All Up In: 2 Lady DJ Businesses – with Megan Taylor

Music. Welcome to all up in my lady business I am your host Mary nisi on this podcast all explore the fine line between having it together I'm losing your shit here I share my journey as an entrepreneur a mom a wife a DJ and randomly a beekeeper I have no shame and no filter except the ones I use on Instagram my stories of resilience a little structure and a lot of resource Wellness can show you how to take those same things and live your life with your hole. Music. Folks you're not going to believe this I have DJ Megan Taylor here with me today. And she is an amazing DJ and woman and friend of mine here in Chicago and she is, DJ Alchemist a business strategist and a travel Enthusiast and I am so glad to have you on here today thank you so much for being here Megan I'm so excited to be just give us some background with where you from what got you to Chicago and DJing and, all of that good stuff okay great so I'm I'm from like small town in Illinois so I'm from the a small town called Princeton Illinois two hours outside of Chicago and then I came I went to school at DePaul University which is like me too. You did good even I'm a blue demon oh my gosh okay did you go to school for went to school for math I was a math major know you were not yeah and then I turn art major so as a double major and, so I found my way into the video editing world so I was actually came out doing video editing because I could combine my left and right brain that's amazing made sense to me, and so later I got an internship with fig media so this is like early on and fig booked out photographers filmmakers. And DJs and for a long time I was doing media with them so I was helping them create and edit videos and then I moved into sales because I realized I'm good with clients. And a little and then between the creatives and the clients but they always had great DJs go out and they were like why don't you DJ because I love music we share that same passion like I was always the girl who made the playlist and downloading music and it's a passion that I just like. Love to go deep on music and so. I finally was like okay I'll go out and I'll assist and I ended up doing a homecoming prom with another DJ and I was like holy shit this is so fun I had no idea so that's literally the first time I saw like. A possibility of. So you so basically you went into fig not at on any level having an interest or thinking that you could be a DJ so interest I absolutely no interest in even turned down, the opportunity many many times that's so why do you think you did that, did you think that you couldn't do it or do not want to know interest I just didn't want to I didn't get it and I didn't. Just see my path the path that way okay so they but they saw it in you. Yeah and I think James one of the founders is an amazing Visionary and sees talent and people really well and he's very convincing. So after I said no no no and I went out and I just what I didn't know is I already have like the musical mind I just didn't know how to make. And let me if you can count to eight you can DJ yeah you so the fact that you're a math major exact really kind of made sense again again like this whole video editing thing. And then I remember when I think I had this assignment from James he's like if you want a DJ you should go interview the people that you really respect in Chicago and so I like. Emailed are probably Facebook Messenger that that Myspace somebody exactly that I loved and I respected and people were so cool I went and I talked to them I had coffee. And even like DJ Jam that has the DJ firm right now I loved him I loved the way he DJ did he like sweetest man in the world all kind and he I would like Lily go over to his kitchen and he would teach me how to. Mix on vinyl. People were so amazing at that point and that's when and how I learned more about like mixing and skills and things like so James out like he was like go go find other DJ's outside of this company to like show you that's that is like that's some. That's some Visionary stuff right there I think he wasn't like happy other people teach you he was like go meet with that but Network and then I think I would just happen to ask him so I wanted to I think I just picked up DJing but I didn't know how to use vinyl yeah and so I wanted to learn table turntable got it. Which I learned I don't like do that anymore but it's hard and it's all its equipment so heavy and you can pull off everything you need to do I mean yeah like this is probably like total blasphemy but like. I feel like you can pull off with a controller and we'll send it to you can do with final and it's half the weight yeah absolutely like a mobile DJ I'm not going to be carrying around yeah. These vinyl tables very very often or whatever and for those gigs that I do it's just not necessary yeah and the way I played music. We're gonna geek out on music and the spot DJ I have a feeling this is gonna go down a crazy Rabbit Hole okay so you so you started kind of learning the truth the the lay of the land from various DJs around the area and then what happens well and then really from fig to of course I like learned with all these other DJ's because they do fig did mostly private parties similar to you and so I think I would assisted and. Just sort of started picking it up but I kind of jumped into the deep end and started doing events and when you what year was this. I don't know if this is probably 15 years ago okay so like. Seven yeah okay baby um Okay cool so and so then you just became so you were where you DJing exclusively for fag. Uh yeah I was eating exclusively for fig and they and I would you know there was a lot of opportunities to like these free parties right so. Magazines Modern Luxury things like that people would sort of ask for trade and so I was like. For me the best way to get booked is for people seeing me absolutely oh I. I was on those opportunities and you're young enough where it's like you know your expenses are so low it's like you don't have to like you're not like. I mean I'm assuming I'm projecting this onto you but like when I first started out I played I did anything and everything for free and I did anything I could because it was like it's going to come back to me at some point in my mind and my expenses were solo wasn't like I had you know a mortgage or like anything where I could like I could spend an entire night DJing for free and making no money because I knew it was gonna come back to me eventually I did two hundred percent but do you still do that now do I still DJ things for free yes and no like things we will obviously have money I'm like no bitch pay me but then this is a but there's other things from like. You know. Like for like my kids back to school thing like I DJ that like that I'm going to make any money off of that but you know I have been known to DJ things for free now on the other side of it like I'm making enough money where I can actually afford to like do things but it's going to be things that. I actually like Planned Parenthood like for years I did the Planned Parenthood Gala and it was like I'm never going to charge them money in fact I would pay them money to like DJ that but yeah I mean I guess it kind of. Yes I kind of do do things for free here and there yeah me too like you know for I nonprofits that I care about I will and then also I just think it's really smart. If I strategically for me to DJ a free event that's going to get me in front of like. Great a great crowd or great planners and haven't seen me before hell yes I think that's something of times you will miss out and don't think about those opportunities well and I think that there's a whole thing where it's like you know you can't pay my bills with exposure and it's like it is and it's like there's a difference between. Me literally doing something for exposure look at this point people can find you or me