Meet Dee Jones

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

Dee, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I got my work ethic from just struggling and having a vision for life i growing up on SSI social security income i didn’t have alot and wished to have better not living in poverty it isn’t fun. you can learn valuable things while growing up struggling, but you have to work to to achieve things at any level I want to achieve things at a very high level and it also have to have a high level work ethic to achieve these goals. One day ill be “Billionaire” I have to have a Billionaire work ethic to truly achieve the goal of being a billionaire one day.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
As a young adult and teenager I’ve been in leadership positions and knew that id need to start a company because I have the goal of being a Billionaire one day. I never planned on working for large companies because of I know I can’t get rich by working for a company only if it was a large company where I held a leadership position on the executive level of business I think I could, if wanted to but I’ve always been a visionary. & I never heard of a billionaire that didn’t start a his or her own business and go after a vision that possibly billions of people believe in there are global businesses worth trillions one day as a person of color I wish universally I could achieve that goal and give back to society heal the global economic problems and build equity and happiness to undeveloped countries and the United States.

I won $10,000 5 years to partner with our local city government as they hosted a pitch competition the Safe Pitch Task Force. I was on of the winner of a $10,000 grant and worked for a nonprofit called Steepletown Neighborhood Services. They allowed a young visionary Dee Jones Develop his own youth initiative “Jump Ahead” which is now Jump Ahead L3C we gave out $450 stipends. Gave an opportunity for service learning, workshops, special events. We got to partner with local businesses to get our youth out to different cities and different work spaces. We also got an educational workshop session by Richard Reiffer a guy who helped genius Steve Jobs Advertise his first PC the NeXT PC which has the ios Software that everyone uses now to update their Apple Products. other workshops like financials, vision board, and special events like the Craig’s Cruisers, & the Kroc Center the Jump Ahead project was super successful I’ve won awards and also was a feature in Forbes now i go after the bigger vision. Build a global business and being a Esports Pioneer.

I’ve been focusing on Economics, Equity, & access to equitable equal opportunities above the poverty line. I live in the Second Worst Place for African Americans to live the city of GR. I’ve been trying to create the best opportunities since there where no opportunities to do Esports competitions or even host Esports competitions around the city I started doing Esports competitions this year. I’ve been playing Video Games for a so long and I knew it was Esports I just never heard of anyone around the city doing competitive Esports competitions so I just started doing Jump Ahead Esports Competitions. I was able to build partnerships and get sponsorship’s by some of the biggest companies in the Esports Industry and big name brands Like the NBA, McDonald’s, Steelcase, Red Bull, American Cancer Society, NBA G League GR Gold just to name a few. I plan to focus on doing Esports competitions and educating people on social issues that have an effect on their everyday lives to help communities navigate through everyday life and challenges but also connect people to those resources.

I feel excited at for the future I work for a video game company and we are developing a video game named Blackpoint BR we have a couple different countries wanting to get a hold of Blackpoint BR we are using the Unreal 5 Engine to develop this video game which will be out 2025 and on PS5 Xbox X/S, PC, Nintendo all platforms of Next Gen. doing the Esports competitions I got an opportunity to join the Blackpoint BR squad now as have the cool job of being the Regional Director for the State of Michigan so I can host Esports competitions for the company itself or host Esports competitions
through Jump Ahead L3C its going to be a community build video game and a powerful one we will be giving back a lot of cash globally, actually using the feedback to develop the video game and hosting college Esports competition to advance educational programs and college Esports teams so they can grow we also will be developing games for youth.

I also have an honor of being a business leader in the Esports Trade Association got to go to an cool event called EsportsNext 2023 and got to connect with Epic Games, Riot Games & Activision Blizzard. 3 of the biggest video game companies and video game publisher across the universe. Not only did I get to connect with these video game companies I got our school district connected to Epic Games so they can get the Fornite Creator, Unreal 5 Engine & Unreal Fortnite Creator to our school District and Library’s across Kent County. Eventually ill connect the other video game companies to the school district and go to Kent ISD and other universities, colleges, and centers to help build opportunities and eventually careers in Esports and video games. I have been able to connect Esports companies that compete for $100,000 prize pools to these video game companies I believe is plug and connect you’ll get the energy you out into your vision and goals. Also we just did a Call of Duty Esports Competition at the National Guard Base to Educate the community on Renewable Energy because the Department of Defense is the largest polluter for carbons across the US and we use Esports to bring education around issues like this which gained support of our Congresswoman. Jump Ahead L3C will be a leader in Social Impact and will be a global business one day. Building synergy bringing equity, economic growth and boost and also peace and education. I won an International Visionaries award this year in Las Vegas I think Jump Ahead L3C is going to lead in the future at a elite level of business.

As of now we are working on League of Legends at the Devos Place, & getting a large pool of funding to host our Esports competitions and we would like to thank the NBA for giving us NBA2K24!

I also hoop and compete for a professional basketball team the GR Fusion and I work for a company called Betstamp the Google Flights of sports betting. Through this company I can connect with leagues and sports teams and get their league or team sponsored by Betstamp. Helping getting Betstamp out there a Canadian company expanding to the United States eventually I wanted to connect leagues at a global or universal level to Betstamp and help leagues and teams grow across all sports eventually Esports too.

Be on the Look out for Jump Ahead L3C “Sounds of the city” Video TV Show its going to be LIT!!!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think being able to listen is a good quality to listen to others feedback to listen to not just respond but to understand. there are a lot of people who like to listen to just to say things back to you, but never listen to understand and hear only what they hear instead the larger picture in business and in life that is very important. You can build a better sense of listening by stop speaking just to let people know what you don’t like or heard but hear all the info and give a better general answer based off all the info or discussion even if you agree to disagree try to find a general consensus without falling out and build a better understanding of others even if you don’t agree.

Understanding perspectives and being open to new initiatives to get things done. A lot of people don’t have a broad sense of thinking or don’t understand a broader context of info or perspectives I think listening to how others think and how they perceive things helps you build a better sense of people and understanding perspectives a rich man will never understand the struggle of the poor man if he was grew up in a life of richness. Although one can grow up cash poor you can have a rich soul and although one can grow up living a life of richness you can have a poor soul that cannot be filled with richness. Understanding perspectives can be developed by learning culture, social issues and that equal isn’t seen as an equal.

Leadership is a big quality to have universally people love people who go after their goals or vision. Society looks down on the people who get scared even if society is scared. I think being able to lead being able to fail being willing to give your goals a shot! Being a leader is not for the people that’s cannot go against the grain and know that you can learn valuable things by leading people. As a natural leader I love being able to lead because I believe their is strength to be build and you can learn a lot. People love the confident and bold leaders that believe in their vision and ability of achieving their goals especially if people see you have achieved those goals. You can learn to lead by following your own path and people will possibly follow or get out you comfort zone and try a leadership position for something you have a passion for!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I’ve had to face the challenge and obstacles of living in the second worst place and city for economics for African American people across the United States. The infrastructure, lack of equitable opportunity, lack of funding through undeserved neighborhoods, lack of afford housing, equal pay, a lot of social issues but we are bring resources to our city, county and state. Bringing education to theses issues with solutions and partnering with other organizations and businesses to have a larger impact to eventually be one of the best cities for equity, economics, and getting funding to our communities so people can build businesses and follow their visions also. Jump Ahead L3C will be one of the businesses to bring Esports, Video Games and economic growth and prosperity for everyone especially undeserved communities universally one day.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Where does your generosity come from?

Over the years, we have consistently been blown away by the examples of generosity we’ve

Productivity
From Burnout to Balance: The Role of Self-Care

Burning out is one of the primary risks you face as you work towards your