Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Bring The Party
179 Plays2 years ago
Welcome to another episode of the Uncommon Wealth podcast, featuring the charismatic Clife Estores, a DJ who has turned the art of partying into a thriving business. This episode dives into the behind-the-scenes of DJing, entrepreneurship, and the pursuit of an uncommon life path that aligns with one's passions.
Clife shares his story of moving from the Philippines to Cedar Rapids, his evolution from performing at small community events to founding Clife DJ Company, and the importance of differentiating his services in the wedding industry. Additionally, he discusses the core values of his company, the strategies for dealing with challenges during events, and his approach to creating unforgettable experiences for his clients.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Everyone dreams of living an uncommon life, and the best asset you have to achieve your dreams is you. Welcome to the Uncommon Wealth Podcast. We're going to introduce you the people who are living uncommonly. We're also going to give you some tools and strategies for building wealth and for pursuing an uncommon path that is uniquely right for you.
00:00:27
Speaker
Hello and welcome everybody to another episode of The Uncommon Wealth Podcast. I'm your host, Phillip Ramsey, and today we have a special guest. We have a DJ in the house, and you know why I like DJs, because I like to bring the party, okay? And so I can't wait to get Clive on the show, Clive Estores. Thank you so much for being on the show. I can't wait to dive into your uncommon and kind of get a little bit of behind the scenes on not only your DJ skills, but your life in general. Thanks for being on the show, man. Welcome to the party.
Clive Estores: Achievements and DJ Business Overview
00:00:58
Speaker
Well, thank you so much for having me today. First of all, I want to really thank you for bringing me in, because being a part of a podcast is actually one of my bucket lists. Oh, really? Yes. Let's just start crossing things off your bucket list. What else is on your bucket list quickly? Just give me another high-level bucket list idea. Jump on an airplane? Jump out of an airplane? Yes, yes.
00:01:27
Speaker
I actually is one of my bucket list as well. I did present the 10 KSB so I guess that's crossed out. Man, it's great. Okay, so give us an elevator speech of your business first so our listeners kind of can get acclimated to your business, your business model, that kind of stuff. We'd love to hear it. I know it, but I think our listeners would definitely benefit from just hearing
00:01:50
Speaker
that come out of your mouth? Sure, sure. So, my name is Clive Estolarez. I am based here in Cedar Rapids, and I own Clive DJ Company. We are an entertainment company. We're basically professional party starters. That's what I would say for an elevator pitch. We do events, and we provide entertainment in any form, basically. Yeah. You can see why we're here, too.
00:02:19
Speaker
Yeah, our band are on weddings and we also do corporate events and proms. We just did prom last weekend. So cool. But yes, that's what, you know, that's the elevator pitch. Yeah. And like you kind of, I wouldn't say, but you don't really ever think about the DJ. But my, when I first met Clive, I was like, Hey, the only weddings I remember
00:02:40
Speaker
are the weddings that have like a great dj at the dance afterwards so there is something super powerful of being an entertainer and being kind of behind the scenes but also being kind of the fuel or the glue that holds it all together so i love your industry and for everybody in the record i have been a dj in my lab in past uh
Journey from the Philippines to Iowa
00:03:02
Speaker
experiences uh in past uh
00:03:04
Speaker
I don't know if life's, but careers. That was basically my first real job out of high school is a DJ at a skating rink. So I just feel like we're kindred spirits a little bit. But tell us a little bit how you got into the industry. What prompted you? Oh, man, there's so many questions. I just need to stop there. Well, you answer. Do you want the long story or the EEC form? Give me the long story.
00:03:31
Speaker
Okay, so it started really when I was in high school back in the Philippines Actually, I was in you know, I put together the very first band competition in my school that was my legacy in my high school and When I came to the US, you know, I Think it's hard for me. It was hard for me to kind of make friends in Iowa really because I couldn't find anybody in the same age group that you know, I
00:04:00
Speaker
that are not in college at the time. And it was just hard for me to connect with my community. So I was like, OK, I'm getting bored of the house after work. I don't have anything to do. So I started buying speakers and gears to kind of try and fire up my musician
00:04:31
Speaker
life kind of thing. So that happened, but then equipments are so expensive and then I found this cool DDJ controller and I was like, okay, how can I make this work, right? So I bought that controller and that's just how it started happening. I started putting together music and building playlists and I was just doing it in my room.
