We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Darian Stitt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Darian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

If I were to start over today knowing what I know now I would focus more on the quality of things rather than the quantity. When I first embarked on my entrepreneurial journey I was about waves more so than motion. Waves look cool for the time being but crash eventually, I’ve learned the hard way slow motion is better.

Starting out we were moving fast but in so many different directions. It created so much stress for me being all over the place but the good thing that came out of it was no matter where we were we made an impact on the people.

Definitely wish I slowed down and focused on the internal rather than the external work of things.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Well, I’m 28 years old, I started dancing at the age of 8. By 9, I enrolled in my first hip-hop class, at the time my teacher just so happened to be the Cleveland Cavaliers Entertainment Director by the name of Jami Taylor. She was so impressed by my dancing abilities for my age she invited me to the Gund arena (Rocket mortgage field house) to dance with the “new” hip hop dance team for the Cavs known as the Scream Team. This was in 2005 when I danced with them during halftime, I did so good along with another kid by the name of Daylen they decided that following year to start a kids’ dance team known as the Cavs kids now called Cavs minis.

From 2006-2009 I was on the Cavs kids then transitioned off the team due to the age limit, I turned 14 and started high school in the fall.

That’s when I began to explore more with dancing, sports, and eventually business.

I grew a love for football more and marketing as I got older however, I stopped sports mid-high school due to a few injuries along the way and began to dance more professionally and grow into the business aspect of it. As time went on I really started appreciating the value of marketing and branding yourself.

With that knowledge, I began mentoring dancers during my come-up. From dancing to the importance of knowing the business side of it as well. I always made it a mission to equal out both because I never wanted dancers going through what I did coming up in the industry with lack of knowledge and knowing how to read a room efficiently. Artistically my credentials include Mainstream Artists from LL Cool j (HBO), B2K (Millennium tour), Dj Khaled
(All star weekend) Teyana Taylor (Concerts/Videos), MGK (Concerts/Music vids) to many more along with Local artists Drew Castle (Tour), Shuicide Holla, Jay wells etc..

I eventually circled back around accomplishing my childhood dream of being on Scream Team 2018 throughout 2022.

With my company known as Artistic Rebels Entertainment LLC (AR) we’ve put on dance events known as “Battle Cyphers” for the community since 2015 . This event is all age friendly and equivalent to the “you got served” crew dance battles, 1vs1, 2vs2 and showcases as well.
AR is an Entertainment company that specializes in creative marketing thru dance, media and hosting/mcing.

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

A lesson I had to unlearn was the meaning to be a follower and a leader.

I always thought it was frowned upon to be a follower but in actuality it’s good to be balanced. You have to remain a student (follower) to stay polished as a leader.

My brand is centered off leadership (A Rebel means to be a leader in your art form)

I forgot how imperative it is to follow and study the right people to hone in on your inspiration as a creative. Without it you become lost, unmotivated etc..

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The time I had to pivot in business was when I began to see the gaps in the industry (more so speaking on the cleveland scene) I saw dancers but it was a lack of platforms, jobs etc.. for us here and most importantly how we were marketed to the public.

I chose to pivot becoming more so a public figure/businessman rather than focusing on my individual artistry as a dancer like most I know.

This payed off because I was able to manage for some of my closest friends that are dancers and help them build their resumes. Some are dancers full time now while some balance corporate life and the dance life like myself.

I wanted to change the narrative of how people perceive dancers not even just in cleveland but in general. It all starts with how you market and brand yourself.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Darian_savage
• Twitter: Darian_2xs

Image Credits
@eyezofmyheart