Photo credit: Garrain Jones If you followed pop music during the early 2000s, you undoubtedly came into contact with Steph Jones’ work, even if you were unaware. The singer, songwriter and model came onto the scene with an underground classic, “Mr. Ordinary”, which then led to a record deal with Disturbing the Peace Records at Def Jam. Along the way, he also wrote for names including Chris Brown, Ludacris, The Wanted, 2 Chainz and more. On screen, he played Beyonce’s love interest in the Destiny’s Child music video for their hit song “Jumpin’ Jumpin’”. Then he disappeared. What many didn’t realize was that behind the scenes of the fast-paced life that the public saw on social media, Steph was facing struggles on multiple fronts. And then came a point when he hit rock bottom and made the decision that would transform his life forever. He shed his stage name and embraced his birth name, Garrain Jones (Stephán was his middle name). Through enormous trials, he reconnected with his authentic self and followed what would become his true calling: motivating and inspiring others to find their own authenticity, power and joy. This led him to founding multiple successful companies, writing a book and speaking on stages around the world, now under his true name. In this interview, Garrain shares what led to his exit from entertainment, how it transformed his future and where he is today. When many people in the entertainment industry last saw you, you were known as Steph Jones and you were known as a singer and a model, what led you to leave the entertainment industry? Garrain Jones: I was known as Steph Jones, but what many people didn’t know was that my middle name is actually Stephán and so I created Steph Jones so that I could be seen a certain way, which was anything other than my authentic self. I was born Garrain Stephán Jones. Now over the last 14 years, people know me as Garrain Jones. When I left entertainment, people thought everything was going great in my life. People thought I was making a lot of money because that was the biggest lie that I was telling on social media: that everything was great when in fact it wasn’t. I was dying on the inside. I had a record deal with Disturbing the Peace, but I only got a little bit of that money, which I bought my Jeep Wrangler with, and I was supposed to get the rest of the money when the album came out. However, the album never came out. What happened ultimately was there was a level of shame that I had because when I first came into the industry, I was my authentic self. That’s when I had an underground classic called Mr. Ordinary. Then when I got signed, through nobody else’s fault but my own, I started doing songs based off of what they said would be hot. And I started doing what everyone else wanted me to do instead of what ultimately got me noticed and the record deal in the first place. I started writing songs for many different artists and when I would write a song, I would try to become the artist. And so whether it was working with Chris Brown, Chingy, 2 Chainz, Ludacris, The Wanted and so many other artists, I literally changed myself to try to become them. I did that so much that I locked myself out in the process and I did not know how to get back. Meanwhile, I’m working with certain artists and I didn’t get credit for certain things that I wrote on certain songs. I was so down, there was no money coming in at the time, and I was too prideful to tell people what I was going through. So out of fear of being found out, the only way I knew how to deal with my stress, anxiety, depression, being broke, resentment was to escape and leave and blame it on other things as the scapegoat, when in fact was I just didn’t do what I was supposed to do because I wasn’t strong enough to handle the pressure. That is ultimately why, especially as I connect the dots looking backwards and I’m strong enough in my foundation now to look at where I was back then, I had a record deal, but I was more than 200 thousand dollars in debt. I had a record deal, but I could barely pay my bills because no money was coming in. And so it was just too difficult and I didn’t know who to talk to and I was ashamed to tell anybody. So having this false representation of myself on social media, it was hard to look at my real self when the truth showed up and nobody was around while I was looking in the mirror. That is why I ultimately escaped. Because I knew that there was something else that I could do, and I knew that God gave me other gifts rather than having to go through what I was going through. So I went soul-searching, and everyone called me crazy. That was actually the best decision I ever made in my life. How did you discover that speaking and coaching and entrepreneurship were your true calling? Garrain: It’s funny that you asked that because when I was modeling before music, I always found myself motivating people. Then when I was in music, I was supposed to be putting albums and songs out. But I had more videos that were motivational than I had songs. So it was almost like what I’m doing now was trying to come out back then through whatever medium I had because that was probably the only way I knew how to use my voice. And so I feel it was always in me, I just needed the right platform to do what has always been there. Since then, you’ve built multiple successful companies. You had a bestselling book, you’ve spoken all over the world and you’ve created the concept known as Artist Power. Can you share what are the core values behind what you teach and how you