We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Paul Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Paul, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I am Paul, also known as DJ P. Skyllz. I am the Owner of Elyte Event Professionals, EEP. EEP is a premier event company based in Baltimore, MD, servicing events throughout the DMV and beyond. We are dedicated to creating unforgettable experiences for weddings and private events with our Elyte DJs, Photographers, Videographers, Photobooths, Lighting, and more! With over 20 years of experience, I would not have gotten here without key people in my life who believed in me.
They say if you want to go far in life, go together with those who support your vision. The seed for this vision was planted back in 2003. A close friend of mine and future business partner, DJ Kasper, introduced me to the whole of DJ’ing. I jumped right in as his MC for countless events throughout the Atlanta region. Time and time again, he would ask me to DJ, and I absolutely refused!
Fast forward 7 years, DJ Kasper and I are headlining an event when he turns to me saying he will be right back. Now this is normal in the DJ/MC world for restroom breaks, quick eating, or a quick venue walk. This time, was not a normal case! He disappeared on me for 3 hours! Over the years, I have filled in for him for brief moments, 2-3 songs max, but never 3 hours, until now. Initially, I was flustered, mad, worried, and lost. By the 7th song and nonstop dancing, I found myself engulfed in the moment and that’s when DJ P. Skyllz was born!
No longer the DJ/MC duo, we continued out music journey now as 2 epic DJs residing in the DMV. As the years progressed, the events and opportunities expanded. I was introduced to a world where I was charged with creating the environment for memories to be made. I kept envisioning getting a group of talented creatives together to not only accomplish this mission but also strive to be elite in their crafts and delivery.
Around 2017, maybe 2018, after countless events, networking, and life experiences, I pitched the idea to my Photographer, formerly known as DJ Kasper and best friend, as well as my long college friend who was a Graphic Artist now Videographer, Lyfe. I said in my most 90s voice, with our skills combined, we could change the event world overnight! They absolutely agreed and the next thing we knew, we were brain storming company names, roadmapping a rollout, and checking off the boxes.
Remember that thing called life experiences, well each of us were in the middle of our own life changing experience. These separate, yet very significant moments brought our planning to an immediate halt. Though frustrated, the fire in me to see this dream, this vision through, was still burning, rather raging inside of me. As the dust began to settle from 2020’s world changing events, I found myself still contemplating what my DJ and business direction should go. The love of my life, Kai, was beside me watering the seed of the vision I had of bringing the elites of their crafts together under one umbrella.
During a time when no one pictured being able to go back outside to be social again, I hit the ground planning the foundation of having Elyte Event Professionals be a household name. We would have DJs, Photographers, and whoever else wanted to contribute their craft to weddings, birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries, and more! By the end of 2022, Kai surprised me with the most amazing gift ever. She helped make Elyte Event Professionals a reality. Now a legitimate LLC, I was on my way forward. With Kasper as our Lead Photographer, DJ Suave as my Senior DJ, and just one month into being a company, DJ Boot on Tha Ga$ hears about EEP and asked to join. The team and services expanded exponentially.
Within the first year, we added Videography, Photobooths, and Wedding Planners. We serviced countless weddings, worked with the Baltimore Ravens Cheerleaders, UNCF, HBCUs, and so many amazing clients. I am truly thankful for those who have supported the vision along the way and trusted the brand enough to help create the moments memories are made from.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
EEP provides an array of services now and constantly growing. We have DJs, Photographers, Videographers, 4 different styles of Photobooths, Wedding/Event Planners, Lighting, wedding accessories, and the list continues. Our Elyte Team specializes in creating customized experiences for all clients.
Elyte DJs believe in doing their music homework. Our music catalogue ranges from music as old as the 1920s to diverse genres and cultures of songs/artists. Our Photographers motto stems from capturing the best moments and they do just that. These pictures will last a lifetime in each click of the camera. The Videography team has the ability to help tell the story you lived through the lens and film of their cameras to create a video you will forever cherish.
The Photobooths Elyte has, well let’s just say they help bring the fun to any event. With props, add ons, and our energetic team member present, you will enjoy our classic photo booths. Why stress yourself out trying to plan your own wedding or event, when Elyte Wedding Planners specialize in making your dreams a reality! With an entire team of professionals, our Wedding Planners ensure your special day is just that…special.
EEP believes each person is a potential spokesperson for our brand. We treat everyone with respect and bring our A game to the entire experience. Allow Elyte Event Professionals to bring your next special occasion to life the Elyte way!
Any advice for managing a team?
Elyte Event Professionals has a core value of trust and respect. This goes beyond the service we provide for clients but is also how I treat my team. My team trust that I will openly communicate with them, have their back in tough situations, provide mentorship to help enhance creativity, and promote a positive work/life balance atmosphere.
One of the key ways I do this is by building relationships outside of work communication. Getting to know your team from their strengths to the areas they are looking to develop, helps you create opportunities to assist them along the way. This shows their voice is being heard. The interesting part is, this also helps when it is time to have those difficult conversations with team members. They do not feel attacked rather they feel more valued in the level of care you are offering.
