Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Blake Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Blake, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

“Thanks for having me! I am excited that there is a platform for artists and supporters to share stories and be able to read them.

This is a hard question which is not the same for everyone, but personally I think it takes hard work and dedication. But just working hard does not mean you are working smart. Understanding how you can combine what you like, if not love, and how to profit off of that without it becoming tedious is really the magic recipe. Just because you are good at something does not mean you need to make it a job, especially if you do not like it (trust me I learned the hard way). But also just because you love something also does not mean you need to make it your life’s work. It is about knowing yourself, and being honest with who you are. If you love to make clothes, for example, and are really good, but you know that when you either get a lot of orders or do not get any that you will not be able to handle it, then that means you should not be pursuing that. You have to put in the work and make sure that you can handle what gets thrown at you within your industry.

Now do not misread what I just said. There will be days where things are too much to handle or business is slow and you may need a break. This is okay; taking a break can be just as productive as, if not more than, working and grinding. What also makes people successful is understanding that there is no brand, or product without you. If you work all the time and do not play a little, that is how people end up in the hospital or worse. Not to be grim, but it is the truth. So you have to work hard, but also play hard (but when I say play hard I mean do things that are relaxing and fun to unwind from the possible stress, I do not mean spending more than your means or getting sloppy). Rich people do not stay rich by blowing their money. So I suggest multiple streams of income as well (I am an event planner/model trianner, an attorney, a dog walker and a nanny). Taking risks and knowing there is a time and place for everything is the whipped cream and having compassion is the cherry on top of this successful sundae.

Know you, know your worth and just know that the grind does not stop unless you need it to. (I am probably missing something, but this is really important).”

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

This is a loaded question. To start I can give a brief background about how I became an attorney and then I will get into the creative side. So it all started when I was in the seventh grade, I though I wanted to either be a chef or an attorney (I know two complete opposite ends of the career scale). But I was told that I could cook and bake as a hobby and that I should focus my attention on being an attorney. So here we are.

But I knew I needed to do something creative. Being an attorney has showed me that you have to find a way out of sticky situations and lay out some very interesting arguments. Sadly, this was not enough for me. I still cook and bake (especially when I am stressed out haha), but I wanted to do something bigger, be something bigger.

I started consulting for fashion shows and other events when I was in high school. It helps a lot when your mom used to be a model and is a model trainer, your father is a photographer and graphic artist and your sister is an interior designer and model. This was an easy choice for me to fall into. I realized after my first few events that I really liked planning events and working with models. This is how Blake J Events started! I decided to start a company that would allow my creative juices to flow, yet would mean something to me.

Blake J Events is a full service event planning and design company that specializes in fundraisers and fashion shows. We do anything from birthday parties to business showers and everything in between (except religious and corporate events). Every year we do an annual fundraiser entitled Call on a Friend, which benefits a local charity of our choice (we also take suggestions). But when we are not planning our fundraisers, we want to truly help our clients get the event of their dreams whether that is by planning your event start to finish or giving you a balloon garland that will make people’s jaws drop. We do free consultations and try to ask all the right questions to ensure there is a seamless experience for the client and their guests.

Our specialization, I feel, is what really sets us apart. Not many event planners focus on what we do; finding a wedding planner is easy or a fantasy event planner might be pretty common but an event planner that is also a model trainer and helps the community might be quite hard especially in Lil Rhody (Rhode Island). This is something we pride ourselves on and what we really want to drive home. The world we live in can be scary and being able to help that, even a little bit, is what we live for.

Honestly, what we want potential clients and followers to understand is that we are here to make event experiences as stress free as possible so we are here to work with them and meet them where they are.

I am probably missing something, but we love to answer questions if they want to follow us on instagram @blakejevents!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

So this article about my story has the main focus surrounding event planning and model training, but there is a story that is more related to my legal career that I love sharing because it shows that if you work for something it will happen (even though it is actually quite sad).

For those who may not know, in order to become an attorney (in most states) you have to go to law school and then take a 2 day test after months of studying. Then there are other tests and applications you need to fill out (not to mention how much money you have to spend).

I graduated law school May 21, 2021. The day before I graduated I had to bury a good friend of mine, which was very hard for me. I started studying for the bar May 24, 2021. In the middle of June my grandmother passed away and I had to pretend as though I was not affected so I could continue my studies if I wanted to have a chance at passing. 3 weeks after (in the beginning of July) my cousin passed away and having lost 3 people that close together almost took everything out of me.

A week later, while I was house sitting for my best friends, the apartment complex they lived in was condemned and I had to take in their cat while we looked for a new place for them (mind you they were on vacation and I have a dog). I finally sat for the test 2 weeks later and my computer crashed in the middle of the test. I felt as though the universe was doing everything in its power to make sure I failed. But I got through it.

Sadly another downside to going through this process is that you have to wait 2 months to find out if you passed (it took mine results three months because of Covid). In the interim, I had to take a professional ethics exam and a state specific law exam. The week before the ethics exam my aunt and good friend died within a day of each other and an hour before the state specific exam my sister called me to tell me that another cousin passed away.

So from May to September I lost 6 people that were friends or family during one of the most important moments in my life. I wanted to give up and change careers completely. I thought that I should get a desk job or work at Walgreens and not even care what happened in my work life.

But on my birthday (end of October) I found out I passed the bar. I had also passes the ethics test by that time as well. Unfortunately, I did not pass the state exam but I took it again and passed. This was honestly one of the worst times in general considering going through the bar exam is horrible in and of itself, but here I am a licensed attorney in the state of New York and about to be licensed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

This also put a wrench in m creative plans and hindered me from being an event planner. But what this all made me choose a career helping small business and my community because we do not know how long we are here to make an impact. Live each day to the fullest, trust yourself and never give up!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I will keep this brief, but it is kind of a funny story. I had started Blake J Events as a sole proprietor so I could make the decisions and structure the company in a way that was in line with my goals. Once I had accomplished this, I was going to expand my business. Then I realized very quickly that starting any company, let alone a event planning company, while also going through becoming an attorney was not smart unless you had someone to back you up.

So I figured I would take the time to find someone but I would it let it happen naturally.

I was supposed to hang out with a friend of mine who is a rapper and producer from New York. He came to Rhode Island to work on panning a short film and perform at a local venue. When I went to meet up with this friend, he was with two other people. One of them I had never met before (or so I thought). Come to find out we had at least 10 mutual friends or people in our lives including my sister and her boyfriend (if you could not tell Rhode Island is way too small haha). But we hang got to know each other very well and realized out interests and goals were very mush in line with each other. He also came to a fashion show fundraiser I did in 2019 and won an item from the raffle we had. I did not realize who he was until he and a different mutual friend brought it up.

In Rhode Island they say ” you gotta know a guy,” and this was one of those moments.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @blakejevents
• Facebook: Blake J Events
• Linkedin: Blake Johnson, Esq.

Image Credits
Cake table and Balloon Garland: Blake J Events Devil Shoot: Marc Johnson (my father) Vampire: Lady E Photography Unicorn: Harold G.