Meet AJ Brown | Social Media Influencer/Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with AJ Brown and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi AJ, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
My favorite quote at the moment is, “stop telling yourself to fake it until you make it. There’s no such thing because your actions and effort are very much real. You are exactly who you think you are.”

I really like this quote because I’ve had many versions of myself I’ve wanted to be, but at times, I didn’t always feel like I was the person I was trying to be. I had the behaviors down, but my mind had convinced me I hadn’t done enough to be worthy of whatever person I was trying to become. I felt like I was, “faking the behaviors of the person I wanted to be until my mind felt like I was worthy to actually be that person.” But my actions, my efforts— there was nothing fake about it. It was all real. The behaviors were real. So, when I came across this quote, it helped me realize that I am exactly who I say I am if the actions and efforts are there. Why downplay my efforts?

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m most proud of the young men I’ve been able to help. Whether it’s my videos about grooming and hygiene, dating, or lifestyle tips, I’ve gotten so many messages from young men and parents about how helpful my content has been for them. That’s what I’m most proud of— seeing the positive impact I’m having on others.

Getting to this point has always felt like me being in the right place at the right time. But as cliche as it sounds, it’s been being consistent— consistent with posting, reaching out to brands, networking with other creators, doing my research on popular, relatable topics, etc. Prior to my content creation journey, I would always start something and never finish it, or I would just give up on before it could actually turn to something. But in December of 2022, I told myself that I would stay “see atleast one thing through,” and that ended up being content. I stayed consistent and saw it through, even when I felt discouraged or uninspired. And here we are.

So, my advice to anyone striving to do anything in their life is to show up and be consistent. You’ll be surprised at where it takes you. It’ll be challenging and things will not go how you planned a majority of the time, but sometimes, God has something bigger and better waiting on you. And it just takes consistency and patience.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a best friend was visiting, I would definitely take them to some of my hidden gems like Birria El Gordo, Sumo Hibachi— just to name a few. The food at those spots are amazing. We would for sure have to go to Ponce City Market, maybe hit the rooftop there. Go to the Beltline or Little 5 Points and catch a vibe out there. And then later that night maybe do El Malo. That’s one of my favorite nightclubs/lounges. If it’s warm/hot out, we have to Shoot The Hooch and float down the Chattahoochee River.

I’m not really on the scene as far as clubs, lounges, brunch parties, etc. I went to school in a college town, so I’ve had enough of that for two life times. So, now I’m more into the lowkey, adventurous activities.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to start by giving a huge shoutout to one of my best friends, @robbkenon. I’d always been a creative person, and had posted videos on TikTok but felt like it was an app for kids, so I would always delete or archive my videos. But then he convinced me to start posting on TikTok again, to stay consistent, gave me his posting schedule and some tips, and it was up from there.

A lot of my inspiration came from him and other content creators like @carlosharrisjr, @itstrenow, @ron_doug, @xterrencebjr, and a few others. I really love the content those guys put out and have been following and supporting their stuff for a while now. @enashaolivia too. She was one of the bigger content creators to support my content when I first started out. That definitely inspired me to keep going.

Instagram: @ajtaughtyou

Other: TikTok: @ajtaughtyou

Image Credits
@canon.carter
@dopeoverdose