We were lucky to catch up with Aaron “Uncanny” Phillips recently and have shared our conversation below.

Aaron “Uncanny”, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

My career in event management began well before I knew it began. I had the idea to throw theme parties for some time and the first that became a series were my Halloween parties. Beginning as house parties that grew into theme nights at different small-medium sized venues and eventually grew to become one of the biggest Halloween themed music festivals in the Midwest, “Hollowicked”. Not feeling satisfied with simply planning events I began DJing for various events, tour coordination for independent/unsigned artists, tour routing for national touring artists, hosting open mics and showcases and eventually becoming a blogger and podcast host along the way.

Aaron “Uncanny”, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Aaron “Uncanny” Phillips, and I got my start in the music industry as an intern at Springfield, Illinois based Rec Carpet Records way back in 1999. From that time, I have grown from burgeoning recording artist to one of the most sought-after promoters in my market. I built my skillset through hard work and never taking “no” for an answer. I did everything in my power to to help grow the Hip Hop community in Central Illinois while also bringing major artists to the market and creating platforms for independent artists to grow their brands and create revenue streams.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn self-reliance. As an oldest child from a single parent household, I learned if I wanted things, I had to stand on my own to get them. No matter the cost or circumstance if I wanted it I had to make it shake for myself, In growing both and business and brand I had to take a step back and realize that I literally couldn’t do everything on my own. There are certain skillsets that I don’t have and honestly don’t have time to learn. While I have grown exponentially there is no way to learn and master every skill it takes to maintain a company at the highest levels. You have to learn to build a team, trust that your team will execute their given tasks and delegate to your best ability.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Being a lifelong food service industry worker was never my goal, but I found myself working in that field for most of my adult life…. then COVID happened. With the closures of multiple sectors occurring at once it brought the food service industry to a complete standstill. I lost both of my jobs at the time and pivoted into a full-time sales position. After being in that role for some time I knew that it was time to take my career into my own hands and turn my side hustle into the way I paid my bills.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.getyourbuzzup.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/therealuncanny
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/therealuncanny