The Soldier Discovered His Song

There’s a moment in everyone’s life where something shifts. A balance has been tilted, plans scattered and rearranged, and all of a sudden, one starts walking in a new direction: marriage, a new career, a sudden loss. These moments feel unexpected, unsettling and yet also fated — propelling a person down a path that they were somehow always meant to travel down.

For TerryJosiah Sharpe, the moment everything in his life shifted came with sudden and stark clarity, a trigger that flipped his life upside down, alongside the entire country’s, in a single day.

September 11, 2001.

The CEO of international production company Anthem Music Enterprises in Colorado Springs, TerryJosiah grew up in a world of music. The son of a church worship director, he learned from an early age that he had a role to fill on Sunday mornings.

“If someone on keys didn’t show up, I was playing keys,” he said. “If the number one drummer couldn’t play, I was on drums. And if there weren’t enough people in the choir, you can bet I was singing.”

Without traditional training, TerryJosiah learned to play multiple instruments by ear, adapting and picking up new skills as he went. Raised in a space of music, he always knew himself to be a creator. However, as he grew older, he didn’t think that music would be a viable career path and instead turned his sights on fashion. After graduating from high school in 2001, he planned to take a gap year and then pursue a college fashion degree.

Little did he know, but those plans would never come to fruition. On September 8, 2001, TerryJosiah turned 18 years old. Three days later, the world came to a jarring halt, witnessing with horror as a nation’s semblance of safety was shattered by the attacks of 9/11.

With the rest of the world, TerryJosiah stopped and watched — and was never the same. “I was activated,” he remembered. “I felt like if somebody was trying to stop or block our freedoms, then I had every right and honor and privilege of being able to fight them. 9/11 happened, and I joined the military six days later.”

Young and passionate, TerryJosiah enlisted in the U.S. Army and sparked a six-year journey as a military police officer, keeping order among soldiers. In those years, he was stationed in Germany and Texas, with two separate yearlong tours in Iraq. In 2004, while deployed in Iraq, TerryJosiah was involved in the Battle of Fallujah, considered one of the bloodiest battles for U.S. soldiers in the Iraq War.

“We dealt with some crazy hardships there, but I made it out — not everyone did,” TerryJosiah said. “God is good, that I’m alive and my heart is beating. I had some friends lose their lives out there, and I lost a chunk of my arm in the fight. Not everybody who goes to war is in war, but we were in the fight.”

After finishing his time in the army in Texas, TerryJosiah wanted a change, to be able to control the direction of his life again. He enrolled in college at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he discovered his first love again: music.

“I’d been removed from school for so long, and outside of fashion, I never thought of college,” he recalled. “So when I did an assessment test and they told me music was what I should major in, I didn’t even know that was possible.”

Studying music history and creative writing, TerryJosiah dove headfirst back into the world of creativity and songwriting. It didn’t take long for acclaim to find him. In college, he won Songwriter of the Year in Texas. He then signed to an independent record label, where he got the opportunity to tour with other talented artists rising in fame, including Mac Miller.

Since then, TerryJosiah has strummed his way through a successful music career, leaning into the business side of the music industry. After moving to Colorado Springs from San Diego, his hometown, in 2017, TerryJosiah got plugged into the music community in Colorado. In 2019, he cofounded Anthem Music Enterprises with Mitchell “Merch” Cohen. Anthem Music Enterprises is a internation production studio dedicated to sharing authentic voices, creating high-end music and fostering developing young artists through a music-based after-school program. However, for TerryJosiah, music goes beyond a career. It became a safe space, a haven — one that was lifesaving.

After leaving the military, TerryJosiah found that he needed a way to release tension and process the traumatic events he experienced in war. Music became the translation of emotions, the way to transfer feelings from the inside to the outside, letting them go so that he could be present with the people in his life and not in his own head.

“I needed an outlet, and luckily, I have one in music,” he said. “Music hasn’t just given me life. It’s saving my life. I don’t do music because I love it. Yes, I love it. But I also love barbecue. I do music because I don’t have any other way of expressing myself, and if I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t be here.”

Knowing the impact music has had on his life and personal relationships, TerryJosiah is passionate about sharing that outlet with others. At Anthem Music Enterprises he created a space for the artists and students he works with to share their stories and let out their emotions through making music.

“I truly believe that when you find an outlet like music, you’re not just finding more balance in your life, you are creating balance in your community,” he explained. “When you do that, the community heals. That’s why The Music House, the after-school program, all of those things were created. I’m seeing the change and daily impact in students’ lives.”

Through helping artists find their voices and teaching students to express themselves in music, TerryJosiah has watched as the lives around him are transformed, much like he was when he discovered music again after being a soldier. He describes watching the change in their lives as like witnessing a flower bloom.

“Knowing that they can get some of their hardships out, that’s what’s beautiful to me,” he said. “Seeing the impact of others doing this, finding their voice and expressing themselves without fear or judgment, that’s empowering.”

From an 18 year old bravely signing up for war in the wake of a national tragedy to a successful musician showing others how to ease their burdens through the joy of music, TerryJosiah’s journey is an example of how, sometimes, the most unexpected paths lead to the most beautiful destinations. His next path is stepping back as CEO of Anthem into an advisory role on their Board of Directors. This new role enables him to keep moving the company forward in it’s mission and strategic initiatives while cofounder Mitchell “Merch” Cohen steps in as CEO.

“Impact is happening,” TerryJosiah said. “I’ve seen an artist change his entire life because he now understands what he’s trying to do. I’ve seen a student denounce his gang and try to change his life. It’s all about the bigger picture. When that person creates, when they release their voice, it’s like a ripple effect.”