Moye III is “taking flight” now because he spent nearly a decade on the runway. He embraced the journey of the “engineer-artist” long before he was given a title for it.

Your calling is calling you right now—not just to a destination, but to a process. Don’t rush it. Don’t despise the small beginnings. And most importantly, don’t let the fear of not being “there” yet stop you from being “here” now.

The full interview with Roy Moye III can be found by clicking on Catching up with Corey, or by visiting my YouTube page.

EP 08: Catching up With Roy Moye III

In this episode of Catching Up with Corey, I am joined by Roy Moye III, a Grammy-nominated entrepreneur, singer, and local celebrity in Wichita, Kansas. From his nine-year career in aerospace engineering to becoming a full-time artist and actor, Roy’s journey is a masterclass in pursuing one’s calling. We explore how he merged his engineering background with his passion for music to create a unique platform that inspires the next generation of scientists and artists alike.

Roy is the founder of Stem Music LLC, where he uses the power of song to teach science, technology, engineering, and math to children across the country. In our conversation, he opens up about his personal wilderness seasons, the courage it took to leave a stable corporate job, and how he is currently blooming through new music, a master’s program in education, and a deep reconnection with his faith.

In this episode, we discuss:

Success as Purposeful Alignment: Why Roy believes success is defined by operating in your calling and making a positive impact on others—whether it’s one person or millions.

The Inception of Stem Music: How a desperate attempt to make a math lesson fun with a “Watch Me Solve the Equation” remix launched a nationwide educational movement.

The “Born to Fly” Mentality: The story behind his upcoming debut album, Stem Music Takes Flight, and how his own birth in Germany and return flight at three weeks old inspired his prophetic title track.

Trusting the Timing: A candid look at the challenges of entrepreneurship and the importance of trusting that your wilderness seasons are preparing you for the success you’re meant to handle.

Faith and Identity: Roy shares his journey of reconciling his faith with his identity as a gay man and how giving God his yes has blown the doors off his world in 2026.

The Power of Small Wins: Why Roy advises others to avoid overwhelm by picking one thing to fix or accomplish each day.

Collaborating for Community: The beauty of his Wichita album, featuring collaborations with local high school students, drumlines, and even an upcoming children’s book project with my daughter, Nalah.

How to get in touch with Roy Moye III:
Instagram: @royt3
Music & Stem Music: @thestemusic on all social platforms

Website: TheStemMusic.com- https://www.thestemmusic.com


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Intro by AlanaJordan. Find more here! http://www.pixabay.com/music/motown-old-school-rnb-a-piece-of-the-pie-316619/

Outro By ⁨@TheJaReneHealing⁩ and T

The Whole Truth: Passion, Calling, and the God Who Uses Every Part of You

I know this third week’s post is normally my newsletter, but I want to talk about something that came up in my recent conversation with Roy Moye III. We touched on a subject that I think many of us wrestle with in the quiet hours of the night: Why am I doing what I’m doing? The difference between passion and a calling.

Roy’s story is fascinating. He spent nine years as an aerospace engineer—a career many would consider the pinnacle of stability and prestige. But Roy is also a Grammy-nominated singer, an actor, and a creator. For a long time, he was a man living in parts. He was the engineer by day and the artist by night. But as we talked, a deeper truth emerged. Roy isn’t just an engineer who happens to sing; he is a whole person whose technical mind and creative soul were designed to work in tandem.

This brings us to a critical distinction that we often get wrong in our modern “hustle culture”: the difference between following a passion and receiving a calling.

Passion vs. Calling: What’s the Difference?
We are constantly told to “follow our passion.” Passion is a beautiful thing; it is the fire, the energy, and the emotional spark we feel for something. But passion is often inward-facing. Passion is about what makes me feel alive. It can be fleeting, shifting with the seasons of our lives. You can be passionate about golf one year and woodworking the next.

A calling, however, is something entirely different. To define a “calling,” we have to look at it as a summons. A calling isn’t something you create; it’s something you receive. It is the intersection of your unique gifts, the world’s deep need, and a divine invitation. While passion is about what you love to do, a calling is about who you are meant to be for the benefit of others.

As Roy described his transition from engineering to founding Stem Music LLC, he wasn’t just following a whim. He was responding to a pull that required him to use his engineering brain to solve an educational crisis through music. That wasn’t just a passion project; it was a calling.

The Myth of the “Sectioned” Life
One of the biggest traps we fall into is believing that God only wants the “holy” parts of us—the parts that show up to church, the parts that are “good,” or the parts that seem most “useful” for ministry. We section ourselves off. We have our professional self, our social self, and our spiritual self.

But the Bible teaches a radically different concept: God doesn’t just call the holy parts of a person. He calls the whole person.

In my conversation with Roy, he spoke about “giving God his yes”. When you give that “yes,” you aren’t just giving God your Sunday morning; you are giving Him your technical skills, your sense of humor, your past heartbreaks, and even your “secular” talents.

God doesn’t see an “engineer” and a “singer.” He sees Roy. He sees the whole man. When God called Moses, He didn’t just call a leader; He called a man with a stutter and a criminal past. When He called David, He didn’t just call a king; He called a shepherd and a poet.

The Beauty of the Flawed Vessel
If you feel like you aren’t “ready” for your calling because you have parts of your life that feel broken or messy, look at the “resume” of the people God used in Scripture:

  • Abraham was too old.
  • Jacob was a liar.
  • Leah wasn’t the “pretty” one.
  • Rahab was a prostitute.
  • Jeremiah was too young.
  • Peter had a temper and denied Christ.

God doesn’t call people because they are perfect; He calls them because they are available and well-positioned to do what needs to be done. He uses flawed people specifically so that the outcome’s strength can be attributed to His grace, not our greatness.

In Roy’s journey, he spoke about the “wilderness” seasons—the times when he didn’t know how the engineering and the music would ever make sense together. He had to reconcile his identity and his faith, bringing his whole self to the table. It was in that “whole” surrender that he found his most significant impact.

Why the “Whole Person” Matters
When you bring only part of yourself to your work or calling, you end up burned out. Why? Because you are operating in a state of friction. You are trying to hide parts of yourself. It’s the equivalent of working with one hand tied behind your back; you are hindered and not able to operate at full capacity.

But when you realize that God can use your analytical mind to structure your business AND your creative heart to connect with people, the friction disappears. You become a “whole person” operating in alignment. Your shackles are removed.

Roy Moye III is currently “blooming” because he stopped trying to keep his aerospace background and his Grammy-nominated voice in separate boxes. He realized that the God who gave him the ability to understand flight dynamics is the same God who gave him the melody to teach a child.

Finding Your “Whole” Yes
As we prepare to release this episode with Roy, I want you to ask yourself: What parts of myself am I keeping hidden? Are you waiting until you are “perfect” to step into your calling? Are you assuming that your “secular” skills have no place in a “divine” purpose?

God is not looking for a polished version of you. He is looking for the whole you—the engineer, the artist, the parent, the flawed human, and the dreamer. Your calling isn’t a destination where you arrive once you’ve fixed yourself; it is the journey of letting God use every single part of your story for His glory.

Don’t miss the full conversation with Roy Moye III on March 27 at 6:00 pm. We’re going to talk about what happens when you finally stop living in parts and start taking flight as a whole.