Junae Brown's Life Struggles Branded Her For Perfection.
Harlem marketing guru Junae Brown fought through all of life's challenges before starting a successful marketing agency.
Inside us all lies the blueprint for success. For Junae Brown, founder of the marketing agency, Browned2Perfection, her family tree, and the borough she calls home, Harlem, played a big role in her success. In the early 1900s, Harlem was the center of Black America decades before Atlanta took the crown. Aided by the business savvy of real estate tycoon, Philip Payton Jr, Harlem became the literary and social center for black Americans in the early 20th century. Decades later, that same DNA of hustle and extravagance took root in Junae. But in her own words, it would take years of intangible events to occur before she got the strength and courage needed to chart her path.
“Each borough takes on its own self-proclaimed identity. Harlem people hustle. You know at a certain age you gotta hustle. We also like to get fly, because how you show up in the world matters. Very early on I fell into that rhythm.”
Born and raised in East Harlem, Junae was molded by the borough’s cultural capital which included the yearly summer Puerto Rican Day Festival as well as with her family members who were entrepreneurs. As a kid, she worked several odd jobs, starting at a local senior citizen home before eventually working for her grandfather. Working underneath her grandfather and being able to earn money as a preteen lit a fire underneath Junae and made her want to be on top even more.
At the time, Harlem’s groundbreaking Harlem Children Zone project, popularized by educator Geoffrey Canada, was in its second stage, opening up its Harlem Children Zone Promise Academy. Junae took advantage of the services offered by the non-profit, attending the organization’s high school program, as well as participating in music classes taught by former music executives who worked for labels like Bad Boy Records.
"I fell in love with the music class. The teachers previously worked in the music industry and so we were immersed in it. I started writing music and even participated in a girl group for a little bit as well too.”
Intelligent and gifted, Junae applied and attended New York’s prestigious Talent Unlimited High School, where she received her introduction to the performing arts. In addition to singing, she took advanced classes with upperclassmen and focused on excelling academically. Junae’s test scores and grades led to her receiving a scholarship from Five Towns College, a respected private college that emphasized the performing arts.
Initially, Junae’s mindset was to major in vocal performance with a Minor in Business. Her voice and her ability to write songs catalyzed the choice, but it wasn’t long before she changed her mind and instead pursued a Bachelor's in Music Management.
“My major was in vocal performance with a minor in Business, but I fell in love with the business side very quickly. From there I changed my major to Music Management. That changed everything.”
Enterprising, it didn’t take long for Junae to become known amongst her peers. While at Five Towns, she garnered a reputation for organizing events, eventually becoming the school’s SGA President as well as the head of Student Activities. While in school, she got her first sign that she was a leader when the school’s dean pulled her aside and poured into her. Seeing her potential as a leader, she moved her from the freshman dorms on campus and relocated her to the upperclassmen dorms instead. The event and the responsibilities she received while in college helped sow seeds of change.
“She told me: You’re a leader. Learn to use your leadership for good.”
While finishing up her degree, she also sought out marketing internships that would help bolster her resume and offer her a chance for employment after school. Towards the end of her senior year, Junae got her chance when she began interning with RCA Records. After putting in work, she managed to secure a permanent position at Columbia Records supporting the CFO, Stephen Russo, who handled finance and operations for Columbia during his tenure.
Junae instantly got her feet wet, overseeing everything from record label budgets and advances to crafting record label revenue reports. The time she spent there was invaluable and in the two years she was there it helped give her the mix of soft and hard skills needed to start her own company.
Despite her success, she still felt the glass ceiling pressing down on her more and more. Unable to steer her career trajectory in the direction she wanted, she leaned heavily on her passion. What started as a “passion project” soon grew into the makings of her agency, Browned2Perfection. Pushed into being an entrepreneur after seeing the industry politics play out, Junae branched out on her own, starting a marketing agency while also going into business with her friend Kim Chanel. Together the two of them partnered and launched a party promotion brand which soon became the talk of the town.
“Browned2Perfection was initially supposed to be a website. I was thinking of business owners and upcoming artists and creatives and saying if knew this they would be a lot further.”
From 2016 to 2020, the duo ran their company, successfully launching their Trapping and Dabbing party series all across the country. Knee-deep into her marketing craft, Junae began working with a mix of independent artists and small business owners before gaining the connections needed to reach companies like Nike, T-Mobile, SXSW, Microsoft, and Lyft. Atlanta, a hub for black genius, eventually won out as the place for Junae and her brand, and amid the 2020 pandemic, she relocated there.
“I moved in June of 2020. Kim and I started to attend Atlanta’s A3C festival and threw parties with the festivals. We met the movers and shakers here and we said to ourselves we are moving here. Atlanta is the third stop but the most necessary stop. There’s New York, there’s LA, and there’s Atlanta. The culture is the most organic here.”
In the four years since she arrived on the scene, her personal and professional brand have remained strong. Already poised to be an even larger player in the coming years, Junae has expressed her desire to serve her people in the future as a venture capitalist firm.
“Browned2Perfection is the bridge from corporate to culture. It is about becoming the best version of yourself and going into this new era outside of servicing clients, it is about leaning back into community. Ultimately we are planning to transition into a full-fledged VC. The goal was always to help people get their visions out.”