We were lucky to catch up with Emanuel Dominguez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Emanuel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
The biggest risk I’ve ever taken took place in the month of October 2022. After working in tech sales for 7+ years, I chose to leave the corporate world and go all in on my dream of creating music full-time. Although I started making money as a DJ in college, never did I imagine it becoming my main source of income. What started as a hobby, slowly turned into a side hustle, however it was years before I came to the conclusion it was time to pursue my passion full-time.
I started my career in Austin, Texas with Oracle as an entry level salesperson, and was blessed with the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder over the years. Eventually, I would go on to land an Account Director position at a competing company (Salesforce). While I will always be thankful for the experience and knowledge I acquired between both companies over the years, I knew I could never forgive myself if I didn’t at least try to pursue my dreams and make a living solely doing what I loved.
I’ll never forget the day I decided to quit. I never thought it would be possible to feel beyond scared, yet somehow so relieved at the same time. While I was excited to know I would be my own boss and in charge of my own schedule, I was afraid of taking a huge pay cut, losing my health insurance, and most importantly, afraid of failure. When taking risks, it’s easy to question and overthink everything. You start to come up with scenarios that will never even happen. When we are comfortable, it can be very difficult to seek change. I have learned across the years that in order to grow, you need to be uncomfortable. Without taking risks, you can never know what you are fully capable of.
I’m glad I was able to build the courage and finally take that leap of faith. The emotional side of leaving the corporate world has been a positive I could not have imagined initially when I was weighing both the benefits and risks of quitting. While there are now new things to stress about, it does not come close to the level of intensity I previously experienced in the corporate world. That alone has probably been the most rewarding factor, and although one could argue it is worth the money, I now could give you a list of reasons as to why it’s not. Starting with the simple fact that I now get to make money doing something I’m excited to do every day. I truly believe when the passion is there, the money will follow. Sometimes taking a step back can be life changing. If I never quit the corporate world, I would never know if I could make a living doing what I love.
While I may not know what the future holds, I still have no regrets with my decision. Although it may still be too early to confidently say it was the best decision, regardless, I don’t doubt that it was the right decision. Because even if I am to return to the corporate world one day, at least I know I went for it and gave it everything I had. Should I come to realize that it was not the best decision one day, at least I know I still got to experience living solely from doing what I loved, even if only for a short period of time. That to me is still a win, and more than enough reason and benefit to take a risk. I refuse to look back one day and wonder how things could have been differently if I had only tried.
Emanuel, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I was always involved with music growing up. From joining the middle school band, to playing guitar during worship service at church, to winning competitions during high school as a saxophonist, I always knew music would be a major part of my life. Growing up in a broken family, I was eager to prove myself one day and ensure a successful future, regardless of whether or not I had the family and financial support. I was lucky to have my mother as a role model, however as a first-generation college student, there was a lot I had to figure out on my own. Throughout college, I frequently worked 2-3 jobs at a time and was always looking for ways to make extra money.
It wasn’t until my freshman year at Baylor University that I first took an interest in DJing. Unfortunately, despite my curiosity to learn, I did not own any equipment outside of the laptop I had saved up for to use in school. Eager to give DJing a real shot, I managed to save up a little more and bought my first DJ controller. To get around the obstacle of not owning my own speakers, I knew I had to get creative. My strategy was offering to DJ various events for no profit, given the organizers would cover the speaker rental fee. Although I was not making a profit initially, I was gaining experience, exposure, and at minimum always breaking even. As I became better at my craft, I started charging a little more than the speaker rental fee, and before I knew it, I had saved up enough to finally purchase my own speakers.
As a senior at Baylor, I was presented with the opportunity to DJ at a local club. This eventually led to other opportunities and DJing consistently on the weekends at various venues across Waco, Texas. It wasn’t until I graduated in 2016, that I left my hometown for the first time to begin my sales career in Austin, Texas. While I continued DJing after starting my job with Oracle, I made sure to keep my gigs at a minimum, as my corporate job was my main priority still. Although I did not DJ as frequently when I initially moved to Austin, more and more opportunities continued to present themselves over time. Before I knew it, I was working 7 days a week (amounting to anywhere from 60 – 70 hours) between my corporate job and DJing, giving myself no time for rest. I instantly found my mental and physical health declining, and having to decide between the two.
