Creative of the Month - Jacqlyn Burnett
Creator, painter, and marketer Jacqlyn Burnett is our creative of the month! Her strong work ethic and positive attitude is admirable. With passion and drive she is creating her empire and following her dreams. Interview by Meesh.
Where are you from?
I am from West Bloomfield Michigan.
What was it like growing up there?
It was such a beautiful environment because of how my parents raised me and the opportunities and experiences I had. So growing up there we had the four seasons which I loved. Both of my parents are very present where they would always take me to the park, play with me in the snow, or build things to play in with fall leaves. Just being able to have those experiences helped shape me to who I am today. Not just the playfulness but the modeling after my parents, the good and what to stay away from.
When did you first discover what you felt was your path of what you wanted to do?
I’ve always been a creative and a creator. I also loved putting on a show since I was a kid. I’m a people person, I love being around people and I also love to create, so as a kid I could paint before I could write. When I got into college I kept that going but I really started to explore more of my personality. I started getting into acting, being a broadcaster, hosting groups or clubs on my campus and that’s when I started to realize I wanted to pursue something along the lines. Funny enough, I moved to California and I explored those realms. I continued painting and I ended up getting into a gallery. I continued on the path of not necessarily journalism, but more of the hosting, now I get to host events. It’s all a path to get there, I didn’t start there. I actually didn't even know how I was going to end up where I am nor do I know how I’m going to get to where I’m going to go. As long as I’m on that mission of creating, hosting, and empowering others I’ll get there.
When did you move to California?
In college my friends would always be like “Jacqlyn you’re so California,” I was like what does that mean? I had never visited California in my life. I had no clue what it meant but I appreciated it. I was like you know what, I have a cousin in California so let me call up my cousin and see if I can do an internship with him. I interned with my cousin David Meltzer, CEO of Sports 1 Marketing, and I fell in love. It was in Newport Beach. We were doing everything from sponsorships to working with the largest pro athletes, celebrities, and influencers. I was getting to work aside large sporting events like the Pro Bowl, Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, etc. I was really opened up to this world of entertainment and hosting events so I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I think 2014 is when I interned and in 2015 is when I made the move to Newport Beach. From there I ended up working for Dave for a couple years and then moved up to LA to get into the vertical of social media influencer marketing.
After working with Dave, what was your first job in LA and how did you come across it?
Working for Elevator Studio with Dan Fleyshman. It’s about the right time, being ready for an opportunity and the timing for it. I was working for David and I wasn’t 100% fulifilled. Not that I wasn’t being fulfilled with the job but I knew I didn’t see myself in the sports world down the road so I wanted to go explore. I had a very open conversation with Dave and he told me he had a really good friend named Dan Fleyshman and that might be more up my alley. It just happened to work out where Dan’s Executive Assistant was going to be leaving to travel around the world for the next few months. I interviewed and got the position! That’s how I ended up working for Dan. Dave likes to say this and so do I, everything always happens in the right way at the perfect time.
What are some skill sets that you realized you took away from the job and really shaped you?
This guy Dan Fleyshman is an angel investor, running a company called Elevator Studio, working with all these influencers. He has a very vast, diverse portfolio for himself. For me, being able to see how he operates throughout his day is so invaluable. Seeing how you can run a company, run marketing campaigns, and then all at the same time take meetings as people are pitching you ideas, all while working on your phone and replying to things. So there were a lot of lessons I learned from there but it was really just how I was able to experience and observe how a high level individual and business man actually works in this modern age. I was very grateful to have had that experience.
When did you decide to start doing your own thing and leave that position?
I had a very interesting five years in California. Through Dan I was able to learn about the Cryptocurrency world, Bitcoin, Blockchain, and I decided to capitalize in the market back in 2017 when Bitcoin was going wild. I started investing and playing around with it. I created a merch store, I made a crypto emoji app, just monetizing the movement. I got picked up by a Blockchain music company called Vezt. They told me they were starting a company and wanted me to be Director of Operations and I joined that company because I wanted to explore that career path. I started working for them and it was also invaluable. I was the third employee helping build out a Blockchain music company. There’s a lot of levels to that. I was learning while I was going and that’s something I’ll always have with me. I was doing that and then spun off my own marketing company. It’s been amazing! I now have my own agency. I get to work with brands, influencers, and events. I’m making their goal a reality so it has been fun.
What are the steps you took in order to start your own business?
First thing I did was lock down the name, LLC, and all social media handles since it's a digital company. The cool thing that I’ve been able to do in California is really utilizing my relationships with people who are doing things that I wish to pursue. I called up friends and got counsel from them on the right steps to take, things that I should be looking out for. From there I just started getting the word out. I would go out to networking events and let people know what I do and I started acquiring clients. Not too much farther down the road I met this girl Melissa. I was doing an art charity event for St. Jude’s Children's Hospital, I was live painting with other artists. My videographer friend is the one who connected us. Melissa has her own digital agency and we talked about doing things together and partnered. I’m more on the business development side. I thrive on creating the relationships, figuring out where there’s a hole and how I can solve the problem for others. Melissa and the team handle execution. It’s a great partnership.
What helps you stay on track?
Mindset over everything. It’s all about the perspective. Once you have the mindset, mindset gives you perspective, perspective gives you reality. I literally feed myself information that I need to know and want to know in order to have a more positive mindset and a healthier lifestyle. I read books about entrepreneurs and their daily lives so I’m constantly following the footsteps to success. I’m not asking my mom, “hey how do I become successful?” She’s successful in her own right, she was an intensive care nurse but she wasn’t a business owner. So I’m talking to highly successful business owners asking them what they do throughout the day. I’m modeling my life to figure out what works best for myself.
My biggest strong suit as far as how I continue my day with such a “go go go” attitude is literally my perspective. I’m probably one of the most happy people. Being grateful in that moment is what gives us happiness. Being able to actually understand where you want to go, realizing it’s just a journey and it’s okay if you get off track sometimes. Being able to know what your mission is, you will always stay on track. There’s going to be highs and lows. I say this all the time, “change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” I could get a flat tire, I could either take that situation and be very upset and waste that energy and increase my levels of stress which is not good for your health, or I can look at that situation and say, “Awesome now I have an opportunity to solve this problem. I get a new fresh tire, I can learn how to fix the tire.”
If there’s anything you could change in the world right now what would it be?
Improving society's mindset. Literally change the way you look at things and the things you look at change, I think that’s so important to people’s success. How they see reality and their lens of the world most importantly. I have three questions I want to switch back to you actually. These are good questions to figure out your mission. 1) If you were to get an award, a life legacy award, what is that reward that you are going to receive? 2) What does it take to actually get that award? 3) If you never receive that award, what is the world like? I ask myself those questions often enough where I’m constantly readjusting where I’m going in life, my mission, and how I can actually obtain that and keep going down that path.
Do you have any other helpful questions or tips similar to that?
Something that I do every day, which is a subconscious thing, ask yourself what you’re grateful for, big or small. Before I go to bed and every single morning I reiterate it to myself. The world is beautiful because we get to make it that way.
What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
I like to sing! Is that surprising? I don’t know! I recently got back into snowboarding as well.