We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dax Parra. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dax below.
Alright, Dax thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Yes, I have and it’s been the best decision I’ve made in a long time. Coming out of the pandemic in February of 2021, one of my best friends, Juan Collazo, and started talking about his wedding business. He’s been a full time wedding DJ for the last 8 years and the pandemic created a backlog of weddings and made it difficult to schedule new ones. I shadowed him on a couple of his weddings, even helping out with operating his Photo Booth, and I fell in love with the whole process. I had a very comfortable 6 figure corporate career so I knew I would have to go all in on this if I was going to be successful. May 21, 2021 was the last day in my old career and I’ve been a full time wedding and events DJ ever since. There is no way I could have done this without Juan’s help and guidance, but this year I will do somewhere between 60 – 70 weddings and other private events and gigs on top. I work 20x more than I did before, but each day I’m doing something I love and it doesn’t feel like work.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The reason I’m doing what I’m doing is because I had cancer in 2009 and got divorced at the same time. (Long story lol) Ever since then I just do what inspires me and allows me to help people along the way. I also try and live an example for my kids so they can see that you really are in control of your life and how you choose to deal with things, good or bad. DJing provided me an outlet and when I saw the faces on the people in the crowd, I was hooked. I truly DJ to make the dance floor happy and, as a by-product, it makes me happy.
When it comes to weddings, I really take on the role of entertainer. As I tell all of my clients, the DJing is the easiest part of the night for me. There is so much preparation that takes place to plan and execute the wedding of someone’s dreams and I take that extremely seriously. I’m way more detailed than my clients ask or expect me to be, but that’s because my name is on it and I want their day to literally be the best day ever. Every wedding is different so we have to be adaptable to venue personnel, other vendors, geography, weather, technical difficulties, and a host of other things. When it’s the day of the wedding, it’s showtime!
I think I’m most proud when couple’s tell me their wedding was better than they could’ve imagined. I just did a wedding where the bride and groom have been together for 10 years, technically married for the last 2, but unable to celebrate until recently because of Covid. After the wedding was over, the groom came to me and said he had never seen his wife’s parents dance and have so much fun, ever. He was near tears and said that was the highlight of the night for him. To have been able to somehow help provide that atmosphere is why I’m excited for the next one.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
This isn’t something I had to unlearn, but it’s relevant. I come from a sales background (over 25 years in sales) and I’ve always approached sales with direct honesty. I’ve never been a fan of gimmicks or being overly enthusiastic that wasn’t coming from a genuine place of happiness for my clients. In the wedding business, some people try to “sell” their clients and that’s the wrong approach for long term success. I’ve been successful early on because when I meet with my couples I am genuinely trying to help them achieve their vision. They are spending a lot of money to have this day and it better be worth it!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My mission is to make people happy and this is the current path I’m on. Our long-term goal is to own our own venue and provide a more complete level of service. We know all of the ins and outs of a wedding and what it takes to plan, prepare, and execute the perfect day. It’s such a positive event, how could you not want to make each one the most amazing wedding ever?!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://theweddingentertainmentcollective.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parradax/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dax.parra/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClXgD-ar31dgiUEepXDATuQ
- Other: https://linktr.ee/parradax www.parradax.com https://soundcloud.com/dj-parradax