We were lucky to catch up with Ja’Bria Oliver recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ja’Bria, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

When people talk about their first love, it usually entails that person they had a crush on since elementary school that sat across from them in class. You know. . . that person who gave them butterflies every time they heard their name or saw their face. That typical story usually ends with the person taking a leap of faith and expressing their feelings for their crush. In most stories, it eventually leads to the person getting heart broken, or they never built enough courage to take that chance at all

However, my “first love” story is quite different from most people. My first love was the sweet melodies of music, the burst of energy of rhythm when dancing, the motions in creating a beautiful picture when drawing, and the emotional effect on a crowd when acting. My first love was indeed ART in every form.

I was born and raised in Baltimore City, Maryland. So of course growing up, I was always surrounded by creativity. I used to always look forward to seeing the marching bands perform and compete against each other. Every year I would go to all the dance battles, art shows, and performance based showcases at every festival my city had to offer.

I remember I would spend hours in front of the radio listening to the 92-Q station and dancing to every mix that would come on. Man, if only K-swift and other legendary DJs were still living, they would be huge now. Especially with today’s music sampling Baltimore, Philly, and New Jersey’s club music sound.

Furthermore, At age eight, my grandmother, on my father’s side of the family, saw my talent in dance and enrolled me into ballet lessons. I later learned the basics of ballet and learned the importance of flexibility. However, I also realized that ballet was too harsh on the appearance of the dancer and forced them in a box. For instance, the instructor will criticize me for being too curvy and that I was too “developed” at my age. As an African-American girl who’s considered curvy and her peers were skinny Caucasian girls, I did not feel welcomed nor comfortable. Although I enjoy dance, I realized that ballet is not a style of dance I would partake in. So I quit and continued dancing to Baltimore club music as a hobby.

In High-school I continued to blossom with creativity. I began getting involved with theater arts, performing in school plays, and of course joining the dance team. I began learning hip hop and some Caribbean styles of dancing. In 2016, I graduated from Overlea High-school with honors and scholarships, including a dance scholarship from my high school dance teacher to attend college at Morgan State University.

By my sophomore year of college, I joined the Essence dance team where they performed many different styles of dance, but their main focus was Afro-beats. I fell in love with that style of dance, its music, and dance even more. Surprisingly, I was not seeking dance or my other creative talents as a career and making a living from it. Actually, I did not know what I wanted to do. Hence,I started college without declaring a major.

Although my family pushed for me to study medicine, I decided to declare Pre-law History as my major and a minor in criminal justice as my choice of studies because of my other passion for equality and justice for the Black community. As time went by, I realized that justice and equality is something that I am passionate about, but there are other ways I could pursue that without being a lawyer and going to law school. Also, I realized that the life of a lawyer would not be the happiest place for me. Hence, I began seeking advice from my peers, close friends, and family on what route I should take. Of course my family lectured me that I should choose a field where I could make a lot of money and always find a job, such as the medical field. However, I knew I did not want to be stuck with a career that I am not happy in.

Although I was still searching for my dream career, I was sure that I love dance and continued to do just that (lol). As I grew as a dancer, I began sharing my talent on social media. It was just something fun to do at the time. I went from dancing in my room and performing at pep rallies to being a part of music videos, performing at concerts and hosting classes all through the power of social media. Little did I know dancing and modeling will lead to me finding my career in photography, film, and creative directing.

One day, while on set for a music video, my close friend Denzel, who’s also a very successful filmmaker and creative director, saw how I had a creative eye with taking photos and enhancing sets. I can remember those words like I was told them yesterday. He said: “ you know what, why don’t you do something like this. .? You have a great creative eye for it and love taking photos… I hate getting my picture taken but work with cameras, but you enjoy the entire package”.
At that very moment, I realized what route I wanted to take within my studies. Choosing a career within multimedia will give me the platform to follow all of my passions of equality, justice, and, most importantly, art. By then, I was going into my senior year double majoring in Applied Liberal Studies and Multi-Platform Productions with a minor in History. I enjoyed my classwork and projects more because it had everything I was interested in. I was able to make friends that share the same passion as me. We are actually still close and work on projects together still to this day.

I continued to dance and used my talents to network my way up in the media industry. I was able to travel the world and meet so many amazing people. For instance, I was given the opportunity to feature in Carol Maraj’s, famous American artist Nicki Minaj’s mom, music video. Just with that one opportunity I was able to meet more people who share the same interest as me and mentors for my new career path. I was able to network with individuals abroad in Africa. With the help of my trending creative content on social media, I was able to develop a large social media platform. Which then became one of my main marketing tools for my business.

In fact, from just one music video shoot I featured in as a dancer and model, I was able to find one of my first internships as a creative and began interning for Dotun Ayodeji, owner of Light Source studio company and photographer from Nigeria, at his photography studio. I was able to gain so much insight and hands-on learning about videography and photography. From there I started to fall in love with the art of photography and filmmaking even more.
In December 2022, I graduated from Morgan State University and began to focus more on my business and taking it to the next level. With the help of my trending creative content on social media, I was able to develop a large social media platform. Which then became one of my main marketing tools for my business. I then turned my social media platforms, which were used for dancing and modeling, to a platform for the career I am pursuing in photography and videography. Instantly, I was able to turn colleagues to clients and individuals who I worked for into business partners. I knew pursuing a career in film and photography was a worthwhile endeavor because I knew that I did not just want a well paying job. Instead, I wanted a career that I love doing and does not feel like “work”. The only way to ensure that is by pursuing a career in something you’re passionate about. I love being creative. Also, creative production and multimedia is timeless. Everything that we encounter and consume is powered by multimedia. Whether you are on your phone scrolling through social media, shopping, watching your favorite tv show, checking the news and weather forecast,, or just simply listening to your favorite song. It all falls under that same category.

Honestly, that decision was one of the smartest moves I’ve made thus far. It gave me a decent number of clientele. I am able to have another source of income and at the rate my business is going I will not only be a first generation dual graduate but also the first self made entrepreneur in my family. In due time I will be achieving my life long dream of opening a one-stop-art-shop, where all artists can bring their creative imagination to life.

Ja’Bria, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Ja’Bria Oliver. I am a 24-year-old all around creative based in Maryland. You may be wondering what is an “all around creative”? It’s basically a creative jack of all trades. I am literally an artist in every form: Photographer, Filmmaker, Dancer, Model,, and creative director. I am also very good and painting drawing, which I use those skills and do my client(s) make-up upon request.

What set me apart from others is that for most of my client’s I have been in their position before. Which helps me relate to them before and the outcome of our projects be super dope!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Although I am a photographer, I did not originally build my social media audience from that craft. I started out as a dancer and model. I was able to build a consistent fan base and audience that I then turned into client’s.

Especially for my clients and colleagues that are dancers and models, I know exactly how to execute their projects because I am one as well. For those musical artists and event coordinators I worked with as a dancer and model, I am now in business with them providing media coverage for their events and creative projects.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I learned to always have a tunnel vision and not to compare someone else’s work with yours because you want to stay focused and your unique self. While on my journey as a creative and businesswoman, I noticed some creatives would get sucked into that whole competitive life style and working under other creatives. The outcome sometimes were bad. Some creatives mimic another creative style of editing, or got stuck or lost their momentum within a certain industry because they didn’t have the creative ability to branch out and think outside the box.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.envisionthatstudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_parispink_/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ja-bria-oliver-2201b6129/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@EnvisionThatStudio?si=AY-fx1kAEC90r0I6
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@_parispink_?lang=en