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

Alright, Joe thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Life is all about risk vs reward. My high school wrestling coach use to tell me that my biggest issue as a wrestler was that I loved high-risk moves with high rewards. What this would look like as a wrestler is me pursuing a move that if done correctly would win the match right away but if done incorrectly I’ll lose the match right away vs. low risk moves that may not have a high reward of instant gratification but also don’t have the high risk of losing.

My entire career as a creative has been viewed as high risk. Every move I’ve made, every artist I’ve put time into, every transition and transaction I’ve made in my career has been a risk. When I quit my jobs at 22 to pursue my career full-time I was literally risking my life, home, car, sustainability, finances, time etc. When I moved away from Michigan to Atlanta I risked the safety net that was created back home. When I moved to Brazil for two years in hopes to build foundation for my International career I risked all the work and relationships I created in America. When I decided to development and invest into other creators or artist I was risking time, money, and energy. But, I was rewarded for every risk (so long as I never gave up). I risked everything for my career when I quit my jobs, the reward has been that I work for myself as an entrepreneur and full time creative. I risked not having a safety net when I moved away from home but the reward was that I became able to explore the world and see how limitless life is beyond safety and comfortability. I risked the foundation of my career, family and relationships when I moved to Brazil, but I was rewarded with higher levels of work, better relationships and the work I did in Brazil added to my value within the American music industry.

There were many times where me being high-risk earned me the higher reward but there were also more times where taking the high-risk lost me everything. I’ve learned that proper risk-assessment is needed for every situation as sometimes there is a low-risk with high rewards and there are high-risk with low rewards. Whenever I was met with a high-risk and potential high reward I always took it! The reason why I encourage everyone to take the high-risk isn’t to reap the benefits of a high reward, but it’s to take a road less traveled.

The successes I’ve had in my career thus far only amounts to 1% of my efforts, the other 99% of my efforts were/are taking risk, failings and learnings. Eventually that ‘high risk’ isn’t so high-risk once you’ve taken the risk 20+ times and if you learn from the failings of your risk, you’ll soon have the pathway to that high reward.

Joe , 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?

Music and creating has always been inside me since I was a kid but it wasn’t until the age of 19 that I decided to pursue a career in music. Since then I’ve been able to work with talents such as Maroon 5, Bando Pop, Hit-Boy, Stacy Barthe, Gabily (Brazil), Dave Mac (Canada), The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and many others! Most of my accomplishments as a creator have come of the heels of me being a music producer or engineer but as of recent I’ve been transitioning my full-time efforts into focusing on growing my community and audience as I begin recording and releasing my own music as an artist.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being a creative is having the ability to create. Creating for the sole purpose of creating is and always will be the most rewarding aspect of creating The process of creation takes its own form and is similar to that of a snowflake.. they all seem the same but each one is uniquely different, it’s this ever changing process of creation and limitless possibilities that makes being a creator rewarding.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think the struggle non-creatives have when it comes to my journey is that my journey is MY own journey. It’s hard to explain to non-creatives why after a Brazilian group asked to work with me while in the states, and after visiting Brazil to perform the song I decide to live there for two years…. It’s hard to explain to a non-creative that I had never been to Atlanta but decided to move there knowing it would be a great start for my career… it’s hard to explain to a non-creative why there are moments where I rather of been a starving artist than not be an artist at all….. at the end of the day I believe it’s hard for non-creatives to comprehend the love a creative has for their craft and the crazy things a creator will do in the name of their passion.

Contact Info:

• Website: JoeLouisEtertainment.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelouis.ent/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@joelouis.ent

Image Credits
Reynaldo Montalvo