We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michael DJ M DOT Hankerson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michael DJ M DOT below.

Michael DJ M DOT , appreciate you joining us today. Have you been 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? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

When you find a career that you truly love and you’re able to fully invest you time, energy and resources into it while being able to make a living doing so, that to me is the American dream. There was never a back up plan, or plan b. The minute I realized this is what I wanted to do for as long as I could, I was committed to seeing it through. I was going to dive in face first and failure was not an option. There were many sacrifices made along the way, but in the end it all paid off. I remember having a part time job at a law firm while I was pursing my career as a DJ. I had been asked to go on a radio promo tour with Brooke Hogan and Paul Wall and as the tour was ending I wasn’t sure if it were a lucky break for me or if the momentum would carry over so I had all intentions of returning back to my safe space at the law firm making $10 an hour. Fortunately for me I was asked to join Jamie Foxx’s “Unpredictable” tour the very next day Brooke’s tour ended, and that tour went on for the next 5 months and that’s when I knew I would never return to the law firm.

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?

I got into the business by a good friend named DJ Mike E Simm. He was rocking a house party one day and I was a pretty good speaker so I picked up the microphone and took the party to the next level. Soon after we were rocking clubs together a few nights a week and I started to make a name for myself. I realized that I have a passion for talking on the mic so I decided to enroll back into college and study mass comm with a focus on radio and television broadcasting. I quickly earned an internship with one of my radio mentors, K foxx out of Miami and her co host DJ Khaled, yes that DJ Khaled! I ran the board, edited calls and became somewhat of a producer for the show thanks to my board experience on college radio. I had a conversation with my mentor, the person who is credited for my success, DJ IRIE, and he decided to take me under his wing and help shape my career. From becoming the first dj in Professional baseball with the Marlins. to going on tour with Brooke Hogan, Jamie Foxx, Kelly Rowland and a few others, to filling in for him at Miami HEAT games then eventually moving into a more permanent role the last three seasons. What I am most proud of is when people tell me that I inspire them. I was once a kid with a dream and I made my dream a reality. What good is having this platform if you’re not inspiring others to dream big and to take that leap of faith. There were many nights I doubted myself, even thought about pulling the plug, but yet I overcame those negative emotions and kept pushing. I want to do my part in changing the world as we see it. Spreading love and positivity. I want to make sure everywhere I go, I leave it just a little bit better.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Haha this is a good question. I wish that there was social media when I first got into the business. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few things back then but they weren’t as influential as they are now. I am a firm believer in the power of social media. The ability to promote yourself and your business to total strangers is incredible . Not to mention, you can also show a more relatable side to these same individuals. There have been many gigs I have gotten just from my social media presence. A particular brand may look at the way I carry myself and want to partner up because they feel that it’s a good fit.

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

My goal has always been to touch as many lives through my gift of music and speech. I don’t do it for the money, nor the fame, or even the recognition. I do it because I genuinely love entertaining people. It fills me with complete gratitude when people tell me that I’m an inspiration to them. Words like that reassure me that I’m fulfilling my purpose in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.djmdot.com
• Instagram: @djmdot
• Facebook: facebook.com/djmdotfanpage
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/djmdot
• Twitter: djmdottweets
• Other: threads: @djmdot

Image Credits
David “Trick” Alvarez, Julia Rose, Cristina Sullivan, Eddie ” create” Chance III, Nick Vega, Mikey B, Peyton Schaefer, Jared Pearlman