We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tre’Vion Smith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tre’Vion below.
Tre’Vion, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
I strive for my legacy to be remarkable, as anyone with determination would. I envision being a Household Name that always remains humble & relatable. I hope that through the lens of another, they see that I was optimistic, led by God & understanding that the journey can lead you to an abundant life IF you stay on course with the vision in your mind!
I desire for my legacy to be a force & ground-breaking. To impact a nation of a generation of all races & faces to do all their set out to do that’s aligned with their purpose. Breakthrough beyond the standard of limitations that they may mentally box themselves into or allow for the world to.
My legacy shall outlive me. It shall encourage others to love hard, be empathetic with a childlike spirit & sense of humor that gets you through even on the ‘worse day.’ Most importantly, remembering to forgive others as the Lord forgives & have mercy for our sins.
Lastly, realizing to be self aware & gracious in the areas we may lack. We are all experiencing life for the first time – with every mistake, wisdom proceeds. Remain limitless & be assertive in your stance of all things good that you believe in. Set a standard for your life & STAND ON BUSINESS! Strive for greater or die trying!!
Love yourself enough to not sacrifice your own well being!!!
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.
I originally started off in high school, leading into my sophomore year, 15 years old with a YouTube channel (Royal Tre’vion) during the summer of 2018. I ran it UP for a year straight!!! Filming public interviews at William Penn High School & Christina Mall, Pranks on my family, vlogs/ challenges & more! It was LIT after gaining over 50,0000+ subscribers within the time period! This officially cultivated my passion for entrepreneurship after trying a ton of other routes. . After that year, going into Summer of 2019, I noticed a shift within myself. The version of myself I once knew before was no longer present. I began being able to apply the language of who I evolved into that started to develop around this time as well. I was introverted (but yet extroverted around those I’m most comfortable with), socially awkward (in some cases), & depression was waiting on me at the door! My mental health was in shambles.
I knew I didn’t want to do anything strange for a piece of change with my drive declining. Instead I pivoted, quickly, with God leading me to a new chapter. I started my Creative Agency ‘RoyalTMadeIt’ on March 13, 2020 at 17 years old. An agency that serves Content Creators who strive to create great first impressions through design & editing.
RoyalTMadeIt originally started off producing designs (Thumbnails, Intros, Outros, Banners & Flyer Design) for specifically YouTubers. Very early on, we were able to work with creators such as Queen Naija, Clarencenyc, Deshae Frost, David Shands & Donni Wiggins from the Social Proof Podcast & more.
We (RoyalTMadeIt) have evolved overtime & began working with artists such as JT, formerly known from the City Girls, Heiress Diana Harris, Brooklyn Nicole (A.K.A. Brooklyn Frost) & many more! We strive to be a media/ production company that produces high level projects that will be remembered with the greats such as Tyler Perry Studios, Teyana Taylor productions, & Derek ‘Alter Ego’ Blanks.
I’m definitely proud of how far I’ve come with my mental health, business & overall lifestyle. I remember still heavily battling depression in the very early stages of RoyalTMadeIt. I used work as an escape to distract myself & not heal! I would comfort eat & sit in front of my laptop hours on end until I fell asleep then repeated the cycle for 2 years straight.
Eventually, initiative had to be taken & so I took it! It wasn’t until the end of 2022 where I made changes to my patterns & got around people who could encourage me to elevate.
Year 2023 came around & my life did a 180! At 19 years old I moved to Atlanta, GA in February 2023. From there, God did his thing! I started my weight loss journey weighing in at 250lbs, my largest weight EVER! My back was BIG! March of 2023 – David Shands, blessed me & 3 other greats in the making, with a podcast called ‘Growing Painz Podcast.’ Co-hosting with 2 complete strangers: Jayda Ellis, owner of Jaell – The Home of Couture Luxury Statement Pieces & Yanni Bratcher, owner of Wise Label – Helping Young Adults Grow Their Relationship with God! Both of them became really great friends of mine along with our Producer Ronzell Teague Jr, the BEST filmmaker there is!
Year 2023 crawled so Year 2024 could run & do the dougie on the way to success!!! I’m excited for all that awaits!
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I believe all of us are creative in our own way. We shine in the areas that are destined for us. Designers are creative through their canvas (photoshop, sketching, clothing, etc), Speakers are creative through their words & ability to convey a message that resonates, Musicians are creative through their pen, production, vocal range & storytelling, Chefs are creative through their homemade recipes – the list goes on.
We all have the ability to pull from our imagination & produce what we envision into the world for others to see & resonate with our creation. But we have to be open to creating freely!
The biggest lesson I believe all creatives can take away is getting out of the mind state of Imposter Syndrome. Imposter Syndrome adds unnecessary stress on what to create. The first step to getting closer to creating is to just START! When you start you’ll find pieces to the puzzle along the way. Don’t be afraid to fail & make mistakes throughout your craft.
Study the greats in your field & know that you can create all things with the tools inside of you (mind, body, soul). Always remain curious to improve & up to date with what’s going on around you! You got this!!!
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
Being a creative & owning a business is even more fun & freeing the more business is understood. A lot of times, I was so eager to be full of creativity but had no real understanding what it’s like to do proper business – I learned as I grew.
The saying “How you do one thing, is how you do everything’ became a huge factor in how I was running my business. Learning time management, organizing finances, creating SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), customer service, marketing, delegation & so on is a prominent factor to grow/ scale a business! It’s all a work in progress that I’m still working on!
Lack of time management, followed with overpromising, & low ball pricing almost killed my business. By no means, has this journey been easy to grasp. I believe what has kept my business going is taking accountability, apologetic & determined to grow.
There’s definitely been time periods of delegation where payroll was almost missed just by not having the proper systems in place to have payment go at specific times & dates. There’s also been moments of having a full on consultation, with direction of what we may do next & being told “I’ll get back with you” & never hearing from the potential client again after mentioning pricing. Lack of knowledge on how to sell/ pitch my service the proper way to lock in deals.
It’s all a journey, but I’m sure the largest brands of the world such as Apple had to face adversity in the early stages of their company & so that’s why I keep striving for improvement & you should too!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.behance.
net/trevionsmith?log_shim_ removal=1 - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/royaltrevion/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
royaltmadeit - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/@RoyalTrevion/videos - Other: Link To Video Edits in LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/
royaltrevion
Image Credits
@mr.201_, @royaltmadeit