From Dance Floors to Turntables: The Journey of DJ Nicki Nell

Summary

Podcast Summary: Becoming NEXTonSCENE™ – From Dance Floors to Turntables: The Journey of DJ Nicki Nell

Podcast Information:

• Title: Becoming NEXTonSCENE™
• Host/Author: NEXTonSCENE Media, LLC
• Description: Built an entire business off of social media and YouTube! Teaching you how to BECOME NEXTonSCENE with our Founder’s expertise and our fabulous GUESTS from start-ups to celebrities sharing their life experiences.
• Episode: From Dance Floors to Turntables: The Journey of DJ Nicki Nell
• Release Date: January 9, 2025

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Introduction

In this inspiring episode of Becoming NEXTonSCENE™, host Jackie Zuck welcomes listeners to an engaging conversation with DJ Nikki Nell, the dynamic president of Visual Sound Productions (VSP). The episode delves deep into Nikki’s transition from a professional dancer and choreographer to a successful DJ and entrepreneur, highlighting her journey, business acumen, and future aspirations.

Guest Introduction: DJ Nikki Nell

Jackie Zuck introduces her guest with enthusiasm, emphasizing Nikki’s impressive credentials:

Jackie Zuck [02:09]: "She is an awesome DJ, owns a business called Visual Sound Productions, and she's just crushing it."

Nikki's Background: From Dance to DJing

Nikki Nell shares her roots in the dance world and the serendipitous shift to DJing:

Nikki Nell [02:36]: "Before my career as a DJ and entrepreneur, I was a professional dance choreographer and dancer. Teaching dance allowed me to experiment with music, which naturally led me to manipulate songs for routines."

Her passion for music and the positive feedback from her students sparked her initial foray into DJing, leading to her first gig at a student fundraiser despite having no prior DJ experience.

Founding Visual Sound Productions

In 2011, Nikki took her passion a step further by establishing Visual Sound Productions:

Nikki Nell [04:12]: "I started VSP as an entertainment-focused business with just DJ services. Over time, we expanded to include lighting, photo booths, videography, and photography, evolving into a comprehensive production company."

Business Expansion and New Headquarters

Nikki discusses the significant growth of VSP and their recent relocation:

Nikki Nell [05:02]: "We recently moved our headquarters to downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, marking a new chapter with improved processes and facilities to better serve our clients."

VSP now operates multiple divisions, including multimedia, audiovisual production, and a talent agency, positioning itself as a one-stop-shop for events.

Notable Achievements: International Wedding

One of Nikki’s standout accomplishments this year was orchestrating an international wedding:

Nikki Nell [06:34]: "We booked our first international wedding in Canada for an NHL hockey player and his wife. It was a pivotal moment, showcasing our brand on a larger scale and opening doors to more international opportunities."

Breakthrough Moment and Business Pivot during COVID

The year 2020 was transformative for Nikki and VSP. Faced with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nikki made a decisive pivot:

Nikki Nell [07:20]: "In 2020, I quit my choreography job to focus entirely on VSP. When the world shut down, we had to pivot, leading to the creation of our multimedia division. It was about maneuvering through unprecedented challenges and seizing new opportunities."

This strategic shift ensured the company’s resilience and continued growth despite the global downturn.

Talent Pool and Services Offered

Nikki elaborates on VSP’s diverse talent pool and the range of services they provide:

Nikki Nell [08:46]: "Our roster includes DJs, live musicians, and we’re looking to add comedians and inspirational speakers, especially for corporate events. We aim to offer comprehensive entertainment solutions tailored to our clients’ needs."

VSP caters to weddings, corporate events, concerts, and dance competitions, providing customized lighting and staging to enhance the overall experience.

Advice on Handling Event Challenges

When discussing event unpredictability, Nikki imparts valuable advice:

Nikki Nell [11:25]: "Never let anybody see you sweat. Stay calm and collected, even when things go wrong. Energy transcends—if you appear stressed, others will too. Be a problem solver and ensure that your guests and clients remain unaware of any backstage chaos."

This approach ensures seamless event execution and maintains a positive atmosphere for all attendees.

Future Goals: Focus on DJ Career

Looking ahead, Nikki outlines her personal and professional aspirations for 2025:

Nikki Nell [12:24]: "I want to focus more on my DJ career. Balancing business ownership with performing has been challenging, so my goal is to delegate more responsibilities within VSP to dedicate time to touring and performing."

Nikki aims to leverage her past experiences, such as performing for Pitbull and the Miami Heat, to embark on new tours and further establish her presence in the music industry.

Conclusion and How to Connect

As the episode wraps up, Nikki provides listeners with ways to connect and stay updated:

Nikki Nell [14:15]: "Follow our business journey at Visual Sound Productions online, and you can find me performing as DJ Nikki Nell on all major platforms."

Jackie and Nikki exchange heartfelt thanks, reinforcing the inspiring nature of Nikki’s journey and her contributions to the industry.