00:04:55
Speaker
And one of my friends, actually, he's an older gentleman, and he used to DJ for the community here, Filipino community in Iowa. And he said, hey, it could be a DJ if you'd like.
00:05:11
Speaker
And I was like I don't know if I'm gonna be a DJ because before this what I thought of a DJ was someone on the radio saying playing next you know it got Justin Bieber you know and all this that's what I thought was a DJ as a radio DJ but it kind of like ignited a curiosity in me and I was like you know what let me just figure this out this was back in 2011
00:05:35
Speaker
2012. So I started doing it. I started like, you know, mixing songs and I like it. I like that I was able to like play songs together and just start like, you know, start, you know, producing new sound. And I'm like, oh, he's super cool. Right. And 2012, December, our association, a Filipino associate organizer, the president really contacted me because their DJ called in sick, I believe.
00:06:03
Speaker
And they said, Clive, can you just play some songs for us? You're in, buddy. Let's go. That was how I got my foot in the door, basically. I was like, OK, I'll do it. And I was not expecting to get paid for that. And they paid me, I think she paid me 300 bucks.
00:06:23
Speaker
whoa that's not bad for nothing or like something you're gonna get anything for that's great so she you know i i brought in a couple of my speakers and then my laptop um and you know i was just yeah i was playing itunes back then in virtual bj so it was it was it was fun yeah you've evolved so how did the filipino
00:06:45
Speaker
family, get to Iowa. Like that's, you gotta ask that. Come on. All our listeners are like, Philip, you better ask this. So basically parents came here early 2000s and they were just tourists and then came back and forth in the early 2000s and then they migrated after a few years of touring.
00:07:12
Speaker
That was back in about 2004, 2005, I believe. In 2006, I was graduating from high school. My mom said, hey, do you want to come here? And I was like, no, I'm OK here. Just put me through college and I'll be good. So I went to college.
00:07:31
Speaker
Um, kept on asking me to come here, basically. And I actually went to the Marine Academy in, in the Philippines. Oh, really? Yeah. I was at the debt, you know, for, for, for a year. Just back in 2009. Life.
00:07:47
Speaker
and I sent her a photo of me with a uniform on and I was so dark because in the Philippines they would put you under the sun for the whole day and she couldn't recognize me and she was like, oh my gosh, like, you know, you need to come. Who are you? So she forced me to come here. I'm like, okay, you know what? Okay, I'll come. So they basically petitioned me.
Transition from Hobby to Business
00:08:12
Speaker
Here and they were in Iowa because this that's where you know, they found Job, I guess. Okay, so They were in Iowa and yeah, basically that's how that's how I got here Wow 2010 you were just ripped from your training and you come to Iowa and
00:08:32
Speaker
right basically. Wow. Okay. So then you get your DJ stuff and you're starting to kind of get into that world. And there's just not a lot of people that make a business out of it. There's a lot of people that do it on a part time basis, but that's where I think it's really interesting. You took something that not only you were good at, but then you started turning it into kind of your passion and then you made a career out of it, which if, if you're the first time listening to the show, that's what the show is all about. I feel like there's a lot of different definitions of the uncommon wealth, um,
00:09:02
Speaker
path or the uncommon path one of them is turning your passion into some kind of money like paying paying you something for doing what you love to do and it's obviously that you're passionate about entertaining and and playing music for people but when did you decide like you know what i'm not gonna just get three hundred dollars from this randomly i'm gonna make this a company. I think around i'm not sure about twenty.
00:09:30
Speaker
18, 2019 at that point. This is big, you know, there's a story behind it. So from 2012 to 2015, 2016, I was just doing private events, no weddings. Now, what is our bread and butter? But before then, I was just doing, you know,
00:09:50
Speaker
birthday parties, corporate things, or nonprofit organizations, really. And I was just doing it on the side, I actually was going. I was in school, I was in college, actually, at that time around 2013 to 2015. So this was just like extra money for me to have fun because I like to party. And I just love sharing joy. I just like I just love
00:10:13
Speaker
when people put their hands up and they start jumping when I drop that beat, right? Yeah, I'll just love that feeling. I never really thought that this is gonna take off. Let me be clear for everyone here listening that I was not a born entrepreneur. It wasn't something that I was thinking of like, oh, I'm gonna make money out of this, like this is gonna be my livelihood.
00:10:34
Speaker
I went to college and I wanted to be in the IT field, actually. I went to college in the Philippines as well and I graduated there in the IT program. So I did it here as well. I went to Kirkwood and I worked, 2015, I worked at St. Luke's Hospital.
