About Wonder Music Factory

Wonder Music Factory began in 2025 after my son, Ryan, took his own life.

In the midst of deep pain, sorrow, and grief, I began writing. My company gave me approximately six months away from work, and during that time, I journaled constantly about losing Ryan and everything I was experiencing.

I had never considered myself a writer. In fact, I had never written anything like this before. But suddenly, the words were pouring out of me.

My boss eventually told me about a way I could turn some of my writing into music.

So, I did.

Then, in mid-2026, my friend Hannah jokingly said she wished she had songs for her children about everyday things, like getting into the car and remembering to buckle up.

That simple idea turned into dozens of songs.

Hannah's boys loved them. Their parents enjoyed them too. And before long, we realized there might be something much bigger here.

That idea became Wonder Music Factory.

The name fits what we are trying to build: a place where ideas, lessons, imagination, and music come together to create something meaningful for children and families.

But there is a twist.

We don't create the kind of "kiddie" music that adults can only tolerate for a few minutes. Our songs draw inspiration from pop, rock, funk, country, indie, and more, creating music that is fun and engaging for children, while still being enjoyable for the parents listening along.

Wonder Music Factory also has a much deeper and more personal story behind it.

My son, Ryan, died by suicide at the age of 27.

I began writing from a place of trauma and pain after losing him. Losing a child changes everything.

Earlier in his life, Ryan served as a college intern in Africa. During that time, he was abandoned by the nonprofit organization he was serving with and endured a number of difficult experiences. When he returned home six months later, he was a completely different person.

He struggled with PTSD and turned to drugs and alcohol in an attempt to numb his pain.

In June 2025, Ryan ended his life to stop that pain.

As Ryan's father, I will always carry the grief of losing him. But I also carry a responsibility to make something meaningful come from his life and his story.

Through this unexpected gift of writing and music, I want to create something that can impact the world and future generations, and, in some way, help make the world a better place.

Ryan cared deeply about people. He had an adventurous spirit, a big personality, and a smile you didn't easily forget.

Like many people who struggle beneath the surface, however, there were parts of what he was carrying that others could not fully see.

His death taught our family something we wish we had never needed to learn: emotional pain can be enormous, even when it isn't obvious to the people standing nearby.

Ryan's story is now part of the reason behind Wonder Music Factory.

His life reminds us that the minds and hearts of children deserve our attention long before they become adults.

Children need encouragement. They need connection. They need confidence. They need to learn how to communicate, how to handle difficult emotions, how to treat other people, and how to understand their own worth.

We cannot protect children from every hardship they will face.

But we can give them more tools for the journey.

Ryan will always be part of the heart behind this work. A portion of Wonder Music Factory's proceeds also goes toward suicide-prevention efforts and support for first responders.

After creating some music for my friend Hannah's family, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Her boys, ages five and eight, had Yoto players, and Hannah put my songs onto cards they could use with them.

They loved the music and played it constantly.

Before long, I had created dozens of songs, and their parents began calling them some of the best "parent hacks" they had ever experienced.

From Buckle Up to Helping Around the House to Bedtime, the music was becoming part of their everyday lives.

The songs were filling their home and making an impact on their children.

In fact, the boys would often be singing the songs even when the music wasn't playing.

That's when I knew I might be onto something.

The music began with a simple question:

What if we could take the things we want children to learn and turn them into songs they actually want to hear?

That question opened the door to Wonder Music Factory.

One song became another.

Science and curiosity became songs about the amazing world around us. Character lessons became songs about honesty, respect, perseverance, and taking responsibility for mistakes.

Everyday challenges became Life Skills songs about safety, responsibility, health, money, and taking care of yourself and your belongings.

Then came songs about friendship and relationships. Songs about faith.

Songs that remind us that we are part of something greater than ourselves, and that we can be good stewards of our time, talents, and abilities to help make the world a better place.

Songs that encourage children to imagine, ask questions, make good choices, and believe they are capable of learning new things.

What began as individual songs gradually became something much larger: a growing library of music built around the experiences and lessons that help children grow.

Every Wonder Music Factory song starts with a purpose.

Before we ask, "Will this be catchy?", we ask:

"What will a child take away from this song?"

Of course, we want children to have fun listening.

We want them singing along.

But we also want something meaningful to remain after the song ends.

A child might remember to buckle their seat belt without arguing.

They might understand why keeping their word matters.

They might become curious about how thunder works, why leaves change color, or how an airplane stays in the sky.

They might remember how to apologize.

They might recognize that a friend needs to be included.

They might learn that making a mistake isn't the end of the story, that they can take responsibility, fix what they can, and try again.

These may seem like little lessons.

Over the course of a childhood, they aren't little at all.

They become part of the foundation a child builds upon.

That is the purpose of Wonder Music Factory:

To create music children enjoy today while giving them lessons they can carry into tomorrow.

Wonder Music Factory has a mission beyond music.

Ryan's death made suicide prevention deeply personal to our family, and part of the purpose of Wonder Music Factory is to help turn that loss into something that may help someone else.

A portion of the proceeds generated through Wonder Music Factory is dedicated to supporting suicide-prevention efforts, awareness, education, and resources that can help individuals and families facing mental-health crises and the aftermath of suicide loss.

As Wonder Music Factory grows, we want that impact to grow with it.

When families purchase our music, they aren't simply supporting the creation of more children's songs.

They are helping us pursue a larger mission: investing in children while they are young, encouraging stronger minds and hearts, and supporting work that may help save lives.

We believe prevention begins with more than intervention at the moment of crisis.

It also begins much earlier, with connection, communication, empathy, resilience, healthy relationships, a sense of belonging, and the knowledge that asking for help is a sign of courage.

We cannot change what happened to Ryan.

But his story can still make a difference.

And if the work created in his memory helps one child become stronger, one parent begin an important conversation, or one person choose to stay, then something meaningful has grown from an unimaginable loss.

That mission will always be part of Wonder Music Factory.