We recently connected with Kelly J and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kelly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the toughest parts of scaling a business is maintaining quality as you grow. How have you managed to maintain quality? Any stories or advice?

Two things happened over the years for me: my business grew AND I had Zara. I experienced quite a few trials and errors, and ultimately worked to create a product/service/version of me that people would pay top dollar for with no question, so that I wasn’t working everyday and could maximize my time as a parent. The same year I became pregnant with Zara, I was getting nonstop gigs. About 3-7 per week, every week. I was placed on bedrest with Zara as my pregnancy was high risk, and could only work 4 hours a week, which I still ended up stretching to 10-12 some weeks. This meant I had to pass most of my gigs, resulting in me keeping the ones that paid the most.
After I had Zara, I stuck to this blueprint, because now that she was here, I didn’t want to be away from her long. I separated from her father before she was born, and as a single mom, balance was everything.
I studied the DJs that people paid top dollar for, and practiced like no tomorrow while working on my brand. Again here, I experienced a lot of trial and error, and to be clear, I volunteer in the Vegas community often, but I was able to create a brand/product/version of me that allows me to provide quality services and be a quality mom.

Kelly, 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?

My DJ career started in 2008 as an intern at Vegas radio station and staple, 88.1 FM. I was able to learn about all of the roles at a radio station, and gravitated toward the DJs. I’ve been djing ever since, lol. My background lies heavily in radio, as I worked at various radio stations for over 14 years. I currently DJ at Vegas radio station 91.5FM KUNV. I also teach a DJ workshop at UNLV.
My love for people is why I became a DJ, and because of this, I enjoy studying and playing all genres of music. I think this surprises most consumers, partly because most DJs say they love music, not people, and not many black DJs are known for spinning every genre. In an effort to continue to challenge myself and grow, I made it a goal to study and master genres as new opportunities came.
I’m most proud of my daughter to be honest, lol. Workwise, I’m most proud of the DJ workshop. It was the first of its kind in Las Vegas, and allowed me the opportunity to pass my wisdom to the next generation of DJs.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Leaving an impact on someone for sure. It’s always made me genuinely happy to hear that I made someone’s day or night, or when someone vividly remembers an event I DJ’ed.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

I had a LOT of side hustles while I built my DJ career. I was a tradeshow model/brand ambassador, braided hair, and did graphic design. None of those became my career, but helped me support my DJ career for sure. Just about all of them allowed me a space to network and meet people, many of whom became DJ clients later.

Contact Info:

• Website: djkellyj.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/djkellyj
• Facebook: facebook.com/djkellyj
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/djkellyj
• Twitter: twitter.com/djkellyj
• Youtube: youtube.com/djkellyj702
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dj-kelly-j-las-vegas

Image Credits
Photos are all by https://www.instagram.com/lotusvalentinevisuals/