Meet Jersey J

 

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

Jersey, 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 get my work ethic from past missed opportunities, past lack of self belief, and being fed up with the same bad habits and cycles. For the most part I feel like I’ve always had a good work ethic, but I never went above and beyond. I never pushed myself past the boundaries, so I never developed a “great” work ethic. UNTIL, I realized the reason I didn’t make it in football was because my work ethic wasn’t enough. As well as, both my confidence and faith. Turned out I wasn’t as confident as I thought once I was hit by reality after high school football. Fast forward to now, I’ve become so fed up with my old bad habits, repeated cycles, going broke over and over, being too comfortable, etc so I decided to turn my life around, a 180, and work on my mental and physical health. More than I ever have. I took the lesson I learned from football and the lessons I learned from my past repeated cycles and flipped them into motivation and self discipline. My work ethic now is amazing. I’m intentionally learning everyday, studying almost everyday, practicing, elevating, evolving, and I’ve been running every single morning for 250 days straight now. I just feel so confident, elevated, and greater than ever. If there’s one extra important message I’ve learned about work ethic it’s if you’re putting the work in there’s nothing to be afraid of. So put the work in.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a full time singer and rapper, a videographer, and a part time actor. What I feel is most special about being a music artist is expressing myself freely through music and others being able to strongly relate to it. I also LOVE performing. It’s probably my favorite thing about being a music artist. What’s most special about being a videographer and actor is visually and physically creating, illustrating, and capturing a feeling and vision that I’ve experienced. It’s therapeutic. I founded my brand, Lost Hopefuls, which is about embracing the journey of feeling lost while remaining hopeful. It has helped me connect with more people more effectively. We are all lost in life but it doesn’t have to have a negative connotation to it. All we need is hope to catapult us to the other side where faith lies. Lastly, I have a new EP releasing Feb 7th titled “CAUTION: Love, Lust and Liberation” and my first ever ticketed show happening with my band on Saturday March 22nd, 2025 10pm at Austin Garden & Studio. It’s going to be my biggest show to date.

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?

My big three would be embracing that feeling of being lost, studying the greats in my field, and having the faith, confidence, and consistency to persevere. My advice for those folks is don’t compare your “day 1” to their “day 100”. Be focused in on your journey and don’t stay fixed on everyone else’s. That will only hold you back. You have to want this so bad that no one can take it from you. You have to sometimes fake a feeling, like confidence, to actually learn how to be confident. Trust yourself, trust God, and trust the universe. Let rhythms flow and don’t disrupt it. It’s okay if plans get off course. That’s what’s suppose to happen. Just adjust the sails of your boat and rock through the storm with faith. Believe that it will work and believe more than anyone.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

Not believe in me. The most impactful thing my parents have done for me is not believe in me. If your parents don’t, the ones who brought you into this world and raised you, than who will if you don’t. It taught me that you have to believe in yourself more than anyone and anything because if not no one will.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

– Creations of J9
– Michael Milam

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