Derrick Pulvermacher
Peer Mentor (He/Him/His)
SPECIAL INTERESTS: Substance Use | Mental Health Challenges | Parenting | Grief | Suicidal Ideation | Chronic Health Conditions | Job Skills & Workplace Success | Mindfulness & Meditation | Music | Spirituality
Calling all emo kids, rockers, misfits, weirdos, hippies, and oddballs:
Derrick the 90’s hard rock dude turned nature and meditation lover is ready to accept new peers!
Derrick grew up in small town central Wisconsin with one older brother. He played in little league baseball and ended up finding his community in high school while playing hockey. Hockey taught him a lot about how to work well with others, discipline, and patience.
Growing up, he liked to ask those tough questions to the religion teachers in class (yep… he was that kid.) He was always mulling over the big questions about the 'how' and the 'why'.
Eventually, his love for music took root and he learned how to play drums. His older brother taught him a few guitar chords along the way and eventually he taught himself the bass.
Derrick moved to Minneapolis after high school and attended the University of Minnesota in the late 90s. He played bass in a hard rock band that played hundreds of shows throughout the area and has many interesting rock n' roll stories to tell. He's had a front-row seat to watch several friends get wrapped up in addiction and tragically a few ended in suicide. So while he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature with a Philosophy minor, (two areas he is still very interested in to this day) he also got a lesson in the impact of drugs, how it feels to struggle, and the pain of loss.
Meanwhile, Derrick was managing to integrate his unique style into the world of work. He took a sales job where he rose through the ranks quickly.
But, as we all know, life happens and the band dissolved.
After a lot of hard work, Derrick got the opportunity to move to Florida to manage a larger sales office with the promise of eventually becoming his own boss. He hired and helped train community members and worked with many inmates through the state's work release program. Because Derrick has a chill leadership style and a willingness to give second chances, he became a favorite among his team.
While in Florida, his first daughter was born – adding the title of dad to his resume. Her birth changed everything and gave him a new perspective on life.
Derrick moved to Eau Claire in 2009 running his own sales business downtown. Derrick earned the Sunshine Award along with the love and respect of hundreds of employees – which he gladly returned. Never one to judge and always there to listen, Derrick made it his mission to connect with and understand each and every person he worked with.
Again, life brought changes, and his second daughter was born in 2012. This little bundle of absolute joy and light was also challenged with living with a rare metabolic disorder called Phenylketonuria (PKU). Derrick and his family have used this as an opportunity to learn and come together and he is now very familiar with the complexities of dietary issues. This taught Derrick how to love and support someone with health challenges while also deciphering what’s within one’s control – and by default, what is not and how to let that go.
So here’s the rub: Derrick knows what it’s like to struggle and to want to fit in and find a place in the world. He’s known loss. He knows about drugs and despair. He knows darkness. But he also knows hope, second chances, self-improvement and healing – because he’s continually working on it himself.
Derrick is into deep conversations, hanging out in nature, practicing mindfulness, listening to Tool and scaring kids at Halloween (yeah… now he’s that guy).
Derrick is all about helping people find whatever solutions work best for them and understands that it will be a unique path for each person. Derrick is able to make people feel comfortable in a very short time span and feels that connection, time in nature, exercise, music, reading, and hobbies all can help lead to a better way of life.
Derrick loves spending time with his family and friends, making and listening to music, petting his dog Pinto and trying to befriend the family cat, Sabine. He is also very interested in meditation, spirituality, philosophy, culture, and religion.