Meet Dejay Mcneil

We recently connected with Dejay Mcneil and have shared our conversation below.

DeJay, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

When I was a kid, I would come home from school and my mom would ask me how my day was. Regardless of how exciting, I would start from the time I walked out my door, until the the time I returned. I made everything into a story. Little did I know that story-telling was my passion and purpose. As I kid, maybe 8 or 9 I wrote 2 short books, never published, but my family seemed to enjoy the books, and I enjoyed reading as well. I used to bring home story books from school to have my mom read it to me and my sister, because she liked to act out the scenes. Shortly after I got older, I got into the story-telling of music. Mainly, one of my older sisters got me started because she loved to sing. My first song I wrote was a gospel rap, but as I continue to write, I wrote things that I saw or things that I had to deal with personally, again telling my story through music. I stayed with the music for over a decade, even while serving in the US Marine Corps, I would go do studio sessions outside my duty station in Hawaii. I pursed the music strongly, even earring my Audi o Production Certificate from Full Sail University in 2017. Once my military contract ended, I moved to Florida and attended the Full Sail University campus to earn my Bachelors in Recording Arts. While earning my degree, I attended showcase around Central Florida, and begin performing and writing more songs, getting to know more people in the industry, which is how I met my wife, Tracy. She and her sister were in a music group together and I naturally gravitated toward them. She and our kids are the best thing to happen to me. While we were dating, I got the idea to shoot the music video for one of my songs with actual story elements to make it like a mini movie. When I saw the popularity increase, I made it into a series, called Scammer on Youtube, where I combine a series of music videos into a show. Viral on Tic-Tok with over 700,000 views, I decided the up the ante. Once I graduated from Full Sail, I went right back and got my Masters degree in Film. Right away, I started to write and plan a movie, based on my real life events in Florida and based on my song I am most known for, Flip The Finesse. The first attempt didn’t work out as planned, however I now have a dedicated team to help bring this movie to life and it should be premiering in the summer of 2025. Books, music, film; no matter how I tell the story, I believe that story-telling is my true purpose.

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?

I turned my music career into a profitable Entertainment company. I am focused on helping other music artist to reach their full potential by providing them with all they would need to get to next level. My company also focusing on creating opportunities for other artist as well in the film industry. We do everything from music videos, to commercials, short films and now recently feature films. Please be on the lookout for the film, Flip the Finesse, coming 2025. Also a new version of the Scammer Series is in work that should also be released in 2025. I am excited to share these stories with everyone and help anyone that needs it get to the next step in their career to expand and share their creativity as well.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Determination. Things may not always work out the first try, but we live and learn. Just be sure that you learn from your mistakes and keep trying. Don’t focus on what level others are on, just stay true to yourself and what makes you happy.

Also, planning plays a huge part in farthing your career. I typically plan at least a month in advance, most of the time even more, for instance when I was doing the Scammer Series consistently, I would have a plan to promote the song and show for the entire month before moving on to the next. Marketing is a big part of what I do.

Take Breaks. I know, to some people, this isn’t a skill, its everyday life, but breaks are important. There are still times that I have to remind myself to take a break, my wife too. When we get excited about something or know that work is to be done, we work non-stop. The problem will be when we get overloaded, then doubt creeps in, and we get aggravated or we just want to quit. I’ve been there so many times. Breaks are just as important as the work, your mind, body and spirit needs rest.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am always looking for people to collaborate with. I currently work with other screenplay writers, directors, producers and inventors. I want to be able to help other peoples creativity come to life, and I would love for us to develop a partnership and friendship so we can grow together. If there is anyone out there that loves what they do or anyone who enjoys helping other do what they love to do. Please reach out. I think I am pretty easy to find on google or on any of my social accounts.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

KD Visualz

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