We were lucky to catch up with Kyle Goodloe recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kyle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I began earning a living full time as a DJ in 2022. My career began back in 2006 when I started to DJ for my college radio station at Kennesaw State University. There was a guy who worked at the station that owned a set of turntables and a mixer who showed me the ropes. From there I used DJing in nightclubs and bars around Atlanta and Athens, GA as a side gig while I also worked as a waiter and made my way through school. I was finally able to afford to finish college in 2014 when I graduated from Georgia Southern University and then moved out to Colorado to find a “real job.” I lived out there for about 3 years where I worked as a teacher but unfortunately, I never really got that sense of fulfillment that playing music gave me. In 2018 my wife and I moved to Chattanooga and by the end of 2019 we had started our own DJ company – Golden Gate Entertainment. Each year we have been able to grow our company and today I have hosted over 500 weddings and events!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We provide DJ and custom light design services along with photo booths and special effects. We specialize in high energy dance floors and creating jaw dropping moments that will make your guests remember your celebration for a lifetime! Our knack for staying ahead of the curve with the most up to date software and technologies allows us to provide the highest end quality that our clients have come to know and expect.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being able to connect with someone through music is the most rewarding aspect of my career and being an artist. Everyone has their own way of getting to know people and mine is through music. I can absolutely tell if someone is my type of person just my looking at their Spotify playlists or their “must play” requests. Its great to be able to provide a service for someone and them be happy with it, but it’s really something special when you can connect with them on a more personal level by providing that service and music allows me to do just that.

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

Don’t ever let someone tell you how much you are worth! I spent years making my bosses a ton of money while they only gave me a half of a fraction of what I was benefitting them… and I thought that’s just the way it was. For years I worked job after job doing this until one day I realized that If you are talented enough to make a lot of money for someone else, you are definitely talented enough to make it for yourself! You just have to take the leap.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.goldengate-entertainment.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldengateent/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldengateent/

Image Credits
Mariah Rock Photography, Kristen Thomison
, Coastal Roads
, Veronica Katherine Photo