We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Lynch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rachel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I wish I had started sooner. I held myself back for many years because I didn’t think I had enough talent or the skill to DJ private events alone. I turned opportunities down for years because of self-doubt and a lack of confidence. Who knows where I’d be now if I had started almost a decade sooner? Luckily, I had mentors and family to give me the push I needed, and eventually, I leaped and never looked back. This business is about connections and relationships. For every “yes,” there is a world of possibilities. So when I built the confidence to say “yes,” so many doors opened. Only god knows what chances I missed by not having the confidence to start sooner.
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 background and context?
I consider myself a bold open, format DJ with a fresh and fun mixing style. For the past 18 years, I have delivered upbeat, feel-good party vibes across the northeast and am now considered one of the premier private event and wedding DJs in the area. A few of my most exciting career successes include opening for Disco Queen, Gloria Gaynor, and Funk legend George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic. I have also partnered with major industry brands such as IDJNOW, ADJ, Digital DJ Tips, ProX, NLFX Professional, and others to deliver educational content and product reviews to help the DJ community. I dedicate a lot of time to my YouTube channel, which has a fantastic active community of just over 11k subscribers and a million views on DJ-related topics, including gig logs, mixes, DJ gear, and tech. I have also had a great time hosting and presenting at national DJ conferences, such as the DJ EXPO in New Jersey, Marquee Show in Chicago, and the Canadian DJ Association. While finding my way in the industry, I have rooted my brand in kindness and supporting others interested in becoming DJs or wanting to better themselves as a creative. I enjoy working as a mobile DJ and giving back to the community.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The story of how I got started is firmly planted in resilience and overcoming difficult circumstances. The truth is, I never WANTED to be a DJ. By the hands of fate, I fell into it out of a scary situation involving a family medical emergency. It’s a long but crazy story! My brother was a DJ when I was growing up. I understood what he did and occasionally played around with his CD collection, but I had no formal training or experience in DJing private events.
One morning my family and I heard a loud CRASH from his bedroom and found him unconscious on the floor after falling into his closet door. We called 911, and he was rushed off to the hospital. We later found out that he was an undiagnosed TYPE ONE diabetic and spent several days in the ICU. The crazy part is, that morning, when he had his medical emergency, he was getting ready to leave for a wedding, and now they didn’t have a DJ or any idea that he was being hospitalized. At the time, I was only about 15 or 16 years old and didn’t have a driver’s license or car, but I knew this couple needed to understand the situation and know that their DJ was not coming due to a severe medical emergency.
My Mom had gone to the hospital with my brother, and my Dad helped me finish packing up his gear and offered to drive me to the event so we could explain what had happened. When I arrived, I told the couple my brother was critically ill and would not be coming. I offered to DJ at their wedding and promised to do my best even though I wasn’t a DJ. I figured I would be better than nothing. The couple begrudgingly said ok, and I was instantly thrown into the role of a wedding DJ, one of the most stressful and complex events. All the while, having to worry about my brother since, at the time, we had no idea what had happened to him. The emotions and stress were overwhelming. This tested every fiber of my mental and physical ability to try and make this happen for this couple. I needed to do right by my family and these essentially perfect strangers. Truthfully, the event and my performance weren’t what they wanted, but I tried my best that day. I told myself I could survive this; I could do anything. Little did I know I’d be running my own entertainment business over a decade later because of this one-in-a-million situation. Some things you don’t question, and this is one of them. I feel I was destined to do this.
How did you build your audience on social media?
My audience has been organically built over the past 5 or 6 years. Some assume I’m an overnight success, but truthfully it’s been a steady grind for YEARS. For several reasons, I started making social media content and have seen things take off in the last four or so years. It all began with one video I made showcasing a DJ bag I had purchased. When making this purchase, no product reviews existed to make an informed decision, so I decided to make one on my own. That was the start of all of this. I posted this video on Facebook, giving my thoughts and opinions. After I shared it in a few DJ-related Facebook groups, some appreciated the effort and information. After that, anything gear related I purchased I started making videos on it. I enjoyed making this gear-related content and helping other DJs out since there is an overwhelming amount of technology and gear to choose from. However, as I began to post more videos, the internet quickly became a cruel and judgemental space, which motivated me to make additional content, to combat the bullies.
I am not a stranger to trolls and disrespectful comments. I was attacked for being “chubby,” belittled for being a “female DJ,” and accused of not mixing or setting up my gear at events. I was made to feel inadequate in many ways. Some comments are too cruel to share here. Rather than get mad, I got motivated. I got tired of explaining and defending myself, so I decided to pull back the curtain and remove any doubt about what I was capable of. This motivated me to create even more content showing me to do my thing in gig logs, gear reviews, and mixing segments.
As a result, I became more educated on the equipment and software I used and started growing a small following. The more I focused on helping others; the less the bullies bothered me. Eventually, I went full speed on all social media content, focusing on being kind and helpful. I started making videos that helped others navigate being a DJ and content to showcase my personality. This also gave me a great marketing opportunity to show clients what I could do and show my talents and passion. Social media is vital, more so than a website. Social media is a real-time look at who you are and how clients can connect with you meaningfully. I have had tremendous success with word of mouth and having a solid social media presence. So my advice for anyone just starting is to find something that excites you and START making content. You don’t need fancy stuff. I use a cell phone and a selfie stick. You’ll get better and find your style and comfort zone the more you do it, so don’t be afraid to begin.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dj-rachel-entertainment.business.site/?copy
- Instagram: @djrachellynch
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DJRachelRLynch
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/DJRachelLynch
- Other: https://linktr.ee/DJRachel https://www.mixcloud.com/djrachellynch/ www.tiktok.com/@djrachellynch