By Ray Martinez - “Unbridled Inspiration”
Celebrate the Journey…We are so fortunate to be entertainers. Some of you may be just starting out in the business and if you ever have the opportunity to have an illustrious career to span almost forty years like myself, there are many opportunities to learn and grow and be a better performer. I would encourage you to find a mentor, go to trade shows, meet colleagues in your area and learn the business. Trust me, you’ll enjoy the journey.
Celebrate the Connection…One of the greatest feelings you can ever experience is the connection between you and your client. Celebrating the connection comes from earning their trust, before you can earn their business.
Celebrate the Moment…It is up to us as entertainers to celebrate special moments for our clients. As entertainers we can celebrate those special moments by creating moments. When we create those moments, sit back and observe, and take in those moments you helped create. When you observe the happiness and joy on the faces of the clients and their guests, simply celebrate the moment.
Celebrate the Excellence…There will be times in your career that you may notalways have a packed dance floor, and as professional entertainers that is a horrible feeling. However, it happens to the best of us. That does not mean you are a failure. I have always said, at the end of the evening, if you know in your heart that you tried everything in your bag of tricks, played every song that was on the client play list, took guest requests, and still no response, just remember just like the game of baseball, you can’t hit a home run every time you step up to the plate. If you take that event and learn from it and see what you can do to make every event thereafter better than the last one, you will soon learn to celebrate the excellence in your work.
Celebrate the Art…As professional entertainers we are artists in what we do. But in order to celebrate the art form we are in, you must acknowledge where your talent came from. An artist is not an artist without talent. One other important factor in celebrating the art is recognizing that you are not bigger than the industry. The industry will always be greater than you are, so stay humble, and don’t ever believe your own press clippings
Celebrate the Legacy… A couple of major factors of success is doing business in an honorable manner, keeping your word, building your character by raising your standards with ethical business practices. The way you run your business, the way you treat your clients, the giving of your heart and soul to every event you do, and giving back to the community are vital in cementing your legacy for those current clients as well as for future clients.
Celebrate the Passion…There are many DJs who get into our business because they believe it is easy money, more than they get paid in their regular full time job, get free food & drinks, and maybe a way of meeting someone to date or marry. But the reality is this, in any business, if you don’t have passion for what you do, you will never enjoy your line of work. If you are in it for the money alone, do yourself, your clients and the industry a favor, get out of it while you can. Passion is what will motivate you to become great at what you do, only then you can celebrate your journey, the connections you’ve made, the pride of excellence in your work, appreciation for the art form you represent called entertainment, and then you can hopefully celebrate the legacy you have left behind.
