Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Darrin Cook Jr. of Metro Atlanta

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Darrin Cook Jr.. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Darrin, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
That’s a beautiful question. I think the secret struggle so many of us carry is the quiet, persistent feeling that we are not enough. It is the gap between the confident face we show the world and the internal voice that wonders if we are truly qualified to do the work we are called to do.

I see this most profoundly in the nonprofit leaders I serve. These are people running on two things: passion and fumes. They are trying to change the world, often with shoestring budgets and systems that feel like they were built for someone else. They are told to do more with less, and they internalize that pressure.

So, while they are out there fighting for their communities, the secret struggle they rarely voice is the feeling of being an imposter. They worry that they are not tech-savvy enough, not a good enough fundraiser, not a strategic enough leader. They feel overlooked and underestimated, and they carry the weight of their mission so heavily that they rarely have a safe space to admit they are overwhelmed.

I know this feeling because I have lived it. My own journey was not a straight line. It was forged in the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina and tested in the humility of bankruptcy. I know what it feels like to have a vision in your heart but a deep uncertainty in your gut.

That understanding is the entire foundation of why M3 Media exists. We do not just build software; we architect empathetic systems. We build warm ecosystems of technology and strategy designed to lift that burden, to automate the noise, and to give these incredible leaders their time and confidence back. We exist to quiet that secret struggle, so they can get back to the work that truly matters.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Thank you for having me. My name is Darrin Cook, Jr., and I am the Founder and Chief Architect of My Mogul Media. My story does not start in a boardroom. It starts on the streets of New Orleans with a trash bag full of Mardi Gras beads.

I was under 10 years old when I noticed that after every parade, the streets were littered with beads that people had fought over just moments before. To most, they had lost their value. But I started to wonder, what if they were not worthless? What if they were just in the wrong place?

I convinced my family to help me collect them, and I started selling them on eBay to people all over the country. That experience taught me a lesson that has shaped my entire life. The most overlooked things often hold the most value.

That belief is the foundation of everything we do at M3 Media, which I founded in 2009. We exist to serve the overlooked and underestimated nonprofit leaders who are out there changing the world. Most of the leaders I meet are running on two things: passion and fumes. They are held back by cold, complex, or nonexistent technology, and they carry the weight of their mission so heavily.

What makes us unique is that we do not just sell technology. We architect empathetic systems.

An empathetic system is a digital ecosystem. It is a collection of tools, strategies, and workflows designed around the humans who use it. It is technology that serves people, not the other way around. It is a system that automates the noise, quiets the struggle, and gives passionate leaders their time and confidence back so they can focus on the work that truly matters.

This work is also part of a larger ecosystem I have built. It starts with The Glowfidence Foundation, our nonprofit that nurtures the spark in aspiring entrepreneurs. It continues with M3 Media, where we provide established leaders with the systems to scale their mission sustainably.

What we are working on now is scaling that impact. We are finding more of those overlooked leaders and giving them the tools and the partnership they need to not just survive, but to thrive. We are proving that with the right systems, built with a human touch, even the smallest organizations can make an extraordinary impact.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
My earliest memory of feeling truly powerful has nothing to do with strength, and everything to do with perspective. I was a kid in New Orleans, standing on a street littered with Mardi Gras beads after a parade had passed.

To everyone else, the party was over and the beads were now just trash on the ground. But I saw something different. I saw possibility. I saw value where others saw waste.

I convinced my family to help me collect them in trash bags. We cleaned them, and I sold them on eBay to people all over the country who wanted a piece of that magic for their own parties. The feeling of power did not come from the money I made. It came from the quiet, thrilling realization that I could see a different story for those beads, and I could make that story real. It was the power of seeing what was overlooked and giving it new life.

That feeling is the same one that drives my work today with My Mogul Media. I look at nonprofit leaders who feel overlooked, running on fumes and wrestling with broken systems. I do not just see their struggle. I see their incredible potential, waiting to be unlocked.

