Meet Thomas Opia

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Thomas Opia. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Thomas, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I get my work ethic from my heritage, the origin of my name, and early childhood experiences. I come from a family of sharecroppers and local business owners of rural Delta State, Nigeria. When I was born, my mother named me “Chukwunalu (Chukwu-nalu)” which translates to “God Performs” or “God is Working”. My nickname “Nalu” which my family calls me literally means Hard worker. So from birth, I have always had an amazing work ethic and strived for excellence to live up to my name. Growing up on a farm, I had a lot of responsibility at an early age having to wake up early, feed the dogs, tend to the farm, and then walk over 2 miles to school every morning. That level of discipline was instilled in me and carried on into adulthood.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
About me: DJ, Emcee, Business Owner, Engineer, Public Figure

Thomas ‘DJ SuperFli’ Opia is a Nigerian native with a strong passion for music, arts and entertainment. Thomas discovered his musical talents at an early age studying musical giants such as Michael Jackson, Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti and King Sunny Adé to name a few. He relocated to the U.S. in 2001 to further his education. During his studies in fall of 2011, Thomas re-discovered his calling for music while attending Morgan State University in Baltimore MD. He began producing and mixing music on FL studios and Virtual DJ. Shortly after, he began deejaying on and off campus and was recognized as one of the Morgan State DJs.

Thomas’s DJ career spans 13 years with the last 4 years as the owner and CEO of Naija Boyz Entertainment where he continues to perfect his craft as an open format/international Dj, versatile Emcee, event curator and management service. Having performed in front of crowds of 500-2000 people during conferences, homecoming events, weddings, and festivals; Thomas knows how to influence and captivate any crowd. He prides himself on putting on a show, a performance, curate a vibe and leave the audience with a cultivated experience. His signature “SuperFli Show” and “SuperFli Vibes” has grown popular on social media and has led to curating his very own events— “SuperFli Saturday’s Day Party” , “AfroFusion Brunch”, “Rhythm & Beats” where he invites up and coming artist, djs and vendors to showcase and perform live! In addition to the live events, Thomas created “The Pregame Mix” —- a series of curated mixes for your everyday listening pleasures such as daily commutes, cooking and cleaning and pregaming with friends that is guaranteed to keep you wanting more. Each mix is recorded live and published biweekly on Fridays just in time for the weekend. Checkout all the latest mixes on his website www.SuperfliVibes.com, SoundCloud, Mixcloud & YouTube.

Thomas is a proud small business owner of @naijaboyzent (NJBZ LLC) – an arts, entertainment, and apparel company providing entertainment services for social events. The company’s motto is providing music, travel and vibes for your vicarious living. Let’s us curate a vibe that you can enjoy from anywhere in the world living vicariously though us! If you would like to travel, curate an event or are a music enthusiast – we have the resources and expertise to provide that service. We host birthdays, group trips and a variety of wedding, private, corporate and kid friendly events in addition to live mixshows and DJ Mixes. SuperfliVibes and the Naija Boyz Apparel brand is focused on providing comfort, style and personality through its use of vibrant colors, quality fabric and simple yet bold designs to give the user a warm cozy comfortable feel that could be worn in the comforts of their home or styled for a night out. Be sure to check out the Apparel shop on his website.

When he’s not behind the turntables or at pop up shops, Thomas volunteers for Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics (STEAM) outreach, Diversity & Inclusion and Professional Development. As an Engineer, he volunteers for CodeQuest, Career Fairs and Robotics Competitions to mentor the youth and younger engineers on STEM and Life cycle project management. Thomas seeks to open up a recreational center for kids and people of all ages to learn about STEAM, Music, Sports, and Health/fitness.. In his leisure time, Thomas enjoys traveling, playing sports, video games, catching up on shows and networking.

