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Miami DJ creates a marketplace for creators who struggle to find gigs

Anayansy Hernandez
Anayansy Hernandez
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By Anayansy Hernandez

The idea for Jem, a startup that aims to disrupt the creator economy, emerged from a personal problem their founder, Brianna Flemings, experienced after moving to Miami to grow her DJ career. Flemings noticed a lack of networking opportunities for creatives like herself and realized she wasn’t the only one who struggled to find gigs and connect with individuals in a new city. 

“It’s hard to find stability in the creator economy, it’s a rising economy, but there’s still a gap to be disrupted when it comes to the visibility to find gigs,” she said. During a bus ride from Philadelphia to New York City, Flemings conceived the idea of an app connecting creatives in different cities. With the help of her chief technical officer, Jem launched in Florida in November 2022. At the time it was “Tinder for creatives” focusing on community-driven connections rather than individual services.    

While participating in a Venture Miami cohort, Flemings realized her product was too broad, so she decided to narrow her users. Today Jem has around 5,000 users and serves musicians, artists user-generated content creators, and photographers.

The app is now also a marketplace that strengthens communities. It helps creators find gigs, connect and collaborate, and brings awareness to businesses that might otherwise not get noticed. Jem has developed strategic business partnerships in Miami, New York, and Houston. These businesses create job posts for the type of creator they need, and creators then receive a notification to apply for the gigs. This approach helps communities strengthen their pockets. “Talent is meeting opportunity, but also the people that are providing opportunity, are getting awareness,” Flemings said.

This month, Jem will have the opportunity to compete in the eMerge Americas Startup Showcase and $520,000 pitch competition.  When Jem was a prototype, Flemings shared her Jem story on an eMerge Americas stage in April 2023. “It’s just amazing because it’s a full circle moment that not a lot of black women get to even experience in Miami,” she said. After the death of her father six months ago, she underwent many transitions that had her questioning the future of Jem. “In a moment where I could have given up, I didn’t. And now I’m starting to reap what I sowed,” she said.

In the future, she would like Jem to host community events for creators. Currently, the company hosts mixers in their three main locations and plans to grow them in other areas where it sees the most traction. Jem also anticipates offering educational tools. These tools will be podcasts that teach creators how to market themselves and grow their businesses.

 Jem will launch a waitlist for its membership feature, which will close in June. For just $10 a month, subscribers will have premium services that offer unlimited gigs.

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