We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Diego Lopez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Diego, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
Let’s take it back to the beginning of 2022, Where I had two choices. I could take my savings and have “fun with it” or use it to invest in myself and those around me. As much as I wanted to buy a brand new car, move In a nicer home and go out every night, I decided to take the long road. What I mean is, I went full fledge into my craft, which turned out to be Ancestral Entertainment. The first 6 months were not smiles and laughs, it was more headaches, sweat and tears. Running through money trying to recoup losses from over investing money into things with poor planning, the lack of business knowledge, and overall not working with a solid team, lead to a basket full of losses and sudden regrets. Fast forward to November (2022), I still wasn’t convinced that I was done, that we weren’t done. I decided to go official with ANCESTRAL and file for the LLC. Even though I had not made an actual cent through our entertainment, I had this burning desire to succeed! I just knew with all my ideas, belief, and ambition that it was gonna work out. So I took the leap to go forward to invest in all of the equipment we needed to start getting booked. We had our first official gig under Ancestral in mid November for a friend of ours. It was a wedding which turned out extremely nice! Even though we knew our clients, we still made it a point to give our 110%. From than, I fast forward to December til January, where everyday I’m trying my hardest to push to get gigs for not just me but for me and my partner. I also took it upon myself to not only push for my success but to also have that transfer over to him. And since than our bond and growth has skyrocketed. It’s always risky when you bid on yourself. But when you take it upon yourself to have others rely on you is sometimes 10x more risky. Pushing through each obstacle and continuing to grind and stay consistent, we went from 1 bookings in a month, to a now 6-8 bookings a month! We have also since been getting booked 4x in one day! A new record for us. Since than we went from working for family and friends alike, but to major companies such as Vagaro, Condolences, & Hi-Tech HoneyComb. I could’ve thrown in the towel when all else was failing. But I chose to keep going with full faith that it was gonna work out, therefore it did. It took and still takes everyday work. Don’t let fear be the reason opportunity skips you by, take a leap of faith in something you believe and TAKE THAT RISK.
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?
Let’s get it! First off I wanna say my name, a lot may know me in the business world as Diego, formality reason, as an Artist/Entertainment world, all know me as my stage name Wavy, spelled w444vy. I am a self made entrepreneur/creator who loves life through the ups and downs!
I have a passion for music, dancing, and connecting with others! I got into the entertainment industry by becoming not only a recording artist but a performing artist as well. I have been apart of shows as the entertainment, so I know what it takes to be comfortable in front of a crowd , with all eyes on you. I started recording music and performing around 2016-2017. I had since been continued until around 2020 where I really started to get deeper into my craft. Fast forward to 2021 I had began throwing my own shows and collaborating with my now partner DJ Willi. The show that solidified our bond was a Christmas Toy Drive we put on where we raised over 1000 toys for many families throughout our city. We had live music, games, and created a beautiful experience. I’d say this is one of the proudest moments we have had. From than we loved the feeling it gave us deep in our souls. So we continue with the good cause events and overall helping others through our entertainment and talents. That’s when in 2022 we launched our company and have done over 50+ paid gigs. The services we offer are DJ, MC/Hosting, Audio & Visual Tech, DJ Lessons, Song Writing, Flow coaching, and many more. We do Weddings, Parties, Karaoke, Conventions, Corporate gigs, churches, venues, festivals, you need entertainment we can provide it. We have a variety of high quality Speaker systems, subwoofers, Amazing Lighting, Wired, wireless microphones, all the cords and cables, everything you’ll need for a great night! The problems we solve are that we fully have our clients back. What that means is that we will be attentive in the beginning, touch base with you leading up to your event and will continue to check in with you during the event until it’s finished. We are also extremely early to each event. At least an hour ahead of go time to be fully prepared. We have been early as 3 hours to an event just to make sure we are fully prepared for what’s thrown at us.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Understand a lot goes into being a creative/artist/entertainer. Society can do better by investing more resources into the youth who are extremely imaginative and creative so that they can have a better chance at being successful creators as they get older. So that they are able to make more than a living off their craft. And to also push that it’s actually a good thing when all you do is “music”.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
We are shooting past the moon!! The sky ain’t the limit!! We gonna end up on staged worldwide and international! We just know it’ll happen. In due time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ancestralentertainment1.voolt.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/ancestralent619?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Other: https://www.thumbtack.com/ca/spring-valley/bands-for-hire/ancestral-entertainment-llc/service/466922775163928577?utm_medium=web&utm_source=txt&surface=sp&referrer_pk=466922774921732096