We were lucky to catch up with Chris Caporuscio recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, appreciate you joining us today. How did you find your key vendor or vendors? Maybe you can share the backstory and share some context and the relevant details to help us understand why you chose them, why they chose you, etc.
One word…Kindness. Approaching new people for the first time can be anxious to most. I have always been a social butterfly as they say. Getting to know people “truly” is my secret. It can be hard building a characteristic relationship with vendors for the first time. I have always found it’s easiest to listen first. When it comes to building relationships with photographers, I find they key is to just ask. I generally look into their portfolio’s and really take an interest in the “piece.” I comment on that piece, and ask if I could get their contact information because I would really love to see how their photos finalized. I also ask if they happened to shoot any photos with me in them. I offer to compensate them for their time, and for their photos. Generally they aren’t asking for any monetary demonization, but more or less exposure, and credit for there work. I keep my word, and when I use their artistic work for social media, I’m very happy to give credit to the author, and link my followers to their work. I feel it is a great trade off in terms of gaining exposure. I myself love photography, and studied videography, web design, photography, and audio engineering in college. I practice this same type of kindness when working with wedding, or event day videographers, caterers, coordinators, and more. I have found that being honest, up front, and kind can build vendor, and business relationships that will everlasting & permanent like concrete.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Humble beginnings. Coming from a broken home, and an unstable life as a child. I am where I am now because the path that laid behind me brought me here. As a child, I grew up and was raised in Central Florida. I believe the spark that lit the fire was a record and a turntable. I was always intrigued by how things worked. I wanted to understand every aspect. I had visions of how can we improve this turntable to become better. From there launched day 1. I started my first DJ gig at the local skating rink called Melody skating rink in Sanford, I was 13 when I launched my career. It was the greatest feeling in the world, mixing 2 tracks in perfect pitch, and Camelot wheel key was like creating a micro symphony. 5 years later I found myself traveling from state to state with our Jamskating crew on tour. I was the preferred DJ for at our tournaments. My next adventure was music production, and DJ-ing on the radio. I wanted to learn, and teach myself how to create electronic dance music, remix pop top 40 songs, and host a radio show. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, “This is nuts because that’s a lot to learn, how did you? did you learn?” I did actually. I learned to compose music on my own by reading manuals, teaching my self-advanced music notes, bars, key, and musical harmony. I learned to host a radio show by failing. Yes, the best knowledge in life comes from failures. I believe you can’t learn unless you fail. You can have all the knowledge, but you will never learn how to succeed until you know where you as a human have failed.
The next adventure was joining the merchant marines. I produced some of the best music while sailing for years. I started a record label known as “FlavoredBreaks.” I had a booking manager from California. The company was Red Elephant Media, and his name was Bryan Deleon. When I came into port I would leave the ship, and go to my events to perform. I was a merchant mariner who sailed all over the world. Learning different cultures (especially music diversity). I learned great qualities that have made me who I am today. I learned discipline, leadership roles, commanding roles, resource management, integrity, honor, and more. Those were all excellent achievements, but the greatest achievement was finding my best friend, who today I call my wife.
Fast forward to October 24th. 2022. I started WE Dream, LLC. I created this company because I want an industry-standard entertainment company whose beliefs are, Integrity, Honesty, Communication, Education, Training, and Future thinking. WE Dream, LLC Stands for “Dream Weddings, Events & Entertainment:” WE pride ourselves on communication because it’s the shortest link between two people. WE make sure everyone in our company has a voice for future thinking. WE want to be the standard; WE want to evolve the industry. My name is Christopher Caporuscio and I believe WE all succeed from our failures.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Smooth road never has it been. Most of my struggles were financial. My passion, desire, and will to never give up sent me barreling over those obstacles. I found that if I could not buy it, I was going to make it out of scraps. I was going to make it work with whatever I could find (my dreams mostly). Some of the other struggles was growing up in a broken family. I never had a father figure until about 7 years old. This guy, I now called my father today stepped up, and gave my mother the one thing he didn’t have to. Absolute, & unconditional Love. Without, this man I call my father today, I don’t believe I would be doing what I am doing now. It’s funny because at 16-17 he would always tell me to quit trying to be a DJ Rockstar. You can’t make money that way, so get educated, and get a career. He was simply being honest. We still joke about that to this day.
Fast forward now to 2022. My father has since realized just how passionate I am about my career. He recently invested into my company, and helped acquire DJ Furniture for myself. DJ Furniture is something new, refreshing, and it’s simply different then the rest. My mother every day will give me boosting comments regarding my aspirations to further my career and my company. My mother has always been my “cheerleader.” Without great parents, we could never be great children, thus becoming amazing adults.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
This is a great question, because every aspiring DJ wants to know “How did he/she do it.” Well I must admit it was not easy in no way shape or form. I have a strong core value of being honest, up front, and kind. I moved to South Carolina as a transplant from Florida. I did not know anyone, and did not grow up here so mentally I was an outsider. I found my first contact through craigslist. Yup, doesn’t that sound like the beginning of every horror story. I found a listing for a DJ in need of an assistant. I sent him my resume. This started the beginning of where I am today in South Carolina. I had started a business in the tech and mobile device industry at the same time as a backup plan for work. I used the same outlet Craigslist as a means to gain clients. After 5 years of running this business I met who I call the greatest friend of all times Pastor Olen Jessie Sr. Not only was this gentlemen a Pastor, he was also like a father to me. He is still my pastor today, and still the greatest friend of all time. Pastor Jessie gave me the confidence I needed to further my social circle. I built my reputation based on 3 main elements. They are honesty, communication, and being unique. I am a tinkerer, and I love coming up with new way to increase production through technology. I like to invent things that can simplify the matter, or improve upon what it is today. I believe my time in the merchant marines programmed me to be a better listener, observer, and a leader. There are some things I have witnessed while working for other companies that drove me crazy, more less because I didn’t have the power to fix it. We were also talked down on, and were never given a chance to express are creativity.
Contact Info:
- Website: wedreamsc.com
- Instagram: @djnikkofb
- Twitter: @djnikkofb
- Youtube: youtube.com/@djnikko
- Other: SESSIONS LIVE (VDJ Radio): sessionslive.com/djnikkofb DISCOGS: djnikkofb#9889 INSTAGRAM BUSINESS: @we_dreamsc
Image Credits
Twelve Oak Estate (Photography) Lexington, SC 29072 twelveoakestate.com Instagram @twelveoakestate Chris Caporuscio We Dream, LLC wedreamsc.com Instagram @we_dreamsc