00:10:56
Speaker
Yeah, I was an IT there for many years. But when I was in the IT department there, I was also working as a DJ. So I DJed my first wedding in 2015. And I thought that was it. Like, oh, you just, you know, come in, you DJ, you basically whatever the couple wanted. Then you leave. That was it. And you get paid, you know, 500 bucks for it.
00:11:22
Speaker
So I thought that was the beginning and ending of my responsibility as a wedding DJ. And then I went to a real wedding in New Jersey. And yeah, my girlfriend then, fiance now actually, invited me to her cousin's wedding in New Jersey. And I was just mind blown at how the DJ made the night so memorable that until today,
00:11:51
Speaker
I still remember it. I feel like that's still the best wedding that I've been to. That's how impactful it was, how memorable it was. And the DJ made all that happen. And I was like, I want to bring it to Iowa. I feel like there's such a big need for this kind of modernized entertainment for Iowa couples.
00:12:19
Speaker
So that's why I wanted to bring it here. Also, if my sister's gonna be listening to this, I'm sorry if I'm dropping your name, your wedding here, but she got married actually, my sister got married, but I think 2017.
00:12:37
Speaker
We don't talk about her wedding on, you know, on, on Thanksgiving dinners. No, it's not something that, you know, that really made an impact that the reception, I mean, I mean, the ceremony was beautiful. You know, we are, we all cried, but the reception was like a blip for us, for everyone.
Challenges and Expansions in DJ Business
00:12:55
Speaker
Right. It wasn't the crescendo. Yeah. It was probably like, you know, just stay, uh, you know, just another day and then something that they wish that they could have like,
00:13:04
Speaker
taken back and did something better. Were you DJing it at that time? Oh, no. That's a good question. I was going to say, man, come on, Clive. We had an opportunity here. I was one of the groomsmen and I did not do anything because she didn't want me to do anything on the DJ side because she wanted you to enjoy the evening. And I wish I just run the show for her.
00:13:31
Speaker
But yeah, that was the experience. And to double that, one of my friends got married, I believe the same year or the next year. I forgot, but one of my friends got married as well. We talk about their wedding all the time, but not in a positive way. The bride, she would always talk about her wedding like, oh my gosh, that DJ, oh my gosh, the DJ. She would talk about how they were waiting on the dance floor
00:13:59
Speaker
because the DJ could not find their first dance song or the maid of honor, the sister of the groom was the maid of honor, and she was stalking and the mic was cutting off. All those basic things that a professional DJ should just, you know, should just know how to mitigate what's happening there. And I'm sorry that I'm sharing this. I'm not going to share their names anyway, but... No, that's fine. This is good. Yeah, that was their experience. And I was just like, how many
00:14:29
Speaker
Couples out there are experiencing this. Mm hmm. Like. Yeah, you're right. It's either it's I mean, there's three ways it can go. It can go super positive and like you keep talking about it. Right. It's it's or it's like it's kind of like a byproduct of just getting married and oh yeah, there was a dance involved. Yeah. Or it's like that was horrible. Like there's a lot of pressure.
00:14:51
Speaker
on you to perform. And there's a lot of equipment involved as well that you have to make sure you're managing and the time management. And there's a lot of things that I think you have to be thinking of. And the best part is like no one should ever know that you're dealing with that. It should just happen seamlessly. So tell me this. Do you ever get stressed before like a gig?
00:15:15
Speaker
Absolutely every time every time it's like it's hard to admit this but it's a high stress profession because
00:15:27
Speaker
Your couples, your clients are relying on all those things to work, just everything's just go seamlessly. If a couple, if a bride comes to you and like, oh my gosh, what is this happening? Why is this not working? That means that you failed on your job. If your couple is still planning their wedding on the day of the wedding, that means you fail your job as the host of the event.
00:15:54
Speaker
So that is the main thing where like, I have a one job for my couples. Like, hey, your job on your wedding day is to enjoy the night and just sit back, relax and just like watch it as it unfolds. Right. I think that was interesting when we talked, just the emphasis that you put on before the actual event.
