"Most of the times I’m the youngest one in the room when doing business," Walker said. "I’ve always had a love for music, but have never been gifted with any specific talent."
Unashamed, Walker admits that he has two left feet, cannot sing, and has no rapping abilities. Yet, he found something he's excelled in since he was young - business. Walker used to work at Sanrio, a small retail job on 233 West 42nd street in New York City. The summer after he graduated from high school he loved it, and continued to work for a year and a half. Walker wanted to continue working while going back to school for an upcoming semester. Previously, he only worked over the summer so he asked a month prior to starting school if he could continue to work during his semester. He was welcomed with open arms until two days before school started when his manager changed her mind about him continuing to work in the store.
His manager's choice of words was more shocking than the sudden decision not to keep him. Walker said her explanation was, "She didn't know if she could keep me because I 'got along with people too well.' Such an unprofessional and ridiculous answer totally turned me off of working for other people ever again in my life. It also opened my eyes to the countless amount of hours I was spending doing absolutely nothing with my life."
Although this looked like a terrible situation, it was really preparing Walker for his next move in life. During that time, he also happened to be learning about the music industry. His coworker at Sanrio was a female singer, which was the very first artist he began managing.
"From there I started managing her and the rest is history still in the making," Walker said.
This is where his career path came together two years ago, but it wasn't smooth sailing all at once. As both a CEO and young adult, there were several challenges that he had to overcome, like people not taking him seriously. According to Walker, people doubted his vision during the early stages of when he was trying to establish Avenue Music Group.
"It was difficult convincing people that I had an idea, an end goal and a plan to get there. Pretty much in society anyone who goes against the traditional ways of school, more school, a job, then finally working your way up the ladder, are the ones who are usually discouraged from their goals."
He knew that his mother and grandmother believed in his ability to achieve his goals, yet they also discouraged him from the path that he'd already chosen and encouraged him to take a more traditional approach. However, Walker acknowledges that he knew that his family had his best interests in mind.
"That same statement goes for a majority of my family members and 99% of adults I spoke to. People my age were easier to convince that I had real goals and wanted to chase them."
Despite the opposition, Walker went against the odds, taking it one step at a time on the road less traveled.
"The hardest part was getting over that first hump and proving to everyone that I was serious, focused and dedicated to my craft," Walker said. "The second thing would have to be the young part. I was 19 when I started managing so at first, no one really takes you seriously as a young person with big aspirations. A good amount of times people still challenge my ideas and ability to accomplish them at such a young age, although now its gotten much easier because of the resume I've built over the past couple of years."
Walker has built quite a resume for himself as he is currently managing four main artists (A.R. Stylez, Rebeca Sol, Enonomous, and RQ Tek). A.R. Stylez and Enonomous are both Hip-Hop Recording Artists, Rebeca Sol is a Singer/Songwriter/Spoken-Word/Guitarist, and R.Q.Tek is a Spoken Word/Hip-Hop Recording Artist. Walker supports flourishing artists using a variety of mediums and he is currently the Chief Operating Officer of A.R. Stylez' brand. So, how does he do it?
As for artists that he does not officially manage, Walker still offers his support in three ways. First, he does one-on-one consultations where he assesses an artist's past, present, and future while giving tips and advice on how to best utilize their resources that they have at their disposal to progress their career.
"I can set up official consults where I charge an affordable fee, or I’m always open to sitting down and just talking to artists," Walker said.
Secondly, he hosts many shows, events and programs that are based around setting up artists on a platform to gain exposure while giving back to their communities. Some of the shows he's held are talent shows, open mics, back to school drives, album release parties, yacht showcases, Christmas fundraisers, talent panels, and programs with schools and libraries. Walker has many more upcoming projects where he is constantly looking for new talent and if that's not enough to persuade upcoming artists, his third medium is a 24/7 online radio station.
"Every Monday at 8 pm, my co-host and I have a live show called Synergy Radio," Walker explained. "First and foremost I use the station as an educational tool to teach upcoming artists and entrepreneurs. It's also used as a platform for artists to have their music heard. We have a specific section where we have an hour of brand new hot, local music. We also use it to promote and bring awareness to different artists, organizations and businesses by featuring them on the show through interviews. The station is also open to any future radio hosts who have interesting ideas that would like to have a show for themselves on the station."
Some upcoming projects to look out for are new programs and events within different public libraries, which will be led by artists of all trades which includes singers, hip-hop artists, poets, dancers, etc. Another project is working in schools to bring in some arts/entertainment programs that will educate, entertain, and engage the youth.
"I’m planning on having different artists come in and speak to/mentor the kids, have a performance and educate by teaching business etiquette, the importance of networking, and using technology in the correct way."
Walker also expressed his excitement of bringing his artists to college campuses as well. When asked about how he distinguishes himself from other companies that are helping developing artists he responded:
"I’m different from other companies because I make an emphasis on giving back to the community and people who help start an artist's career. Most companies think about how they can give back every once and a while. Almost every one if not all of my events give back to some cause, benefit an organization, or bring awareness to an issue that can help better the community."
In addition to that, Walker's core values include education, collaboration, and equality.
"With education, I believe that everyone should spend at least an hour each day self-educating themselves in their craft," Walker said. "While most companies are looking on how to steal all of the attention, I have no problem with collaborating and sharing the spotlight if it’s beneficial for both parties. Lastly, I would really like to bring a change to how society thinks."
Walker believes in equality for both academic and entertainment based careers.
"I would like for parents, adults and overall society to support a child, teenager or young adult that wants to be a singer or a dancer just as much as they would support someone wanting to become a doctor or a lawyer."
Walker believes that networking and connecting with people is very important so if any upcoming artists are interested in getting in touch with him, they can contact him directly through any social media platform.
Website: www.avenuemusicgroup.com
Synergy Radio Station: http://tunein.com/radio/synergy-radio-s233483/
Email: JoshuaWalkerAMG@aol.com,
Instagram: AMG_CEO
Twitter: AvenueMusicAMG
Cell Ph: 973.449.9017
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