Today we’d like to introduce you to Jiggy Jones. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Jiggy Jones is a prolific, charismatic, and groundbreaking multimedia celebrity journalist from Newark, NJ. Jones is certainly a force to be reckoned with within the media and entertainment business. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in journalism from William Paterson University of New Jersey in 2017, he sought avenues to break into the media & entertainment industry.
His search would strike gold when he noticed an ad on a website that stated the legendary Source Magazine (thesource.com) was looking to hire contributors. He was later hired as a contributing writer and has written for the platform since October 2017.
In 2020, he co-founded the media agency, KreativeClout, alongside his fraternal brother, Lamont Griffin. Through KreativeClout Jiggy has interviewed Grammy award-winning artists, legendary actors, media personalities, influencers, and entrepreneurs including Martin Lawrence and The ‘Martin’ Cast, Angie Martinez, Angela & Vanessa Simmons, Ludacris, and Lil Baby to name a few.
Jones is renowned for making his guests feel at ease, leading to seamless conversations no matter the subject. In addition to his journalistic aptitude, Jiggy has distinguished himself for his style and keen sense of fashion. He is the lead ambassador for the lifestyle brand, World Leaders, and helps to expand the brand’s outreach and influence in his role.
He echoes that life is an evergreen journey of community, service, and growth. Therefore, Jiggy lives by two of his favorite quotes: “With confidence, you have won before you have started.” “Commit time to what you enjoy and use it in service to others.”
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to your goals comes with its twists and turns. Expect several “no’s” and doors to be closed and shut in your face. I constantly remind myself that it only takes one “yes.” Delayed success is only granting us time to be better prepared and fine-tune our strategy. In 2020, the pandemic happened and it prevented me from conducting in-person interviews. I also tore my Achilles Tendon during the pandemic as well.
I could’ve easily let that hinder my progress, but instead, I decided to use it as motivation. While I could not conduct in-person interviews, I used Instagram Live and Zoom and continued to create content with the tools I had. My Youtube numbers began to climb and sustain themselves because I decided to keep going, despite unfortunate circumstances.
The ultimate measure of a person is not where he/she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he/she stands at times of challenge and controversy. I welcomed that challenge with open arms as a learning experience and have grown exponentially.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a prolific storyteller. I do so in the form of mass media. As a journalist, I take pride, and joy and have a passion for storytelling, especially stories that are of my community. Our past and present play a significant role in developing our future. Therefore, I inducted myself to tell those stories and inform my community with every interview. I interview musical artists, celebrities, actors, actresses, entrepreneurs, and more.
I am renowned for making my interviewees feel comfortable talking about what they do, how they do it, and why they are doing it. I am most proud of a couple of things: One is launching a scalable media agency with my brother, Lamont Griffin, who named the company and put the battery in my back to “do it ourselves.”
Secondly, I am most proud of my interview with The cast of “Martin.” I grew up watching the show with my family and there I was speaking with the cast for the show’s 30th reunion special. It was a dream come true and further affirmation that I am walking in my purpose. This is ONLY THE BEGINNING!
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Before I began my journey in media, I met with my frat brother, Jameer Pond back in 2017, two months before finishing undergrad. At the time, he was working at Hot 97 as a Digital Producer. He was the only person I knew that was in the realm of what I wanted to spend my time doing post-grad.
He emphasized and reminded me to “always focus on my journey. What’s meant for me will always be meant for me.” It is similar to the horse racing metaphor. Horses have blinders on to solely focus on the race in front of them and not get distracted by what’s going on to the right or left of them. Jameer is now an award-winning producer, on-camera talent, and one of the best in the business as a Creative Video Director at Condé Nast.
I’ve also learned to accept that the journey to absolute greatness takes time and that process can feel lonely. I’ve learned to surround myself with ambitious executors and disrupters who are also focused on achieving their goals despite their current circumstances. J. Cole told me: “Anything’s possible. You gotta dream like you never seen obstacles.” And that’s how I dream.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiggyjones__/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jiggyjones__
- Youtube: https://bit.ly/2J1OSRn
Image Credits
Sivram Jackson and JoLa Soul