you know like we're out there were doing things but when you have a passion for something and it's like. You know but I also think that you are so good at getting corporate like and that seems to be like like what do you think your breakdown between corporate and. Wedding is well it's been a little wacky because of covid so Covetous I dropped I like lost like 40 gigs. Eighty thousand dollars in like two days like fine everything fell apart for me like right away and grab it and it was very traumatic. And I was so bummed because I was working so hard at building I really wanted to build like a business outside of Chicago and it was like happening that year you know yeah whatever I do 2020 with gonna be everybody's here talk to this like of course it all fell the fuck up and, it was a really great lesson so now finally I think corporate is back right now to I'd say it's like 50/50 I mean corporates back really. It may be even more so I do like probably corporate sixty percent of the time that's 40% weddings social that's so awesome. Like I'm envious of that because that's like the thing that we really but I don't think we've done the work though like we haven't done, obviously we haven't done the work to get more corporate because we're not getting a help me we get a lot of I would say maybe 15% of our work is yeah corporate but. And those are it and that is all relationship it's two different markets 100% like two different planners to because my business either comes from it's kind of crazy how much business I get off of. I don't know if I get off of Instagram but people DM me on Instagram for with like opportunities to couple you DJ my wedding more than ever like that's for sure place where I focus too but also the corporate Market is just totally different people and it's all referral based in both categories but I feel like it's different different groups well the great thing about corporate is it keeps happening like Dino they're going to keep having things or someone's in a leave that job and go to another place and then they've got the ability to like have more events happening so you've got let me nor am I our business manager the other day she's like it's so funny because like there's been people like turning over their jobs and she's like, the person that ran this venue is now working for this venue and so it's like when she's it's like you know the why they just keep going but then the other side of it it's like when those people leave the venue sometimes your to like rebuild a relationship with that venue because. Because like what all the sudden like how come we haven't worked at like Salvage one in a while and I'm like oh because the on like it's not that we I'm just using that as an example but it's like the on-site coordinator switch to they don't know who you are it's like so now you're do like you know even though we've been in business for 16 15 years it's like you have to kind of go back and like restart the relationship all over again yeah and you know also I don't know how you feel like I don't know how much energy you put towards that like for me. It's not that I hate networking but I just I don't know in covid I was just like wow I just really I think everybody is like what do I want to spend my energy and. Sometimes I just don't want to go it's not working doesn't feel like real interactions or deep interactions and you have to do it it's of course it's important but I. Have sort of turned my ship a little bit where I just like focus on. This is where social media we were just talking about social media minute account I plug it really does pay off to like. Put myself on their guy just it ends up attracting a lot of business rather than me feeling like out I have to go out and have. In authentic conversations with people and they're not always in authentic but I've just. Sort of changed my tune around creating business and getting business in a way that works a little bit better for me well I would say that your social media presence like I think and I think this is part of reason why such a hard time with social media is because, like you've done a really good job of creating like an authentic social media presence for yourself that really reflects you and I feel like it's like once you've figured that out then you're going to attract the right people like I feel like sometimes I look at some people's social media and it's all like you know it all it all kind of looks the same you know look at all kind of as the same and part of it is this like The Tick-Tock Enos of the whole thing where it's like all right now I have to have the where I stand there and point at words, and then you know the yeah and I feel like there's people that are going to doing that because that what's gets you in the algorithm or whatever and. That stuff I can't my when I'm looking at it I just I just kind of keep going your stuff I always stop on and watch because you're always doing something. That makes me want to stop. Well I thank you I mean I am like oh my gosh you know I'm very critical about my own social media basically I'm like DJ DJ DJ and I like travel and I post all my travel stuff literally so I can save it in my stories and save it for me and stuff too so I was feel like very you know inconsistent and I notice what other people are doing like people like these guys are blowing up on Tick Tock and I don't know how you feel but there's a sense, sometimes I struggle with like keeping up with the trends and the Joneses and like and feeling like I'm not doing enough and I just really think about that and like it's just not how I want to feel well and that I mean if you really want to take you in a deeper conversation just about like the crushing weight of this late stage capitalism that we're living through right now because it's like it makes you feel like you like there's always somebody doing more there's always somebody doing better than me like if I don't also cover this thing that I'm going to seem like I am you know that I'm phoning it in or I'm not doing the work or I'm not doing the thing and there's always one more gig I could be doing there's always one more person I can be talking to there's one more networking they be doing and it's just like this ending this never ending Quest and I also think that part of it is because you can see so many different types of people out there doing it like you see the different ways that people are crushing it and it's like I could be crushing it in that way too I don't have the you know like the you can never and this is unsustainable yeah and this is what we didn't have you know in the information age were now like you can and this is why it's just hard for the mind to like. You know to really go there's a war going on but I'm supposed to go and have fun and do this light fluffy thing and so we have access to all these things happening real time and we didn't that wasn't like that wasn't available before and so like what do you do with all this information I think it's you just have to be super and I'm not super good about this but like to be mindful of how do I like take this in as like good good for them there's. Or do I take it in as like I should be doing more and that conversation you have with yourself is like critical for how you feel about yourself I think and I've gone both ways with it and my big my big learning covid-19. Why am I doing all of this and that is something I have struggled with because why are you doing what why you doing the social media why you DJ why am I just I was like racing I mean I was kind of like I can make more money I can make do this and I. Didn't realize just how. Unpleasant I was in some ways in my life because I was like literally running from event to event to event and I know a lot of people share that and then it doesn't I was like wow this actually when I slow down I was like this wow this is like I'm missing out on. Being in my life in a lot of ways