Meet Cameron Gregory

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cameron Gregory a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cameron , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I developed my confidence and self esteem early on in my childhood. Being a pastors kid i was always expected to be the poster child for the youth group. And because my grandparents and parents were the ones leading the church they made sure to make me study and be at every church event so I wouldn’t embarrass them as the leaders of the church. I was required and forced to go the extra mile. So being in the limelight comes naturally for me. Not being afraid of the moment is something that was just built into my character.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Growing up in church I was always discouraged to use my talents outside of the church walls. I could dance, sing, play the drums, work the audio board and I was naturally funny. But being a product of strict 1990s Christian culture I was never encouraged to join a dance team or take music lessons outside of church. I was only allowed to play sports and only if they didn’t interfere with church! By time I was 17 years old I was super athletic, funny, musically gifted and sheltered from sharing my gifts with the world. When i turned 18 years old all that changed, I started attending CSUDH and began to see the real world of art. I brought myself a numark dj controller and started playing around with it during dorm parties and small friend parties. I went by the name DJ Cam and next thing I know I was DJing all kinds of events from house parties to clubs. I joined a gospel singing group called Markees Williams and Divine Destiny where I played the drums. We had a residency at The House Of Blues at Downtown Disney for their Sunday Gospel Brunch. I became real good friends with the lead guitarist Andy Morris who introduced me to some of his friends who were in a band called SMT (Systematic Tragedy). They were looking for a drummer. I played with this band for over a year we played at nice sized venues like The Key club in Hollywood and the Grove of Anaheim. My ultra Christian parents still trying to dictate my lifestyle forced me into being a firefighter for the Angeles National Forrest which stopped my creative career for 10 years. After I got tired of risking my life every day I began getting back to my musical talents but it seemed that everything and everyone i remembered in the industry had moved away, started a family or became super famous that they’ve gotten ultra Hollywood on the people they started with. I ended up going back to my home church to serve there where my parents were now the head pastors. I became the head of the audio tech ministry and my longtime friends and I started a religious youth group called BADD (Birthing Anointed Disciplined Disciples) were we hosted live events that combined dance, art, poetry, hiphop and Christianity. In 2019 another longtime friend named Deshawn Watkins came to me about starting our own wrestling company like we’ve always dreamed about. I thought he was playing at first but he was so serious. Literally the next day he started a LLC called COMPTONMANIA. I began as the lead audio engineer for our company. I handled set up and break down of audio and djing during the event. We are in our fourth year of the indie wrestling business and have just gotten funding from the city of Compton, Ca to put on events at their parks for all ages. During Covid-19 my church and COMPTONMANIA was forced into the digital era to continue to effectively work and minister God to the world. This national emergency forced me to learn a new skill. Videography. Stepping into this skill increased my overall talent tremendously because I now learned the other component of audio which is visual. This is where you get AV (audio visual ) from. Obviously being the one in charge of my church media ministry and the audio engineer for COMPTONMANIA I was the one everyone looked to for the remedy of this lockdown situation. Yeah, I was thrown into a new environment of art called digital media and I had no idea that I was really good at it. I found out that I have an eye for entertainment, capturing the moment and I found a new love in editing. Figuring out how to set up a livestream for my church has open doors for me to livestream multiple live sporting events, podcasts and live music recordings. It has also opened the doors for me to set up live streaming services at multiple churches around the Los Angeles area. Filming COMPTONMANIA and editing it into wrestling show has open doors for me to be involved with multiple films, music videos and tv shows. I was able to start my own small AV business called “JUSCAMOKPRODUCTIONS” and able to increase my visibility of all my talents and abilities. I’ve been able to build my own brand around being an entertainer. I’ve been involved in multiple plays, short films and music videos as an actor. I encourage everybody to continue to step into new environments and experience because you never know what doors might open for you. Continue to be in the lookout for COMPTONMANIA, NGCM Ministries and JuscamokProductions.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three skills/qualities that were most impactful in my journey were my musical talents, my ability to learn new skills and my experiences in being in front of large crowds at an early age. These three skills/qualities helped me to see entertainment in the light that other people who are different than me enjoyed to see it. I would encourage everyone to continue to try new things and branch out of your small communities. You don’t have to compromise who you are to be seen and validated. Be yourself and never be afraid to try a new skill

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel overwhelmed I immediately take a break from work. I often do something that makes me extremely happy and relaxed like playing video games.. I don’t t feel overwhelmed often because I exercise daily, going for a morning run helps me clear my mind and keeps my stress levels down. I would encourage all creatives to exercise regularly.

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The meet up venue

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