The power I felt as a child is the same power I want to give them. The power to see their own value clearly, and the ability to build the systems that prove it to the world.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
That is a powerful question. Success is a wonderful thing, but it often teaches you how to build higher. Suffering teaches you how to build stronger, from the foundation up. I have had two great teachers in my life: Hurricane Katrina and bankruptcy.

Katrina taught me that everything you think is stable can be washed away in an instant. It was a profound lesson in humility and the true meaning of community. When you lose everything, you learn that resilience is not something you have; it is something you build with the people who show up for you.

Years later, navigating a business bankruptcy taught me the difference between a failure and being a failure. It was a painful, humbling experience, but it stripped away my ego and replaced it with a deep, unshakable empathy for others who are struggling. It taught me what it feels like to be overlooked and underestimated.

Success never could have given me those lessons. Success never could have forged the empathy that is now the bedrock of my company, M3 Media.

I now architect “empathetic systems” for nonprofit leaders because I know what it feels like to operate from a place of scarcity and fear. The suffering I went through taught me to build things for people who are running on passion and fumes, because I have been there. It taught me that the most important systems are not the ones that help you when you are winning, but the ones that hold you up when you are struggling.

That is what we build. We build resilient digital foundations so that passionate leaders can focus on their mission without the constant fear that everything might wash away. Suffering taught me that my real work in this world was not to avoid failure, but to build systems that make others feel safe enough to bravely pursue their own purpose.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
The biggest and most damaging lie our industry tells itself, and its clients, is that technology is the solution.

We sell software, platforms, and complex digital tools with the promise that the right technology will magically solve every problem. We tell passionate nonprofit leaders who are already running on fumes that they need “more tech” to be more efficient, to raise more money, to make a bigger impact.

But that is a lie. A tool without empathy is not a solution. It is just more noise.

The truth is that a system that does not serve the human using it is just another source of burnout. For too long, our industry has sold cold, complex tools to warm, mission-driven people and then wondered why they do not get adopted. We have celebrated features over feelings and forgotten that behind every metric is a person trying to do meaningful work.

At M3 Media, we operate from a different belief. We believe technology should serve people, not the other way around. The solution is not the tool itself, but how that tool is woven into an “empathetic system.” A system designed to reduce stress, automate friction, and give passionate leaders their time and energy back.

The biggest lie is that you need a better CRM. The truth is you need more time to connect with your donors. The lie is that you need a fancier analytics platform. The truth is you need a clear, simple story of your impact.

Our work is to stop selling the lie and start building the truth.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What are you doing today that won’t pay off for 7–10 years?
I am building an ecosystem for underestimated leaders.

The work we do at M3 Media has an immediate payoff. We help a nonprofit leader build a system that reduces their stress and helps them raise more money. That is a beautiful, tangible win, and I am deeply proud of it. But that is not the long-term work.

The work that will take a decade to fully blossom is the connection between M3 Media and my nonprofit, The Glowfidence Foundation.

Right now, The Glowfidence Foundation is planting seeds. We are nurturing the spark in aspiring entrepreneurs, giving them the foundational skills and the inner confidence they need to even begin their journey. M3 Media, on the other hand, is tending to the trees. We are providing established leaders with the robust systems they need to scale their mission sustainably.

The 10-year payoff is not just having two successful organizations. It is seeing the full lifecycle of empowerment. It is seeing a young woman who gained her confidence through a Glowfidence workshop become the founder of a thriving nonprofit that we then partner with at M3 Media to help her scale.

The legacy I am building is a pathway. It is a system designed to ensure that a leader’s journey does not end with a spark of a good idea, but continues until they are a powerful force for change in their community. The work I am doing today is laying the foundation for a future where the next generation of overlooked leaders does not just have a seat at the table, but has the tools and the support to build their own.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mymogulmedia.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/darrincookjr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrinmogul/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darrincookjr