well it's just a job that takes up weekends like and weekends and nights when like I it's when the world is off and stuff too and so I have struggled with that balance around coming. Back while everything's busy now it's so great and then it's also it's just like. Me I've recreated some of those same things I said I never would so I've just sort of struggled like the rest of old balance well and you know I mean and that's part of like you know I like I mean I've been watching you for years I mean we you know we've known each other for a long time we didn't really start becoming friends until last year right and, you know part of it is that we're kind of talking about this off Mike but I'm gonna bring it back up but you know toast and jam started in 2005 it was mostly women it's almost always been mostly women and. You know I've had people kind of bring up like you know you're an all DJ company where's Megan Taylor it's like Megan Taylor's off being Megan Taylor like I don't don't create this weird drama here and that drama but like, weird competition like can't we just be women that do this job and not having to bring up other women to me just it just seems like this tokenism and weirdness that like I don't feel. And we can all be successful, in this industry together I don't think an all dude team would be like oh there's a random dude why isn't he part of your team like no you know it's just so funny how like. The female DJ gets. Spoken about or like oh it's a female DJ and I used to even say I'm a female DJ and somebody was like why would you say you're a female DJ I'm like why am I saying I'm a female dude it's so weird I'm a DJ but if you don't say female. That it's almost like. It's almost like if you don't say it you get criticized if you do say it's this is the same age old bullshit that we've been dealing with forever where it's like we can never have things both ways we can never. You know it just exist as a person the world there's always this overdetermined bullshit that could kind of put on top of it it's true and when I would DJ sometimes people come up and like, oh do you work for toast and jam and it's just it's not a bad kid it was it's a valid question I suppose but it's just like oh it's a female DJ it's just like the small boxes that were put into and how people have to put us in a frame us in a way according to our gender and I would say five years ago. Maybe five isn't the right number but a while ago, like there were so few women dj's that yeah if you work for if you saw a female DJ statistically they're probably going to work for me but in the last like five years like I would I look at I mean I do I look at other DJ companies and they almost always almost all of them have at least one, on staff now so true and so I feel like that's representation matters I think that it's important to see other women doing this I mean I assume because I mean I covered this on my. The pot a couple weeks ago but just I mean I'm sure you get people saying to you like I've never seen a woman doing this job before and I probably still happen again on Saturday night and I'm just like. And he was kind and excited and but so his sediments felt good but I couldn't believe it it makes it well and it happens to me all the time and it just makes me feel like oh you think I took a job from a man. Why do you think they think that are you projecting onto them or is it how they say that's just what no it's always I think they're saying it from a nice place so I think they're saying it and it's like you go girl, yeah look at you look at you pulling yourself up by the bootstraps you get to do this job too and it makes it doesn't make me feel good it doesn't make me feel like there. They I know it's coming from a good place I know that they think it's coming but you would never go up to do you go up to a male nurse and say look at you doing that job that's normally women. You know I had this thing happen a couple times last year it was similar it's like these at the end of gigs I had it like three nights in a row someone come up to me like. Or are you just watching videos behind there or or are you just. Is that just all fake you're DJing on the board and I don't know this to be true but I highly doubt they would never come up to a man who's that and it was. So wow it really fired me I've never had anybody say that to me before yeah I've had that I've had other shitty things but that's a different kind of shitty things and I don't know if they're trying to like flirt with me or if they're try if they're obviously a little intoxicated. And I was so offended and I kind of snapped back and I what did you say. I think I'm just sarcastic I'm like yeah I'm just playing a mix back here you know they're like wait what and it's it that doesn't feel good either so I really was struggling and I've been thinking about this a lot. Because when your DJ I'm sure you've had this it's like everything's going well and then somebody will say something that is. Whether it be a request or they'll make a comment and I feel so vulnerable and I'm putting out so much energy that when one thing comes off. It affects me so much I will that always be my best in the way that I respond and I've really been thinking about how to really let those things not. Like get to me so much and then like also respond in a better way and I haven't figured out the solution but but those things really affect me so well and it's because it's. It's pulling you out of the reason why you're there yeah like you're there to like make the room happy to make the client happy to like you know do a great job and if somebody comes like I feel like there's a very few jobs where you're getting the feedback in the moment, we're like someone can stand right in front of you and say you're ruining this party. Or you know why don't you play anything I can dance to or you know you played that song earlier but I don't think it was the right time can you play it again, or you know you kind of like I mean the one I always bring up as the old I had this old man this was years ago I've already probably this summer The Third Dimension podcast but because it's so infuriating like I had this raging for there's only like 180 people dancing behind him and it came up on in front of me and just put his thumbs down right in front of my face and stood there for like 15 seconds, with this like shitty look in his face with his thumbs down and it's like where where do you get to give somebody that kind of feedback in their job right. That's that's harsh and it's and it's going to be like no one's dancing a little bit like can you please turn around and look at the dance floor everybody's dancing you know so I want maybe it's all old people yeah but they need to have some love Tolman so I know it's sort of like I always feel like it's training for me like I just have to not not be like to be less affected by who do any other thing that happens in corporate a lot it's sort of like playing black artist and white artist and and and having representation in these companies because, that's super important to me and I really pride myself on playing to diversity playing to the people it's so important to how I do it but I have noticed since covid and I think with companies working out their own representation there is this heightened sort of view on the music and so I've always been very conscious of it but I have had to be even more conscious of, how I play the music when I play music and it really matters like politically what I choose to play as well and so I have had some just I had one incident swear I didn't want I wasn't playing the wobble soon enough mmm and I don't love the wobble and you know Kylie because there's people there that wanted to do the wobble and you weren't because yeah and and it was sort of turned into like. This race like me being like hey you're not playing you don't want to play this you want to wait till the end when