In the world of entrepreneurship, people often take years to plan things out—what to sell, where to sell it, etc. But have you ever become an entrepreneur by accident? I recently had the opportunity to interview JD Duran, an entrepreneur who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 2A (CMT T2A), as part of my series on entrepreneurs with disabilities.
“Funny enough, I started my business by accident,” JD Duran says of his freelance digital marketing services. His church saw how he’d post about his life online, with a storyteller’s tone and an eye toward community, and asked him to do that for the parish as a paid job. He agreed, and a couple of years later, he began getting similar requests from other local community organizations he was a part of. “Before I knew it, I began considering these organizations I work with as ‘clients’; running their communications platforms while still being a member of their community for a period of time.” One of the big things that attracted these ‘clients’ to seek JD out was his approachable and engaging personality. It can be tough for one person to manage deadlines for multiple clients, but JD’s physical disability has helped him learn three important skills:
Patience
Persistence
Creative Problem-Solving
Because of these lessons, this caused JD to think of ways to adapt and keep a routine to get work tasks done efficiently. This job is more than getting likes and shares when posting digital content; it’s about providing a service to clients with underrepresented communities. “A couple of years ago, one of my clients entrusted me with putting together a majority of internal communications and role as a creative director of sorts regarding their big annual fundraiser.” He says, “Basically, I was in charge of the digital marketing campaign to promote the event, finding and coordinating AV for the event, working with community partners/media outlets who also promoted the event on their platforms, made decisions with the aesthetics in the ballroom on the day of the event, event photography, etc. That year, we raised the most money in the event’s history up until that point.”
Including Valuable Perspectives
The unofficial mission of JD’s business, Create Everyday PDX, is “To create art, opportunities, and memories, through storytelling and digital marketing services that help organizations grow and strengthen their communities.” He does what he does to help uplift organizations and their communities and ensure the inclusion of their stories. That word, “inclusion”, means different things to different people. To JD, it “simply means ‘being included’ especially if you are coming from a diverse or underrepresented background.” As an example, JD says that if he’s ever “the token person of color” or “the token person with a disability” in a conversation, he knows that he’s there for a reason—not just that he’s being included, but that he’s “being sought out as having potentially valuable contributions in those moments.”
Are you an aspiring entrepreneur with a disability?
JD’s got some good advice for you: “First, take risks. You will never know what can happen if you don’t take risks. Plus, there [are] only two outcomes when taking risks. Things either turn out the way you expected, or they don’t. Second, always be willing to learn. When things don’t turn out the way you expect, you have to be willing to learn if you truly want to improve your business endeavors (or with your life in general).”
“[Inclusion] simply means ‘being included’ especially if you are coming from a diverse or underrepresented background […] but more importantly, […] being sought out as having potentially valuable contributions in those moments.”—JD Duran
The Road to LLC
So, what’s next for JD? “As of now, I am continuing to work with my already existing clients running their digital marketing/communications platforms, and of course, hoping to expand it to others as well. But, I am in the process of getting my LLC. To finally put a ‘company name’ to the services I provide aside from having just my name behind the work being done.”(NOTE: Since the publication of this story, Create Everyday PDX is now an LLC and official business).
In our modern social media landscape, services like JD’s can be vital to success; using the proper hashtags in your posts can get your business’s “ads” to the people who are most likely to “buy.” Think of this like the inverse of a billboard—a targeted scalpel rather than a wide net. If you need assistance with running your social media, or if you need someone to take care of the photography and/or videography, you can reach him on Instagram @createeverydaypdx or @jdduran. You’re helping him expand his clientele, and he’s helping “expand your endeavors.” Everyone wins!
ABOUT the ENTREPRENEUR
I’m JD Duran, I have a progressive neurological condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease Type 2A, which affects the nerves in my body, causing them to get weaker over time. Despite my disability, I work as a digital marketer working with various organizations/clients helping them run their digital communications platforms. In addition to the handful of clients I currently work with, I have worked with INCIGHT for the past 3.5 years as their social media manager and was a former scholar through their scholarship program from 2013 to 2017. I strive to continue growing my clientele with their communities, but also my overall business as well.
ABOUT the AUTHOR:
Mitch Blatt is the Editor-in-Chief of The Understanding. He graduated from Linfield College with degrees in Creative Writing and Psychology in 2018, and has been working for INCIGHT as The Understanding’s Editor-in-Chief since 2019. He lives with cerebral palsy and OCD, and doesn’t let either stand in the way of living a good life.
