It Starts With A Spark
Are you getting closer to taking the leap? Many of you messaged, after reading my last entry, and what I am hearing, resoundingly, is that you know you have IT but you just don’t have your brilliant idea yet. Many people overthink this, and I was no exception when I was in this “Pre-entrepreneur” stage. Here is what I will tell you, keep it simple and look no further than your “spark”. Think of all the things in your life that ignite you, that bring you the most joy, that fulfill your soul, and do whatever it takes to move with purpose toward those things. Believe me, it is easy to brainstorm ideas and find ways to improve upon things for which you have passion.
For me, it started with music. If you know me well, you know that music has always been my biggest passion. From singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” (my favorite song as a kid) at my late grandmother’s retirement party, to teaching myself piano and guitar, writing countless songs, playing hundreds of live shows, DJing over 500 weddings, and winning back to back national show choir championships; music has always been a fabric of my life at all stages. So, when it came to co-founding my first venture, GenerationNOW Entertainment, the “spark” came easy.
In 2004, I met Nicholas Dircz a.k.a DJ Mad Mardigan. You may have seen Mad Mardigan performing as the Official DJ of the Timberwolves/Lynx, in countless Minneapolis nightclubs, or at any of these EPIC events: Red Bull Crashed Ice, The Ryder Cup, and THE SUPER BOWL! After a tragic car accident that took the life of his brother, Elliot, Nick realized that life is too short and that he needed to follow his passion for DJing (spark). So, he quit his 9-5 selling insurance and became a full-time DJ. Over the next 6 years, Mardigan was establishing himself as one of the top DJs in the state and held residencies 3 to 5 nights per week at popular nightclubs/bars. In 2010, Nick was just about to have his first child and expressed to me that he needed to find a way to get out of the nightclubs 3-5 nights per week but also make enough money DJing to support his growing family (spark). I asked him if he’d ever considered doing weddings where he could make as much money in one Saturday as he would in 3 nights in the clubs, and I offered my help. I think he was stunned at this perspective and said, “That would be AMAZING, but how do we book gigs?” I explained that there was a wedding fair coming up in just under a month and that thousands of newly engaged couples would be gathering info and making wedding vendor decisions on that day. We made an agreement to have a presence at this event and kick off the company!
The concept was simple. We all know that most wedding DJs are cheesy, and frankly suck, so what if we put together a crew of the BEST and most sought-after DJs in the Twin Cities and offered them to brides/grooms to elevate their wedding receptions? When we started the company, I was employed with another well-known wedding DJ company. I quit the day before a wedding gig so we (GenNOW) could attend this wedding fair and establish our presence in the wedding industry. I felt a bit of shame for pulling a move like that, and at the time, I felt quite a bit of guilt, but man I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
In speaking with the folks putting on the event, we found out that the other DJ companies don’t play music at their booths, and that this event was basically just a way for us to pass out brochures and collect email addresses. We thought, “F%#K THAT”! We paid $2000, which we barely had, to be there and weren’t letting people out of that building without booking GenNOW! So, we made a plan and requested a booth right next to the bar, cranked up the speakers, spun tunes on our turntables, displayed music videos, and put on an all-out light show to attract people to us. At the end of the day, we booked 12 weddings, collected deposits ON THE SPOT, and everyone knew that GenerationNOW had officially arrived!
Twelve years later, GenerationNOW is still flourishing and continuing to pioneer the high-end Events/Entertainment industry in the Midwest and beyond. Even though I have “retired” from this business, I still hold a ton of pride and admiration over what we built and how we revolutionized an entire business sector just because we had a passion and followed a series of sparks. Every other DJ/Entertainment company was forced to up their game when GenNOW came onto the scene and the industry is much better because of it. Weddings everywhere are FUN again! Humblebrag: Google us, it’s really impressive.
www.GenerationNOWdjs.com FB, IG, Twitter: @gennowdjs