Today we’d like to introduce you to Vladimir Johnstone.
Hi Vladimir, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I’ll start from where it all began. My story begins in Russia in the year 2002. I was adopted from Russia by two former Olympians, I was two years old at the time. I was brought to Jackson Hole where I would be raised for the next 15 years.
Growing up my parent’s olympian status had a huge influence on my lifestyle as a skier. I was a competitive ski racer until I was about 13 years old. At the age of 13, I switched to being a competitive slopestyle skier, by the time I was 15 I was wanting to take slopestyle skiing to next level so we moved to Park City, UT. After the first year in Park City, I decided that competitive skiing was no longer for me…
My competitive spirit was at an all-time high but I wanted to do something different, something with more impact, something that had a better ROI for me. This is when I stumbled upon the world of entrepreneurship. I was amazed by the concept of building products and services to fulfill the needs of others. I started to do some in-depth research on some of the biggest/greatest entrepreneurs of all time, I saw the impact their products had on the world and was fascinated by the products themselves and the process of bringing them to the market/world.
My love for learning took over and I divulged into learning everything I could about entrepreneurship and finance. I quickly realized that some of the most successful entrepreneurs did not go to school or did not think it was necessary to succeed. This is when I knew it was meant to be. I always loved learning but not in the traditional school setting, I learn the best in my own environment, an environment where I can bury my head in books, podcasts, webinars, etc. This worked for me because it allowed me to piece together what I learned based on my thoughts and allowed me to dictate my own pace instead of learning by the thoughts and pace of others.
I was 17 years old and I was in my junior year of high school. It was at this time I saw the opportunity of the digital world emerging. Every day I saw more and more people/companies switching their focus to building an online presence. I was consumed by it, I read book after book about how to grow your business and your presence online. I knew digital was the future and I wanted to be a part of it so I made the decision that I was not going to college. This was an easy decision for me but most did not approve. My parents thought I shouldn’t take college out of the equation quite yet but my mind was set, so I told my parents that I would at least finish high school.
By the end of my senior year, my grades were at an all-time low and all I was focused on was learning everything I could about marketing and the digital age. I remembered the promise I made to my parents and shifted my focus to making sure I would graduate and I did. I did not apply to a single college, somewhere along the line I heard someone say, “planning for failure is worse than not planning at all.” I loved this concept and was determined to live by it. I graduated high school and took a 2 month trip to Europe as I figured out how to enter the digital world. Probably not the best way to prioritize my focus but I do not regret it one bit.
Over the past few years, I had acquired a few very valuable mentors who had been in the game for most of their lives. I got back from Europe and called every one of them to talk about how I could get ahead. They all said I should figure out my approach and the cost of starting. That’s exactly what I did, I did not have the positioning figure out for getting into the digital world but I was so eager to start something. This is when I saw the market gap in auto-detailing companies in my hometown. I decided I would pursue this opportunity while I figured out how to position myself for a digital media/marketing company.
I started an auto detailing company with my brother. I would spend most of my days detailing cars and finding ways to grow the company. When I was not detailing cars I would be learning everything I could about the game and discussing ways to start a media company with my good friend/future business partner Colman. Colman and I had been discussing business ventures for a few years prior and we both wanted to start a company that provided digital services. When Covid hit in 2019, I knew that it was time, people flocked to being online, it forced people to realize the significance of the digital world and the convenience tied to it. If you were not willing to “go digital.”
You risked going out of business. Shortly after Covid began, Colman and I decided we had to go all in. He quit his day job and I hired more employees for Johnstone Detailing so that I could free up my time. We would base our services around what we saw a need for and what we had experience with, him being production and websites, and me being marketing/advertising & sales. So in January of 2020, we started Arjay Media. If we flash forward to the present day, I still own and run Arjay Media with Colman and Johnstone Detailing with my brother Sasha. I am what they would call an “infant” in the entrepreneurial world but my passion is at an all-time high.
I work 70 hours a week not because I have to but because I want to win because I love the world of entrepreneurship more than anything else. If you were to ask me what motivates me I would say my family, my story, the legacy I want to leave behind. I wake up every morning and thank god for giving me life today but not promising me tomorrow. This gives me an intense sense of urgency and immense gratitude for being able to do what I love.
I am on a mission, a mission to see if I can build the biggest companies in the world, a mission to rise to levels that were not thought possible, a mission to get to goat mountain. I want to change the world. How? I am not sure but the fun part will be figuring it out.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wouldn’t say I have any serious obstacles/troubles. Some of my bigger obstacles starting out was having the courage to put my ideas out into the world imperfect, taking too long to test ideas, overthinking potential opportunity, and falling out of my routines. I am relatively young in the entrepreneurial world so I haven’t had anything too serious.
Personally, I don’t think of hardships as hardships. If a family or close friend died that would be extremely hard. But honestly, I look forward to the day-to-day and internal struggles because when I look back on them I see how much they have allowed me to grow as a human being. I don’t want a smooth/easy life because it wouldn’t be as fun but it also would take away the margin for growth. I always think of how Elon says, “entrepreneurship is like staring into a broken abyss.”
I love that abyss, it’s what keeps me going, it keeps my mind sharp, and it gives me daily challenges that allow me to progress. When really hard things do happen my gratitude and realization of where I could be if I wasn’t adopted is what keeps me going.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Arjay Media is a full-stack digital media company. Our core services are creative(graphic design, web development, and brand building), production(photography and videography), marketing(social media, PPC, and SEM/SEO), and management(social media, digital asset.) I would say that what sets us apart is our experience and our humility to find what’s right and not debate what’s right for months on end.
Even though Colman and I are relatively young we have been in the digital world for 5 years plus. We are on the cutting edge of technology and this allows us to be ROI-focused and data-driven. If you are to work with us(Arjay Media) we will provide a custom digital solution tailored to your business needs.
We are consumer-centric, not boardroom-centric, we know how to put the best content in front of your customer at just the right time, and we love to scale the unscalable. We believe it is our responsibility to deliver business results… or fire us.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
If you want to work or collaborate with Arjay Media you can reach us at info@arjaymedia.com. You can support us by sharing our website or social with anyone who is in need of digital services, and by following/interacting with the community we are trying to build.
If you are interested in a career with Arjay media please reach out to vlad@arjaymedia.com Our founder Vladimir Johnstone will be shaving his head in April to support childhood cancer research. If you would like to donate there will be a link in our social media bios at the beginning of March.
If you want to get your vehicle cleaned you can reach us at johnstonedetailing@gmail.com. You can support us by sharing our website or social with anyone who is in need of our services, and by following/interacting with the community we are trying to build. If you are interested in a job/career with Johnstone Detailing please reach out to johnstonedetailing@gmail.com.
Our founder Vladimir Johnstone will be shaving his head in April to support childhood cancer research. If you would like to donate there will be a link in our social media bios at the beginning of March.
Contact Info:
- Email: vlad@arjaymedia.com johnstonedetailing@gmail.com
- Website: www.arjaymedia.com www.johnstonedetailing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arjaymedia/ https://www.instagram.com/johnstonedetailing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnstoneDetailing
