This is a question that plagues Heather Whittaker every time someone asks. Because she never knows how to answer. One day she came up with a phrase that she now uses when asked… “He’s a Hope Dealer.” She says. And thats about as close to a job description as they can get to.
Carlos Whittaker is a People’s Choice Award winner, a former recording artist signed to a major label, a social media maven, and currently spends the majority of his time writing books and speaking on stages around the world. It really began when the Whittaker’s found their family in America’s spotlight with appearances on shows like CBS Early Morning, The Today Show and more when their viral video “Single Ladies Devastation” went viral. But for Carlos, his wife Heather and their three children, this viral moment was just a snapshot of the bigger picture.
“I remember putting the video on YouTube that night and not thinking much about it, the next morning my phone was blowing up with calls from all these national outlets asking me if I was the horrible father in the YouTube video.”
Currently reigning at nearly 7 million views, it’s hard to believe that the overnight success of Carlos’ son’s “Single Ladies Devastation” on YouTube was a complete accident.
”But That Was Just The Spark
“Our family has experienced our share of moments both big and small. What we’ve learned is that every single one has played a pinnacle part in our lives. Each moment has built on to the next one and when we take a step back we see this incredible canvas that has been woven together.”
The release of “Moment Maker” marked Carlos’ debut as an author, but his current book “Kill The Spider” has taken Carlos’ tribe into the deeper parts of their souls. In his newest book Carlos helps people identify, locate, corner, and kill the spiders that are plaguing their lives. “My dad once told me that I must stop cleaning to cobwebs in my life and kill the spider”, Carlos recalls. “This was a massive shift in my soul that began my journey towards being truly centered in my life.”
As an adult, Carlos and his wife Heather moved from California back to Atlanta where he joined the team at Andy Stanley’s Buckhead Church. There, Carlos continued to apply ‘moment making’ into his every day life, blogging about his experiences and recruiting his family and friends along the way. In 2009 Carlos signed a recording deal with Integrity Music and moved his family to Nashville TN. It was in Nashville where Carlos decided to make the shift from writing music to writing books. And from singing on stages to speaking on stages.
“I know it’s a little backwards. People normally move to this town to make it in music. Little did I know that I moved to this town to make it as a speaker who motivates people to live their lives to the fullest.” Carlos remembers. “It was actually only a week after he decided to stop pursuing a career in music and instead pursue a career as a speaker that he got his first call to speak. It was at the White House for the Easter Prayer Breakfast. “I went from singing in front of thousands to speaking an a room of about 50. One whom was the President of the United States. It seems the moment making thing is going to keep on going.
