At the end of each episode of LDS Living’s All In podcast, host Morgan Pearson says, “We are grateful to Derek Campbell of Mix at 6 Studios for his help with this episode, and we’re grateful to you for listening.”
Derek has been an essential part of All In’s production—recording, editing, and mixing episodes for close to the entirety of the show’s run. In the second-to-last episode before All In ends, he stepped out from behind the scenes and joined the show as a guest to share the story of how, eight years ago, he miraculously got the job.
Money Struggles and a Surprising Prompting
In 2016, Derek was working as a music composer and audio engineer. His wife, Kelly, also worked, and Derek was doing freelance projects on the side to help pay for a new house they were moving into.
Around this time, a coworker told Derek that Time Out for Women, a conference by Deseret Book, was looking for an audio engineer. Derek took the gig, and there, he met KaRyn Lay, who was the producer.
“I gave her my card and said, ‘If you need any audio work, let me know,’” Derek says. The event went well, and afterward, Derek and KaRyn went their separate ways.
Two years later, Derek and his family were experiencing financial stress. They had moved into their new house, and Kelly had quit her job to care for their son, who was struggling with significant health challenges. As money became tighter, the couple eventually realized that they would need to sell their beloved home.
“The house was on the market for maybe two months, and we had no hits, no viewings, no showings—nothing,” Derek says. But one morning, Kelly called him with great news: Their realtor had scheduled several showings for that week.
Then Kelly said, “I don’t know why, but I feel like we need to pull the house off the market.” Needless to say, Derek was surprised; in the moment, it seemed like the least logical thing to do. But together, they decided to follow Kelly’s prompting and remove the listing.
Timing Is Everything
Later that day, Derek received a phone call—it was KaRyn Lay, asking whether he was still doing audio work and would be interested in working on podcasts for LDS Living.
“I’m grateful we got that phone call, because it kickstarted everything from that point forward,” he says.
Soon after, Derek met with KaRyn in her office. She told him that she never kept business cards, but for some reason, for the last two years, she’d kept his. “It was on her little corkboard right above her desk,” Derek remembers.
KaRyn eventually introduced him to All In host, Morgan Pearson, and they discussed the possibility of him helping out with the podcast.
“That whole situation changed my life forever,” he says. “It changed the trajectory of our life for the better. It was an answer to prayer. It was everything.”
Derek began to work on the podcast, and he says it gave his family the financial stability they needed to stay in their house. According to Morgan, Derek’s efforts noticeably changed the feeling of the podcast as well. She had recorded a handful of episodes before he joined but says that his spirit and testimony made a lasting impact on All In.
“You hear that phrase, ‘Timing is everything,’” Morgan says. “I think the reason timing is everything is because that’s the way that God works. He’s orchestrating all of these little details so that things align at the right time.
“And so, I’m grateful that KaRyn kept your card.”
Listen to Derek and Morgan’s full conversation on All In.
Editor’s note: Past episodes of All In aren't going anywhere, and the Deseret Book team is already working on a new project to bring you more heartfelt, faith-strengthening conversations. Stay subscribed to the podcast feed and follow us on Instagram to be the first to hear more!
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