Artistpreneur Spotlight - Justin Grome, Photographer | Artist Manager | iOS Developer | Founder of Clonefluence Inc.

Justin Grome is a 20 year old Professional Photographer, Artist Manager, iOS Developer, and Founder of Clonefluence Inc. from New Jersey. He started becoming interested in social media when he was 13 years old and got his first camera for Christmas. Throughout that year alone, he amassed over 5,000 followers just by uploading his pictures of anything he shot with his camera. He works with very known artists and businesses throughout the world, promoting and advertising anything they need him to. He has sponsorships with brands and companies like Fila, Sperry, ASUS, NFL, Walmart, Sunny D, Ad Council and many more. He loves what he does because this is to help people grow and gain connections in a way to benefit everyone involved. He manages some artists like Atari Jones, who is known for his catchy music/globally trending art series, Ash Riser who is affiliated with Kendrick Lamar, and Ponce De Leioun who is known for his rap career. Now that Clonefluence is getting very popular, Justin is always putting his artists first and doing everything in his power to benefit them and their career.

Before Clonefluence launched, the idea of helping was always a prime concern. Founded in July 2017, Clonefluence is built on the idea that the world is better when businesses and customers communicate freely. We exist to help enhance the online presence and make those communications smooth—with customers, prospects and enthusiasts. Our management is packed with handy features. We are a corporation that offers services such as Artist Management, Social Media Management, Promotions, Marketing, Follower Enlargement, and Blog Placements with Interviews. The Team is committed to culture and has helped our organization grow from humble beginnings to now serving more than thousands every day. Our passion for support, happiness and quality flow through everything that we do. We exist to witness you strive.

1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to engage in creative endeavors for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?

When I was younger, I was always a creative kid and didn’t know how else to be. Even when none of my friends could hangout, I would go on adventures by myself and just explore because the world fascinated me. My mom always told me that I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up and for the longest time that’s what photography did for me. I saw that from a young age people had such a big impact on social media and I wanted to be next. One of my biggest influences even though it wasn’t so much of a person, it was a movie. The Wolf of Wall Street literally fascinated me that someone could be so intelligent and how they thought made them so successful in life. He literally turned his life around in a year.

2.) If you could compare yourself to an already established creative entrepreneur, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then what separates you from other entrepreneurs out there?

Honestly, my corporation and I have been getting a lot of comparisons to Cole Bennett and his company, Lyrical Lemonade. We do just about everything they do minus the directing of music videos. We’re all behind the scenes of the music industry. Cole Bennett has actually been a really big inspiration for me as well. I started following him on Twitter when he just started getting some buzz on the internet and just watched him grow into a superstar right in front of my eyes in less than a year. My company is working on getting to that level nonstop.

3.) In the age of the Internet and technology, many young people (Generation Y and Generation Z) are starting businesses. What makes Clonefluence different from all of the other businesses out there?

Clonefluence is one of the first businesses to have an actual manager that books artists’ shows, manages their social media accounts, and helps them grow as a person, but through the internet. We’ve never heard of another company that books artists’ shows through the internet and are successful at doing so. We’re basically a “Cloud Manager” if you would. Of course, we interact with them physically if needed but the majority of our work is done online.

4.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on your work? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming a creative entrepreneur?

When I was about 16 (I’m 20 now), my family had a lot of financial troubles and I actually had to move 8 different times in one year. This definitely took a toll on my mental stability and it was especially hard for me to focus on my photography with all of that going on. As soon as I got comfortable in one home, we had to pack up and leave. As I got older it just made me realize that going through that made me the person I am today.

5.) How do you prepare yourself to create? What is your process?

Doing what I do mostly comes from stored ideas or a lot of Twitter. Something will eventually spark my idea or a very talented artist will contact us and that’s just how it begins. We do a lot of research on the artist beforehand. Twitter is just a great place to network.

6.) Unfortunately the creative industry is full of talented individuals who more or less become the “starving artist” and don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out from the pack and get noticed?