00:16:14
Speaker
Hey, I wanna talk, I wanna get to know you, I wanna understand what you like, what you don't like. I thought that was really one uncommon, so kudos to you. Tell us this, I'd love to hear, has there ever been like a horror story where you're like, wait, the power went out? Have you had any of those? Oh, tell me, you gotta tell me. Well, you said power, so I'm gonna talk about power. I had a wedding last year, actually, it was a disco wedding. Disco meaning,
00:16:40
Speaker
They wanted like a 70s, like everything was like so planned. But there was a lot of moving parts. There was an LED dance floor that we provided. We had like a big production, CO2s, fireworks, a lot of those things happening, right? But the venue was not set up properly to handle that amount of power at one time. Because venues, they don't really
00:17:09
Speaker
think about like how much power can this outlet handle at one point or like separate those breakers and whatnot, right? So during the toast and speeches,
00:17:20
Speaker
Everything is shut off. Life. I'm getting clammy. I'm getting clammy for you. Yeah. So now I am nervous because that is the most important piece of the reception. Good thing it did not happen during ceremony. The ceremony was outside. So everything was wireless on our end. We took care of that. But the reception, I believe it was the sun.
00:17:42
Speaker
No, no, no, actually it was the maid of honor who was speaking at the time and she was like it's heartfelt She was just about it. She was just about this to get to the good part and then everything The lights but just the speakers the light Not the venue lights but our lights our speakers everything and then she was like looking at me what's happening and
00:18:05
Speaker
And I had to scramble. I think it took me about 45 seconds to go out, flip the breaker, and then come back in, grab my microphone, and then...
00:18:19
Speaker
I went in front of everyone and just explained to them what's happening. And I just like, you know, kind of like calm everybody down. These things happen, it's okay. Let me just, you know, reroute our electrical outlets and we'll get back to it. So basically, so, but while we were doing that, I was playing, you know, a song just to keep everybody entertained. And that's where we're routing.
00:18:44
Speaker
the outlet to a different outlet in the back just so that to make sure that like, you know, that we're not flipping the breaker again. So there was like a downtime of about two and a half minutes of that. That's not horrible though. Yeah, no. And cause you know, we, we did a venue site visit beforehand and then we kind of like figured out, okay, where's the breaker? Where's the second, you know, where's the, where are the backups? Those are the things that we always try to like, you know, figure out ahead of
Managing Events and Customer Expectations
00:19:10
Speaker
time. Wow.
00:19:12
Speaker
At least go ahead. Your business is based on Cedar Rapids, right? I think that would be important to say 25 minutes in the interview. Sorry. Yeah. And you go, how far do you go out of Cedar Rapids for your business?
00:19:27
Speaker
So we're statewide and we're also destination. I did a wedding in Portland before I do a lot of weddings in Chicago, Illinois, Florida. I just booked a couple for Cancun. So yeah. Okay. So when you step into a venue or an event, let's just say, you're trying to give people the New Jersey experience, right?
00:19:57
Speaker
Yes, in a nutshell. Yeah, I mean like from you and I from just they're talking like that's what you want to try to encompass and like really hit home. So tell me this. So is the crowd have anything to do with that or like what is your first song? It might depend on the couple. But like if you wanted to if you want to throw down and you were like, we need to get people on the dance floor. Like what's your song?
00:20:22
Speaker
I would go with the dance music, dance EDM music like Pitbull or BB Rexha. I'm good. That kind of like music on the 128 BPM. But yes, you're right when you said, is it the crowd? You have to also kind of like figure out, okay, is this crowd, the type of crowd that will get down on it?
00:20:48
Speaker
See what I did there? That will get done on it. From the very beginning or are they the kind of the crowd where, oh, I'm just going to go to the bar first and get a couple of drinks. Yeah. Let's talk about that. Does alcohol have anything to do with anything?
00:21:04
Speaker
A lot of weddings, yes, but we've also done dry weddings before where it was just a hit. So again, it just depends on the crowd, really, the people around you, around the couple. If the couple, the type of couple that we like to work with, if they
00:21:24
Speaker
have a very wide group of friends who just loves to kind of let loose and party and celebrate. You don't really need to work so much, you just play whatever songs and they just go out there and they really throw it down like nobody's business.
00:21:48
Speaker
Yeah, no, I love it. It's really interesting to step into your shoes in one of those events or evenings because yeah, you probably have kind of like a set list, if you will, if you know what that is, like a list of songs you want to play. But like at the end of the day, like you are performing.
