I just got home from Baton Rouge...and I've got a story to tell...(Click Here)

I just got home from Baton Rouge…and I’ve got a story to tell…

Disclaimer: Excuse the grammatical errors. This isn’t an editorial…it’s A HEART DUMP!

5 years ago i left my job (a good paying job at that) at Verizon to become a full time artist and entrepreneur as well as to be able to be a care taker for my mom. I had a plan, but just like Mike Tyson said…everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth… well life punched me in the mouth pretty fast. Within months of leaving my job, my mom would get significantly more sick, and the occurrences to the ER became insanely routine. My mom was suddenly no longer self sufficient, so my plan to be there for her quickly turned into a full time, around the clock need to be. God is good though, because had i not been able to leave my job when i did, I wouldn’t have been able to be there for her in her most vulnerable time of need. However this scrambled my approach to my plan, and how i moved. I had to always be ready to pivot, and i had to always be close to home. That did not stop me though. Albeit unconventional. In this time i was still able to establish brands and platforms like Richmond’s Own, RVA Rap Elite, Kill The Dreamer. and eventually…Mama Jo’s Collection while still releasing music as an independent artist and continuing the growth of Southpaw Battle Coalition. Balancing being a caretaker, an artist and an entrepreneur means that not everything will get your everything, and many times my businesses didn’t get all of the attention they needed, but i was determined to make the best efforts i could to move the needle, and with God’s grace and the support of a team and the love of my fam, and my wife especially I was able to do that…but boy I’ve had so many up and downs. Took so many losses and lessons in the process. So much stress of not knowing what was going to be, and how things would stay afloat let along progress. Not to mention I’m doing things like Rap Elite that were true to me and my vision, but are counterintuitive to how the industry and the culture in the city and as a whole was moving at the time, but i believed. I thought outside of the box. I fought. I pivoted. I kept going. Multiple Venues closing on us. Covid shutting us down at the peak of our run. The team and I persevered. Here we are…during Covid is when i started Mama Jo’s Collection. I never considered myself some fashion guru or even the most fashionable guy in general, but I knew i had taste and an eye and that my moms art was something special, and my desire to inspire her to make more art pushed me to be more creative myself. Here we are… also during this time i met a dope human that we’ll for now call M.B . He worked for a Brand consultancy and PR firm. He had been following my work closely and he wanted to interview me digitally as a case study of my work and my approach to branding and creative risk taking for the employees of the company to observe. We did the interview, and had some great conversations and something told me to tell him that if they ever had any freelance work that they wanted some outside input on to reach out to me, because i wouldn’t mind getting my feet wet, and he promised that if the day came, and it fit that he would. What i didn’t know is that for the next year and some change he would continue to watch everything I was doing. In that time my life would transform drastically. Last summer, I got married (June). I moved into a brand new home (July), and my mother would pass away suddenly in August…..an absolute whirlwind. One of which I’m still navigating my way through consciously and subconsciously, but that’s not where the surprises and transitions stopped. In September i would get an email from M.B. Saying that he and the company was in a transition of sorts and was wondering if i was still interested in working with them in brand strategy. We met and he would explain to me what they do and their origin and that he had such a profound respect for not only my work but how my mind works and that they were excited to figure out how to fit me into their puzzle so that they could learn from me and i could learn from them, and so the process began. The beautiful sentiment M.B. expressed to me was that he valued what i do independently so much that he would never want to steal me away from the culture and from my own platforms/brands. So I started out with a mock up project and presentation which went well and led to a paid apprenticeship in November. They had created an entire program/curriculum for onboarding me into this position! One that was structured around mutual learning. A give and take. They’d never hired someone like myself who didn’t go to school for this, or have formal experience in the field, it was purely based off of my own personal work. I started as a full time brand strategist in February, and i have input and work on clients as varied as Blue Cross Blue Shield to Google Food. I’m just now returning from my first in person pitch for a potential client in Baton Rouge, in which i was a big part of the pitch presentation. I was able to bring a big scope of my talents to the table. It’s a surreal thing, but it’s a real thing. I’m telling you all of this because it’s exactly what the Kill The Dreamer mantra is all about. It’s about taking action. Acting on your ideas and dreams. Taking risks. Believing in yourself even when it’s hard to see, and especially when no one else can see it. Trusting GOD and knowing your purpose, and by all means STAYING TRUE! staying true to your purpose, your plan, your ethics, your people, and your mission because what GOD has for you is FOR YOU, and you won’t always know what that is, or where it will come from, but when it arrives you will know! It will be in alignment! Speak goodness into your life. Speak goodness into the lives of all you come in contact with. Be intentional! Give yourself some grace, and don’t be afraid! New growth will be uncomfortable but it’ll be worth it. If you’ve read this far i really appreciate you. If you’ve supported any of my music, my events or products. THANK YOU! The words and the flowers you’ve given me over the years keep me going. Thank you. I Love You! I want great things for you. I have many more visions to see through. Radio B & Friends is next on that agenda this Monday. My 1 year wedding anniversary is Sunday. We will be celebrating life, music and the city on Monday, and i hope that you’re there to celebrate with me. God bless!