84841946

I wrote it fast and didnt care to spell check...i was bored.. and people kept asking me what i do and how did i start so here it is and I hope in me sharing my story it will truely motivated people particular the youth to remain positive and believe in your dreams and goals..My name is James A. Smith one word to describe me is blessed. I have had the extensive oppurtunity to turn my life around at the tender age of 16 from heading down a negative path in life. I pay respect to GOD,My Mother,MY family and An Organzation named Truce. Truce was an organization decidated to empowering the youth in every field of your possible interest. My particular calling was starting my own business and they help me with the foundation of it. When i started out i was really into fashion so i had gotten a team together and we organize our business plan, had investment statements written up and everything looking at storefronts and everything,I was going hard until One day i met this woman who would design our clothes and she introduce me to a friend of hers who own a magazine company and then he saw that i had great ambition at such a young age and wanted me to intern for the company it was named street mos magazine which co inside with the source magazine. I began to work for the company over 4 months with the skills i learned from Truce i was able to conduct interviews,design layouts,selling advertising space,hosting the television,editing and directing my own films and the tv shows and also how to put on music showcases.During the time i work there i develop many relationships with many industry executives and artist,mind you all this is while i was in highschool..I decided to build a close relationship with Anthony Kamya Evans he was the Promotions President for and independant Record label at the time and he saw my work ethic and offered me a paid internship with the company. When i started working with the company i started off with alot of mental mentorship and understanding the company values and understanding that is was a family that was gonna embrace me after they saw to it that i was loyal..I started off working street team,then tour promotion,then managing the artist showcase we would put on every two months. By that time i was so in depth with the industry i was starting to lose focus of school and was in jeopardy of not graduating high school, It wasnt until Truce and Kamya realize that my priorties were all wrong they stress to me get and education finsih school and so i had to change my focus around my last year in school and buckle down the last two months of my senior year i missed two national tours but it was worth it for my high school diploma..After i graduated high school i began to think yeahh i am done i am ready for the industry little did i know My Family,Truce and Kamya had a different plan for me,,,, James your going to college and i was like ahhhhh mann but then i was cool with it and thats what i did I headed off to college upstate NY to study International business..While i was in school i met cool new friends,,had my own crib(house) lol yah rite own dorm room and i was rocking,, got good grades but not to the best of my abilities because i still wanted to be in the music business and i couldnt balance them out as well as i thought i was gonna be able to,,, i would travel down to the city literally like almost every other weekend and miss class twice or three times a month and that would have add up to about me getting d's in like two classes,,why james why james,,and all i have to say is cuz i loved the music industry mannn..I built so many connections on my travel back and forth I was working on Artist showcase,touring with Chris Brown,Omarion and Bow wow to name a few. My freshman year i was 18 managing artists and an R&B group touring the nation, recording albums,reviewing budgets,setting up concerts, hiring publicists, online media guys, stylists,hair stylists i was doing it all my focus was almost damn near gone off of school...I finish my first year of school with decent grades but i was in jeopardy of not being able to go back to school, i had to promise i will do better next semester little did i know i would be even more invovled..By the time spring break came I built up such a name and resume for my self at the age of 19 I was ask to get a paid internship at Island Def Jam in the publicity dept...At first i didnt want to work at def jam cuz i thought def jam was all about rapp and thugs and i thought i wouldnt get a diverse experience of working in the industry and i didnt understand where it had grown from (no one knows this but i really wanted to work for Jive Records lolol) But i did my research on the company(Island Def Jam) and decided to give it a shot.. I got in there and started to get on my grind hard,, I work for Courtni Asbury,Directly Under Jana Flieshman,Laura Swanson,Lauren Schneider and Gabe Tesorio(spelled his last name wrong lolol)..These are the people who keep the artist on tv,magazines,tv shows and the internet everyday, some of the artist that i work with over the summer were Neyo,Jay-z,Rihanna,Bobby V,Bon Jovi,Mariah,Luda,Fall out boy Killers and more...Overall i work my butt off that summer and made enough money and contacts to start my own agency..Smith Brand Agency in which we create a venue for the artist and the Label A&R executives a place to meet each other and see if they both meet their needs, we also provide the service of concert promotion,independent and main stream publicity for artist along with my partner Andrew Silberstein..During the end of the summer of working at Def Jam I built 2 key important relationships one with Aaron Reid and Jeff Juin two aspiring executives in thier own right **Inside Joke**(I didnt like both of their asses when i met them lmmaooo). Aaron Following in the footsteps of his father LA REID(Chairman of Island Def Jam) and Jeff following in the footsteps of his mentor Ty Ty Smith(Vice President A&R)..We all became friends and business partners...My first showcase Aaron Came down and host the event with other celebrity guest and Jeff came down as a a&r coordinator for the agency..We had done several showcases from that point...I also went on to go back to college and run my business. I then got a phone call from Aaron about working on a TV show together and really forming a company together..We meet up in the city and got together and invited close partners to get some ideas together for our next move.. I was doing another showcase and Aaron suggested to me we should have Karina a new artist signed Def Jam perform in it and i said cool her brother (Rafeal"Dex" Pasian) was her manager and he contacted me and said yeh it was cool. After that showcase we all became cool friends and partners and decided that we should start working together as young executives doing our thing in the industry and that could be our tv show main focus..We then pitch our idea and concept to LA Reid(Chairman of Island Def Jam) and Shakir Stewart (A&R executive Island Def Jam) and they loved it then our producers love the idea..We then later on shot our pilot and our tv show was in the works of being picked up by BET....Due to certain misderstandings and different visions we have all gone on our separate ventures with mutual respect for each other terms of us accomplishing our goals.I continue to strive for success and shall reap the benefits when GOD is ready for me to continue recieving them. My mother is my greatest inspiration if it wasnt for her i wouldnt be hear today i love her to death and she has been there for me through my downfalls to my success point and she i owe all my success to... I hope in me sharing my story it will truely motivated people particular the youth to remain positive and believe in your dreams and goals..Constant Prayer with the Him Above and I am blessed and happy to share my story with you all.. Their are more struggles in my life that i havent not mention but someday i will share with the world i am sure of that....I hope i touch someone and if i did please tell that i did......Love James A. Smith