Today we’d like to introduce you to Camille Smith.
Hi Camille, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
My parents, Duwayne and Venita Smith became owners of this small trophy business in East Memphis in 2007 when I was 9. My parents’ dream was to have a family business that was owned by African American people from the neighborhood and operated by family. They worked well together as she was the thinker and he was the doer and vice versa.
Over the years, everyone we knew played a helping hand in what C&J Trophy is today. My sisters, Dwan and Ashley, cousins, family friends, and friends who became family. The business was doing great and everything was in place as far as how they operated as a newly owned business. In 2015, my mother passed away from colon cancer. This was a huge blow to the family that affected us and began to hurt the business as well. Passion was lost, the desire to keep things going was tough since my mother had passed.
C&J remained open, but business was not as prosperous as before, and operations were taking a downturn. I was beginning my senior year of high school when my mother passed. I have memories of being at the trophy shop late nights when I was younger helping make trophies or hanging out in their office with my sister while my mom and dad did paperwork. During high school, I was more involved with sports and my education than the family business, but they made sure my sister and I didn’t feel pressured to put the family business before what we wanted.
When I was in college, I struggled with choosing a major the first year. Going into my second year, a counselor asked about my interests and she suggest I go into Marketing because of my creative background. After 5 years, I grew to love marketing and graphic design and I graduated in 2021 from Christian Brothers University with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Marketing. Before I graduated, I had to decide what my next steps were in life as far as my career. Immediately, I knew I wanted to take what I learned and use it for my family’s business.
I mentioned this to my dad and he was onboard and more determined than ever to give C&J another chance at operating like before or better. I began working and learning every part of the business from the front desk to the assembly. This helped me know what C&J Trophy needed, marketing-wise, to be more successful and accessible. I decided to begin with posting new photos of awards to our Google listing and updating our search and in 6 months, we have been able to acquire much more success in gaining notoriety and recognition in the Memphis area since my parents became owners.
We have created long-lasting relationships with universities, corporations, small businesses, and individuals all over the Memphis area and other states throughout the years and have even started new ones. It’s a great feeling to be able to assist my father in looking towards the future of C&J Trophy and Engraving and remaining true to their dream. My dad and I are invested in the day-to-day along with support from family and we love serving the community with beautiful awards, gifts, and trophies for their special occasions.
I hope to inspire college and high school students to find what they’re passionate about and determine how to make it a successful career choice. My mom always said, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has not always been easy. After working three different jobs over the first couple of years of my college journey, I realized that I was more passionate about wanting to sell art than working for an unfulfilling job. While I was studying Marketing Design, in 2019, I began my entrepreneurial journey as a freelance graphic designer and artist.
I created logos for startup businesses and later began a small paint a sip business. 2 months after starting the paint and sips, COVID hit and I had to restructure the entire business plan. It was a struggle to maintain this business with the restrictions and uncertainties over the years. It also began to take the fun out of what the business could be. Early 2021, I decided to end that and focus on my marketing and graphic design skills.
The decision to begin my entrepreneurship during college helped in my decision to continue to pursue entrepreneurship in any capacity after graduation. My dream was not to work for the largest corporation, I wanted to be the CEO of a large corporation. I wasn’t sure exactly how I would make this big dream happen, but I knew I could start with my own family’s business.
Now, I am able to give most of my time to the operations of the trophy shop and still be able to provide my marketing services outside of the business.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about C&J Trophy and Engraving?
We are awards and special recognitions retailer servicing Memphis and surrounding areas. We provide engraving and etching services across a wide range of materials and gifts. We specialize in trophies, recognition plaques, glass, acrylic, and crystal awards, leather, metal, rings, necklaces, wine glasses, and more. We not only work with large corporations, but individuals, churches, and nonprofits as well.
We provide a friendly atmosphere and work extensively with our customers to ensure they get the perfect award or gift and that it is personalized beautifully by us to represent the customer and our company well when it’s time for a presentation at their big event or occasion. We exhaust every option to make the customer’s dream possible in every aspect. We pride ourselves on quality and precision when creating our awards and it is our mission to present the client with awards better than their wildest imaginations.
Brand wise, we are most proud of our location and our identity. We identify as Black-owned and now more than ever, Memphians are looking to support black businesses and support our services. Our location is in ‘the heart of Memphis’. We are in the cross-section of the Downtown Area, Orange Mound, and the University District. Our location is easy for inquiring customers to find because of the familiar surroundings.
We want Memphians to know that we are not limited to only trophies. We want people to visit us as their first choice when it comes to personalization. We want to work with restaurants in personalizing glassware, real estate agencies with making homebuyer baskets, public events with stunning awards, and more to showcase just how extensive our services can go.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I believe personally, I have received good luck as it pertains to my business life. I never knew college would help me realize that I have a real knack and passion for all things marketing, especially the design aspect. I enjoy creating social media ads, creating marketing plans, and determining what a business needs to help them acquire more business in today’s world.
I learned a lot about what’s important for businesses and marketing in college and was able to apply some things to internships and my own entrepreneurial career. I was lucky enough to have my first g0 at Marketing at my first internship at Wonder Cowork Create. There, I saw just how fast marketing works when you take the right steps and learn what a company needs. I am lucky to be able to believe so much in my marketing skills and see how marketing brings real results.
When I started at C&J full time after college, I tried posting to social media the first few weeks and I was not getting many results. After a few weeks of learning the ins and outs, I saw firsthand what could help us obtain more business. The biggest stroke of luck came after I updated our Google photos, change some Google search keywords, and identified us as Black-owned online and business started pouring in.
The business has even continued well during what we used to call our “off-season.” I believe that God has placed me in this position to be able to gain access to the knowledge I needed to pour into the success of my family’s business.
Contact Info:
- Email: cjtrophy@bellsouth.net
- Website: www.cjtrophy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cjtrophyengraving/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/cjtrophyengraving/posts/
Image Credits
Camille Smith, Jessica Blair Awards, Memphis Grizzlies, City of Memphis, National Civil Rights Museum, NAAGA, and Shelby County Health Department