all the black people can dance and I was like this is. Like actually I just played like a huge hip-hop set and it kind of got really dramatic but it really made me rethink. What the job is and how I do things to be more Vigilant around the diversity in my representation matters and just realize these companies are coming in I don't know how what you think I'm totally taking up this now this is this is great talk in a weird way but since covid I've noticed like. You know people are so happy to be together but there's also like unprocessed trauma realm and I think it's there's still a lot of edge. And I've noticed it at these parties when you get people on alcohol and well yeah that's a really interesting way to put it with unprocessed trauma because like a year ago or maybe a little bit longer than a year ago like that cut these kinds of in-person things couldn't happen right and so it's so I don't think that there's a way for people to completely divorce that from their head like when they're in their room they're like wow like I never I can't believe I'm in a room with 125 people this feels crazy so I feel like there's like that side of it and I do think that there is an you know like I am owed, the best time of my life because I just waited two and a half years to have this party that supposed to happen two and a half years ago or whatever and I think that there's like an expectation. Of what you can pull off like if this party isn't great it's on you it is your fault if you don't get this done right and we I mean we all we all carry that with us like I mean I definitely I know you have to feel that you know where it's like it in there are things that can go wrong in an event that have nothing to do with you like we had a we had a wedding that we're dealing with right now we're like the client they were an hour late getting to the right to the reception. And everything got off schedule and, like everything is everything there's a lot at an event it was supposed to get a six-hour event that everything's what's happened in six hours and now happening in five and you know and so everything was rushed and nothing really was happening in its organic way of doing things and it's like the DJ is trying to compress a lot of things and make all the announcements and maybe some things aren't happening now because the timelines been messed up and even though that's not her fault. At all we're getting blamed for it where it's like it just didn't everything felt disjointed in weird it's like well we can't solve that problem like it's, I can't create another hour in your event yeah you know it's so and so people are like so subjective about events to it's like. You know why isn't this happening yet but like wait is this like where did you come up with that it's supposed to happen like this you know and you're dealing with emotions and people's big day so because my friends are always like I'm always super nervous like whenever I do a wedding I get more nervous for weddings and anything I could probably and so that day I can't do anything before it like I just am not fat like we do brunch is not fun they own the whole day they own the whole day they own the whole that's why when people are like you know there's other deities are cheaper than you or whatever I'm like we're giving you your whole our whole day like we're not doing a second event that day like No And my mind is on yes 100% because, I felt pressure to make it amazing 100% amazing and there's lots of factors that I've nothing control of that will make an amazing or not but I still hold that pressure for Better or For Worse and so I go into every event with that with that feeling that you were just describing to. And for a wedding it's absolutely and since covid people waited I think I'm doing my last covid moved wedding this weekend and people have been through the ringer and I'll also say this other side of I don't know if you're finding this like. Last year weddings were amazing I thought people were so happy and grateful and so in their Joy in things small things in it matter anymore so there's like a whole upside and upswing the things that have been super great as well this year we're having that like I agree with you last year I feel like everyone's just so psyched like being around other people and there was optimism and it seemed like things were changing and we were getting out of this you know. Cult of negativity that seem to be perv so pervasive like not only during covid but the four years before that and like for me at least but this year I feel like there's a bit more. The anger is coming back yeah and I haven't experienced I haven't done that many weddings yet this year I'm about to just go on a little wedding to her but I feel like. I can see that in these corporate events is what I was talking about and the normal person wouldn't like walk-in and understand that Dynamic but I think as a DJ I always say my job yeah I play music but like I really feel intuitively you can feel the room you can feel that the energy of the room so to go back to what you were saying about the music having a political bent to it or having like we have to kind of think about the room globally from like the types of music that you're playing it's kind of like, you know it's like the Michael Jackson question and the R.Kelly question and the Chris Brown question where it's like you know. When and as a white person playing quote unquote black music or hip-hop or whatever it's like you know I mean I'm always mixing it up like I'm never going to play like an hour of music that is played that is all you know I usually I like to you know mix it up I was like that's what I do it's literally what we do but then you get down to like the Michael Jackson This of the whole thing I don't mind bringing this up but it's just sort of an interesting kinds of things we think about well and it's like you know when the prior to the documentary coming out it was like I you know I always kind of I mean you know it's like Michael Jackson I have got like my soft spot and he's in but there's like a role that Michael Jackson songs filled in the night it was like this bridge between like disco and kind of getting into more great music yeah first yes and everybody knows it and everybody loves it but then once the documentary came out and it's like okay I feel weird playing Michael Jackson now because it's like. Someone in that room is going to be thinking about a child molester whether whether you want to or not and so it's like well. Thing that Bruno Mars exist because Bruno Mars is now spelling bee void that Michael Jackson creative but then it's like at the end of the night when someone comes up and says flame Ignition Remix and it's like. Okay our Kelly is just a Brit it's like I'm like I deleted all the Yaks I don't planning our Kelly but are you playing any Michael Jackson again so it's one of these things where if the client is really I will never play it unless it has been okay like a request special request yeah and you know I can't tell if I'm being overly. Sensitive or dramatic but like any time I remember the first time I heard Michael Jackson when that after the documentary came out I was in a fitness class and, and it was like literally the day after the documentary came out and like want to be starting something was on the mix and I was like but I literally my heart would like does he realize does he know and the whole room is just like gleefully pumping iron and I'm like okay I guess I'm the only one here that's thinking about this no and I had corporate clients tell me no like do not play him which I respected so I think I stopped playing I don't play R.Kelly I don't play Michael Jackson I didn't play for a while but I'm. It's just a good you know py T is a good it's a good song so I had to struggle with the to I'm kind of like you where I just choose other stuff and I just feel like that's the question is like you do for