All successful entrepreneurs share at least two things in common. The first are stories of dynamic and unexpected obstacles rising up at every critical turn. One doesn’t get to a multi million dollar business without some clever improvising and many sleepless nights, after all. The second are stories of a few pivotal inflection points where a big decision coupled with a big opportunity helped take their business to the next level. Digital marketing guru, Jonathan Rivera is one such Entrepreneur who uses his creativity and improvisation acumen to take calculated risks and create big inflection points for himself and his businesses.
Rivera started his career in music. While in school at Full Sail University in Florida, Jonathan managed several artists and helped them achieve their dreams of signing with major record labels. After his initial success as an independent manager, Rivera joined Sony Music Entertainment where his uniquely uninhibited creativity allowed him to shine among his peers. Rivera employed never before seen strategies to achieve things like being one of the first to sell out a Candian Tour for a Latin Artist and curating and managing fan clubs to help his artists see parabolic growth in their audience and sponsorship opportunities. However, at the peak of his game at Sony Music, came an inflection point. “I felt that I already had built a system but didn’t feel challenged anymore,” says Rivera. “Once I mastered and polished my strategies, it became a plug and play model. I was ready to seek what’s next for me.”
Rivera decided to expand his marketing prowess to a variety of industries but the decision to leave music was a significant risk with no guarantees. “It wasn’t easy at all,” recalls Rivera. “but that’s why I liked it. It was a new territory which got me into the same hyper driven mindset I had when I first started.”
Rivera quickly realized that because the future seemed less stable, he had to dig deep and draw on his creativity to apply his existing tools to a broader market. “Music taught me the value of a ‘brand’,” says Rivera. “Each industry has its own methods of marketing but once I understood the basics, I was able to add value by creating a more dynamic brand image for my clients.”
Jonathan would skillfully navigate this inflection point in between leaving Sony and starting his own business. He would go on to found Double X Media with his business partner Xerxes Frechiani, a one stop, digital marketing agency that has generated outsized ROIs for clients and millions in revenue. Rivera stresses the importance of focus and professional integrity at inflection points. “I always promise a lot but always aim to over deliver. So, I build out both realistic goals and outrageous ones,” says Rivera. “You have to make sure both the clients and your own team see the biggest picture possible, until the picture becomes a reality.