Annual raises also assist! The cost of living is not what it use to be. So as my team continues to perfect their craft, I plan to continue to honor them as I can with increases and access to EEP resources as needed.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
As the Owner and a DJ of Elyte Event Professionals, I still provide DJ/MC services to clients. A few years back, I have the privilege of DJ’ing a wedding that changed my approach to DJ’ing. The scariest night of my life, insert dramatic music. Let me paint the scene. I have been talking to this couple for about 7 months preparing for their private wedding. The day of, I arrive 2 hours early for set up and sound check as I normally do.
I purchased a new fog machine for their first dance and uprights to add ambience around the reception area. The stage was set for an Elyte style wedding. Little did I know, tragedy was coming my way. The ceremony kicks off with a pianist for the entrances and wireless microphones being provided by me. The ceremony concludes smoothly and the cocktail hour is on the way with nice jazz playing in the background while the guests sip their drinks.
I head back to the reception area to do one final sound check and test on the fog machine. All is well and the grand entrances for the reception are starting shortly. Boom! I introduce the wedding party and the couple. They share their very first dance together as husband and wife. The guests are filled with warmth and love watching the groom dance with his mom and the bride with her father. The perfect start to a magical evening.
As the guests are now enjoying their meals, I notice my DJ program do a glitch. Odd, no problem, let me play my back up R&B lovers mix on my phone while I restart the DJ program. And that’s when it happened. The blue circle of technology death. I could not escape it, my laptop decided this is the moment where I betray you! I don’t panic, I simple force restart the entire laptop. I’m a techy guy, I can fix this. Plus they just started eating dinner, I have 30-40 minutes to get back on track.
After about 10 minutes of my laptop refusing to reboot, I race to the main building to connect to the internet to hopefully update or reconfigure or something! I leave my laptop there and run back to the reception area to see where we were on the timeline. Great, I have about 20mins before cake cutting and my R&B mix is running smoothly. I run back to the main building to check on my laptop and yes it is loading up. Perfect, I run back with my laptop reaching the reception room to find out it is frozen!
So, as a former track star, I run back to connect it to the internet to reboot again and immediately go back to the reception room. At this point, I am frantic, watching the time countdown before party time. I can’t tell the bride and groom my laptop is refusing to work, what do I do?! I start to text my DJs to see if anyone could bring me their laptop. Everyone was over 2 hours away and unable. A frat brother of mine, said he could make it in less than 2 hours and I said hurry!
As I began to run back to the main building for my laptop, I realized the cause of my laptop failure. A few weeks prior, as I was setting up for an event, my laptop fell over a balcony, down 2 flights of steps and crashed on the ground without a single scratch. It worked perfectly for that event and I was flabbergasted. That’s because the damage was all inside and finally showing the results on this great wedding day. When I reached the laptop, the warning screen told me it could not find the operating system.
I, DJ P. Skyllz, in the middle of a wedding reception, have no laptop, and the show must go on. With my friend hours away, I now had to creatively make magic happen at this wedding without anyone knowing I am in full panic mode. I cue up the cake cutting song on Spotify from my phone as the couple share delicious bites of cake with one another. As the guests, now await their slices, I start to dig through my iTunes playlist of DJ mixes I have recorded.
Bingo! A custom wedding mix I recorded for a client a month prior for their destination wedding in Jamaica! I quickly gave immolate directions to my friend who is on the way because now I must place my phone on airplane mode so the mix can play uninterrupted. I press play, announce the dance floor is open, and run back to the main building in hopes that maybe my laptop is working again. After about 7 minutes of troubleshooting and several prayers, I made my way back to the reception room without my laptop.
As I got closer and closer, I could hear the sounds of laughter and joy. Confused and worried, I walked into the room to find the dance floor filled and the party kicking off. Astonished, I kick on my MC skills and watch the dancing continue. By the time my friend arrived, the crowd had been dancing for what felt like an eternity. I connected his laptop to the internet, downloaded the DJ program, and boom, his laptop was unable to connect to my DJ controller.
This brought laughter to the both of us immediately. We knew this was the making of a story no one would ever believe. It was down to the final 30 minutes of the mix with an hour left of the reception. I started contemplating songs to line up to end the night and prepare the last dance song for the couple. With the same grace as the mix provided me, the last 8 songs were a hit and the last dance was flawless. With a major sigh of relief, I started packing up my equipment. Guests were coming over to me saying they had an amazing night and the music was perfect. The couple even made their way through their guests to compliment me as well.
I had no clue how to respond, my heart was still racing from all the panicking I endured. I learned so many lessons that night from making sure to have several back ups prepared, having a back up DJ nearby, and to do my best to be as professional as possible even during a storm. To this day, whenever the couple shares an Instagram post of their wedding with captions saying how amazing it was, I am reminded of how thankful I am that even though everything went haywire, I was still able to provide a service they enjoyed. Maybe one day I will tell them my side of the story to their wedding.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ElyteEventProfessionals.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elyteeventprofessionals
- Other: You can find us on The Knot & WeddingWire
Image Credits
Kaptured by Kasper with Elyte Event Professionals