This episode takes a look at what structured business planning looks like at the beginning of a person's career in a creative industry.
This is the story of Jacques and Maretta Johnson; mother and son.
Jacques, in June 2023, is a 26-year-old musician. He's had a mild degree of success, has opened for internationally known acts and has his own reality TV program on a local station. His mother has a locally produced television series, too. But what makes their story a part of the Atlanta Business League's TELLING OUR STORY series is their application of best business practices to the music industry. Jacques became a solo performer at age 15.
His mom used her marketing degree, experience as a paralegal and the knowledge she gained successfully bringing an invented product to market to structure her eldest son's career. This means some of the financial mistakes young artists make have been avoided.
But there are other aspects of making solid business decisions that can't be easily quantified. They represent the human side of any business formula and showing how it has impacted the lives and growth of this mother and son team is what makes their stories so interesting.