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

Rockell, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

I honestly think my business started at the perfect time, everything unfolded how it was supposed to. At the time I was still applying for jobs in every industry seeing what I liked best and then I got in trouble with the law. Getting in trouble changed my entire life and hindered a lot of careers and jobs that I could apply to. I was convicted in 2014 and started my business in 2015 when I was 20 years old.

I received unsupervised probation and no jail time. My current job was a contract so it was soon to come to an end. I was applying for any job available and was having issues getting an interview due to my new record, but with the Eastern Shore being such a small place it was never easy to get a job even without a record.

I finally got a summer job that didn’t care about my record. I was working in the laundry room at a hotel in Ocean City, MD. I was working overnight 5 days out of the week and sometimes picked up a day shift. I was mentally and physically exhausted and knew I had to change something soon since that was only a summer job. I used to bounce ideas with an old friend that also worked at the hotel, sometimes 1am-2am just talking about goals. At this time I was already helping people with my graphic design services and some event planning. I remember like it was yesterday I was by myself in the laundry room and it was almost 4am, I was leaning over on the table trying to think of what I wanted to do with myself and how I was going to get my own money. I was writing business names in my notes and then I said out loud RJ Management, which stands for Rockell Jackson Management.

RJ Management was the start of it all. I was offering management services to one artist as well as graphic designs, flyer prints, and event coordination services for his business and for others who reached out to me. It wasn’t long before people was just messaging me on Facebook asking for a flyer or asking me to book a venue for them. Soon after I kept coordinating events for my business as income, added more graphic design services, more printing options and then website design services. My business kept growing before I even created my first Facebook business page, I was so happy I was able to make money without needing a job. I never stopped and I never looked back I just kept going and doing what I could to make the business better.

I am so grateful for the struggle I went through and I don’t regret my decision at all. It was a rough 5 years being dragged in and out the court rooms but I didn’t let the system break me. It was a tough decision I made as a young adult that had positive and negative consequences in many ways. I learned so much about myself and learned so many new skills along the way.

In 2024, the business now goes by RJ Millennial Branding, LLC and is a full service branding agency offering graphic design, website design, custom printing and digital marketing.

Looking back I wouldn’t change anything. I had to evolve and gain experience to reach where I am today, and only time can provide that kind of wisdom. I hope me sharing what I went through to get here will encourage people to keep going regardless of mistakes they’ve made along the way.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was always an artist interested in capturing and creating art, it wasn’t until later I realized I love being a Digital Graphic Designer. I learned most of what I knew from high school and continued to teach myself.

In 2015, I started creating flyers for people and soon turned it into a business offering flyers and prints mainly for business owners and event planners.

In 2020, The business rebranded from RJ Management to RJ Millennial Branding as a full service branding agency. Offering graphic design, website design, custom printing and digital marketing services.

Jump to 2024, We are a nationwide company with a few global clients! We help businesses of all sizes with their branding or marketing. We fix problems such as clients not receiving leads on their website or from their google page and ADS. If a client is just starting we can also set them up for success with a full branding and marketing package saving them money, time and the hassle of using multiple vendors.
We ensure that clients have a clear brand image and meaning that will relate to potential new business.

RJ Millennial Branding is different from competitors because we assign our clients their own branding agent which gives a more personal touch and expertise when it comes to assisting with their brand. Easier access for questions, orders, and or to just bounce ideas.

I am proud of how many clients we have that have been continuing to work with us and trust us with their business. Since 2016 we have over 85% of our clients that are repeat clients that use us year after year. This lets me know we are doing our job and fulfilling our clients needs. We have 4 clients that have been consistently using us for going on 10 years now!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Yes! As we do not focus on our pages as much due to our type of clients, we do help other businesses grow their social media presence.

A good few tips to follow is to start by following pages that you know would benefit from your products/services. You don’t want to follow a bunch of people who cannot relate as it will clog up your timeline/algorithm. With this being said you also DO NOT want to buy followers. It will just be bots that will hinder your growing results. You can find pages by searching related hashtags to your business and to follow and or engage with those accounts.

You can engage under profile pictures or story posts to keep your page relevant and in the public eye. When people see comments that stand out they like them and or visit that page. Leaving compliments under posts are a great way to get new followers and engagement without having to follow people first.

Another tip is to make sure you are at least posting with hashtags on your page 2-4 times a week to stay relevant and in the public eye.

When posting you also want to use the most important/relevant hashtags to your posts, anywhere from 4-7 hashtags.

Lastly, make sure to create or purchase high quality graphics that are not too text heavy. Catch people’s attention with visuals.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I have been having lot of success on Alignable and as always word of mouth from our current clients. This website is similar to LinkedIn as it’s for professionals and business owners. There are a lot of people on this site asking for help/services I provide and its very easy to connect with them.

I definitely recommend creating an account.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rjmillennialbranding.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rjmillennialbranding/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RJMillennialBranding/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rj-millennial-branding
• Twitter: https://x.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Frjmillennial
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rjmillennialbrandingllc241

Image Credits

Jonothan Dashiell IG: Jonmichal_