Being the best you can possibly be can only leads to one outcome. Working 24 hour days can only lead to one outcome. Success is inevitable when you put the work into something that should be put in. In general, I hate seeing people bragging that they’re going to be really successful, but on their free time they’re sleeping or not doing anything that benefits them. I’m a full-time student in college and it blows my mind that people still complain that they don’t have enough time for something. If you want something, you make time for it no matter what.

7.) As a business owner, would you rather stay independent or possibly merge with a big corporation in order to expand? What are the pros and cons of working for yourself instead for someone else?

It all depends on what’s in it for both of us. Most likely stay independent because I’ve always hated having a boss. I like being the head honcho and not having to answer to anyone else. When you’re working for someone else, I feel like your opinion doesn’t even matter 90% of the time. The kind of boss I am is always considerate of other people’s opinions and any criticism helps you get better.

8.) As a professional photographer, artist manager, iOS developer, business owner and full-time college student, how are you able to juggle so many hats without becoming overwhelmed?

I always get asked this at least 5 times per day and I give every single person the same answer. You make time for what you want. It doesn’t matter if you’re working days at a time, if you want something that bad you overcome anything in your way to get it. I’m in college anyway, so what is sleep?

9.) Nowadays, average users who take pictures and use Instagram filters are able to pass themselves off as photographers. How do you feel about this? Is this something that you feel can possibly put professional photographers out of work?

This is honestly kind of frustrating because people are always misusing the word photographer as well. Unless you do that as job currently or have in the past, I don’t think you should be considered a photographer. Some sort of money should be made to be considered one. There’s no way that should put true photographers out of work because anyone can take a decent picture with a phone, but less than half the people in the world actually know how to use a real camera.

10.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the creative industry and how artists are able to market themselves?

The way creatives are displayed now is people are doing anything for attention. You could do the most ridiculous thing and you’ll be famous the next day. So now what artists are doing is getting their face tattooed and other irrational tattoos so people will remember them. When you see a person who has a weird appearance that stands out, you’re more likely to remember them than just a regular guy. Same thing goes for crazy dyed hair. Also, any music could go viral nowadays, just have a huge bass that bumps and have the right team behind you and you’re basically bound to blow up eventually. A lot less talent is actually needed to succeed now and it’s sad.

11.) Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s economy if they’re not social media savvy?

I personally don’t think so at all. Everything is so revolved around the internet now. Even if someone tells you that they don’t use social media, they’d be considered as weird. That’s when the skepticism kicks in like “what are they hiding?” and “who doesn’t use social media?” If you don’t use it, then you’re just doing the best you possibly can to boost your own image.

12.) Many creatives as well as the regular, everyday Tom, Dick and Harry seem to have trouble getting a lot of social media followers. How were you able to amass as many as you did? What tactics and strategies have you employed in order to secure social media followers and get engagement out of them?

What most people don’t know about social media is that it’s honestly a mind game. If you post content that people will want to engage with then they will keep coming back to your page. It starts with improving yourself first and asking yourself why you haven’t gained a lot of followers. Figuring out what you could do better, using proper grammar, finding what times your followers are most active, simple things like that are so important. They either make or break you.

13.) Creative professionals who try to create art for the masses and make more money are usually seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure your art stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?

I do see it that way as well. A lot of people will do what the people want just so it sells and they don’t want to be who they actually are. Definitely a lot of conformity to society’s norms. If you don’t have that certain style in this time period then people most likely won’t even listen to it. I’m personally trying to make sure my artists always make music that represents them and who cares what everyone is making. Just make sure your ego never gets ahead of you basically.

14.) What advice would you give to a kid who says that he/she wants to be a business owner when they grow up?

I would definitely tell a kid that it’s a lot of work, but that work will be worth it in the end. You definitely need a good support system going into it because if you have negative people around you, they’re not going to want to see you succeed. My family was always so proud of what I made of myself at such a young age and that’s the main thing that kept driving me forward.

15.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

In 5 years, I’m hoping we’re one of the most well-known media companies for artists. I want people to know our name without having to look us up. I want to be living the life I’ve always dreamed of and making sure my mom is as happy as I am.