We were lucky to catch up with SkyMajor recently and have shared our conversation below.
SkyMajor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?
The greatest lesson I learned was money management. Working in the banking industry taught me a lot of financial skills. I come from a family that taught me how to save money and manage money. My mom used to say, “A stick better not break”, meaning nothing can go wrong and you basically have no room for error especially with your finances. Once I got in the banking industry, I got to witness on a high level how other people and business manage their finances. My introduction to seeing positive and negative lessons on how to manage finances was working for the U.S Small Business Administration. There I was a loan officer 3 that reviewed a lot of different businesses and tax returns that gave me insight into how businesses operate. I always wondered how some of these businesses were getting a tax refund back. Basically, I discovered that these businesses were writing off expenses that they have. This made me start keeping a log of all expenses and profits for the business. Before, I wouldn’t write off many expenses but now I write everything such as inventory, supplies, insurance, rent, automobile, software, travel, meals, advertising, and marketing. Another job I learned lessons on was working at Capital One as a senior mortgage underwriter. My review was looking at the credit, assets, and income which determine if you would qualify for home. Most borrowers I reviewed had a good payment history, no late payments, revolving debts 30% of less. The biggest take away for me was keeping my revolving debt 30% or less. Once I started doing this my credit went up a lot and stayed consistent. The real estate process is really an amazing way to learn how to have your finances in order because of all the rules and regulations you must follow. I believe this has prepared me to own multiple properties one day. These are a couple of examples of how I gained knowledge and learned lessons in the workplace. The greatest success comes when you create and work with a network of people. Each person in your network is a valuable member of your team and adds quality to your life. On every job I have adapted this trait, and it has helped me get my job done in great quality. Making connections with others is a priority that can improve every aspect of life both in and out of work. Being able to remain positive and look at things with optimism is an invaluable life lesson. The more you can improve your outlook and the less the small things affect you, the better you’ll be able to handle challenges in both business and personal life. The main lesson I learned when starting to work is what happens when you procrastinate. Procrastination has clear repercussions in the workplace and can result in challenges such as falling behind with your tasks. Committing yourself to work until your work is done is a valuable life lesson that can prevent hardships and increase your overall productivity and success.
SkyMajor, 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?
SkyMajor is a musician, composer, producer, songwriter, and videographer. I got involved in the music industry as a musician by playing in church. I was able to meet other musicians that were already playing outside gigs with big time people. Some of the musicians played Tyler Perry plays, Erykah Badu, Wille Jay Laws, Dru Hill etc. This inspired me to get better and inspired me to get into producing music and composing songs. Before I knew it, I was learning so much from these guys! The path was always to be a great musician but led me to composing and producing music. I attended College at Full Sail University located in Winter Park, Florida. My goal was to get a degree in Music Production, but I ended up not finishing my degree. However, I learned a lot at Full Sail University in the one year I was there. The program taught me how to score films, compose music, and to create video game music. This was when I realized I could do way more with my music and wanted to get into film making also. A few years ago, I purchased my first professional camera, the Sony Alpha 7aiii. I started out shooting youth football games and simple events to build up my resume so people can see examples of my work. So far so good; I have gotten a lot of great feedback from people that my footage is high quality. I wanted to make sure the future services I will be providing be the best quality. My goal is to have one stop shop music, film and clothes. I’m currently working on my merch for the SkyMajor brand and making sure the items I provide are quality before I sell them. Some of the products I have now are hats, hoodies, t-shirts, crop t-shirts, and crop top hoodies. I provide a lot of creative insight for my clients. For example, because I am a musician first and I can play pretty much anything I hear. I can create from scratch or recreate and enhance anything the client has done previously. That’s what sets me apart being able to create with no ideas in play. What I am most proud of is that I have the freedom to be creative and creative what I feel. That is very important to me because it is organic, natural and not forced. For instance, I usually start with one instrument whether it’s drums or a melody. I play around on the piano playing random songs in between building a beat. A lot of times I’m playing around trying to figure out what direction I want to go in when creating music and it usually ends up being a masterpiece. One of the main things potential clients and fans need to know about my brand is that SkyMajor provides music production, movie scoring, and filming. The goal is to release my first short film, start shooting music videos to songs I produced, and start advertising my merch all in 2024.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I always have been hard working and never expected a handout from people. One of my saying’s is “Invest in yourself first because if you can’t invest in yourself why would someone else invest in you?” Someone said to me, it’s only 24 hours in a day! Well, I tried to use all 24 hours of the day. I knew that I had to keep working hard to invest in my dreams. Also, I want to shout out to the family and friends that invested in me throughout the years. The mindset for me was to have multiple streams of income. My streams consisted of being a full time Underwriter at a bank, being a musician for a church, and Uber eats. At first, I had just had the underwriter job and church job. I was able to pay my mortgage with one job and was able to save and invest in my music career. Studio equipment costs a lot of money, you could end up spending $10,000 to $50,000 very quickly. So, I would work as much as I could by taking on a lot of overtime at my main job. By working hard, I was able to take business trips and get the equipment I needed to have an efficient music studio. Some equipment I was able to buy was, Mac Pro laptop, Apollo interface, music software, computer monitors, keyboards, microphones, cameras, and camera lenses. My equipment totaled over several thousand dollars. In 2022, I finally changed from a DBA to LLC to really take business my serious. To build and establish business credit was the right move for the future. My goal going forward is to build more capital by day trading 4 to 5 times a week, sell SkyMajor merch, and start charging for videos. Also, now that my business is a year old as an LLC, I will apply for grants for small businesses to help build capital. Another reason funding is so important is so that I can do right by people that are providing a service for my business. I always pride myself on taking care of business and paying people for their service. I don’t expect anything to be free!
How did you build your audience on social media?
My social media was built organically. Whenever I go to events or encounter people, if the energy is right, I will tell them about myself and the things I do. This usually leads to exchanging social media information. One of the easiest ways to gain followers is going to the Studio. The studio is always open with artists, producers, and musicians coming and going all day. So, there will be plenty of people in your same lane to connect with. What I have learned about social media for me personally is that I get the most engagement and followers when I post reels or videos of me being creative. I really don’t like posting but I have finally found a way to push my content. I recently created a series called feeling free that people like a lot. Feeling free consists of being free in my element and creative on the spot and letting my followers in on the experience. My plan is to keep adding content and find ways to incorporate all the things I do in videos I post. All in all, I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback and gained a lot of followers. Another thing is hashtags are one of the most effective ways to increase visibility for your posts on Instagram. However, not all hashtags are rested equal. Make sure to post content that you feel positively reflects you, your creativity, your values, and your skills. Make sure you’re professional. Keep it classy! Every post reflects you. Your social media accounts allow you to put your best foot forward or stumble if you aren’t careful. A positive social media presence can help create both personal and professional opportunities. Promote your personal brand or what you want people to think of you. Control your content. Claim your identity on social media. Set up social media accounts and keep the profiles current. You don’t have to join every platform; a few key ones will do. You can also investigate apps that will cross-post the content to all your social media accounts which will free up some of your valuable time. Use your accounts to engage professionally and personally in a positive way. Your social media accounts should tell the story of you that you want others to see.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://l.instagram.com/?u=https%3A%2F%2Flinktr.ee%2Fskymajorproducer&e=AT2cE03CM8pdUeud82A7QVrgsscCVPmfLV47TP25KdUvdEctmGuAdbq4qG92kl140g7fS5y-pIoJFcq5Vjxe1lbaQx5Tmak6qzo-_jG64RaPG4QT
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skymajorproducer/
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@skymajorproducer
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/skymajorfilms/
Image Credits
Onward 808 Photography