Meet The Disruptors: Javon Frazier Of Maestro Media On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
I believe that disrupting the industry is positive when you create opportunities for other people. Disruption can be negative when it creates some sort of advantage that only benefits you. Where you’ve cornered the market on something, and then you raise the price on that thing and you’re doing something only for the benefit of yourself. I think that’s where it becomes extremely negative.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Javon Frazier.
Javon Frazier is a veteran digital strategist and serial entrepreneur with experience in nearly all divisions of the media and entertainment industry, including film, television, music, games, web and mobile.
Javon is the founder and CEO of Maestro Media, a first of its kind full-service strategic product and business development firm that works with creators and entrepreneurs to deliver experiences and products directly to consumers through engagement and positive brand sentiment.
Javon is also a leader in the crowdfunding world, with previous crowdfunding projects amassing over $15 million in funding. In 2021 alone, he has driven over $6 million in crowd fundraising through Maestro Media.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I served as the Chief Product Officer for Studio71, one of the top multimedia influencer companies in the world. I’ve done over 100 creator campaigns with varied executions, from t-shirts, print on demand products, subscription boxes, tabletop games, and more. I’ve really become an expert in working with talented influencers and helping them to monetize their brand through merchandise and products, and have a long, extensive experience of success in the space.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
It’s our non-traditional licensing. We’ve been able to develop a global, multinational organization with our products. We’re also hyper-focused on fans. We’re giving the fans unique experiences and innovative products. We are authentically interacting with them, listening to what they want and delivering. Which doesn’t sound like a lot of disruption, frankly, it sounds like, “Oh, that’s a no brainer.” However, you’d be surprised at the amount of people that take a swing and a miss based upon just trying to get the biggest IP and the biggest name to sign, and then watching that blow up in their face. It’s not about the biggest name, it’s about who has the most loyal and passionate fanbase, and how you can surprise and delight them in exciting ways.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
I think one of the people that I really attribute a lot of success I currently have in the space would be Reza Izad, the previous CEO of Studio 71. Reza and I had a thesis to make influencers the brand and develop merchandise licenses around these creators, the same way with the same veracity that you would license around Disney, Marvel, The Avengers, etc. And that’s what we did. I built a monthly subscription box around a kid that played with toys online and sold 350,000 boxes to every country in the world over a three-year period. Reza supported my audacious projects like that, and I’m grateful for his belief in me.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
I believe that disrupting the industry is positive when you create opportunities for other people. Disruption can be negative when it creates some sort of advantage that only benefits you. Where you’ve cornered the market on something, and then you raise the price on that thing and you’re doing something only for the benefit of yourself. I think that’s where it becomes extremely negative.
Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
Enjoy the journey is probably some of the best advice I received. I know it’s only three words, but it’s three impactful words. I think if you’re always chasing the end and are always like, “Okay, I’ll be happy at the end,” you’ll never be happy, because the journey is the fun.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
I’m really focused on finding other unique games, IPs and communities. I love taking unique IPs, video games, concepts, etc and working with their fan bases to turn them into board games and creating something that you wouldn’t consider to be successful, into something incredibly popular!
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
People Time & Money: Inspiration and Wisdom for Every Entrepreneur by Rich Russakoff is a must read for any leader. It provided me with a lot of foundational tools, such as making sure that people are working in their zone of genius, and how to get the best out of people.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
If you believe you can or you can’t You’re right.
How can our readers follow you online?
Check us out at MaestroMedia.com and give me a follow on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/javonfrazier.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Javon Frazier Of Maestro Media On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
