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

Delaney, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

I will never forget my first session as a performance coach. Having just started my company, Dilemma Entertainment, one of the first obstacles to overcome was getting the word out there to the right clientele. All business owners have faced this same hurdle, and it can be anxiety inducing trying out a new business idea for the first time. Before my first client session, I was so nervous. I remember doubting myself and wondering how it would go. Would they see the value in my services? Would they be kind to work with? Was I right in pursuing this calling or should I have stuck with a normal 9-5? My very first client was an artist named Maylyn. She had found me on social media and decided to take a chance on my new business. I will forever be grateful to her, because immediately after that first session ended, I had all the reassurance in the world that this was in fact what I was meant to do. Besides being an already incredibly talented artist, Maylyn was beyond easy to work with and was open to all my ideas for her performance. It truly felt like a collaboration effort, and watching her vision come to life was a beyond rewarding experience. Being a small part of her artistry gave me the confidence and boost I needed to know this was meant for me. Hearing her receive such positive feedback after the first performance I worked with her on was the best feeling in the world, and knowing that I helped enhance her shows was like my dream had finally started to come to fruition.

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

I grew up surrounded by the arts so it was no surprise when early on I had a heavy interest in all things performance- dance, music, cheer, etc. My entire family was musical, so whether we were spending our weekends going to watch my dad perform with his band at festivals, or we were helping my brother record his latest song, it was a constant creative environment that encouraged us to pursue our passions. After graduating from Belmont University with a degree in songwriting, I felt called to serve a need in the performance industry that had seemed to be continuously overlooked. By combining my love for music and dance, I now am able to help artists enhance their stage performance skills, prepare for live shows, and ultimately help artists stand out in the typical singer/songwriter crowd. There are a lot of great artists out there, so it is crucial now more than ever to differentiate yourself and your talent by giving an audience a show they will walk away thinking about. Dilemma Entertainment offers 1:1 personalized sessions with artists, catered to each individuals’s needs and wants. We are able to create a game plan to enhance their skills and build on improvement areas. Whether it is simply getting an artist more comfortable behind the mic, helping them get out from the trap of hiding behind their instrument, or creating full on show choreography for a live set, we are able to cater to the artists goals and needs and meet them where they are at . In the sessions we work on all things live performance including confidence building, body language, choreography, in between song banter and creative ways to enhance overall crowd engagement and interaction. Every signed artist in the industry has access to a performance coach, and every signed artist’s live show has hours of work put into it by these coaching teams. It has been a great experience getting to provide performance coaching to artists who otherwise might not have access to a coach. Being a constant cheerleader to my artists is one of my favorite parts about my job, and watching them grow and evolve into the performers they once looked up to is beyond rewarding. It might have been a risk to try something new and dip my hand into business ownership, but it has been the sweetest reward getting to see my hard work help other people achieve their goals.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The mission statement for Dilemma Entertainment is to help artists elevate and excel on stage. This still reigns true, but if I had to go back and add a caveat to the mission statement it would be to help increase accessibility to performance coaching for independent or smaller artists. As I had previously stated, almost every signed recording artists has access to performance coaches either through their label or their management teams. It is seen more as a luxury rather than a necessity, similar to MUAs and personal stylists. Small independent artists rarely know a) what a performance coach does for these signed artists b) where to access one without being signed or breaking the bank. My goal is to deliver the services that help curate the live shows these higher level musicians are able to produce for their fans and listeners. Everyone knows that there is a big difference between seeing your favorite artist perform at the Rayman and seeing a local writers round performance at a bar. While other factors come into play such as lighting design, sound, and stage space, what artists sometimes do not realize is the biggest differentiator between those big name acts and themselves is their ability to connect with an audience and deliver a show that is engaging both auditory and visually. Being available and accessible to smaller artists and helping to get them one step closer to delivering that top tier level live show is what I dream about. I want to help take their performance to the next level and potentially break apart from the crowd.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Being very specific in a niche is key for social media presence. Speaking to a particular audience and keeping that audience narrowed in has been most helpful in curating the right tiktok algorithm. Once I started finding my niche and sticking to my market, I started to be more constant in my posting. Showing my personality and the personality of the company while promoting the mission statement and even giving out my top tips and tricks for artists helped to drive traction and generate value. Along with performance coaching, another need in the market is helping artists find shows to play. This is not the service Dilemma Entertainment does, however I love to give my artists opportunities to showcase what we work on with a live audience. This is what generated my latest idea of hosting a writers round for my artists. The best part about it was that I selected artists for the round entirely based off of a competition I posed on tiktok. Any artist that was interested in playing the round had to apply and audition for a spot, and if they were selected for the round I gave them a free trial performance coaching session. I prepared with each of them individually before the show and it was a delight getting to see multiple of my artisits in the same room showcasing their new skills and new and improved live sets, It was a great way to spread the word on social media and gain some new followers, but also an incredible way to grow my client base and provide an opportunity for my artists to apply their session learnings in the real world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dilemmaentertainment.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dilemmaentertainmentnashville/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dilemmaentertainmentnashville