00:22:04
Speaker
Absolutely. Make no questions about this. You are the performer. The difference is the people out on the dance floor are the people who are performing-ish. They're the ones you're trying to have a good time. But you still have to perform. So if that song didn't go well, then you probably just mix out a new one. There's just a lot of pressure. Dude, I hear you. I'm right there with you, buddy. Here's a funny thing, Philip. You're right. We do a lot of prep work.
00:22:34
Speaker
behind the scenes and before the wedding, I spent at least 30 to 40 hours of my time working with a couple. We talked about this before as well. I put together a playlist that I think they're going to love, probably 20 to 30 songs. Then on top of that, they also have their requests. Guess how much of those songs get played in an average basis? Their requests?
00:23:01
Speaker
Yes, the ones that they have and then the, what they call this, the playlist that I put together ahead of time. Yeah, I would say under 10%. That's a great guest. And you're almost the right answer, actually. Yeah, so basically it's around 10% to 20% of that gets played. Right.
00:23:27
Speaker
If I was like you, that's why I step in. I was like, I want to try to get him to know that well. So the songs that I'm playing is a hit and like my, your request or like my fallback. Oh boy. I'm not hitting it. Yeah. So basically I kind of like to figure out during cocktail hour and dinner, what kind of proud we're working with. And a lot of times the couple of requests songs that aren't working with the crowd. Right. Now I do have two, um,
00:23:57
Speaker
playlist that I asked the couple to provide. The first one is the request list, basically, like, hey, we can have like songs like, you know, get into the groove, and there must play list. The must play, that's 100% of that is going to get cleared. Right? That's gonna be a whiff if you don't hit that. Yeah.
00:24:14
Speaker
It could be played during the reception, the cocktail hour, dinner time, or the dancing time. It's going to get played, right? That's the must plays. I give them about 10 to 20 songs for their must plays. Usually, on average, couples would provide me about five must plays.
00:24:33
Speaker
And usually those must plays are like their grandparents' song or the song that they remember when they first met. So that gets played. But for the requests, really, I look at them and sometimes it's all ahead. And most of the time it's like, okay, I'm just going to play about two or three songs out of this 50 songs that you requested, basically.
00:24:59
Speaker
Okay, so let's talk about, did you, I'm sorry, did I interrupt? No, go ahead, go ahead. Okay, so let's talk about, this is just a quick thing, like, if I have to hear this song, if I never hear this song again in the rest of my life, I'll be a happy man. What would that song be for you? I'm sorry, come again. If, if you, like, what's your worst song that you're like, I don't want to play this, I don't want to play this.
00:25:22
Speaker
I've got a couple, by the way. Be grease lightning. Don't do it. I don't want to hear your grease lightning. Okay. Brown-eyed girl, I'd be like, we got to do better. We can do better. And then the YMCA, I'm like, we are losing it. We are out of, I'm out. What's yours? That's kind of funny. Give me Joplin Tatterslide. Oh, yes. And I'm going to explain.
00:25:48
Speaker
Can I explain, you know, can you give me like 10 minutes to explain this? Yeah, come on. So don't give me 10 minutes, but give me something. Yeah. Let me ask you this. How many weddings have you been to in Iowa? Gosh, I don't know. Yeah. 20. Okay. This is the exact question I asked my couples. Out of those 20 weddings that you've been to, how many of those weddings did the DJ not play Cupid's Shuffle or Chacha Slide?
00:26:18
Speaker
I don't, that's a go-to, that's like a staple. Exactly, exactly. And that's where we say, well, that's where we're different because we don't play any of those. That's actually on our website. Right. It's like a company stamp, like we don't do it.
00:26:33
Speaker
Exactly. Now, we work with some couples who are actually like, hey, the chicken dance is actually our family tradition. We would play that, but we are specific when playing those kind of songs. Now, let me go back to, let me take a step back and explain again.
00:26:52
Speaker
The reason why we don't play any of those songs is because there's just so much time at your reception and it goes so fast. And just like K.P. Chapel, that takes about 10 minutes to play those two songs. That's 10 minutes that I could have played like...
00:27:07
Speaker
a gazillion other songs that's gonna get your crowd on the dance floor. And if one of your guests or even 10 of your guests requests a chapter slide, they're still gonna be hearing that on the next wedding that they attend to. I want to see it next time. I want to see it memorable in a different way.
Scaling the Business and Innovation Strategies
00:27:22
Speaker
Yeah, I like that, man. I appreciate that. Yeah, that's how we differentiate our service. This is now going kind of behind the scenes a little bit. Two things I want to talk about.
