We were lucky to catch up with Luke Roberts recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Luke, thanks for joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I am very happy as an artist! I think this is a hard path to find, and it’s taken me a very long time to find a sense of balance but I do feel like I’ve hit a sort of equilibrium now where I am able to put out enough of my own artistic content while also creating art for others as my full time career. Any entrepreneurial venture is going to be filled with ups and downs, and those still happen, but I now have a framework that works really well for me to consistently release new music while keeping enough revenue coming in so I don’t drown in debt, one of the greatest dream killers out there.

At this point, I’ll think about doing a regular job every once and a while, but I’ve gotten too addicted to the freedom I have in running my own business, controlling my own schedule, and having the ability to scale my revenue if I figure out creative ways to do so. Those things aren’t possible when working for someone else. I think the last time I thought about this seriously was when I was offered a salary job by a friend. The amount seemed really promising and at the time I was in some debt so the idea of consistent income was very appealing to me. I almost went for it, but it never actually materialized so I decided to keep pushing my own systems and by the end of the next year I was debt free because I had finally mastered my spending and living within my means. I realized that while it seemed safer to have a job working for someone else, the reality is that it only feels safer because you aren’t directly responsible for your position and compensation existing, which makes it feel more trustworthy. In reality, if you can build the skills to create revenue for yourself, it’s far more empowering to work for yourself.

Luke, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into doing music first when I was about 5 years old, playing drums with my brothers and eventually forming a band and playing in church for over a decade growing up. I started making videos for my youtube channel around 2011 and when I got serious about releasing consistent content around 2018, I started making videos that were more professional looking with lighting and better cameras, and at that point people asked me to start making videos for them. I always had an interest in entrepreneurship, so I officially started LJR Creative at the end of 2019 and have focused on live events, in studio sessions, concerts, and music videos for artists ever since.

The main problem I solve for clients is having a dependable video partner who delivers high quality cinematography for reasonable rates that gets them higher quality shows that pay significantly more. I emphasize good communication throughout the process and deliver the final videos quickly.

I think I’m most proud of the fact that artists feel extremely excited to show off the videos we make together. That always makes my heart swell a bit on the inside, knowing that they feel confident in how they are presenting themselves online and that I got to be part of that process to support them. Outside of that, I am just proud to be a member of and contribute in a meaningful way to the music community in the DC/MD/VA area.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Normalize supporting artists directly every month with subscriptions through their own platforms (or platforms like Patreon) and buying their merch.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

These are currently worthless because there doesn’t seem to be a pathway to mass adoption. Maybe this will change in the future, but I don’t see it happening soon.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ljrcreative.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ljrcreative
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/ljrcreative
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ljr
• Other: https://lukejustinroberts.com

Image Credits

LJR Creative