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

Juwan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

As a child, I always knew I was a creative and that I wanted to have a career doing something I love. With a passion for working with technology and computers, I began to find joy for small art projects as a small child for family on Microsoft Word Art and Paint on the classic, heavy white computers. It wasn’t until my sophomore year at Cass Technical High School under a Graphic Arts curriculum that I learned the basics of Adobe software. Back in 2010, I began to be assigned small graphic project assignments that I began to actually have fun with outside of the math and science classes that I didn’t enjoy. Little did I know that after high school, I would go into my sophomore year of college getting a new macbook and purchasing a monthly subscription to Adobe to begin my business now known as Juwan Clarke Productions.

Juwan, 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?

While attending Michigan State University, I received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree from the College of Residential Arts and Humanities from Michigan State University with an additional major in Media and Information. During my college experience, I had the chance of being an on-air radio personality at Lansing’s number one hip-hop and R&B radio station Power 96.5 which was the home of Power 105.1’s ‘The Breakfast Club’. My passion for media and technology has always been my creative inspirations growing up.

I decided in 2016 to create Juwan Clarke Productions, a company that specialized in graphic design, sound audio mixing, photo, and video editing and creating a platform to showcase the growth of up-and-coming black businesses. Through Juwan Clarke Productions, I was able to create my podcast titled ‘The Honestly Blunt Podcast with Juwan Clarke’ with two full seasons on all major streaming platforms discussing current events, music, and black culture. I was able to do all of the marketing through my graphic design skills and used my audio mixing skills to create entertaining episodes with local small black business owners and millennials within the city of Detroit discussing their point of view on topics to share personal opinions and inspire those who need reassurance of how to navigate through life.

Now, I feel I am now most proud of is the consistency I have practiced and kept improving my craft day by day. I a not motivated by any competition, who is liking or viewing things I put out or how can I please others. I am motivated by my hard work, the end product of my designs/projects and how bright the future is for my career

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to unlearn is that each client is going to love what you present to them. When starting the business and actually setting rules and expectations in place, I’ve learned that if a client does not like a first draft, they are never required to follow through for the next final draft. I had to learn to stand out to the point where a client would not want to leave after the first draft at all.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have always been very active on social media. One thing in the beginning stages that I was always worried about was being “Professional”. After seeing the success of many social media influencers, I realized why I chose to name my business after myself. With me running the business all on my own, why not just be myself, add comedy, utilize new features and study new trends that are helping to soar businesses through the target audience! If you can stay up to date with trends, monitor insights and be consistent with content, things will begin to all fall in place for great marketing.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.juwanclarkeproductions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juwanclarkeproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuwanClarkeProductions
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juwanclarke
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCneRpWojUn4C0MwgINeB1Ww

Image Credits
Photography: @7mn.pics Logos: @cocktailswith.kay | @bothworldsrentalco | @juwanclarkeproductions | @dot_doula | @motorcitycrab