After leaving the corporate world in October 2022, my decision to pursue music full-time allowed me to DJ more regularly. It also made it possible to focus on other goals I’ve had in relation to music, such as beginning to finally release original music on all major streaming platforms. I am also excited to announce I have recently made the decision to go from a sole proprietorship to starting an LLC, where I will continue to offer DJ services and more in the near future. While DJing is my main source of income today, I hope to soon expand my services more around the music production side of things in the months to come, including producing music for other artists.
I have continued to learn and grow as an individual throughout both my personal and creative journey. I strive to stay humble and always look to work with like-minded individuals that value both trust and respect. The relationships and connections I have built along the way is something I strongly value, and I look forward to continue building new ones in the months and years to come.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
In general, I love to surround myself with positivity, whether that be through people, content, or other resources. On social media, I follow a handful of accounts that typically share motivational or inspirational content. While it may seem small, seeing positive affirmations or inspirational clips on a daily basis can be very good for you. If you read or see enough of something (good or bad) it can influence your way of thinking over time. Seeing as I am already spending a lot of my time on social media, I like to feed my mind positive content to help me stay motivated and help with positive thinking. Additionally, watching inspirational content has inspired me to consistently create clean and positive content of my own, across all major social platforms.
Over the years, I have grown to love entrepreneurial and inspirational books to help me stay motivated. Some of my favorites include “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***” by Mark Manson, “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss, “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, “How to Talk to Anyone” by Leil Lowndes, “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. These books have helped me in so many ways, such as offering guidance around managing my business, providing advice on building business relationships, and encouraging me to always give 110% in everything I do.
I’ve also taken an interest on books around financial literacy and investing, as these are very important subjects, and unfortunately not a part of the learning curriculum throughout our school years. Some of my favorites include “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and “Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant” by Robert Kiyosaki, “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” by John Bogle, and “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey. From this small list alone, I have benefited from valuable teachings around the importance of saving for emergencies and your future, different ways to make your money work for you, how to ensure your money outpaces inflation, and how to reach your financial goals.
I have read some of these books more than once and still often reference them today. The learnings offered are so valuable and definitely worth going back over. Each have helped me in different ways, and I would always encourage others to read, regardless of the material. We often want to learn more about a certain subject and have no idea where to start. You can always find a number of books that will offer an abundance of knowledge and wisdom around any topic of your choosing.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
While the main way to support artists and creatives may seem to be by listening to their music, buying their merch or work, buying tickets to see them perform, etc., there are many ways to show your support without even spending a dollar. We live in a world today where almost everyone has access to the internet and people are going viral from their very own bedrooms. Often times, creatives are spending hours and months working on improving their craft, or finishing a project. As someone simply scrolling through their social feeds, it’s easy to watch something and completely overlook the hours and hard work that went into the final product. For example, as an artist, we may take weeks or even months to finish one song. As a listener, we hear a 2-3 minute song and don’t think at all about the process and emotion that went into making that one song.
As a creative, receiving a simple compliment or knowing that you enjoyed my work does more than you can imagine. Because being a perfectionist can limit your growth, creatives often put out something without feeling 100% confident in how the public will perceive it. For those that you truly want to know they have your support, there are many ways to show it. Outside of sharing a compliment, engaging with their posts on social media is always a great way to let a creative know you want to see them succeed. Other ways that are not as direct as a like or comment (but are even more helpful) include saving and sharing their posts, music, and work.
As we all know, AI is quickly becoming a major part of our world today, and many major platforms (if not all) use algorithms and statistics to measure popularity of every piece of content produced. Just as creatives want to succeed, social media platforms want to make the most money possible, and therefore favor content that people are more likely to engage with. As small as it may seem, any engagement can go a long way for a creative, and for me personally, never goes unnoticed. For someone who is now doing this full-time, every act of support has value, no matter how small. Although it may not be apparent, your support is helping put food on my table, and for that I will always be grateful.
If you know or follow a creative, and have seen them growing on their journey for some years now, chances are they are committed and very passionate about what they do. While many may not blow up to make millions, individuals with this sort of drive often still make it very far, or at least to what the average person would consider to be successful. Don’t miss out on being a part of that and remember to show your support! People always remember those who supported them since the beginning of their journey. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/emandomi
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/emandomimusic
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/emandomimusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/emandomimusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@emandomi
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/34asgPmgXa7uOlAzgwpRvc?si=JTY7Du-cRxaoLruV5e4LCw
- Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/eman-domi/1672192728
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emandomimusic
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/emandomi