Meet DeQuann Piner

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful DeQuann Piner. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with DeQuann below.

Hi DeQuann, so happy to have you on the platform with us today and excited to chat about your lessons and insights. Our ability to make good decisions can massively impact our lives, careers and relationships and so it would be very helpful to hear about how you built your decision-making skills.

Definitely when I was much younger, I always Envisioned my future and put my mind to anything I ever wanted to do. Trusting the timing of opportunities is so important, my high school in Alabama was well known for its ability to make someone into somebody, I decided when I wanted to be a Chef way before high school, but I managed to stick it out every step of the way: my first ever job was at a pizza place and I was a dishwasher, I didn’t know that in order to become a Chef, you have to start from the bottom and work your way up, while balancing school I began to enroll in the elective classes that supported my side hobbies such as, Photography, Graphic Arts, Theater, Multimedia Design and of course Culinary Arts. I spread out the culinary classes all throughout my final years, and decided to finish early my senior year so I could work more and figure out my future. Sacrificing a good time to make money was when I learned what the real world was all about, I also must give major credit to The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lee County for instilling in me so much wisdom, financial advice and personal growth, not only did they carry my childhood & teenage years, they also helped me commit to attending Culinary School and preparing for the work field so early on in my life.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Where do I even start, my brand is so spacious and all over the place… The year is 2010 I had just finished school and had a laptop with all the time in the world, I was enrolled in a program around my neighborhood, but I still had plenty of time after 6pm, I decided I wanted to learn how to make beats, I downloaded FL Studio and slowly began to watch tutorials on how to produce Lex Luger type beats, he was the hottest producer at the time, I then had to come up with a stage name for myself and that’s when the name “YungBart” really came in handy: This username I made up for myself back when Bebo & MySpace were the top social networks, Today that name is my Producer name, stage name, YouTube ID, and lifelong nickname. I am about to release my 3rd beat tape in August “Escape Plan”, this project carries inspiration from my success journey at its beginning stages, and the impact it’s made on my current life. I moved out immediately after High School and moved to Atlanta for culinary school with little to almost no income but I had a plan rain or sunshine. My taxes came and I saved them and decided to use the money to start my life, this project is my favorite one to date, the other two were really my introduction to what I can do with a few of my favorite indie producers, only this time i’m doing it without their help, before the beat tapes I was just posting on BeatStars and SoundCloud, before I decided to finally get my music registered, now its my time to really show the world what I can do and I really hope this new beat tape someone can relate to my journey. Every streaming platform should include this body of work as well as my previous releases, my music is at your fingertips now if you ever want to support my sounds. Now let’s get to how my Culinary career is currently stationed, I am a traveling Sous Chef, this happened in 2018 at Grand Teton Lodge Company in Wyoming The following summer I began my sous chef journey officially being creative is what got me this far and understanding that its Okay to STAND OUT! Fast forward 2021, I decided to start a YouTube channel vlogging my work days, cooking competitions at my job, lifetime challenges, and even posting some of my beats, I even got monetized on YouTube just a year later: (YungBartTV). I finally found an outlet for my lifestyle, not only am I promoting some dishes I whipped up, but also I’m preparing to begin my acting career, and boosting my confidence at the same time, Whenever I feel confident about a topic, I turn it into a video for everyone to see whether its my funniest moments series, A story time on how my style was hijacked, or a time I was featured in an article or movie, just know its covered on YBTV. I definitely didn’t expected to get this far with YouTube, but something was truly working: 5000 Subscribers later, and i’m now hoping I can finally get my first speaking role as an a Actor, although you can see my face on magazines, album covers, and even a few cameo appearances i’m yet to have a speaking role, I’ve been taking acting classes, revisiting my notes from high school and most of all: being consistent, in order to get the results in life that plays a huge role.

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

You must have proper structure, experience, and discipline. I don’t believe you can accomplish anything in this world without these 3 things: keeping your resume clean and up to date is so important, as an Actor now I understand how important a professional headshot is, how an IMDB credit will help jumpstart you for show biz, and how much going on set and committing to it is important, one day you just may see a Celebrity and blow up overnight. Being a chef wasn’t something that happened to me overnight I understand how much Mise en place will prepare you for your workload, what its like to prep ahead of time for a signature dish, and most of all just having a passion for anything I want to accomplish in life. My advice I would give to the world is just keep going, hard times happen, but they don’t last: always surround yourself amongst your goals, positive energy, positive minded people, and don’t forget the world doesn’t owe you a thing.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

Knowing when to do the right thing, utilizing my resources better, committing to any goals, and protecting my mental and physical health, I started therapy sessions during the pandemic and it definitely improved my way of thinking . Losing my job because of Covid had gotten to me, it was my first major setback on my success journey: I felt defeated, lost, and didn’t know what to do next. Then I had a car accident around the time just a few weeks shy before my birthday, and I was down bad, so I knew then I had to speak to someone. Therapy reminded me to always commit to my goals and understanding my purpose much better. In 2023 I enrolled once again, this time my job honored and awarded to me at no cost, I made this choice as a way of preparing for my beginning steps of becoming an entertainer/ leader: Negative comments were starting to become norm on my music and YouTube channel, although I know those comments are not necessarily true, sometimes you can become consumed with what you are reading. This helped me overcome my anxiety and stress of the setbacks, I can sometimes be my biggest supporter and also worst critic, and with proper guidance I’ve managed to improve these flaws amongst myself. I recommend anyone to experience therapy, it will definitely help you in ways you could never imagine.

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