Meet Jada Renee Hobson

With all of that,  I knew I wanted to be an artist growing up and I knew that I loved music. Outside of those things I was very focused on basketball and sports so my artistry in terms of organizing and creating didn’t kick in until about high school going into that transition of graduation and moving on to the college world. Behind the scenes of basketball I would focus my time on creating clothing designs , drawing characters and challenging my imagination. Growing up BET’s Access Granted,  MTV Cribs , Real World , Rocket Power, Rugrats , Doug , Hey Arnold , That’s So Raven, Boy Meets World , All That and a host of other cultural shows influenced my interest in media and the lifestyle of fashion amongst the youth in the 90s. I believe this all went into play as it relates to my personal interests that then became creative business ideas on how I would create my company with The INDI Group LLC.

My full entrepreneurship mind started kicking in once I got to college. I realized early on that outside of my major I needed to build something that would sustain me outside of whatever or wherever the college journey took me. I am a very analytical and observant person and as we are a generation raised with social media and the endless possibilities of creation , I started to observe how those possibilities tend to be taken away from us when we focus on things that we think we should do based on society norms versus what we actually want to do, even if that thing comes later in life. After observing that most of the student body wasn’t being directly educated on finance and basic life building skills , I began to think of ways that I could actually be successful and financially free once I paid all of these student loans…and in a realistic way. What is a realistic way that I can pay back my student loans, live my life and do what I love. I did all that thinking without knowing what action to take and in the near future I was granted the opportunity to go to South Africa Johannesburg with an entrepreneur Group based out of Atlanta. We spent 3 weeks in Africa learning about business building skills and it was there that I received my first business plan template where I got the chance to flesh out my ideas that I had been thinking since being on campus back at college. On this trip I created my business name, business mission and profit plan and created The INDI Group a media marketing platform for independent creatives looking to enhance their brand identity and artist networking efforts.

I can definitely say that the challenges and lessons I’ve learned just to sum it up all rely on faith and listening to my instincts to make the best business decisions.  I would say building anything takes time and patience and when jumping into entrepreneurship one instantly realizes that it’s more about having patience in the journey simply allows you to become more calm when creating and loosen up on the natural Artist anxiety that comes into play when creators create.  One of the biggest challenges I did have was expanding our brand to the Los Angeles area in terms of doing artist showcases and networking events for creatives. I always knew I would have ties to California and I was always inspired by the culture of the Los Angeles community so when I began to be influenced to expand my brand I was both nervous and very excited. I made the transition while visiting a few times in college.  I made it a point to always have my birthday in Los Angeles where I would throw an artist event and connect several LA visual artists and musicians together by hosting Los Angeles gallery events in the DTLA , And West LA areas. By connecting these artists I was able to grow my brand and keep long lasting connections that would allow the INDI Media brand to make an official media branch in the LA area. Through that branch we have built consistent partnerships with venues such as Apartment503 , Hollywood’s Bronson Bar , independent galleries  and several independent LA based music platforms to connect our Midwest artists with!

Definitely! Something else to know about me as an entrepreneur is that I honestly do believe anything is possible. I have become the ultimate “dot connector” when it comes to connecting independent up and coming entrepreneurs with consistent and creative marketing strategies. I believe entrepreneurship is the best door that any creative or artist could open for themselves because it builds the confidence on how creatives can build their business mindset behind their artistic brand.

Our next event in the Los Angeles area will take place January 21st on Melrose Avenue as we prepare for our “Fuck Anxiety” pop up shop shedding light on mental health awareness for the Artist community in Los Angeles through fashion supporting West Coast and Midwest Designers. Check out more info at our Eventbrite link here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fck-anxiety-pop-up-shop-los-angeles-tickets-487811396017

I believe happiness and what makes one happy is based on personal growth and life experiences. Right now what makes me happy is loving myself and treating myself to self care and fully understanding what that means for myself. Creating my own moments of happiness that I wanted to see take flight since childhood is what keeps me driven to be happy in adulthood. I love hanging out with my niece and nephews and I honestly am the happiest when I am teaching art to the youth and creating new ideas that I can tap into to bring into my reality through my art and business. The art of bringing people together is an art that I tend to not take lightly, so I love having the opportunity to bring artists together to connect with live music and creative expressions.