the white woman standing behind the booth, playing this music like I kind of get in this place where I'm like okay bye it's almost easier just to like not. Touch it if I don't have to do anything special with Chris Brown Chris Brown really really broke my heart I really didn't have a lot I didn't love us music no thanks so that was an easy one but Briana, is my person I'll definitely play a lot of realize I stand for Rihanna my gosh so okay then another thing I wanted to bring up is that because it's just it's you you know like I mean you do you it's you know so much of your business is you like I mean I like you I feel like in some ways you have the career that I could have had if I had to go like the go like the guts to do it like I was afraid to put my name out there oh so you put it as a company yeah oh really I mean I have so much respect for you because. In some ways I mean I work with the media still and we bring up DJs in train DJ's but I don't have that pressure I don't it's a total different responsibilities. So I have so much respect for you for building a team. Bringing it how many DJ's do you have 23 right now and they'll all be out like one night potentially yeah I mean that's crazy to me the amount of strategy and. Stress and holding all of those events yeah because it you go to sleep with it at night they're not there but that is so much so I have mad respect for the way that you've chosen to build a business well thank you but we're here to talk about you when you have your name out there do you have feel this need to try to figure out a way to be less like I'm only making money if I'm working on a Saturday night like for instance like I know you've been trying to doing this hotel music or like the Music Creation which is really like super hot like I think that that's an amazing. Mark it to look into and I'd love to hear more about how you figure out like how to get those jobs and then like House of like how you decide to do it like how you decide to curate the music, you know I'll just say what you just said about me the the nice thing about me. Like being a brand that I attract people like oh Megan hmm I attract people who are really aligned with me so it makes my job really like yeah like I just had three wedding meetings with clients because I have all these weddings coming up and they're so. Great they have like the best taste in music so like some in some ways that people I feel like putting myself out there has helped bring in people who are really good for me and I'm really pumped about it. And when that is the case it's. They're coming with so much energy they're so excited about me it's so easy to feed and make it amazing so that's been dope and then really the last few years around music like I love music like what goes back to this whole beginning and I just wanted to do stuff Beyond. DJ right and so I have and then in covid especially I couldn't DJ so like I said I did go virtual but. All their animal but like I think people were trying to like. Give me money they knew my whole career has been crushed so people hire me to make playlists so and I did some of this before that but people were really they are letting me vent mowing me for a backyard barbecue. Playlist and then I started to that rule yeah I made probably 50 playlist for people and they paid me for them and then I pitched him. For people I was like well why don't you send a playlist out to your your corporate company and they're all stuck at home. And so then people started hiring me as like a gift they would give their clients and I would make these corporate playlist and things like that there's just so much so many ways you can use music. To help people and inspire people and the problem is just getting too big and so that that's also branched into doing more stuff and I was doing a little bit before. Because every place you go has a soundtrack for music right so restaurants and hotels and I believe. They get it wrong a lot though they do I believe that brands have a lot of clarity on their look and their sound and their colors but it comes to transferring over to music they don't understand that and I can tell because I'll go to like a big let's say at event doing for like, Gucci and they'll want something that's like very like Tick-Tock hip hip hop and I'm like okay great but I know they don't really want that because want to be trendy so, it's been a fun way to a fun opportunity to like help companies transfer their music. It just kind of gets into licensing so oh the companies who yeah so that's kind of why it's harder to like build this other platform because there's a lot of companies who offer one-off playlist making with a license involved and. They do it for kind of a low-cost so like a restaurant we'll just hire a month this these companies yeah but I mean isn't that covered under their BMI and ASCAP. Yeah but sometimes they will want to pay they'll just pay it all within with like a service provider well I know but like the licensing side of things would be covered by the the venue is ASCAP and BMI so you would have to worry about getting the rights to play the music it's more is it that. Is it basically like if you if I go on as a DJ they have that license already like to play because it's a different license oh okay and then but then to play. A playlist from Spotify for example you have to have a different license and that's what gets expensive and then also gets into these companies who I feel like don't do that great of branding of music so anyways it's just been a little bit of hiccup. Figuring all this out so I saw the hood so you've done it for a couple of hotels in Mexico. And one of them I've been looking at now going to go on vacation there the one that the orange looking 10 yeah that's crazy Kooks Paula yes. If you want to know how I got that guy would love to know how you I so I this is. I feel like I can manifest good things in Mexico but I love that property I thought that's the dopest property it's a really high-end property that not everyone knows about and privately owned and it's just really if you look it up a quick small it but it's got super ornate and so I followed them for a long time and so I found an article I was like I was like literally on I was went on a vacation by myself to hold off Thailand I was on a ferry coming back and I found I found a. Article where they interviewed the marketing manager there and I went and he does like their social media and I found him one. Donovan Instagram and I DM Tim and I said hey I'm going to be traveling on Mexico this winter I would love to come to your place and help you with your music playlist let me know if this is interest and he wrote me back. He's like actually we need help with this can you email me, I emailed him and I emailed them samples I didn't hear back and he's like hey we want to pull the trigger on this I talked to the owners like literally it came from me asking going out and seeking things to help beautiful and I have this beautiful like because I always think I DJ but realignment sales you know so I have a pretty you know I could talk about say like sales and I've done sales training all that like you but I just I have this thing where I learned you know that do outrageous asks so a lot of my kind of amazing business and really great stories have come from me just. Putting out there, kind of this crazy idea that people being like let's do it I mean that's the thing is like that's how anything happens I know and I feel like you know it's it's kind of like I mean it's you know just asking. Like I mean I would a lot of times you I'm almost everything I do I'm like well it doesn't hurt to ask doesn't hurt to ask like I mean you know it's like you you only get things by, asking and putting yourself out there yeah and that's a so they said that they pay you to like come out and stay and less for trade that I leave got it so like I went out there and experience five days and he took me around the properties and we. Figure it out like what what needs what and AM and PM and pool playlist and then I got an idea because how I think about it is like. You have the space and you have to look at the sound system you have to think about how people interact and that space are they is it a very intimate as it soft is it quiet. And then how people progress through the space throughout the rest of the day and then I like to really tie it into like the culture, so there's a nod to The Nostalgia of either the land it's on or the design or the makeup of things but quick small was super fun especially like this pool it's just like basically kind of this. Moroccan Spanish random ass place they've got zebras their like it's really. Funky but super high-end and so I just made this super cool Boogie funk. Playlist and it's super International so it was a really fun project, and so I mean I have to imagine that something like that can just lead to more like it's that was that's the plan and I just love Mexico I love that market so hopefully will lead to more. Music. I have a question yeah please how does your. Imposter syndrome or like I've had a revelation recently you know I just turned 40 and I was like mag like. You're not going to ever if you don't feel like you're great DJ not like you know sometimes I'm waiting for someone I met wave a magic wand or give me an award and like. You're good yeah you know and I'm like that's never coming like if you can't feel good about yourself now it's not going to come in 5 years 3 years I've really been thinking about it and kind of comes to my ask like, could I really do that like am I worthy of that and stuff does that play out at all for you am I worthy of being able to like what like where do I get off doing what I do, imposter syndrome playing oh my God here yes you do I mean I think part of it is whenever I start smelling myself and feeling like I'm awesome and like I feel like I'm kind of always subtly being knocked down. By yourself I have no by I mean myself because I've got you know we all have our own insecurities and the things that were very critical of ourselves and you know and I've been working I've been trying to work so hard on that part of me because it's so like I am I am the I'm so awful to myself by the things I say to myself. Really if any of my friends said them to you know themselves in front of you in front of me the put you shut your whore mouth it's not you should not be saying that about yourself and so I've been really trying to like stop with the negative self-talk because it is, so shitty but I do feel like you know just in the world like it feels. Like I mean like we're saying earlier on like the people that say you know never seen a woman doing this job before like that that makes you know that already makes me feel like I'm being othered and makes me feel like I need to work 10 times as hard because if I mess up anything. You know it's going to it's someone's going to comment on it it's kind of like what was it that you said earlier about the guy the. Are you back there playing videos yeah like it's outlandish crazy stuff and it's like gosh if that person is saying that to me and they've got the guts to say that to me. There are other people that think this they're just not interested they're just not saying it and so it makes me feel like. You know like even at my best. I'm still getting criticized you know even at my best I'm still feeling like I didn't do a good enough job where I can do this but on the thing is like I know I'm a fine DJ like I'm but I'm not like. You know like digital Dave or whatever like you know dropping in crazy things and and I think to myself like well I don't have to be that DJ like I'm doing a great job with what I've people seem to like what I'm doing and then I see other DJ's doing. Just the technical side of it so much better than me and I'm like God I if anybody heard me you know like that's. Yeah I just had somebody asked if he could Shadow me and I'm like and I was like you know I watched myself my instant reaction was like while that feels super vulnerable like. What if he's better than me like I just and I was like whoa like. Why did I go there I don't need to go there and so it's I think that's my I think I don't know how you feel but like. I think some of the stuff I make up I make it harder than I need to oh absolutely when I go there in my own mind but I will say and I don't think you have talked about this but. There's a very positive side for me for being a female DJ I get a lot of requests looking for a female named Jay and a lot of business because of it and a lot of people come up to me. I just did a huge Gala for a woman it's a CEOs woman and she's like I'm so happy we hired a female DJ I mean there is that there is a. I've had a lot of Great Moments a lot of great business because of my being a female well I mean we definitely have a hundred percent I mean you know people I mean I do have a couple of dudes that work for me and we'll get people who are like, we kind of wanted a woman you know and it's like you know it's and it's it's great I mean on the one side of him like yeah other side of it I'm like the tell you he's gonna do a good job too and I bet it's interesting how the tables can turn yeah how like usually it's like oh like are you sure a woman like are you sure a woman can lift the equipment like we were beyond that at this point and. You know I think that women. I mean I'll just say I think we have a better understanding of the way that events go like I think the programming is important and the music that we play is important and the order we played in I mean like I will say what I lack in like what pick up my guy like DJ skills I make up for in my selection because like that's where my that's where my genius lies is like, putting things together that you wouldn't expect like I think it's weird when there's DJ's that I mean I definitely have like combos I do for a while we're like these four songs almost always played them together but those change I drive like I'm not playing the same combos of four songs now that I did, for even three years ago or whatever because it always changes I know that there's a lot of DJ's have like routines when I was at Midwest DJ like that we see there were some DJ's that were performing and like I was standing with some of the my dudes that I have become friends with and they're like I've seen him do this routine before and I'm like what scheme I'm like I'm like wait a minute I would be mortified if anybody like I will if I have a client where I did an event and I know that they were at I would like okay I can't do this at that eye. Even if there's one person there I don't want me to think that I do the same thing all the time yeah and even though there's just some songs that always just sound really good together all together like I will mix it up because I just don't feel to think that I'm like cheating. But yeah well I mean one I don't think I'll I think they like people are not going to notice like you know no one cares no no one cares yeah but what that's always what I've thought cuz cuz you know, women and men we all have masculine and feminine us and being in touch for intuition and reading the crowd is a feminine skill so it's just been fascinating. To me that these DJ's especially when I was like the beginning of my career or dudes and they were so they would just. Like pound the dance floor I was so harsh and so I really resonate more with female DJs and whenever I would I just tend to like and want to go listen to and wanna go see live it's usually female DJs, and we all have it in us but I just feel like it was just kind of like the whole world it was just overvaluing the masculine and it just does it can work on dance floor but as far as the selection the build the sequencing. It's really for me what I have seen and what I've learned it makes it makes