lead others? Garrain: Well, as I’ve traveled to over 94 countries all over the world, experienced so many different religions, backgrounds, nationalities, so many different kinds of people, ultimately, everybody mentally was going through the same thing. The one commonality that everyone has is they were all once a kid. Studies show that from zero to seven years old most of your decision-making ability is programmed for later in life. What really turned me on to the work that I do today is the fact that when I was in entertainment I was over $200,000 in debt, I was an ex-convict,  I lived in my car for two and a half years and I tried to take my life twice. I’ve been in many different scenarios in life, trying to find and seek and find and seek and find and seek. But it wasn’t until I found myself, my real self, my deep self, my child self, and remembered what used to bring me joy as a child, that I actually felt like I was living life rather than just existing, I remembered that I used to love to inspire people even when I was a little kid. I remembered I used to love to run not for exercising or dieting or losing weight, but because I loved to run. I remembered I used to love visual arts. I felt like I went into a different dimension or I felt like I was in a different world of freedom whenever I would do visual arts. I’ve always loved fashion. When I started doing everything that I loved again, I felt different in my body. My mind felt calm. I felt happier, I felt more joyful. And none of those things came from outside of me. It was everything that was inside of me that was tapping into the deepest reaches of my heart. That little Garrain just tending to what he has always loved then influenced the adult Garrain. And this is how I came up with my company, Artist Power. The artist is the little kid who remembers and that’s exactly what we empower people to do. When you tap into the energy that you once had when you were a little kid you find that level of power, that level of bigness, that level of belief, that level of confidence, bravery, the boundless energy, your endless imagination, your endless curiosity, your endless creativity. I feel that deep down inside many people who are suffering, struggling, who feel stuck, who feel like life is just not working for them or they’re not going in the direction they’re going, deep down inside of all of them is a broken child who didn’t feel seen, heard, wanted, or feel worthy or feel like they mattered in the world. So they abandoned their original love, the things that they love to do what everyone else wanted them to do, which ultimately leads to the loss of self. You also have a growing family. How does your role as a husband and a father shape you as a leader? Garrain: Well, before my family grew and before I was a devoted husband, I cheated on every girlfriend I ever had. I had no regard for respecting women. And I had a daughter who was not open to a relationship with me. As I started growing as a person, one of the main reasons I was pursuing growth is because I wanted to understand what it was about me that my own daughter didn’t trust. That led me into taking emotional intelligence courses, communications courses, 10 day silent retreats, five days in the dark, mastery and transformation training, and more. Ultimately I found that the issue was nothing outside of me. It was me and the way that I saw myself. I realized that I am the most powerful representation of who my daughter will marry one day. But I didn’t have a lot of male role models that inspired me to follow them. I literally had to create the vision of that role model in my head. And whatever I thought it looked like, that was my accountability and how I showed up. In time, I became the most powerful representation of who my daughter will marry one day. Then all of a sudden I developed a relationship with my daughter and earned her trust back. When that happened, I became the kind of person who showed up no matter what. Not only did I gain the relationship back with my daughter, but it also changed how I related to all of the women around me. In the process, that was when I met my now wife, Blair, and I knew instantly that she was going to be my wife. I told her on our first date. I said, “I can see you being the mother of our children and I could see you being my wife.” Ultimately that’s what happened. Now it’s already five years and we just welcomed our second child together. My first daughter Kayleigh is now 22. Soul, my second daughter is two and a half. And Chieftain Wolf Jones was just born a couple weeks ago. How has it improved me as a person? Because the same person who is the most powerful representation of who my daughter will marry one day is also the most powerful representation of who my son will replace one day. And the principles of leading with dignity, honor, self-respect, loyalty, integrity, self-love, those same principles are what I built my company after, of what I built my companies off of, how I show up in marriage, how I show up as a father, how I show up in community, and how I show up in friendship. How you do anything is how you do everything. I attribute that to being a father who is willing to go anywhere and everywhere and lean all the way in, face all of my edges, push past all of my triggers, and learn to love the part of me that tried to run away from all of those challenges. The post Many Remember Him as Singer and Model “Steph” Jones, Now Garrain Jones Has Inspired Millions and Shares Why He Left Entertainment appeared first on LA Weekly.