Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamal (J-South) Bullock.
Hi Jamal (J-South), thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have always had the heart of an entrepreneur. I knew as a kid I did not want to spend my whole life at a 9-5 clocking in and out. I understood it may be a part of my journey but definitely not my destination. Being a music lover and a rap artist I went to school for audio engineering with the intention of learning how to mix and master my own music considering I would be doing music for the rest off life. At least, that’s what I thought at the time. Lol. I graduated as class president and one of the top students. I opened up my own studio and It was doing fairly well, but there was a slow change taking place that would change everything for me. Dealing with artists all the time, they would ask me, do you know anybody who can take some photos for me or shoot me a music video? I have always had a thing for creativity, from using cameras to do amateur pics and videos to minor graphic design, etc… I just liked to create. Also, my dad was one of the few back in the day who had a decent camera. Decent at that time were the cameras with real film and no screen on the back of it. You had no idea of what your picture looked like until it came back developed. But I was always amazed how he got the pictures to turn out so good. With all that being said, I started doing photo and video work for artists.
As I did that, more and more people were coming my way for work pertaining to video and photos. While I continued getting clients dealing with my music engineering career, slowly but surely, my photo and video work were overtaking my music work. At the same time, I actually started to love doing photos and videos more than the music. Once that happened, I was full speed ahead. Five years later I have been doing photography and videography work full time, from weddings to music videos, to commercials, out-of-state conferences, and branding work for some pretty big companies and names. One of my biggest flexes is knowing my first couple of shoots started at $25 an hour. It almost makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Lol. Know I’m easily making over 6 figures a year and I am now working on building my team so I can not only scale in my business but impart my knowledge and experience into those around me who desire to pursue their dreams as well.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has definitely not been smooth the whole way, however, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I am a big believer in simply enjoying the journey. Because the journey is the main thing. right? We can be so focused on reaching a particular goal or estimation that we miss the fun, the experience, the excitement of the actual journey itself. Listen, I have had struggles with raising my prices, with booking clients, and with trying to keep up with the people I looked up to in the industry, but it was all part of the journey and it is part of why I am where I am today. I remember every time I would raise my prices, I would lose a handful of clients. And I also remember thinking, “well maybe I should lower them again” But because I had good mentors and I knew my worth, I did not lower my prices or expectations.
And though I lost some customers who may not have understood my value at the time, I also gained a lot of customers at my nee price points who 100 % understood my value and were more than happy to invest in me so I could help them advance their vision. I have also had what we call “growing pains”. Things like having more clients and projects then having the time to serve them all in a timely manner. Being hired for shoots that needed a 4 camera set up but I only had two cameras at the time, so I had to go rent four so I could be properly prepared for the gig. And I kept renting until I could buy what I was renting. Now to date, I own over eight cameras and more audio equipment and lighting equipment then I care to mention in this article. Lol. But through every struggle and perceived failure, there is always a lesson. And all that truly matters is leaning the lesson. I never tripped or basked in my errors, I simply took notes, learned, grew, and moved forward. It’s a process.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
JS Creative Group is my amazing videography and photography company. We specialize in helping to turn our client’s visions into realities. We film and photograph weddings and conferences, we do brand shoots for some incredible companies, and we also have clients all the way from reality, to music artists, to athletes and creatives in general. Our clients are always amazed how they can come to us with an idea and we not only meet the expectations of the client, but we exceed by simply listing, learning, and enhancing their vision wherever we can. We are all about making sure our clients are comfortable, letting them know we love to communicate with them for a clear vision, and assuring them that we are only interested in providing them with the best results. One thing that sets us apart from others is very simple, it’s all about the client. Often times companies can get caught up in chasing the dollar and you clients are no longer people, they are just another dollar sign. We at JS Creative Group are invested into our clients because they are people with dreams, visions, goals, aspirations and we are here to help them be the greatest version of themselves and tell that story via photography and videography services. We don’t take pictures and make movies, we tell stories and help our clients communicate their message to their target audience.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
There are a few small but very important gems I want to give you, the reader.
1.) Comparison is a disease. Lol. Listen, its ok to be inspired by the professionals in your chosen industry, but it is very unhealthy to compare your growth and your journey to theirs. Be content and confident with who you are and also with who you are called to serve. We often look at our “competitors” and see they maybe be serving a huge target audience, but your goal isn’t to necessarily serve a huge target audience, you should be simply aiming to serve your target audience and your target audience only.
2.) Learn to strategically work towards working smarter and not harder. You are definitely going to have a few all-nighters, some long days, and you will not be able to avoid certain elements of the grind. However, do not sign up to be a member of the infamous “team no sleep”. I was once a part of this club and it seems. Cool at first, until it isn’t. Lol. Learn to price yourself properly, create systems, and get a team so you can make lots of money without running yourself into the ground like I once did. Example, would you rather work 20 gigs in a month at $200 a gig to make $10,000 for the month? Or, you rather work 2 gigs in a month for $5,000 each and make your $10,000 goal with 2 gigs versus 20. It’s all about strategy and positioning. Keep that in mind.
3.) Last tip for now (Because I could do this all day, lol ) No matter the difficulty, no matter the struggles, no matter the low sale months when the money is funny, no matter the mistakes you make, no matter the client you lost to a business because they were charging a lower price, no matter what….Just keep going! There were videographers and photographers who started when I did, some who started before I did, and some who started after I did and a lot of them are out of the business simply because they gave up. My motto is very simple, the only way you truly fail is if you quit. As I said earlier, it’s not about your mistakes, it’s about what you learn from them so you can grow and go to the next level. I am at a great place with my business, but I didn’t get here overnight. And even being where I am, I aspire to go higher, and me and my team will go higher, but we understand there will be obstacles. But we also understand quitting just is not an option. So instead of waiting energy on what to do if we give up, we only use energy in figuring out solutions for moving forward better than ever.
Contact Info:
- Website: jscreativegroup.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jscreativegroup/
