Entrepreneurial success is a combination of hard work, perseverance, and a willingness to take risks. For Castell J.R. Barnes, the journey was filled with challenges, but ultimately rewarding.
Entrepreneurial success is a combination of hard work, perseverance, and a willingness to take risks. For Castell J.R. Barnes, the journey was filled with challenges, but ultimately rewarding. Here is a look at how he overcame obstacles and built his consultancy, CJRB Inspirations, which later merged into what is GRTR Management today.
After majoring in Entrepreneurship in college and reading over 30 business books, Castell J.R. Barnes noticed a gap in his local market. He realized that up-and-coming entrepreneurs, media personalities, and mid-to-senior-level corporate executives needed help with their digital presence. So, he launched CJRB Inspirations, an image consultancy that inspired individuals to execute their goals through inspirational products and services.
CJRB Inspirations provided a range of products and services, including self-help books, keynote speeches, and lifestyle curation services such as styling, wardrobing, travel accommodations, and digital marketing across social media. Within a short period, the consultancy serviced 50 clients with its image consulting services, impacted 3.5K readers, and carried out 40 speaking engagements.
In 2018, CJRB Inspirations merged with GRTR Management, a creative consultancy focused on securing branding and speaking partnerships. The new firm provides SMBs and Large Enterprises with branding blueprints, lifestyle visuals, image consulting, and digital marketing services.
In the realm of speaking, GRTR Management commits to keynote speeches, panel discussions, educational workshops, and hosting and interviewing at special events.
To date, GRTR Management has worked with over 40 corporate clients within Tech, Media & Entertainment, Consumer Packaged Goods, and Hospitality.
Starting out as an entrepreneur is never easy, and Castell J.R. Barnes faced a few significant challenges. The founder initially battled with being perceived as too young and inexperienced in the fields of image consulting, writing, and public speaking. Additionally, with only $1500 to his name as a fresh college graduate, there was a struggle to raise enough capital to market his business to the masses.
To overcome the perception of youth and inexperience, Castell and his team committed their first year of business to providing pro bono image consulting services to local SMBs in New York City.
After sending out over a thousand applications through social media, cold calls, emails and in-person drop-ins, they obtained 22 clients who, in turn, provided case studies and brag videos of the results they drove for their companies. These case studies and brag videos equipped the consultancy with the credibility tools they needed to gain the attention of potential clients and later drive sales.
Out of the $1500 he had saved, Castell spent $750 to incorporate CJRB and another $550 to get a DSLR camera; he barely had any money left. To overcome the need for marketing capital, social media (Instagram and Facebook) became the primary marketing channels. The visibility of the platforms allowed for creating content that would reach the immediate audiences his team was looking to interact with. They also attracted interns that expanded the posting output, which worked nicely with other marketing efforts.
For anyone looking to follow a similar path in entrepreneurship, Castell has some advice.
Castell J.R. Barnes’ journey is a testament to the importance of persistence, creativity, and hard work in building a successful business. By finding your way around challenges and following advice from people with experience, you too can build a successful business and achieve your entrepreneurial goals.
If you’d like to reach out to Castell and GRTR Management, you can do so through the following channels:
