We recently connected with Sandy Ziya and have shared our conversation below.

Sandy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea?

I was sipping a beer at Sistrunk Marketplace and noticed a DJ Class offered in the same building!! I was thrilled to pursue a childhood dream and followed up with a discovery call them the next business day. Needless to say, the call went well and I found myself in class the following week . I would sit in a 4 week class finish assessments and perform in front of other dj to pass.

Sandy, 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?

I by definition, am a small business owner. I’ve owned and operated my own business since 2008. I continue to operate my functional medicine practice, triathlon coaching /race director and now newly minted Dj businesses on my own with no employees or staff .

The Dj aspect began actually as an outgrowth of the race directing . I found myself with a microphone emceeing and playing music at a 5k a friend was hosting .Crazy how exhilarating it felt to be an ENTERTAINER ! I wanted pursue DJ training it but put it on the backburner as I was raising four young children then.

I’ve enjoyed being what I call a spontaneous DJ for friends and family at home etc for years. Now I’ve added this professional training to extend the offering to clients as well. Ive done private and commercial gigs thus far including the storefront at LULULEMON Fort Lauderdale on Black Friday!

DJ’s are truly central to ANY celebration and I’d argue ARE the celebration! The mood, memories, and vibe are an extension of the musical setting . The music is so deeply entrenched to our wiring as humans connecting time and place to our recall.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

What’s interesting here is how Ive sourced clients for my new DJ business from my OTHER businesses connections.

For example, I’ve had a long term relationship directing runs and events with Lululemon as an ambassador so it was easy to reach out to them to offer a new service that solved a problem for them.

Black Friday is brutal day in retail. To create an atmosphere of fun holiday vibes for retail employees AND customers was a win.

I even offered to work in the window itself creating a living display as customers walked in and as other shoppers walked and drove by. I offered a fun and friendly face with traditional and mixed holiday sounds to create a memory of community.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Shortly after I had started Medical school in South Florida my now ex, filed for divorce. He was Living in Nebraska at the time. With four children between the two of us, we decided to split time with the children two with father and two with mother, swap for holidays and twice a year have all four together. It felt like a solid plan . Shockingly, during one of the visitation schedules where the four were with Dad, my ex decided to renege on that agreement and keep all four children in Nebraska. I was literally within the first month of school, when I got his notification of his unilateral decision. I was overwhelmed with anger and grief and was overwrought with what the best course of action would be. Naturally as a mother who birthed and raised these four children I heavily considered going back to Nebraska. That would have meant all of the work that I had done to get into this medical school, move halfway across the country and setting up a new life with a new future for myself and my children would be all for naught.

I spent many agonizing days and nights under the torture of this decision. My family descended upon me and gave me the natural admonition of returning to Nebraska, where my four children were now being raised solo by their father. My heart definitely moved in that direction. However, my brain interfered and I thought that to return to Nebraska would be a highly emotional decision that was shortsighted. I knew that if I focused and worked hard on school, I could get it done, get through the boards and begin my practice as a physician. Also, I looked forward to providing my children the opportunity to be in my care and never having to worry about any health concerns.

Additionally, I was leaning towards staying in medical school because of the message I was sending to myself and my children that when life gets hard, you never give in or give up. Ultimately, I made the decision to stay here in Fort Lauderdale to complete my education. I worked hard to bridge the distance with my kiddos over those years.

We made the best of it. No doubt, It was hard, but I never stopped loving and caring for them in unique ways . There were many days I recall sitting in my car in the parking garage unable to emerge into the classroom on time due to uncontrolled sobbing. But as with most things, time helped. One day led to another day, led to another week, another semester, another. year. And over that time, my children saw me keep my word and finish school, pass the boards and launch my practice.

My youngest, Catalina at the ripe old age of 11 actually got up on stage, took the microphone and gave a speech as an homage to her mother. Essentially, she wanted to call out how proud she was for mom’s for resilience .

Now almost five years into my practice, I look back and wonder how we got through that experience.. I’m so grateful that I did get through it and did not succumb to drugs alcohol or depression. Further, I’m grateful for all of the service I can now offer to my patients and the community with the knowledge that I now possess.

My children get regular medical advice and treatments from Dr . Mom and for that there is simply no price! All in all , I don’t know that I would make that same decision again. It was so damn hard and painful on every level imaginable. But I also know it made me who I am today, and for that the world is truly a different place.

Contact Info:

• Website: meridiansandmarathons
• Instagram: djziya_

Image Credits
#dannyonthebeach