Terry Schpok Turns Passion for Music into Non-Profit

By Jessica Huseman

Leave it to a lawyer to turn a rock band into a full-fledged non-profit.

Akin Gump corporate partner Terry Schpok plays the guitar, banjo and mandolin. After playing in various bands and hosting jam sessions at his house, one of his tuneful friends posed an idea: expand their love of music into an organized network that can do something good.

Schpok and Steve Crane, who is the CEO of Dallas-based ProOperate launched a non-profit musical network in August 2011 called Business Yields Opportunities, or BYO.

The group’s goal? To provide an outlet for business professionals to share a common interest in music while simultaneously supporting charitable and educational causes.

Schpok serves as the organization’s chairman, as well as the general counsel, on a pro bono basis, of course. He’s provided legal assistance to BYO in connection with organizational, corporate governance and various contract matters. He also holds the board meetings at his house every month and hosts music sessions with some of the group’s members.

“We initially started with six business people who play music as our initial steering committee and now have over 100 participants involved in the organization,” said Schpok. “Our events include both jam sessions where members can meet other members and enjoy an opportunity to play music together as well as organizing groups of members to perform at charity functions.”

At less than a year old, BYO’s growth is pretty impressive. Schpok said members typically include high level business professionals who have an active “day job” but “who also enjoy the opportunity to meet and play music with other business professionals.”

The group has even grown large enough to be able to accommodate the musical tastes of its members, forming subgroups within the organization for people interested in specific types of music such as rock, country, blues and acoustic music.

While the interest is certainly there, BYO is still young. Their performances have been generally limited to jam sessions to allow members to meet and become familiar with the interests and abilities of the other members. But, Schpok said the group will be considering performance opportunities in the future that are consistent with the group’s mission.

When the group is ready to put on more real shows, the many members of various musical talents and interests will come in handy. When a request is received, Crane – now president and CEO of the group – reviews it and then surveys the members for interest and availability.

“There is no single band that plays for all functions. Rather, different members come together as needed to supply the musical entertainment for a particular function,” Schpok said. “In most cases, the performers rotate performing different songs at the event so that all of the interested participants have an opportunity to perform at the event.”

So, why the name?

Schpok said the name was derived from the concept that business yields opportunities for musicians to support charities by playing music.

“Selecting a name for the organization was a topic of much discussion among the steering committee,” he said. “We wanted a name that reflected the overall purpose and mission of the organization in bringing together business people with musical interests for charitable purposes.”

For more information on BYO, or to find out how to join, click here.

Are you a business lawyer with a unique hobby or talent? Does one of your colleagues have a little-known pastime that would make for fun reading? Contact Jessica at Jessica.huseman@TexasLawBook.net.

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