it no and I think that also it's like we're also going to be I feel like I'm really good at reading the floor and kind of seem like they're getting too tired like I need to bring this down and it's kind of like when you're in a meeting with a client they'll be like I don't want to have any slow songs I want to be like I want to be like Bam Bam Bam face the whole time and I'm like I'll do what I can like I like my goal I mean if I can have it all up the whole time that's everybody has a great time, but people also have a good time when they're slow dancing yeah and sometimes you get tired and like I you need to give me the permission to read the floor because if you're going to force me to stay at 132, for three hours like that's unsustainable yeah you don't appreciate it like you appreciate 132 and you appreciate that high because you've gone low and you've built it up or vice versa or you drop below so. And there's the Drake ghetto where everything's 92. And your lighter stuff like the 72 299 7298 you're just like Drake can you just give me a fast beat I know it's hard for Dragon ones like played real quick and I'll play Drake the there but that people either like really no old Drake or they don't know no Drake not the same crowd and the energy of those songs I can only stay there for so long yeah it's a it's a snack yes it's a Dream It's a drake smack it is this it's a moment a drake moment but yeah I mean I feel like you know to go back to the Imposter syndrome Enos of the whole thing I feel like there's so much messaging around. It's like this this weird combo of like you go girl like we're and we are we're in a much better place for women than we've been in the blast you know 50 years I mean course you know there's there's so much better representation there's more things going on, but I still the subtle messaging of like. Like for instance like when I was like when I'm at like say DJ conferences and it's a lot of like talking about your wife and how she feels about these things assuming the whole room is a bunch of men that have wives that are like coming down on them and it's like okay I. Don't relate to that at all you know and so I it's and I don't know what fixes that you know like I don't know how it really it's just more women, being willing to speak at things more women existing in this world more women doing these things because I know I sound like a man hating troll because I am always talking about how the man is always bringing us down and like but it's hard when I'm in this industry and I feel like, you know it's only when I get around other women where I'm like oh wait a minute we just do this differently yeah I especially notice it at DJ conferences to there is there has been like a. Camaraderie between the men and the Bros and I understand it like they're just all the same and they can like geek out on things and like. It's not like there's anything - coming from a but there's just such a lack of awareness of other people in the room you know and that is not okay and it's not go it's not sustainable and it's not worth the world's headed it also doesn't seem fun yeah to be a guy in that cabal of like, masculine energy that's just reaffirming everything you already think right it's like you know it I don't know I loves of camaraderie to it I don't know like they get like I'm not I think it's like. But I just don't relate to it you know and I think it's what you were saying like. I could choose to tap out of it and be like hey I just know this is not me or your which is a little bit harder as to stay in it and engage in it. Find the good find the bad and talk about it and change it you know which which. Is not an easy thing to do and I do think that you know we have a different I mean women in general have a different we bring bring a different energy but like we're half the world, you know it's we're half the dance floor where half the party and so it's like you know I think I've brought this up before but like you know it's like the American Ninja Warrior. Are you familiar with you so on that show we watch it a lot because my son really likes it and so. Back in the day like I have like 5 years ago there was like no women. And then there was this one woman Jessie Graff who likes to get to the end yeah yeah and she went viral on because I saw the video yeah and then after she won the next year there were like three women. There were like five women and now there's a routinely women that are like you know that make it to the finals and they're not like and sometimes they'll like be like oh like the woman who has the fastest time will get in assuming that her fastest time is going to be slower than the slowest man's you know and then she's right up there she's like right up there with the dudes now and it's like representation matters like making sure that we have a voice there making sure that were there because guys are going to reinforce the things that guys because they're it's it's like the man who's like you know I used to think that women were dumb and then I had a daughter and now all of a sudden I care about women because I have a daughter now and it's like well why did it take you having a daughter to care about the rights and needs of women and I just think that's a male thing like that it's like you know they're the alpha they're the ones that. You know run the other they've been running the show for so long you know it's so interesting because you've probably talked to all your details were mostly female and they get back - there's probably you have like more Collective wisdom of like what the experience is like out there I'm kind of only know my own, and so it's probably interesting to see and hear feedback from everybody coming back when these gigs well yeah I mean we've had me we had to change our contract because we actually put a thing in there about guests. Like being. Like abusive towards the DJs and we've never had to enact it we've never had to like I did too but two years ago yeah it's like you know like it has a three strikes policy in it basically it's like you know if you're if we're being, you know abused verbally or physically we actually changed it after covid to include unsafe environments involving. Airborne Toxic Event sir whatever would you say like now because of covid it's like somebody's in your face coughing on you yeah you know it's like and we've never had any pushback on it but. It's like when I put it what's interesting is when we meet when I made the Claus. When I put it in there like I'm wondering if we're going to have people push back on this because it basically says if like you're basically implying like if you got a drunk uncle that won't leave the DJ alone after three times we're leaving yeah and I had this feeling I'm like God wonder if anybody's ever going to be like oh man my hunt my hands uncle. Might ruin my wedding do I want to hire do I want to hire this woman DJ company. Because I don't want there to be a liability like my hands the uncle's not going to abuse a male DJ. My opinion if they made that sort and they decide to hire the mail like good riddance like a hundred percent but it's one of these things where I'm like I literally was afraid to put that in the contract as I was like does this look like it's liability to hire a woman because. And it was a gross feeling but it's not a problem it never has yeah that's great you have it in our contract we haven't had to use it no it's had an issue with no. I had something similar where I got it's always happens to be Abby's light bulbs when a couple events. Having the same thing happens like the same annoying person the same abuse and basically late I got my time kept getting extended and the clients were super hammered and it was just a gross atmosphere and I was just felt like I had to stay there and put up with it and I was talking about it that loud in this women's leadership group I'm in there like Megan you should never