We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniel Shaw. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniel below.

Hi Daniel, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

When I was living in the Nashville area during the early days of Covid in 2020, I went to get coffee from a friend’s coffee shop in the Music Valley Village area. The door was locked which was a shock to me. I called my friend, and he explained that Metro Nashville told them they had to close to the public inside the shop but could bring orders to your car. This was the start of me creating 615 LIFE that later morphed into 615 LOCAL. Instead of getting all political about what was going on, I just created a few social media accounts to get the word out. I felt that we really need to support local businesses right now, more than ever before, or we will lose many of our favorite local places. As others saw what I was doing they would ask me for help to promote their business and I did as long as they were locally owned and within the 615-area code map.

In 2021 I decided to take 615 LOCAL up a notch and into a real business by adding an online directory platform and launching 615 LOCAL Business and Community Directory. In the first couple of months of adding the directory platform, I was able to add businesses all throughout the 615 in many verticals.

To make this a real business in 2021 I filed with the State of Tennessee Security of State for my LLC “Shaylin Media LLC”, with a DBA of 615 LOCAL.

In 2024 Shaylin Media LLC has added many services that work well with what is offered under the 615 LOCAL brand. Everything from Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Brand Reputation Management, Website Development and much more.

We launched in a big way in our town of Pleasant View, TN on June 15th, 2024, with multiple events that we called 615 DAY 2024. The theme of the day was to show our support for local businesses by having a vendor expo and also a concert in the parking lot of a local business. This was the biggest event the Town of Pleasant View has ever had.

Daniel, 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?

I have always been in the promotional and marketing industry. Back when I live in the Seattle area in the late 1990s through early 2005, I was operating E.P.M. – Elite Promotional Models where we had promotional models on contract that we would match with clients that wanted to promote something. Our models did everything from trade shows, to offering shots at clubs. In 2005 I closed that business and moved the family to Nashville, TN and quickly got into being a live music promoter for mostly rock shows. I was one of the only promoters at the time putting on a Rock Showcase in lower Broadway at the landmark Hard Rock Cafe. I created the showcase branded as Rock Over Broadway presented by Dream Row Entertainment. DRE was the business we started to be a live music promoter. After ending Rock Over Broadway, I put DRE on the shelf until 2024 as it’s now a brand under Shaylin Media LLC.

Promoting and marketing live events, online brands, and building brands is what I feel my calling has always been. Over time I have partnered with many other businesses, and individuals that help build our knowledge and marketing coverage. I’m very excited about Shaylin Media LLC and the brands we have developed under that umbrella. Some days I might be meeting with a local business about their digital marketing, watching a live band to see their draw and entertainment value, and talking to a venue owner about what their venue can offer to promoting live entertainment events. It’s a great way to spend a day and I love being productive in this way.

Shaylin Media LLC can offer a business a wide variety of marketing and promotional services online and offline. We know many offer digital marketing, but do they blend that with live entertainment promotional events for a business as well? We are different and blend our experience from multiple brands to cover what a business might need.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

For the last 18 years from 2007 until mid 2024 I spent a majority of my week in an office environment as a technology specialist for a major grocery company. This provided my family with the stability and insurance it truly needed. When my middle child was diagnosed with MS, I knew the insurance the company offered was going to be more crucial to keep. I still had that drive to build a business, a brand, and provide services that I truly believed in and I didn’t want to have to continue fixing the same technology issues over and over again. I knew it was smart to start the venture while still having steady income and that is what I did with Shaylin Media LLC. When my child with MS aged out of my insurance plan, it was time to pull the trigger so to speak and launch in a big way where I could just jump into the deep end and swim and not stop.

I always tell other new entrepreneurs that I work with that you have to make progress every single day and to do something that moves your business forward even if it’s a small baby step somedays. Just do something that moves it forward. Some days that might be a lot and seem never ending and some days you decide you are only going to make a meaningful social media post and take the rest of the day off to recover and get ready for tomorrow.

One thing I love is helping an entrepreneur grow their brand and get it started on a solid foundation. I have learned a lot over the years in multiple startups but my biggest lesson I learned is to never stop. Taking a break is fine but even during that break listen to that inner you and know what you are meant to do with that talent you were born to give this world. I work with a lot of talented musicians, music artists and varied entertainment professionals that I know can use my talent and my team’s talent to grow their business and make it Thive!

The growth of Shaylin Media LLC started with one client, and then one more, one more live show, and then booking another, you just keep going for the next one and don’t feel complacent.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

When building the Rock over Broadway presented by Dream Row Entertainment, I wanted it to be unique in the lower Broadway Nashville market that was saturated with country music. When I decided it could only work at Hard Rock Cafe’ upper room I approached them with the idea and detailed demographics, and a lineup of bands that wanted the opportunity to play their venue. I didn’t know if they would accept my concept or not, but I also would of never know if I didn’t go for it. I went in with a plan, not just an idea. That extra hard work in planning paid off. We had a deal with Hard Rock Cafe’ once a month for a few years and what a ride it was. We brought in local rock bands and out of market rock bands to really deliver to the audience a full showcase of Rock n’ Roll. Using street teams, we were able to always keep the room full as some would leave in between band sets those street teams would drive more people to the venue for the next band. It only happened because we start the Rock Over Broadway concept with a solid foundation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shaylinmedia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shaylin.media.llc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shaylin.media/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/uas/login-submit
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@615StrongerTogether

Image Credits

Photo of Daniel Shaw is by Jay Farrell Photography