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

Hi Darrick, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I started my own business for three reasons:

1. Freedom & Flexibility – I wanted to be able to select my hours, choose my own projects, & have complete control of my life so I could live within my purpose while fulfilling my mission on this Earth. In my first job after school, I was told that I was going to have to spend 5 years in a cubicle before I would be able to work in outside sales. They didn’t know just how ready I was to hit the ground running.

2. Unlimited Income & Equity – Once upon a time, I was figuratively caught in the crosshairs of another man’s business problems. I never wanted to go through this situation again & knew that if I started my own business then the ball would be in my court in terms of earnings.

3. Community Engagement – I knew that starting my own business would allow me to get more involved in the community. It has been an awesome experience helping everyday business owners, which I will truly cherish for the rest of my life.

What should our readers know about your business?
My company Fish Media Group is a full-service marketing agency that focuses on helping small businesses grow sales. We view marketing as a puzzle & help non-technical people put this puzzle together so it makes their business stand out in their marketplace while making humongous leaps in sales year after year.

Business has been extremely tough during the COVID Recession. It has been sad to see small businesses go under day after day, while the DOW sits over 30k. To my understanding, Georgia had no statewide program to help its small businesses during 2020. This is really sad in my opinion & seems as a slap in the face to small business located within the state.

My favorite business projects have been within the music industry. It has been a lot of fun working with artists that have tracks with big names like Snoop Dogg. It has also been very exciting to see artists I know personally, start to get traction within the industry. I also enjoy working with labels.

What really separates my business apart from many companies within the services space, is that we can usually show our clients a direct ROI from our services. It feels great to help people with skills you have spent years & years honing up on.

The hardest part has been loneliness for me. I don’t have a business partner or a significant other, so I’ve become accustomed to being & working alone a lot. Choosing the right significant other can make or break your success in any industry. Sometimes people will say or think they are okay with loving someone who works extremely long hours, then throughout the relationship, they may begin to feel neglected. I think if someone is willing to work with you on whatever you are trying to accomplish late at night or on the weekends then that is probably a good indicator that the person really cares about you along with what you are trying to accomplish.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Atlanta has some of the best food in the country.

I would take them to Piedmont Park first then we would go to Park Tavern, The Nook, or Loca Luna.

Atlanta is also crushing it in the sports sector, we would definitely have to check out the Battery to catch a Braves game.

As far as the night life scene goes, we would probably check out some spots in Buckhead over by Irby Ave!

The options are endless, which is a sign of a great city.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout goes to movie & TV director Jeff Fisher. You see, I grew up in a town with around 20k people. Where I’m from, people can tend to think very small & narrow. If I would have told people in my hometown growing up that I would have the chance to be an actor or work in film, they would have most likely labeled me as crazy & sent me to some form of in-school punishment for thinking too largely.

When a colleague of mine told me that Jeff was a movie director, I immediately looked into his work & was going to do whatever it took to get a meeting with him.

I ran into him in Midtown around 5 or 6 times, every time I asked him if he would put me on to acting. Around the 5th time, he ended up giving me his number. The following week we went & grabbed tacos at Zocalo where we talked about business, life, & film. I wanted to buy his meal, but at the time I was so poor that I didn’t even know if I had enough money on my card to buy both of our meals. He told me to start acting classes, which I still haven’t been able to do yet but I plan on it when my business picks up.

Even though I haven’t landed a big TV or Movie role yet, I have auditioned/interviewed for a couple of roles.

One day, my video guy went MIA, so I reached out to Jeff to see if any of his students at SCAD could help with the project.

Jeff introduced me to an extremely talented individual named David Nixon, who I really believe is going to make a big mark in the film space.

The project ended up falling through, but David & I still took time to connect for dinner one night at one of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta… Loca Luna.

Months later, I discovered that David was working on a short film for his master’s of film thesis. I told David that I would help him with whatever he needed for his film for free since the video project fell through. He was open to the help & I ended up working as a Production Assistant on his project. It was an incredible experience to connect with so many talented people in the film space to collaborate on David’s short film, Lumps. I’m really excited for the world to see “David’s Art” when it is released to the public!

Another person I’d like to give a shoutout to is SCAD grad Alonna Morrison. We grew up together as friends, but recently I’ve been blown away by her professional work in the creative space. I’m really excited to see what she accomplishes & give her kudos for keeping on during the pandemic!

My last shoutout is to everyone in Midtown who showed me or my business some love or inspired me to become a better person. You know who you are.

Website: www.fishmedia.agency

Instagram: @fishmediagroup

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrick-fisher-32016a116/

Facebook: @Thefishmediagroup

Image Credits
Shoutout to Patrick Hull Williams for the logo… He is a bright graphic designer…

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