How A Young Innovator Built Multiple 7 Figure Businesses in 24 Months.
We’re witnessing the rise of an Indian-American gentleman who’s climbing the financial ranks in the United States. Ray J Lakhani is on pace to receive the top 30 under 30 recognition award by the end of 2020 through the innovative businesses he’s built over the last 24 months.
Ray currently operates a robust online agency called the Artistic Initiative, which is in association with Scalable Brands and The Scale Agency. The Artistic Initiative’s client base consists of high profile celebrities and influencers who want to grow and/or maintain their online presence. The Artistic Initiative houses a team of highly experienced individuals from fashion, entertainment, public relations, and marketing industries. The formula that Ray and his team discovered has been so successful, that as of this day, many of our favorite celebrities and influencers have used their services to massively scale their brands online. The reason why you may not have heard of Ray and the Artistic Initiative prior to this past month is because they’ve maintained a tight culture between themselves and their client base.
After Yahoo! News and MarketWatch discovered the revenue numbers the Artistic Initiative had been generating in 2020 — media outlets have been flocking to Ray hoping to receive an exclusive interview. Though in Ray’s interview with MarketWatch he revealed the first look into the Artistic Initiative, he’s still maintained a conservative explanation regarding the details of his business.
Impressively enough, the string of success doesn’t stop there. In mid 2019, Ray J Lakhani invented a product that would revolutionize the e-cig industry, called the Lazy Lampoon™. A Lazy Lampoon™ is a stress ball case designed in a variety of colorful characters used as an accessory for e-cig pens. Within a month, Ray saw over a million units sold and distributed to 6 countries worldwide. Immediately after the success of the Lazy Lampoon™, Ray launched what would soon become the number one podcast in Houston, Texas, The Yacht Club Podcast. The run at the number one spot lasted until April 2020 when the Covid pandemic began. However, the pandemic was a strike of luck for Ray. He and a business partner quickly noticed that the demand for face masks was on a rise, and before the masks went viral in the media, they launched a project called America Covers. America Covers is an ecommerce website which sells novelty, and custom face masks to consumers. The project was a massive success and generated over 7 figures in revenue within 4 weeks.
Currently Ray is the acting President of an INC 5000 private company owned by his family. The company his family is operating has already surpassed a 7 figure revenue mark for 2020. He simultaneously operates his other 4 businesses with the assistance of a strong remote team, and family members.
This brings us to today, in which we have the honor of sitting down with Ray J Lakhani to discuss his colossal success in all 5 businesses he’s made such an impact with.
Good evening, Ray. To begin, we’d like to thank you for taking the time to chat with us today. May I begin by asking where in India your family is from?
Good evening, to you as well. It’s very much an honor to be sitting here with you today. My father was born and raised in Navsari, the ninth largest municipality in Gujarat. As for my mother, she was born in Mumbai.
Can you give us a backstory of your family?
I would like to keep my personal life as private as possible, so I’ll keep my answer to this question very brief. My mother and father moved to Texas from India in the early 80’s after their marriage. My older sister was born a year after their marriage, and I entered this place we call planet earth in 1991. I had a wonderful childhood, divided between Houston, Texas, and Vancouver, British Columbia. So before you get the chance to ask, I’ll outright state that I am fortunately a citizen of both Canada and the United States of America.
How amazing. It must be nice to be able to claim both countries as your own.
Hey, there’s no complaints there. America will also be home base, but I must say Canada is such an amazing country as well.
I agree with you. Toronto is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to in my life. So let’s go ahead and fast forward a few decades. Can you give us some insight into when you began your business ventures?
Everything honestly started in 2018. I created a business based on digital marketing, and PR services. This business was called the Artistic Initiative. It was just in its infancy, and I kept this venture as private as possible. I had a close friend who had the luxury of being a phone call away from an A list celebrity that the entire world adored, and admired very dearly. I received the information from my friend that this celebrity needed some online marketing services, and was searching for a trustworthy company to assist with building their brand online. The main objective for this A Lister was to implement a powerful PR campaign to override some negative press they received from many media outlets. I took this opportunity to persuade my friend to make an introduction, and landed a deal with this celebrity to be the first client for the Artistic Initiative. Now if I’m being quite frank, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was working with the mindset of ‘let me get the deal done, and I’ll figure it out later’. By the grace of God, I was able to pull off one of the most massive online campaigns this celebrity has ever had. I placed this individual on the largest media outlets in the world, television day and night shows, and YouTube podcasts. Because of the success of this campaign, this single A List client referred me enough business to grow the Artistic Initiative into what it is today.
The confidence you possess is extraordinary. Accepting such a large responsibility without fully knowing if you’re capable of executing.
Oh I knew I was capable. My brother in law always taught me that when you put yourself in a corner, you force yourself to come face to face with the deadliest of challenges. But with extreme will-power and consistency, success will always be the outcome if you never give up. This formula has worked for me time and time again.
