We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful James Pinkney III. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with James below.

James , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Crazy story, I’m in the military on deployment (Lithuania) and I was approached by a man that I’ve never met or seen before as I was getting ready to call it a night. I’m brushing my teeth listening to Drake’s New Album at the time (Certified Lover Boy) and he comes out of nowhere blasting his music (Kirk Franklin’s Do You Have a Revolution). Which instantly irritated me as I was being considerate with the volume of my music as opposed to his. We ended up making small talk and by the end of the conversation, he detailed things about myself that I’d never told anyone before, including my upbringing, trials as a child, adolescents, and even into young adulthood. I can’t lie but it had me shaken for a second as it was very surreal, but throughout the interaction, I felt as if I was dealing with an angel in human form. He gave me a lot to think about and with me being a writer I ended up writing down the details of this conversation and periodically looking back on it to read.

Maybe a week later I was given an assignment where me and this “stranger” happened to be running the show and I asked him if he remembered our last interaction and he did not! (Which was more confirmation for me) and throughout our next conversation, we discussed real-life topics and again, he ends up telling me things about myself and my story that I’ve never expressed to anyone. Long story short, he gives me a rundown of my brand (Legacy Over Money) including logo shapes, the meaning behind the brand, and the impact that it would have on those that bought into my vision. Again, this is something I hadn’t expressed this idea to anyone at the time as I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur but it was just a concept that I was still working through. Since that conversation, I’ve been ALL IN and motivated to accomplish what I set out to do as I know what I’m doing is for a bigger purpose.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is James Pinkney III aka D.O.A. (Definition Of Artistry) and I’m the Founder of Legacy Over Money LLC which is more than just a brand, it’s really a lifestyle, and the goal of it being to inspire anyone with the ear to listen to be the best version of themselves while giving the blueprint to success. The goal of business is to make money so I’m not saying MONEY IS NOT IMPORTANT, but I believe the true measure of success is the amount of people you’re able to touch and bless with your work, as that’s how you’ll be judged by The Most High.

I’ve been making music and had a fascination with clothing since I was a child. I’ve always been told I had an old soul by my elders as I’ve been told I’m wise beyond my years from as early as 5 years old. In my music, you’ll hear about my personal entrepreneurial triumphs as well as my failures, parts of my vision, the blueprint to success in any walk of life you may be taking, and life lessons that’ll take you toward the blessings that are meant for you to obtain as our story was written before we were born but nobody said it would be easy or there weren’t things you’d have to do on your end in order to reach your full potential.

I believe what sets me apart as an artist are the things I listed above but to put it into one word it would be my authenticity which I believe to be lacking tremendously in today’s times, at least with the music that’s pushed in my genre of Hip-Hop. Eventually, I want to provide a platform through my label to let other artists shine after I put myself in a position in order to do so as I believe The Culture I reference is one where we want to see the people to our left and right shine even harder than we do. I eventually want to get into other art forms as well as acting, movie directing, etc but its all a process.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Most definitely, as cliche as it sounds the first book that truly put me on my entrepreneurial path is “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. If you know you know! In that book, you’ll truly feel a mental shift and see the difference in how our system conditions us to work for someone else and be satisfied with what we’re given as opposed to putting yourself in a position to be the one signing the checks. Also, another very interesting book on the marketing side of things would be “Contagious” by Jonah Berger. I won’t give away too many points in that book but you should definitely add it to your arsenal of knowledge and apply the information in that book as you see fit!

I also take the time to listen to Interviews, Videos, and Podcasts of people in my career field or endeavors that interest me such as Master P, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Tupac, Nipsey Hussle, J Cole, Nas, etc. Also, shoutout to “Earn Your Leasure” podcast and all individuals involved as they’ve made me a lot of money in the financial sector. Give them a listen if you haven’t already and tell them I sent you there!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Two words, SWEAT EQUITY! Initially, all of the money that went into my business came from my hard work but now that I’ve put myself in a position that other people can get behind I’m looking to scale up financially via multiple grants and eventually business loans, depending on how that huge influx of money helps the elevation of my business will determine my next move as far as funding. To start off though I believe its important to put your own skin in the game first. Money talks and if you don’t believe in your vision enough to put your own money behind it why should anyone else? Just some food for thought.

Contact Info:

• Website: LegacyOverMoney.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/CEOofLOM
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/JamesPinkneyIII
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/CEOofLOM
• Other: www.Snapchat.com/CEOofLOM For Booking or other inquiries: [email protected] For Clothing or other inquires: [email protected]

Image Credits
Photos taken by D.O.A.