Today we’d like to introduce you to Orlandus Shorter.
Hi Orlandus, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been guided by Proverbs 13:22: a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children. For me, that inheritance has never been just money. It’s the example I set, courage, and the willingness to grow.
When VoyageHouston first featured me in 2020, I was building Legacy Executive Transportation Services, a third-generation company rooted in service and discretion. Not long after that interview was released, the world shut down. COVID didn’t slow the business. It stopped it. Overnight, everything I had worked toward went quiet.
I pivoted into trucking and became an owner-operator just six months after earning my CDL. I put my belongings into storage, parked my SUV in a paid lot, and let the truck become my home. For long stretches, I moved across the country, living simply and spending most of my time alone.
That solitude mattered. For the first time, there was real quiet. No constant responsibility to perform. No one asking for anything. Just time to think. During that stretch, the weight of my earlier years as a limo driver began to settle in. The conversations. The confessions. The things people say late at night when they think no one is really listening.
The Silent Driver was born out of that reckoning. It’s an interconnected autofiction narrative shaped by real rides on Houston roads. The story unfolds one passenger at a time, told through the eyes of a driver who saw everything and said very little. The book stays close to the rides themselves, allowing each moment to speak without explanation or spectacle.
That same period eventually led me back to music, not as a separate pursuit, but as another way of exploring the same questions the book raises. Faith. Loss. Love. Becoming. Different forms, the same search for meaning.
Everything connects back to a personal motto I try to live by: do something you’ve never done so you can be someone you’ve never been. Writing this book was one of those steps. Six years later, the path makes sense. Not because it was planned, but because it led me to something worth leaving behind.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, and I’ve learned that struggle doesn’t always show up as one big moment. Sometimes it’s long stretches of uncertainty, quiet setbacks, and having to keep moving without clear confirmation that you’re headed in the right direction.
One of the biggest challenges was watching something I had worked hard to build come to a complete stop during COVID. Losing momentum forced me to let go of plans I thought were solid and confront the reality that stability can disappear quickly. Starting over required humility, patience, and a willingness to do work that didn’t come with recognition or reassurance.
Another ongoing challenge has been trusting the process when results aren’t immediate. Writing a book, especially one rooted in lived experience, means sitting with doubt, resisting the urge to rush, and staying faithful to the work even when no one is watching. There were times when progress felt invisible and the temptation to quit was real.
I’ve also had to learn restraint. Not every story needs to be told immediately. Not every opportunity is worth chasing. Growth has meant learning when to move and when to stay still, when to speak and when to listen.
Looking back, those challenges weren’t detours. They were part of the shaping. They forced clarity, discipline, and a deeper understanding of why I’m doing the work at all.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I don’t believe I ever said this out loud. I’m a writer and storyteller whose work is rooted in listening, observation, and restraint. I write across forms, but the throughline is always the same: telling stories with care and honesty, without forcing meaning where it hasn’t been earned. That felt good.
What I’m most known for right now is The Silent Driver, an interconnected autofiction novel based on true events. It’s built around the idea that people reveal who they are most clearly in moments of transition, especially when they believe no one is really listening.
Professionally, my background is unconventional. Before writing full time, I spent years as a limo driver and later a truck driver, sitting in the front seat while other people talked, argued, confessed, and unraveled in the back. That experience trained me to observe without interrupting, to respect silence, and to understand that not every truth needs commentary. Prior to driving, I spent 10 years as a Human Resources Representative. Those instincts shape how I write, allowing the moment to speak for itself.
What I’m most proud of is restraint. Knowing when not to explain. Knowing when to step back and let the reader do the work. That approach carries across everything I create, including my music, which explores many of the same themes as the book: faith, loss, love, and becoming, just in a different form.
What sets my work apart is that it’s not built to perform. It’s built to last. I’m not interested in trends or speed. I’m interested in leaving something meaningful behind, something that feels honest years from now, not just timely today.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Happiness, for me, comes from family. Not a fairytale version of it, and not the kind you see on television. We don’t live life like the Huxtables, and our dynamic isn’t perfect, but it’s real.
What brings me peace is knowing that I’m leaving something behind that my family can return to long after I’m gone. Books. Music. Words. Work that reflects who I was, how I thought, and what I believed mattered. Something they can point to and say, this is where he stood.
I’m happiest when I feel aligned with that responsibility. When I know the work isn’t just about the moment, but about legacy. Creating things that my children, and hopefully their children, can learn from, question, or simply feel seen by. That’s my why, and that’s where my joy lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.orlandus.shorter.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orlandus.shorter
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Orlandus.Shorter
- Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/orlandus-shorter/1843807783
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1970955007
