Today we’d like to introduce you to Jimira Perry.
Hi Jimira, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My journey began in my last year of college at Towson University in Maryland. I had lived in Baltimore all my life and knew that I wanted to experience something different, to chase my dreams and just go for it! I had dreams of becoming an A&R, a radio personality, an actress, and so much more.
Three weeks after graduating, I packed up my car and my dog and drove 12 hours to Atlanta to start my new life. During this time, I was documenting my college life on Youtube and of course, I had to document my big move to Atlanta. My Youtube channel started growing so fast because of my moving vlogs and I gained an audience that tuned in weekly to learn about my move and what I was going to do next. With this, I started getting dm’s, emails, and comments from hundreds of people sharing how they wanted to move to Atlanta as well, how they’d love my help to get started, and some even asked if I could go tour apartments for them. At first, I started touring apartments for my youtube channel, but after a while I saw a business opportunity in all of this. Three long years after moving to Atlanta, I started Real Move, my baby, my business.
Real Move is an apartment locating and touring service; I started Real Move strictly just to help people. I had it rough when moving to Atlanta. I literally knew nothing about Atlanta at all, I signed my apartment lease without even seeing it first, I didn’t know where I was living or how to even navigate the city, I just knew I needed to be here. In 2018 when I moved to Atlanta, there wasn’t half as much information on the internet about the city, places to go, restaurants, best places to live, etc., as it is now, so it truly wasn’t as easy as it may be now. So Real Move was birthed and has evolved from there. It took me a very long time to find myself in Atlanta, I moved here still very much a child, and Atlanta raised me into the content creator and entrepreneur that I am today.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was FAR FROM a smooth road. I was supposed to have a job lined up when moving to Atlanta, but that fell through and I was stuck without a job for the first two months of living here, I didn’t know how I was going to pay my rent. I couldn’t for life of me get a job and I was going around everywhere looking for one. I couldn’t understand how I had a bachelor’s degree and couldn’t secure a job! I worked at insurance company that turned out to be a scam and never paid me for two weeks. Then I finally got a job at juicy crab and felt like I could breathe a little. The year went by and a new year began.
After my second year of living in Atlanta, I established some type of normalcy, but good things just didn’t seem to last forever. I started getting harassed by the security guard at my apartment complex and someone tried to kick my door in while I was home, so I had to move. That was another world-wind in itself, but after finding my new place and struggling YET AGAIN to find a new job, COVID hit. During this downtime, like everyone else, I had to find something fun to do, and that led me to storytelling.
I started telling my story times on my youtube channel of all the craziness that I’ve experienced living in Atlanta, and that took my life to the next level. I started getting brand partnerships, my viewers and subscribers skyrocketed and I was on a different level of my content creator career. This was going beyond well for a while, but of course when one good thing happens, something has to go the opposite way.
During this time I was on a short-term lease on my new apartment, and once covid was “over” in Atlanta and things started opening back up, it was time for me to pack it up again and try to find another place to live. I ran through jobs because I truly just didn’t enjoy it, it wasn’t my purpose, it made me miserable, and so I told myself that this was it. I quit my last job and never looked back at a “traditional” job ever again, and truly started taking my content creator career seriously.
During this time of me moving, I found myself homeless for about five months, which was the first half of my 3rd year in Atlanta. I was sleeping at a friend’s house for that time, she had offered her daughter’s bedroom for me and my dog to live in for the time being until I got my new apartment. I had my entire apartment inside of 1 bedroom, it was insane!
I started working in the nightlife of Atlanta and unfortunately became consumed with it. I made some terrible choices, found escapes in alcohol like most nightlife workers do, and lost myself chasing something that wasn’t meant for me. That was maybe two years of digging myself into a hole of trouble.
It took so long to finally feel at home in Atlanta and once I did I began my healing journey and found a part of Atlanta that I don’t think gets enough light shined on it, Church. I went through too many ups and downs if you ask me lol I thought I got the point after the first 5 times of bad things happening, but I guess God needed me to know for sure. We are still in the beginning stages of healing, but during this time I’ve been exploring the side of Atlanta that doesn’t involve club life, the beautiful side that shows Atlanta’s history, its nature, its art, and its been great! I rebranded my business and it has flourished since then and I am helping so many people relocate to Atlanta. My content creation has taken on a new course of adventure and healing and I’m excited to be introducing people to all that Atlanta has to offer. The things that I was looking forward to doing when first moving here so young and eager were put on the back burner because I got distracted, but I am accomplishing them now and will do so the rest of my time here in Atlanta.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a lifestyle and motivational content creator and entrepreneur. Depending on where someone knows me from, I am either the girl from youtube or the apartment locator from Tik Tok.
On Youtube, I share my life experiences, things to do in Atlanta, and motivational/healing videos. My goal is to make the girls feel comfortable in their skin and enjoy the best things in life. I am most proud of my vulnerability. I am so open with my audience about the struggles I’ve faced in life, the hardships and all that comes with me. My entrepreneur journey started on Youtube and ventured into its own entity. In my business, Real Move, I specialize in helping individuals find affordable housing in the Atlanta area but also provide a personalized experience for my high-profile clients looking to lease luxury apartments in the Atlanta area.
I’m not sure what truly sets me apart, but I will say that there aren’t many people who will be unapologetically themselves even when it doesn’t feel accepted or isn’t the popular thing to do. I’m proud that I’ve got to grow up in front of the camera and show people that you don’t have to be perfect, you can make mistakes, and at any moment you can adjust who you are unapologetically and live your life however you like. We aren’t meant to stay the same forever. If you aren’t changing, you aren’t growing, and I’d rather grow and lose people than stay the same and settle. As for my business, I love that I get to give people hope. One of my many goals for Real Move when first starting was to be the business to help eliminate the notion that you have to be “rich” in order to live in Atlanta. When I moved here, Atlanta was known as the black Mecca, the place you come to in order to chase your dreams. So whether you can afford a $2,500 high rise in Buckhead or a $800 1 bedroom off of Old National, you can still come here with a dollar and a dream and make something of yourself, just like I did.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success by how free I am and the things I get to experience. Being able to wake up everyday and just go out and enjoy life is success to me. Waking up every day to a job that I love. I remember my last job “traditional” job that I worked was a restaurant, I was a server and it was one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had. I knew the day that the manager made me cry that I could not do it any longer. I prayed to not have to work for someone else ever again, I prayed for the time I would be able to wake up and work for myself, no one else. I remember seeing women out for a girls night out date and use to daydream about the time I would be able to go to a restaurant to sit with friends and eat, and just enjoy, not work. I remember having to work door dash the first two months of me living in Atlanta to try to scrape up any kind of money to pay my bills, and I remember me daydreaming about the day I would be able to sit at home and order food to my house, that seemed like such a luxury at the time. That was success than, but what it looks like now is pretty much the same, but in a bigger spectrum. Success is being able to join the little leisures of life and having the freedom to do so on random Tuesday afternoon. That is success for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.forthecity.co/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimip_/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimiraperry/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jimip_/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jimip/