have to put up with that and it was like a light bulb. And I was like why aren't I more protected you're right I'm catering myself and my own protection other clients. And it's a slippery slope I think a little bit because people there's a lot of alcohol at all these events that we do and now that especially I don't drink anymore I've really thought a lot about that in a lot of ways but I've changed my contracts to to protect myself and no one scared you know and no one's made a thing about it, so what you're saying is is like if you're at an event and they keep trying to get you to go into overtime when they're wasted you'll like get Having the courage to say no. Basically like with my contract like I wanted there has to be someone sober someone without some like not like on-site. And then a lot of cases I also bring an assistant in like I thought about a couple cases like. Not security but like a secure like security and having the venue on and just basically like if something I can walk away and I'm allowed to pull the plug if there's a bad incident that happens like I have that right now that will not return you money, yeah and you never had to use it never. But I mean that's the thing is so there's two years and there wasn't DJing so well but it's one of these things where I'm like you know are. Male own DJ companies did they have classes in there like this are they thinking about like you know it's just it's interesting the like no it's like we just have to worry about a different side of things yeah, I know it's not cool right luckily that's not everybody you know I think that's these are very few instances. And I feel very respected and very taken care of by a lot of clients to as do we I mean I and I spent I think also when you're charging what you know what we're you know once you if you're you know, six hundred dollars for a DJ there's a little bit you know it's like there's only that sounds very bougie like $600 for a DJ isn't I don't get out of bed for that much money but but you know when they're paying. You know lower amounts of money it's like they own you lesser whatever and but then also you. The respect levels different yeah and I think once you know they're paying more you've got more experience able to make certain demands you know it can fit fares better for us it's like yeah that's also why I like I'm not like you having accompany me being with fig like I have a team at the back me up like I have people. That will have my back in a lot of ways and that makes all of the difference it really does has created a lot of the security and the safety around things to I don't always have to be the bad guy like this just policy so there's a lot of things that I feel like are really helpful with that as well but even if you are your own even if you don't have. Company behind you if it's if you're just a single op you're just your own person like you know it's like having the the balls and the guile to like. Protect yourself with these things and you know try to most make yourself seem bigger than you actually are and like you know and I always feel like, another kind of like scary place was when I want to climb books we need to do a party at their house because when your house you're in someone's house. There's less barriers and there's less protocols and will feel more comfortable and their own home and I've been more sticky situations in people's homes that were I felt less comfortable. I think and I think so it's always like a bit of a red flag like I'll totally do it but it's just something now that I look out for that they didn't realize. Yeah like there's not a security guard you're not on a public Street like if you have to go running outside and screaming like it is this where it's been more flirtation it's been more like a little bit more inappropriateness you're like family you can do another hex trap an hour can't you like. You know and just things come to mind like situations could find there a little more cringeworthy yeah yeah laces to well this has been wonderful oh my gosh no I just thinking about our relationship and somebody like I knew you and I respected you but we we didn't really cross paths many times it was kind of why it's weird but I saw you somewhere and you it's not that I think didn't think you didn't like me I just didn't know how you felt about me but you said something to me you came up and said I really respect what you're doing and that really meant a lot to me oh yeah I don't know if you I don't think I've ever told you that too so I was because I've been thinking about it and then we really. Got to know each other more at the DJ Collective and why I like you so much as you're so opposite of me like really like like you've got your critical mind on in your. I don't think you're judgmental but you just okay but I'm like. I want to just buy everything consumed every like we're so opposite and I've really come to like you for it because of those reasons and stuff so anyways it's just been a fun, I had no idea that we would be like here now yeah you know really I really I love it too I mean I think that it's I don't know I feel like the pandemic is really made me realize that there's just no room in my heart for light and not that I had any animosity towards you but you know but you would always come up it was always like, Megan Taylor the other female DJ and I'm like can we stop with this like I don't ya like she does a great job like I don't clearly like I don't know why it's only because we're women right I did you totally different things though I sort of I mean we're both doing events but like you know yeah it's. It's so dumb and it's like you know I just want as little gross Miss in my life as I possibly can yeah no I totally and I do I mean I think that I said meant that I said earlier like I feel like I would never have the guts to do what you're doing like be like. A brand of your own doing like I'm able to hide under toast and jam and like you know. Wait till you see the video you're about to put out yeah that's gonna change it all for you you're putting yourself out there blame Joe bun okay well what's your Instagram okay DJ Megan Taylor DJ Megan spelled correctly meganmcmanus703 H's I put out an album last year you know this know and it's like healing bowls with beets and I recorded in my stint in Tulum and I'm worried about are alive but it's kind of cool it's like a whole other project I worked on we're called the omniscience yeah other other people involved in the people oh my god do you can you perform live yeah here are they are is everybody here, no they're in Seattle and Mexico so we did it we did our own we don't opening party in Seattle was pretty fun we brought in this guy who made these Elixir drinks and they were microdose with like psilocybin and we have this dope experience and she walked in everyone where white and then we did a sound bath I've learned a lot in it and so we're going to do more we just I mean we everyone needs to be here it needs to be here yeah I need to want to do it here yeah no percent yeah excellent figure that out well thank you so much Megan thank you this is a wonderful this is not the last time you're gonna be on this podcast so exciting this is so fun thank you so much bye bye. Music. Thanks for listening to all up in my lady business it is written by me Mary nisi. It is produced by Christina sorum Williams and Amelia Ruby with softer. It is recorded at the toast and jam offices in Logan Square in Chicago. You can find resources and links from this episode in the show notes at all up in my lady business.com, if you enjoyed this episode and you did Smash that subscribe button and if you're the kind of person that reviews things on the internet please rate and review us wherever you listen to us it really does help people find us follow us on all of your socials and don't forget whatever you do this week do it with your whole ass thanks for listening. Music.