We recently connected with Darian Stitt and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Darian with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My work ethic came from my parents. I’ve seen them both go above and beyond for me and my siblings always providing and made sure we were good growing up and even now as adults.
We grew up on love rather than survival and I feel like that’s why I have the spirit and drive that I do when it comes to helping people.
I may not have had the “best” of everything when it came to shoes, clothes etc… but my family made me feel rich outside of that and I feel that was way more fulfilling.
My work ethic developed at an early age I always enjoyed working for money as a kid whether it was like simple chores or selling a pack of gum in school haha, but eventually I saw that my dad had his own business known as ShadowMen protective Services (an Executive security business), so I began to want my own eventually.
I started my business once I was established as a dancer here in Cleveland.
With constantly always having bookings, it became easy to lay that foundation down for my team and delegate especially with being in school and having two jobs to help fund everything.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a Creative Director from Cleveland, Ohio.
I’ve danced professionally for 20 years (28) from Commercial work, Community/Volunteer, NBA, Instructing and more.
I’m currently the Founder/CEO of Artistic Rebels Entertainment LLC, we specialize in creative marketing through dance, media, and hosting.
Our ventures currently include our podcast and mental health live series called “J.A.M” (Just.Appreciating.The Moment) and Our home town fav the “AR BATTLE CYPHER” with battles ranging from 1on1, 2on2 to Crew battles, some cyphers are different themes to keep the crowd more engaged as well with the dancers (which are all ages events).
The Impact from our work has helped jump start many dancers and other creatives in the community careers.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I’d say the qualities that I have that were most impactful were my Optimism, Resourcefulness, and Respect.
Optimism because in some of the most dire situations, it’s important to keep this mentality. It is easier said than done, but it takes time. Adapting comes with the game though, staying optimistic and rolling with the punches a few times you eventually anticipate it and develop the habit of thinking ahead which is key in business. So with having optimism it’s good to be resourceful as well, being resourceful under pressure challenges your creativity and keeps you on your toes which correlates back to adapting. Lastly, having respect goes a long way especially with relationships which are imperative in business. It’s all about who knows you but most importantly who respects you, that can be the key difference in so many factors when it comes to bookings and much more.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
Definitely, yes.
To be honest I’d say Artistic Rebels (AR) is open to to partnering/collaborating with any type of organization in the arts.
We love to keep things fresh and it doesn’t matter if it’s for profit or non profit.
AR has done it all and I’m always going to advocate for both.
Whether it’s Dance related, Media, Hosting your event or Collaborating on one together, let’s build.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Darian_savage
Image Credits
@eyezofmyheart