I have so much admiration for your outlook on everything. The sheer grit you display in the way you speak projects so much conviction. I clearly understand how you’ve been able to accomplish so much with this mentality. Can you tell us a little about the Lazy Lampoon™ and The Yacht Club Podcast?
Well, the Lazy Lampoon™ was an accident. I saw a major influx in the e-cig industry, I mean, the growth was astronomical, so I knew I had to find a way in. I initially started sourcing accessories from overseas and selling them online. The profit margin was great, but the demand for what I was selling just wasn’t enough for me to continue with the project. One day I was using a stress ball in the shape of a squirrel, and decided to see if I could tear a hole into it and fit my e-cig device inside. To my surprise, not only did it fit perfectly, but the whole experience was altered. Firm grip, silly character, and low chance of dropping, losing, or damaging the device immediately turned a light bulb on in my head. I took immediate steps to get the product manufactured, and went door to door looking to sell the Lazy Lampoon™ to local shops carrying these types of products. I struck gold when the largest retailer in Texas decided to pick up the product and distribute it into 3 states. Simultaneously, I had a few Tik Tok stars purchase some Lazy Lampoons online, and display the product on their platform. Within weeks the Lazy Lampoon™ went viral, and over a million units were sold in 6 countries.
That must have been such a surreal experience. Witnessing a creation of yours go viral online. I cannot even fathom the emotions that must’ve circulated through your body. I feel goosebumps just hearing about this. So correct me if I’m wrong, but this project is what led you into the media world of podcasting?
That’s correct. I was able to refrain from touching my earnings from the Artistic Initiative, and instead pull capital from the Lazy Lampoon™ project and launch The Yacht Club Podcast. I wanted to take a more conservative approach to the podcast, and do it as a hobby, but it ended up becoming much more. Initially we began interviewing local entrepreneurs and influencers on the show. However, within months, we were contacted by a recognized celebrity around the world, Dr. Miami. Dr. Miami’s episode spiked our streaming numbers so much that it transformed us into the number one podcast in Houston. Within weeks we were podcasting with musicians, DJs, and radio executives. I won’t lie, there was a lot of stress involved in this process because I was silently operating the Artistic Initiative the entire time. My breadwinner was something I didn’t want to be open about because the handful of clientele I obtained had me sign NDA agreements. It was too risky for me to discuss this with anyone outside of family.
This is absolutely amazing to listen to. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that you were able to juggle so many things at once. So to clarify, I read that your podcast reign at the number one spot halted once the pandemic began, is that correct?
Yes, that’s true. The Yacht Club Podcast was based on in-person interviews which was impossible to do once the social distancing went into effect. However, my brother in law, who is also my business partner, and myself discovered that the demand for face masks was silently increasing. The masks still hadn’t gone viral or become mandatory, so we took a risk, launched an ecommerce website, and dumped over a quarter million dollars into marketing. The stars aligned once again for me, and we absolutely crushed every expectation we could have ever imagined. Because of the massive revenue we generated, we decided to take a massive portion of our profits, and donate over 50,000 face masks around the country.
That’s so wonderful that you used your success to help others during one of the most uncertain times the world has experienced. I commend you and your brother in law for this.
It was the right thing to do. We were watching the news and seeing the media coverage. People were in need, and because we had the ability to make a difference, it was an obligation for us to assist where we could.
Amazing, Ray. With so much success comes a paramount of responsibility. I see you wear this responsibility with pride. May I ask now about your position as an executive officer? From my understanding you’ve taken over one of the family businesses due to exponential growth?
That’s most definitely correct. Our family operates a large company that houses a variety of companies within it. The private company I have become acting President for is an INC 5000 company, with numbers exceeding 7 figures in annual revenue already. This company specializes in Print on Demand. Our top products at this point are apparel, and of course face masks. With the surge in face masks that occurred this year, this company 4x’d and we collectively decided to get family members involved in the business operations again because of the massive growth. As a family we want to be sure the business grows with the right leadership in place, and that the new teams we develop maintain our core values. For this reason my brother in law asked me to step in as the acting president for this particular company.
It must be such a motivation to have the closest people to you be so driven in life. You seem like a man full of dreams, goals, and visions. I see now that you must get these traits and habits from your family.
I appreciate that.
Ray, it’s an understatement to say that it’s been a pleasure. I loved hearing every bit of your experience over the last 2 years. I can’t imagine how you’ll take life by the horns in the upcoming years. I’m excited to follow your journey.
Thanks again for featuring me. I’m excited to push my boundaries. I see no limit at this point. I’m only 29 years old, a single father, and many dreams to still accomplish.
You can follow Ray J Lakhani on the following platforms if you’d like to stay up to date with his journey:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/rayjlak
Artistic Initiative: www.artisticinitiative.com
Lazy Lampoon™: www.lazylampoons.com
America Covers: www.americacovers.com
The Yacht Club Podcast: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-yacht-club-53912648/
