Stacy’s Mission
My mission is to provide educational resources for DJs that support their professional growth and financial prosperity.
The Beginning
My passion for the entertainment business started early when at age 12, I watched my 5th grade teacher perform a magic show. I convinced him to teach me the art of prestidigitation and by the 6th grade, I was performing professionally as Mysteria The Magician. Somehow I got myself booked on TV by calling up a local children’s show and auditioning for the producer.
A year later I created an in-house (literally) radio station using the initials of my name as the call letters. I interviewed friends, read commercials and ran contests on WSJZ. I also made and recorded phony phone calls, encouraging hapless victims from the phone book to sing the Campbell’s Soup song in order to win a free case of soup. “Mmm-mmm good,” that was “Mmm-mmm bad” of me. Sorry hapless victims.
The 70’s
During my high school years, I got my own radio show at the school’s closed circuit station and became co-anchor of the TV news program. I also acted in plays and was chief photographer for the yearbook my senior year.
As an avid “Trekkie,” I became the Star Trek correspondent to a popular morning radio show in Hartford. I also managed to talk my way into a job on the stage crew of a vaudeville show that came to town. I still wish I had a picture of myself getting a pie in the face from the legendary Milton Berle and Donald O’Connor, who starred in the production.
During the summers in the late 1970’s, I worked as the assistant social director at Tamiment, a major resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Under the mentor-ship of veteran entertainer, Rick Saphire, I learned to run contests and games. I also helped him produce special event weekends with national music and magic acts like Chubby Checker and The Amazing Randi. I learned to do the first popular American interactive dance, the “Hustle,” then taught it poolside to vacationers.
College was my next stop, so I headed south to Nashville. There I got a job as a DJ on my school radio station and as a DJ and newscaster on two other commercial stations.
I also began spinning records at a Holiday Inn and teen disco, voiced commercials for radio and TV, acted in a local dinner theater production, produced special events for the county and worked part-time as Associate Producer of the weekend evening news at the local CBS affiliate.
This was the same station where Oprah got her first job in TV just three years earlier. If my timing had been better, I could have wound up being her best friend instead of Gayle…Darn!
The 80’s
I moved back North to Philadelphia and over the next 10 years, learned the art of becoming a mobile and karaoke entertainer. I continued working as a radio DJ and also became a Program Director and Music Director.
I gained some notoriety that landed me some gigs acting in and producing television programs for local affiliates of ABC, CBS and NBC. I even earned a New England Regional Emmy-Award as the Associate Producer of a PBS made-for-TV movie on about teenager runaways. I have always been a natural born writer and marketer, so I began using this talent as a sideline for select clients.
The 90’s
In 1997 I authored what would become the world’s best selling book on the disc jockey business, The Mobile DJ Handbook. New technology dictated that I write an updated edition in 2002. A Spanish version called Manual del DJ Movil was published in 2003.
Following the initial success of my book, I had an “Aha Awakening,” and pioneered a ground-breaking business concept by partnering with a national broadcasting company to form a mobile disc jockey entertainment division at seven of their radio stations. Me and my team of 23 DJs leap-frogged the competition to become the dominant force in New England.
Since the mid-1990’s, I have written business and feature articles for DJ Times magazine. I have also been invited as a keynote and featured speaker at the International DJ Expo, the Mobile Beat Show & Conference and the Mid-America DJ Convention. I have been honored to be a judge at “DJ of the Year” competitions for over ten years.
2004 – A Big Year
I authored The DJ Sales & Marketing Handbook and was also a contributor to Performance Beyond Expectation and Mind Your Own Business, authored by fellow DJs Ray Martinez and Larry Williams. I became an on-camera host for Disc Jockey News Network (DJNN.com) and an Endorsed Artist for PVDJ Audio.
Today
I remain a writer for DJ Times magazine and an active disc jockey. I am fortunate to have entertained in many areas including New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Arizona during the course of my career. In 2010, I authored The Mobile DJ MBA: Business, Sales & Marketing Industry Secrets Revealed. In addition, I consult with companies nationwide to assist them with their business, marketing, sales and copywriting needs.
Currently I am proud to be an Endorsed Artist for American DJ Lighting, Promo Only Music & Video, and GCI Technologies’s Cortex HDC-1000 Digital Music Controller.
Memberships
I am a member of the National Association of Mobile Entertainers. My past memberships have included the American Disc Jockey Association, the International Television & Video Association, CT Association of Production Professionals, Association of Independent Video & Filmmakers, Women Make Movies, American Marketing Association and the Advertising Club of Hartford.
Social Activist & Life-Long Learner
Beyond my creative and entrepreneurial enterprises, I am a social activist who has produced special event fund-raisers for a variety of charitable and non profit organizations. I am also an ordained interfaith Minister, which allows me to officiate weddings. I have also attended several human development trainings including: Landmark Education’s “Forum,” “Self-expression & Leadership” and “Beyond Fitness;” LifeSpring; The Silva Method; Insight; Neuro-Linguistic Programming; Bio-Feedback Techniques; Stephen Covey’s “First Things First for Managers” and Padgett-Thompson’s “Knock Your Sock’s Off Customer Service.”