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

Jordan, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I grew up my whole life playing guitar / thinking I wanted to pursue that as my career & profession, but I attended a Summer program at a music school & quickly realized that going to school for guitar performance would take the joy & love I have for the instrument away from me. I was leading up to my last year in High School when I had this realization, so quickly started researching other paths in the music industry.

I had always been passionate about discovering new artists & showing my friends new music as well as traveling up & down the coast of California to see shows. That being said, I knew I had to be a part of an artist’s career & creative process. I didn’t know what a manager did, but knew it was the closest relationship there is to the art & helping creatives achieve their dreams – that alone set me on my path!

Jordan, 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?

Starting any business & being your own boss takes drive, work ethic & passion. Playing guitar from a young age & being surrounded by music through my family, I grew a passion & love for good music like no other. After a reality check at a Summer program at a music college, I knew I didn’t want to go to school for guitar – but find a way to work closely with artists to help them achieve their dreams & goals.

I had my first internship during school in music PR, which lead me to my first mentor in the industry, Hunter Scott (TREND PR), who taught me how to run a business, work hard & make a way for yourself that didn’t have to be like what everyone else was doing. I was in & out of his company pursuing different roles as I worked in touring for an amazing label, became an assistant for a high level manager in the dance world & then started S+ MGMT to work with my own clients in 2018. What first was just a dream – turned into more & more work as more artists came across my life that trusted me with their vision. From my artist, sagun, who we now own the label Arden Records together to my artist, The Holdup, who I was a fan of growing up, my roster & career has allowed me to work across many genres & stay fulfilled by supporting incredible human beings.

On a daily basis, the core of artist management is taking your client’s vision across all sides of the music & providing them space / clarity on how to achieve their short & long term goals. More than anything, it’s a business partnership & both parties have to work hard to make anything happen. There are always problems to solve every day, but any hurdle just means you learn & I think keeping some things at bay so my artists don’t have to stress over the little day to day struggles of getting things done is an important part of my job. I think what sets me apart as a manager & entrepreneur is that I have respect & understanding for all of my artists on a human level. I think if you don’t vibe or understand creatives on that level, you can’t support or represent their careers in a way that they would want to be represented or if things need to change as the ebbs & flows happen, you’ll have less sympathy and understanding for achieving the best possible outcome long term. It’s all about thinking outside of the box, coming up with creative strategies & networking though – you have to be ahead of the curve & continue to put yourself out there in this business. There are no wins from closing yourself off – there are only good things to come from treating others with respect & being a resource amongst peers.

I’m most proud of my artists for giving it their all each & every day to cut through in such a saturated market in music these days. I’m proud of myself for sticking with this for the past 5+ years & making a career out of it. I’m really proud of my artist, sagun, business partner, Andrew Kwan & I for making lo-fi music less passive & doing some incredible things for artists/producers in that space through Arden Records. There’s a lot to be proud of, but more than anything I’m proud that I get to work with people who all make each other better at what they do.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

S+ MGMT stands for “Stay Positive Management” – this is paying homage to Papa who told me to “Stay Positive” every day before I left the house. It shaped my outlook on life & helps me through all of the day to day struggles of being an entrepreneur. I sign all of my emails off with “Stay Positive” & even if no one makes the connection, I hope that it brings a friendly reminder throughout the chaos & I hope I can be a light in my artist’s careers just the same – to know that the best things are yet to come & if you work hard + stay focused & positive, you will achieve great things.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think a lot of times when you have your own business / you’re your own boss, you hit low points that make you question if you’re on the right path. I think through those times, if you push through, you realize what really keeps you going & why you do what you do. There have been many points throughout my career where I felt stuck or that I wasn’t in the right place, but having those moments only made me re-evaluate & discover what environment I wanted to be in / who I wanted to surround myself with & got me where I am today. I think a lot of people see big names or flashy lifestyles in this industry & think it must all be the best part of working in entertainment, but I think a lot of times, there are downsides, egos & many things that turn me off when I was surrounded by the highest level in certain situations. As those environments weigh on you, it also is a learning lesson on what really matters & the hard work that is needed behind the scenes to even achieve being amongst people that have achieved commercial success. Through it all, you have to love what you do, be passionate for it & believe in / bet on yourself as no one else is going to make it happen for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://splusmgmt.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jrdn_smth/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-smith-185962b2/

Image Credits

@canaanyoufaka
@rosie_matheson
@natasha.photographs
@caalvinoo
@lahnnystar