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

Alright, LeBron thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Our Mission at Writing Rounds is pretty straight ahead.

1. Serving in Excellence
2. Providing Opportunities
3. Investing in People

Writing Rounds was started in 2020 during the pandemic by one of my closest friends and now business partner, Jessica Hitte. However, we’ve been working together for much longer than that on other musical projects. Along our journey we found out that there are times when you find great people who are willing to help you and teach you things, and then you will also find people who are stingy with information.

When you are young and just starting out in a particular field or occupation, you probably don’t have all the skills, tools, or the answers that you need to be successful. That was our story. We’ve been working together for 8+ years grinding and striving to figure out what it is that we need to know about the music business and industry. Jessica and I kept running into walls and hearing “no” a lot more times than not. Every now and then we would cross paths and make friends with people who would teach us and show us things. Those are the people who we will never forget.

Because of how difficult it was to find out information, we knew that we wanted to make it much easier for independent songwriters, artists, producers, and other creatives to obtain the knowledge needed to be successful. We don’t claim to know it all, but we have learned a few things along the way and desire to share and “pay it forward.”
This is where we defined what our mission is at Writing Rounds. To serve other creatives in Excellence, Provide opportunities, and invest in people!

We now have a community filled with songwriters, artists, singers, musicians, producers, poets, and other creatives that have found a safe space to create and be themselves. No matter what background you come from, or what your beliefs are, or what genre you prefer to create in; We are all on the same team pushing each other to become better. Learning and growing together without the unhealthy competition that burns bridges.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

In 2018, I officially started a production company called “A&A Production Studios.” At A&A, we work with songwriters, artists, and producers to bring your musical ideas and visions to life. We take your song(s) ideas from conception and see it through to completion.

I started to have a passion for music production while in college. That was the time that I was invited and introduced to my first official studio session by who would become my mentor early on, James Matchack. I’ve always been a musician since I was a child. I started playing drums at the age of 3, and then by the age of 7, I started to learn how to play piano. The rest is history after that. I grew up playing in church and I always say that church was the best training ground for my craft that I could have ever received.

I was invited to play Organ on a project that James was producing. I was excited about it because it was going to be my first real studio session, but I was extremely nervous and that came out in my playing lol; However, James kept calling me back and giving me more opportunities. That made a lasting impression on me. He saw a gift and a desire in me and he kept pulling all the potential out of me to keep growing.
The thing that started to change in me from wanting to just be a musician to wanting to become a producer, was when I had my very first session with James. I walked into the studio, into the control room, and I was immediately pulled in by all the buttons, lights, faders, and knobs. I had no clue what anything in there did or its function but I knew that I wanted to learn. I would sit and watch how he took sounds and waveforms and made them sound amazing. It captivated me. From that moment, my life was changed. (I don’t know if i’ve ever even told him that before.)

Fast forward to a couple years after I graduated college…. Jessica Hitte came to me and said that she wanted to work on a music project. At this time, I was extremely serious about becoming a producer, but I needed an artist to take a chance on me to learn and grow. I didn’t know that Jessica was in the same place I was in. She was serious about becoming an artist/singer and needed a producer to take a chance on her to grow and learn as well. So it was perfect timing for both of us to start working together.

During those years we learned so much and also realized how much we didn’t know, but we grew! So in 2018, A&A Production Studios was born and I had a little more confidence going into it. I had a consistent artist in Jessica that I could take risks with and write with while starting to take on more clients.

Fast forward again to 2020… The Pandemic. Such a unique time for EVERYONE. We all have been affected by it in some way or another. For creatives, artists, and touring musicians especially, it was hard. If your income was made by being on the road, it was a tough time. Everyone was at home trying to find ways to adapt and adjust.
As a songwriter, Jessica had seen it as an opportunity to write and be creative with people that she maybe wouldn’t get the chance to otherwise. So she started something that we initially called “Zoom Writing Rounds!” I didn’t even know what Zoom was until the pandemic. What she did was open up and create “writing rooms” for people from literally across the world to come in and write together online. By the time the end of the year came, we were facilitating 800+ writers consistently. We had zero clue that it would become what it has grown into today.

So by the end of 2020, top of 2021, Jessica and I sat down and had a conversation. I was the owner/founder of a production company, (A&A Production Studios), and she was now the owner/founder of a writing company, (Writing Rounds). Songs that are written need production, and a production company needs songs to produce…. So we then decided to become official partners in our businesses; and now today, we have grown in ways that we never could have imagined.

We feel like our biggest assignment right now is just to create safe spaces for creatives to come be heard and seen. A big family that is on a journey together to be better and learn all we can.

It’s been such a beautiful journey!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I believe that being “excellent” in your field and craft is what builds a great reputation in your market! Not to be confused with “perfection.”

None of us are perfect. We’ve all made mistakes and had to start all over at times, but operating in excellence is something totally different.

What is operating in excellence mean:
**Always being prepared
**Being Punctual (early)
**Showing up with a great attitude and a smile
**Looking the part
**Being kind and friendly
**Being skilled and proficient in your craft

These are the things that will build a great reputation.

I am more likely to work with someone who might not have the greatest skill, but have all the other intangibles; Rather than to work with someone who is the most talented I’ve ever seen but is impossible to deal with.
Someone who is never prepared, never on time, and/or a terrible attitude.
Those traits never get a call back.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

If it’s anything I have learned in business, it’s that it is always about people. People just want to feel and know that they are seen and heard.

As a business owner, it is important to be aware of all the details when dealing with a client. Take the extra step and the extra time to make your clients feel safe and important. Because the truth is, they are. There would be no business if it wasn’t for our clients. We call our clients “family.”
We believe that relationships are one of the most important ingredients in building a business and/or brand.

Competition can be the biggest burner or bridges. We strive to close that gap and put out any fires that may arise through maintaining great relationships. We don’t always have to agree, but we don’t let that get in the way of being “family.”

So how do we grow our “family”…. Through making everyone feel equally as important and heard as the next person.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.writingrounds.com
• Instagram: @writingrounds
• Facebook: Writing Rounds Community
• Twitter: @writingrounds
• Youtube: Writing Rounds
• Other: www.aapstudios.com