This episode takes a look at what structured  business planning looks like at the beginning of a person's career in a creative industry.  

This is the story of Jacques and Maretta Johnson; mother and son.   

Jacques, in June 2023, is a 26-year-old musician. He's had a mild degree of success,  has opened for internationally known acts and has his own reality TV program on a local station.   His mother has  a locally produced television series, too.  But what makes their story a part of the Atlanta Business League's TELLING OUR STORY series is their application of best business practices to the music industry.   Jacques became a solo performer at age 15. 

His mom used her marketing degree, experience as a paralegal and the knowledge she gained successfully bringing an invented product to market to  structure  her eldest son's career.  This means some of the financial mistakes young artists make have been avoided. 

But there are other aspects of making solid business decisions that can't be easily quantified.  They represent the  human side of any business formula and showing  how it has impacted the  lives and growth of  this mother and son team is what makes their stories so interesting.