00:27:34
Speaker
How do you protect your ears? Like this is a real thing that I think you have to be mindful of. Yes, yes. Because every industry like even massage therapy or like there always seems to be a downside to the repetition for like mine and be like sitting at a desk all day like I don't know. But like for you, that's a real issue. So do you think about that? Do you have your
00:27:56
Speaker
Team, what do you talk? 100%. That's in the back of my mind, and that's why I need to talk to Jake for this. Jake is another cohort member in our group that has the ear clinic, right? Yep.
00:28:13
Speaker
That is something that is a problem in our industry where after a few years, DJs tend to have ringing in their ears. We start to lose hearing after a few years because of that constant banging every weekend. I used to use earplugs.
00:28:38
Speaker
But since they are not custom made for me, some earplugs hurt my ears, some muffle a lot of the important sound that I need from my earphones so I could not use them.
00:28:55
Speaker
Um, right now I am thinking of, like I said, I want to visit Jake and figuring out a way to kind of like have a custom made earplugs for me. Um, so that I can still hear the sound of, you know, of the song I'm mixing in through my headphones. Um, but just canceling out those, um, those dangerous frequencies, um, that can, you know, that can hurt my ears.
00:29:21
Speaker
Yeah. No, I think that's wise. So let's talk about how you, this is my second question about the business. How do you scale a DJ business?
00:29:30
Speaker
That's both of our questions. That's really, like I said earlier, I am not, or I was not an entrepreneur coming to this. It's kind of a funny question because I also learned that most of the DJs that I actually met did not become DJ company owners because they were entrepreneurs. We were all, or we are all just,
00:29:58
Speaker
a bunch of creatives that love music, that love to put out amazing shows and started to build a business out of that. So I'm still learning really to kind of like, how do I scale this? And right now I can only do one event a day, right? So the way to scale this really is to hire new people and train them.
00:30:26
Speaker
It is hard to hire and train people because it's a skill, it's a talent that needs to be honed over the years. So while I am training new people right now, currently, the way we do things is I am actually bringing in
00:30:42
Speaker
i'm bj's from out of town out of the state to help me provide amazing service to our clients because when they come to quite the jacobie know that there are no one there they know that they are in good hands and so. Yeah there's a reputation that you wanna uphold absolutely yeah so.
00:31:00
Speaker
I think that's good. Okay. So you and I did meet at the Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses, which was great. And one of the challenges that they had us do is focus on a growth opportunity. What's our big growth opportunity that we want to focus on? And I thought you had a really good one. So I'd love you just to share. That's also going to bring revenue right to the bottom line. So what was your growth opportunity from the 10,000 businesses? Wonderful. So our growth opportunity is to,
00:31:29
Speaker
expand our photo booth division and have its own separate entity to make sure that clients know that they don't need to hire us as their DJ to book our photo booth.
Support System and Personal Growth
00:31:45
Speaker
And also, we're doing this because we want to market to corporate events. So there are two types of photo booth experience for us. The first one is the most common one. This is great for our
00:32:02
Speaker
weddings, wedding couples, is the experience. It's the feeling, right? You take a photo and you have a walkie post or whatever, and then there's designs of the couple's names on the overlay, and there's fun props. It just creates amazing memories with you and your friends. And usually, grandma always stands behind the photo booth, and she would run the photo booth herself, really. That's the experience that we're bringing with our photo booths, too.
00:32:32
Speaker
private events like weddings. But my goal for corporate companies, if you're listening and you own a small business, is
00:32:42
Speaker
not just the experience, but really for branding, for marketing, and to put your business on your client's top of mind, basically. So that's the growth opportunity. We call it activations in the corporate world. So if we're working with DMCs, then that's a very, very popular word that they would know. That's great.
00:33:07
Speaker
Yeah, okay. So let's talk about so you're recently engaged. Congrats, man. Thank you. Yes. So let's talk about your support system. I mean, you're obviously your parents have been a huge support for you, but who has been your community talk about your fiance? How does she support you now because something I've learned in this.
00:33:23
Speaker
podcasting for quite some time is it's if without people's community, they wouldn't be where they're at today. So I love to give people on the show just a little bit of opportunities to talk about that and kind of give kudos and thank thank them because I without my wife, we would not be here today. True story.
