Today we’d like to introduce you to Darnell Perkins Jr.
Darnell, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My story starts back home in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was born into a family with many creative influences and grew up with the arts all around me. My mom spent a lot of time making hand-crafted jewelry, while my dad had a love for music (everything from keyboard, percussion, and DJ performance to media production). This creative bug got passed down to me, as I fell in love with fashion. This was a passion of mine I was participating in before I even knew it. I would endlessly sketch human figures into my parents’ work notebooks, primarily women with long legs, wearing an array of different styles. The drawings were pretty bad at first, but I continued to use sketching as a pass-time when I finished my work early in class. By the time it was my final year of high school, I was sitting in IB Calculus with my mind always elsewhere, drawing up some pretty unique designs. Coming to the University of Michigan was a hard transition for me. I often questioned my ability to succeed in this environment, being in an unfamiliar place surrounded by many people who don’t look like me or people from home. That, coupled with 2 major changes and completely leaving behind pursuing a career in law, left me at a bit of a standstill by my 2nd year. It was that year that I teamed up with my peers and co-founded “a/squared Magazine”. The purpose of a/squared Magazine was to offer opportunities to a diverse community of students who are interested in the intersection between business and fashion while highlighting arts and culture in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This was something that I believed was a gap on campus, as I found myself not fully resonating with the other professional or creative organizations in which I held leadership positions at the time. I left these spaces looking for “more.” At the time, “more” wasn’t promised or established in my reality, but I believe God led me to the right spaces to begin building something new. Over the Summer of 2023, my co-founders and I built a/squared from concept to launch, which is an experience I appreciate greatly as it taught me both the struggles and triumphs that come from collaboration, entrepreneurship, and creative processes. The years following came with many other successes outside of a/squared that I would have never imagined for myself. I went on to partner with brands like J.Crew Factory, Amazon, TurboTax, Good Molecules Skincare, and State & Liberty Suits Company doing digital marketing. I also was able to dive into the fashion retail industry, working closely with One DNA. My creative projects began expanding as I started my photography business, DP Editorials where I photographed editorial, event, and graduation portraits. Now in the present day, I enjoy doing freelance directing and styling (having my most recent work published in Artells Magazine), and modeling (featured in shoots that have won both the NY and International Photography Awards). God has truly blessed me, and I am so appreciative of the journey that I am on.
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?
The journey has been rocky. I worked 8-hour, 5 am shifts before class at a local French bakery to support myself through my 2nd year and had a difficult time juggling extracurriculars and coursework that at the time were misaligned. However, it is through that journey that I learned a lot about grit and resilience. I was in a dark period at the start of 2023, not knowing what was in store for me. I spent a lot of time in prayer and meditation to ask God to reveal what my purpose was in the coming years. Having the revelation that I was to pivot from a career in law to business and fashion was difficult for me to grapple with because I had nothing to show for it. But that Summer (on campus helping incoming freshmen transition and balance college life), I met the Founders of One DNA, a retail company started in New York focusing on e-commerce that later built a storefront in Ann Arbor’s Nickels Arcade. Travis Weaver and Simon Black will always hold a special place in my heart as I look back on my career. They gave me an interview to work at the storefront doing sales when I had no fashion-focused experience that proved I could do it. My resume at the time was ripped to shreds, but it was tough love and allowed me to focus on what would be needed for me to take this new career switch seriously. I hated doing sales, but it helped me gain a deeper understanding of consumer patterns and decision-making, which is a necessary component of all levels of business. I moved forward from sales, to helping conceptualize and execute e-commerce shoots and aiding in marketing efforts, which I felt comfortable with and learned a lot. I even got the opportunity to model in an e-commerce campaign, which was really fun. After some time away during my travel abroad experience in Thailand, I came back with a strategy mindset for the company, pitching a College Brand Ambassador Program that could help solve the company’s desired effort to break further into the local market. The pitch was approved, and I served as the Program Director of this initiative. I say all of this to express the need for you to bet on yourself and align yourself with people who are willing to see your potential. Although I didn’t have a flashy internship on my resume or years of experience in fashion, I was still capable of being in a learning environment and leaning on my strengths to add value to the space I was placed in.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What I’m most proud of is my journey helping lead the establishment of a 50+ team of diverse creatives with my role as Chief Creative Officer of a/squared Magazine. It’s often uncomfortable for me to ramble on about my accomplishments, but in the past year, I have found the action of doing so to have so many positive outcomes. Being a first-generation college student, this specific accomplishment on campus is near to my heart. During my time abroad in Thailand before my Senior year at Michigan, several days were spent isolated in my room having some visions for the organization. I skipped out on a couple of nights of enjoying nightlife to conceptualize the framework in which the organization could implement and use to achieve more than it did the first year without nearly as much structure. I often denied my ability to coordinate something so large-scale due to me not having the positions that “grant” me the ability to do so. But I come from a family of entrepreneurs who have built something out of nothing (and fortunately, I wasn’t working with nothing and had an amazing team of co-founders to bring these plans back to). Back in Indianapolis, we had a family-owned bakery with my grandmother at the heart of it all. From a young age, she had me in the bakery carrying out operations from baking and decorating to selling and representing the business at pop-ups. I learned some of the ins and outs of business simply by being in the environment, which is a strength in my family. I also learned more about being a Founder from my Dad, who started a cybersecurity company that has expanded and scaled throughout the Midwest market. My family has been able to achieve these things without a formal institution instilling each of these qualities. It is because of this that I have the opportunity to now learn and make strides within an institution like Michigan. This inspired me to do my research and trust my gut to build a system and onboard a team that can continue the momentum. I couldn’t have done it all without the work of my Co-Founders, Executive Board, and full team who used their unique strengths to further amplify the brand and spread our mission. The best thing I’ve learned through the process is that you can’t do it alone, and you shouldn’t have to. Forward progression is just that… “forward progression”. Everything grows within seasons and ideally should get better as time goes on. I believe we as humans are the same and exactly who we are supposed to be in every given second if we strive for self-improvement. In the unique case of this college organization, the same applies. I hope in future years, those who are given the keys will strive for the best they can give but also give themselves and their team grace. It’s ultimately a pre-professional learning experience where students are all developing themselves creatively and professionally. That’s what a/squared is all about. It’s what being in a space like The University of Michigan has been all about. God willing, I’ll be placed as a sponge in a new environment to learn new things and soak up as much as I can to further the value I add to the world around me.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
My socials are linked in the article! I recently restarted several of my platforms to better align myself with my future goals, so join the ride and enjoy the building process with me. I’m always open to exploring collaborations – please feel free to reach out!
Pricing:
- DP Editorials, Senior Portraits: $250 – 20 retouched portraits, 2 locations, 2 outfits, and styling assistance
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darnellperkinsjr?igsh=anJpZHY0OXRzODdz&utm_source=qr
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darnell-perkins-jr-b16ab9251?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DarnellPerkinsJr
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/asquared_mag?igsh=MTVvNXc5d29tanB2NQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Image Credits
Images 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7 – SinYu Deng
Image 3 – Darnell Perkins Jr.
Image 4 – Kevin McPoland
