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

James, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

The kindest thing someone done for me was taking a CHANCE on me. When I started my non profit RGE Cares all I had was the slightest experience I gained volunteering under my mentors Robin Petgrave and Debra Larry. I had very little knowledge of running my OWN non profit but through my experience volunteering under those mentors I learned the basics of doing so. In 2020 I one day decided that I would love to start my own non profit and give back to my community in the City of Compton like Robin did with Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, which was a non profit that provided kids a safe haven after school program and flight school (yes, he was teaching kids how to fly). That program ended up stopping and I wanted to continue his mission and vision which is why I started RGE Cares. Our first event was in 2020 and was a community giveaway in Compton, Dani Concepcion who was the GEO Marketing Director in Los Angeles for Footlocker at the time took a chance on us and partnered up to give 100 kids a special day to remember. Because Dani did that for us we were able to lock in other sponsors such as Dew Tour, Buffalo Wild Wings and Chuck E. Cheese. That then led me to say well hey we were able to do this event on our first go around what else are we capable of? Since then we’ve hosted an annual Christmas giveaway and a annual Summer Camp with sponsors such as FootlockerLA, PUMA, Mattel, Target, Comp-U-Dopt, and JBL/Harman. All of this was possible because of Dani and her willingness to partner with us on our first event, for Robin Petgrave allowing us to use the space, and the INCREDIBLE team we’ve built at RGE Cares.

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

My name is James Knox Founder & CEO of Round Group Entertainment. Born in Lynwood, California at St. Francis Hospital in 1995, Father James Knox III and Mother Cassandra Brown gave birth to son James Knox. I attended Longfellow Elementary School in Compton, CA from grades 1st – 5th and later on Attended Walton Middle School for his 6th-7th Grade Year. My mom then decided to move the family to Long Beach, CA in 2008 to escape the violence and rough upbringing.

In Long Beach is where I attended Leona Jackson Middle School for my 8th-grade year and Paramount High School my 9th – 11th-grade year and later Graduated from Buena Vista High School in Lakewood, CA. I grew up in a single-parent household as my father was later incarcerated when I was 11 years old. It was a struggle growing up, but my mom made sure she took great care of us and pushed and supported everything I did. I grew up in Compton, CA in what the media would call one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in LA County, but thanks to my mom & Robin I was able to escape the harsh reality of it and not fall victim to the system.

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

So I actually grew up in the same neighborhood as my cofounder and business partner, our community “The Grandees” growing up was always a close knit family oriented community. Growing up this guy man he had a million ideas and always had an entrepreneur mindset whether it was from him selling his merch, dabbing into the music business selling beats, or getting involved in the production world. He’s always had a good eye for this business stuff and growing up I was always shadowing him in this world. Maurice Jones single handedly pushed me to want to jump into the business world and create my own lane. We’ve always stood on being our own bosses and creating something to present better opportunities to those in our community and creating generational wealth for our families. Couldn’t have asked for a better partner in this business.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

SIMPLE, treat everyone accordingly and with the same respect. No matter the title, you always want to treat everyone with the upmost respect. I was always taught to treat the janitor with the same respect as the CEO and that’s what drives my team to consistently work hard and crush deadlines on any project set in front of them no matter the time we have to get it done. They see me and I’m in the trenches crushing hours all through the day just like them, YOU HAVE TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE at all times. Your team is always watching.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rgecares.org
• Instagram: @rge.jay
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-knox-51450499/