For the past few years, Jerome Jarre has been creating a Vine empire, six seconds at a time. The young and talented videographer’s brand of fearless slapstick humor has earned him a whopping 7.5 million followers and enough clout to open his own social media agency, GrapeStory.
Recently, his tremendous fan base and abundant body of work attracted the attention of a top-ranking New York ad agency, which offered Jarre a million dollars in exchange for one year of working for them in New York, according to his recently posted YouTube video.
It was an almost irresistible offer, because things haven’t always been quite so rosy for the French born jokester. As the son of a struggling single mother, Jerome spent much of his youth constantly moving and frequently bullied for the way he looked and dressed.
Jerome Jarre
As a teen and young adult, Jarre fell into the habit of constant partying and found himself “completely unhappy with life,” at which point he decided to hit the “reset” button by making the gutsy move to drop out of business school and buy a one-way ticket to China.
While there, he learned English and met a friend who changed his entire life philosophy by asking him the compelling question…
“Imagine you’re 99 years old and on your death bed. If you had a chance to come back to right now, what would you do?”
Viewing life from this angle inspired Jarre to begin living one adventure at a time, constantly forcing himself outside of his comfort zone while backpacking the world.
Jerome Jarre
Jarre’s freewheeling attitude met its mate when he discovered the app Vine. His videos became successes almost immediately. After six months of near-homelessness in New York City, Jarre’s obsessive work ethic had earned him 4.5 million followers and wild fame, all of which culminated in the million-dollar offer you are about to witness:
Yeah, we can’t imagine that was easy, but the guy didn’t want to give up creative control and spend a year being miserable, and — in this day and age especially — that’s pretty incredible.
What do you think of this tireless wanderer turning down the biggest potential payout of his life? Is his decision crazy, beautiful or a little bit of both? Let us know in the comments below, and maybe start making Vines ASAP if you haven’t already.
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