Thomas is a Certified Principal Engineer and Program Manager. with 13 years of experience in the Aerospace & Defense Industry. He holds a Bachelors of Science and Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Morgan State University.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THOMAS:

SOOOO excited and Happy to announce the launch of my next event – “Rhythm & Beats: Where R&B Meets Afrobeats” Launch party is on Friday April 5th, 2024. It is not like any party you have ever been to, this is an experience. Imagine an upscale red carpet dinner party of all the exclusive stars and influencers in the arts and music industry. There will be a photobooth, live instruments, singers and two headlining DJs. This launch party is an exclusive invite only, dress to impress event in Philadelphia. VIP Parking and General Admission parking will be provided as well as food, drinks and bottle service. following the official launch party, we will be releasing the date of the next Rhythm & Beats which I can tell you will be a public dance party on a massive boat!! follow @itsrnbeats for al things Rhythm & Beats

The NJBZ Apparel Shop will be updated with the new S2 2024 Sweatsuits as we work to provide the summet 2024 collection coming in july.

Tune into the Pregame Mix Live & Subscribe to my Youtube Channel @djsuperfli !

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Attention to Detail, Professionalism, and Perseverance. I pride myself in maintaining a certain level of discipline and professionalism in everything that I do. Never missing a meeting. Making sure to communicate clearly, openly and honestly. As a working professional, it is very important to maintain a positive reputation and brand. 60% of your performance is the perception of your Brand. Your brand consists of your professionalism, work ethic, core values, interpersonal skills and reputation. Having integrity and paying attention to detail are critical skills to have not. just only in the engineering field but also in the music and entertainment industry.. Having the attention to detail skill was helpful in reviewing contracts, working on intricate world class technology and putting together events. As a DJ, you are the heartbeat of the party. Your job is to read the crowd and environment down to the last detail to create a long lasting experience of satisfaction to the audience. Knowing the right time to change the music or talk to the crowd for example. Arriving to your gigs on time or better yet early to meet the client, club owner, staff and other vendors is a skill that I attribute to professionalism. I have learned that the little details often matter the most to customers and clients. I would advise folks who are early in their dj or professional careers to prioritize being punctual, practice paying closer attention to detail especially when it comes to customer service and understand that sometimes things will not go according to plan and that is perfectly okay. What’s more important is your resilience and drive to persevere through whatever the setback might be because the lessons learned will bring you closer to more success. Perseverance is one of the main qualities required for success. Whatever your goals may be, if you persevere, you will succeed.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The number one challenge I am currently facing is balancing both my careers with my personal life. Work-life balance is extremely important to me. I am very passionate about my job and music but I am also very passionate about being there for my friends and family. Having to manage working full-time, running a business, being in a relationship, and supporting my friends and family has proven to be a challenge lately. I used to joke about being so busy that I did not have the time to commit to a relationship. Part of that was me being young and so focused on my career that I felt I could not give my all in a relationship and I feared my partner would resent me for it. Now that I am 30 years old, I have realized that is no longer acceptable and I have to change and be intentional about what I spend my time on. Work will always be there but life will easily pass you by if all you focus on is work work work. Work is a large portion of your adult life and trust me I have been working since I was 15 years old so half my age talk less of my childhood growing up on a farm, I guess I have been working all my life! As much as I love working, I enjoy spending time with my friends and family. Big family man and an uncle to a niece and 2 nephews in addition to being 1 of 5 siblings with extended family back in Nigeria.

As I grow older, I have goals that will increase the responsibility in each of these areas of my life so I have to make sure that I am prepared, Sometimes I find myself working 7 days a week and as such I have to plan my days and make sure to create time for the little things that matter. These little things such as being home at a certain time for dinner and not having to postpone plans or running errands often get overshadowed by having such a busy schedule with pop-ups. I am taking an active approach to overcome this challenge so that I can enjoy the fruits of my hard work with my friends and family. I have started doing focused sessions where I will set a timer for 30-45 minutes to focus on a particular task at a time. Utilizing the Focus feature on my iphone to minimize distractions and instill a disciplined daily routine that consist of dedicated time for work, social media/content creation, health/wellness and then personal time to decompress and prepare for the next day. I communicate daily to my girlfriend about the pressures of the day, when I’ll be free and expectations so that we are on the same page and we can focus on getting through the day and having dedicated time to spend together without interruptions (NO phones haha!). I manage my work calendar daily and I have my dj/website calendar integrated to my phone so I am able to differentiate tasks, deadlines, bookings and personal appointments in one tool. I prioritize birthdays and key dates and take time off to visit/spend time with family. I began traveling more often again to make sure that I am taking the time to rest, recharge and rejuvenate.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
VZNRY Media, Def Jam Recordings, Silent Philly, ShotbySanky,

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