Keeping Up With K

Apr 30, 2018

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Entrepreneurs are a rare breed, oftentimes willing to go the distance when others won’t. Staying resilient in the barricade of “no’s” they receive, entrepreneurs tough it out, knowing that quitting is not, nor ever will be, an option.

We spoke with K Clarence Lawrence, and got the scoop on his entrepreneurial journey and where he is now. K is a familiar face around this office, as he participated in the Accelerator 2.7.0. back in 2015. Designed to help entrepreneurs advance their companies in the food, retail and supply-chain industries, the Accelerator 2.7.0. focused on incorporating female, minority and veteran-owned businesses.

K was raised in Little Rock, but has recently moved out to LA to pursue his ventures and eventually scale up. A graduate of Full Sail University in Florida, K studied Business Entrepreneurship and Business Management. Six months prior to graduating, K started his own small-scale video production company. Upon graduating and realizing that Florida’s market was saturated with similar businesses, K moved back to Little Rock and began developing what has become his legacy today.

K has founded three video production companies, each filling a different niche in the video production industry. FirePix Media is a full-service video production company that creates indie films, music videos and web series, catering to the entertainment aspect of video production. Shooter and SimplyVideo both produce video content specific to the e-commerce world, with Shooter specializing in 360 product videos and product photos, and SimplyVideo specializing in video content creation and video marketing subscription services.

Currently, K is going through the process of establishing a parent company to manage his three brands, so he has his hands full. Leaning more toward tech, K is in the process of developing apps for Shopify and Wix, which will help scale up his businesses in the future.

When we spoke, K was happy to describe his participation in the Accelerator 2.7.0., and how it affected his entrepreneurial endeavors. K said that the Accelerator was great for networking and did exactly what it was advertised to do – accelerate small businesses. The environment of the Accelerator program was conducive to learning and the mentoring aspect of the program was especially great. Walking away from the Accelerator, K left with more knowledge on startup strategy and business acumen. From learning how to perform evaluations, create an exit strategy and hone in on selling to investors, the Accelerator experience was extremely helpful and perceptive. Through the Accelerator program K was able to connect with investors and receive input from the Startup Junkie team, establishing the right mindset for business.

Now that K is living in LA, one would think that he’s made it, and can take it easy. As an entrepreneur, that’s never the case! K is working as hard as ever, and gave us some solid advice to pass along. As a realist, he said that you’ve got to understand that nothing happens overnight. You have to learn how to do the small things really well first and then work your way up.

As an entrepreneur, you have to have tough skin – you’ll get a lot of “no’s,” but understand that these rejections are only pushing you to be better.“You have to really want it to make it happen.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Check out K’s work on his website here.
Reach out to K at kclarencelawrence@gmail.com.


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Sarah Van Doorn

Sarah is a Content Strategist at Startup Junkie. Currently a senior at the University of Arkansas, she’s studying Journalism with an emphasis in Advertising and Public Relations. Sarah assists in content creation through writing client feature stories and managing the promotion of the Startup Junkies Podcast. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing and playing Mario Kart.