00:33:40
Speaker
That's true. That's true. And you and me both. I want to say my fiancé has been a tremendous support for me. She's been there since day one, really. And I, you know, I cannot fathom how much I appreciate her. She's such a good mom. We have three kids and being at EJ and having kids doesn't match really because you're always out on the weekends in the summertime. And when it's, you know, when it's,
00:34:10
Speaker
the busiest season for us and they don't have school. So I rarely spend time, I should not be saying this, but before when I was still starting my company, I rarely had time for them. And I gotta give kudos to my fiance, because she's so amazing at making them understand that like, hey, dad's busy right now, I'll take care of you. So she's super great. So I'm so blessed to have her in my life.
00:34:39
Speaker
And I'm so blessed to have our kids, very understanding in the type of work that I am in. So actually, it's also super cool because I got to perform at a festival in Des Moines.
00:34:57
Speaker
Couple years ago, few years ago, actually. Nice. And my, you know, my seven-year-old dad is 10 years old now. So he's been three years ago. He said he saw me on stage and he said, Dad, you're my hero. Oh, come on. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. Until today. And, you know, and whenever he talks to his friends, like he would say, Oh, my dad said, you know, my dad is a DJ and he's a celebrity, he would say. He sure is. And I'm not kidding you.
00:35:27
Speaker
Bruce was one time, his friend came to me and said, hey, can I have your autograph? I don't know. He doesn't even know me. That's great. Well, I mean, kids observe. They observe. And this is like really formative in their childhood, right? Like you are running a business and they get to see that. So just think about the legacy that you're creating just by pouring into a business.
00:35:50
Speaker
I think when we first met, you were like, yep, I have a fiance, she's the love of my life. And I was like, oh yeah, we're gonna be fine. We're gonna be friends here. But I remember you talking about her. Okay, what would be one thing that you would tell your younger self now that you know what you know now? What would you tell, what piece of advice you'd give? Learn how to run a business.
00:36:18
Speaker
That's the first thing because if you are passionate about one thing, it's gonna go in one direction. It's gonna go into building a business. That's how it's gonna go, really. And also, that's one thing, but the biggest thing is probably surround yourself with
00:36:38
Speaker
people that you want to be and you grow up. That's good. That's probably the biggest advice because in my early 20s, you know, I love my friends. I love the friends that I hang out with in my early 20s. They're amazing people. But, you know, if you want to grow
00:36:55
Speaker
you know, if you want to see growth in yourself and if you want to excel in life, I think, you know, I think putting yourself in the groups of like amazing people, that really helps tremendously. Like for me, when I became a business owner, I just put myself in the tables, like, you know, of people who actually talk about businesses who actually have something that I'm like,
00:37:20
Speaker
I want to be like that. I want to be, I want to be you. How can I be you? It's just simply asking, how can I be you?
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:37:27
Speaker
Yeah. And not being afraid of it, of asking that. Yeah. They, they say that. I say like mentorship is a cheat code of life, you know, asking that. And like you tell me the five closest people that you hang around with, I'll tell you your future. It's kind of one of those things that I've heard that I'm like, that's very wise. I think,
00:37:46
Speaker
I was a lot of wisdom involved with that so I think that's great advice so here's the deal I just think you're the best I I'm grateful that you not only get to just do what you're passionate about being influenced to your children but you also get to impact a lot of people just every time you get on
00:38:05
Speaker
you get hired for a wedding or an event and i would say i would i just i want your future just to go skyrocket i hope the photo booth stuff all goes well which i know it will just cuz your heart and your intentionality with every one of your clients i think that
00:38:22
Speaker
They're blessed to have you and your, you know, your experience and the fact that you take so much like time and really want to make it something like for them, a memorable experience is like, okay, just take my money. You know, let's go have a great experience and you'll do that. So, okay. If you guys are listening and you're like, well, this is interesting. I wish you would ask this or have any feedback for me. I love it. We do have a feedback line. Um, or if you know of an uncommon person that we should interview, we have that too. Here's the number five one five.
00:38:52
Speaker
four, four, six, eight, one, five, eight. Five, one, five, four, four, six, eight, one, five, eight. Thank you so much for being on the show, Clive. I appreciate you. You're on common, man, and I just am excited to see what part of your future. I'm excited to be like a front row of this. So thank you for being on the show, and you've been listening to the Uncommon Wealth Podcast. I've been your host, Philip Ramsey. Until next time, go be uncommon and get your party on.
00:39:20
Speaker
That's all for this episode, brought to you by Uncommon Wealth Partners. Be sure to visit uncommonwealth.com to learn more about our services. Don't miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.