Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Justin Navalle. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Justin, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
I often have to remind myself how lucky I am to be able to do what I do for a living. I was fortunate to know at a very young age what I wanted to do with my life. Music. It was everything to me growing up. My parents showed me rock n roll, they let me go to punk rock shows, they got me guitar and piano lessons.
The era of electronic music in the U.S. hit when I was in college at SDSU and learning to DJ at the time felt like a no brainer. I was so very curious in bringing people together and I knew I wanted to be involved in live music. The first substantial catalyst was to DJ. I went to my one of my first clubs, fell in love, then immediately found the people producing the event, and asked them for a job.
That same year I sat outside of House of Blues asking for the manager for a couple days, finally found the General Manager and asked him for an internship. I worked for minimum wage, I handed out flyers, I would DJ anywhere there were speakers.
As I got more serious about the craft, so did the opportunities in the industry. The opportunities grew, the scope of projects grew, andI kept learning.
In college I started my first business working on sweat equity. That transitioned into a director role where our team produced some of the largest events in the city for seven years. And that transitioned into a managing partner and owner role where I am today.
The launch aspect of the business came out of a innate need to create live events. From there, connecting and trusting like minded people was essential.
Continuous curiosity in learning hard skills, honing soft skills, and keeping a creative edge has led me to where I am today.
The challenges are always plentiful and meaningless without a great team to work with.
Almost fifteen years later, I’m still figuring it out, and that’s part of the fun.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Anchored by a love for community activation & the arts, I’v dedicated the past 17 years to the entertainment, event, and hospitality industry in San Diego. I Co-Founded the underground arts brand The Deep End, co-founded West Coast Weekender, produced Daybreaker San Diego for four years, and am a partner at Quartyard, an 11,000 square foot venue in East Village made of shipping containers.
Our mission is to create opportunities for others to create. This is accomplished by offering our event production experience for events at Quartyard and beyond. We produce street closure events and large scale mural activations.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
A genuine passion for the work that I do and the belief that creating space for creatives is an integral ingredient to a great city and community.
“Do great work and be great to work with.”
(Matt Faulk, founder of BASIC/DEPT said that once and it stuck with me.)
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Don’t chase the squirrel and focus on being great at a few things. It’s really difficult to do this in the creative space because there are so many ideas. Trusting that great things take time as well is helpful. That’s hard to do too.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://quartyardsd.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jnavigator/?hl=en
- Facebook: quartyardsd
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-navalle-0a479712/
- Other: https://itsfarout.com
