Meet DJ Teddy

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

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have DJ Teddy 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 comes from my Grandfather. He was a long distance truck driver for over 30 years. I used to watch him leave for work on Sunday at 4:30 am, and he would be gone until Wednesday. He would come home for 1 night, then leave the next day which was Thursday, and come back home Saturday morning. He would stay for 1 night and then repeat the cycle all over again. I watched him do this for years. His dedication and consistency really inspired me and showed me that you can have whatever you want in this life as long as you are willing to work hard for it.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My name is Dj Teddy and I started DJing Dec 25th, 2004 when I was just 11 years old. I love being able to meet new people and provide the soundtrack to the evenings festivities. I enjoy playing music that captures a moment of nostalgia, as well as curating moments that will serve as life long memories for people celebrating birthdays, weddings, and life milestones.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Being resourceful – you have to know how to respectfully take advantage of what you have around you. I’m always looking for ways to use what I have “here” to get me to “there”.

2. Being reliable – before I had my own sound that people wanted to hear, I often felt like I would only get booked when the original dj couldn’t make it. Not being the first choice used to bother me. But I realized that comes with time. Success only happens when opportunity meets preparation. When I was presented with the opportunities, I often knocked them out of the park due to preparation. I feel like doing that consistently over time made me a primary choice for many.

3. Networking – You would be surprised who you may meet on any random day. A smile, a hello, and handshake can go so far. I have met people who have become my biggest and most profitable clients all through networking.

There is no blueprint to this so you really have just do it and get into the mix. If anything, always remain professional but don’t leave any stone unturned.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

I never realized how strong or determined I really am. Not to get too deep but things were going really bad for me a little over a year ago. I lost my job unexpectedly I was door dashing as my main source of income. (Let me say, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this and shoutout to all of dashers and insta carters! Yall truly make the world go round!) but with that being my only income at the time, life was tough. I took a break from DJing back 2018 to go back to school, but I decided to stay retired once the pandemic happened. In 2023 I lost my job and thats really where things got interesting. So to go from that to this interview has truly been a blessing. When I announced my return to DJing, my first gig back was at The 2024 Dreamville Festival. That showed me that life is precious and we owe it to ourselves to use the gifts that God has given us to inspire others.

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DJ Teddy

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