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Key Takeaways:

• Alignment in Marketing: Consistently align social media and PR strategies with broader business goals to maximize opportunities.
• Adaptability: Pivoting in response to unforeseen challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can lead to new avenues of growth.
• Energy Management: Maintaining a calm and positive demeanor during stressful situations ensures a better experience for clients and guests.
• Delegation for Growth: To achieve personal career goals, delegating business responsibilities becomes essential.

Notable Quotes:

• On Social Media Alignment:

  Jackie Zuck [00:28]: "A lot of people throw spaghetti at the wall with their social media to see what sticks... it’s important that whatever you’re putting in your social aligns with your bigger goals."

• On Business Expansion:

  Nikki Nell [04:12]: "We started off with just DJs and expanded into lighting, photo booths, videography, and photography, becoming a one-stop shop for weddings and beyond."

• On Handling Event Challenges:

  Nikki Nell [11:25]: "Never let anybody see you sweat. Stay calm and collected under pressure."

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This episode of Becoming NEXTonSCENE™ offers a comprehensive look into the entrepreneurial spirit and adaptability of DJ Nikki Nell, providing listeners with actionable insights and inspiration to advance in their own fields.

Transcript

[Jackie Zuck]

Welcome back to Becoming Next on Scene, everybody. It is your host, Jackie Zuck. It is another awesome day for another awesome episode of how to become Next on Scene in your field of business or in your passion. Before I bring on my amazing guests, I always like to start with a tip to get your week started and.

[Nikki Nell]

Inspired can be marketing focused, self care.

[Jackie Zuck]

All the things this week I want.

[Nikki Nell]

To talk about, definitely more of a.

[Jackie Zuck]

Business side around marketing and the benefits of making sure your social media and.

[Nikki Nell]

Your PR are aligned to get more opportunities.

[Jackie Zuck]

I think a lot of people throw spaghetti at the wall with their social media to see what sticks and if it's not aligning with your bigger goals, it's missed opportunities. So it's really important that whatever you're putting in your social depending on if you're building your personal brand, if you're.

[Nikki Nell]

Building your business, it's really important to make sure that your messaging and your.

[Jackie Zuck]

Graphics are depicting your bigger goals to.

[Nikki Nell]

Get you the bigger opportunities that you're.

[Jackie Zuck]

Looking for yourself or your business.

[Nikki Nell]

So just take that into consideration. At Nexon Scene, we are really unique.

[Jackie Zuck]

That we offer both. We oversee the socials, but the key thing is we really grow the engagement and traffic, which really brings more opportunities to the business.

[Nikki Nell]

So that is one thing that I.

[Jackie Zuck]

Wanted to share with you today to.

[Nikki Nell]

Really focus on the bigger goals of.

[Jackie Zuck]

What you're putting out in the world and making sure everything is streamlined and aligned and building engagement around that. So I hope that inspired you today to do something different with your marketing.

[Nikki Nell]

Um, next, I'm really excited to bring.

[Jackie Zuck]

On my amazing guest.

[Nikki Nell]

We have DJ Nikki Nell.

[Jackie Zuck]

She is awesome. Based in the Springfields area, but services all across the country. She is an awesome dj, owns a business called Visual Sound Productions and she's just crushing it. So stay tuned for the amazing DJ Nikki.

[Unknown]

The ups, the downs and all the in between. What it takes to become Next on Scene. Are you next? Follow us at Next on Scene.

[Nikki Nell]

Do it.

Welcome back to becoming Next on Scene, everybody. I'm so excited to be here with the amazing Nikki Nell. She is the president of Visual Sound Productions and also a dj. Nikki, welcome to the podcast.

Thank you so much, Jackie, for having me. I'm really looking forward to getting to know you and to let everybody know what I'm all about.

Likewise. I love DJs. My, I come from a family of DJs, so I would love for you to share how you fell into this arena. Go for it.

Oh, I'm excited to hear about your family of DJs. Because that's actually awesome. You know, it pretty much comes down to the love of music. So before in my career, prior to being a DJ and entrepreneur, I was actually a professional dance choreographer and a professional dancer. So I was teaching a lot and a lot of my students enjoyed the music that I was playing. And then obviously when you're coming up with routines, you naturally want to manipulate some songs. Because I did mostly hip hop choreography. That's kind of what my niche was and what I was known for. So unbeknownst I was manipulating music and you know, doing some back end, you know, producing like, you know, not like I do now, you know, just to, for songs for the dance routines. And the students always loved the music that I had played during class and also the song choices for their routines. And one day my student asked to play for their fundraiser. So I was like, I'm not a dj, like either. I literally have nothing. Like I would just, you know. So it was one of those things where they convinced me. I showed up with my computer, with itunes and some computer speakers, you know, and my students loved it, the parents loved it. And then everybody just slowly started to ask me and then it just turned into a domino effect.

Amazing. So you basically fell into it, is.

What fell into it. I love it. Never, never in a million years that I think I'd be a dj. And where I am, my goal was totally different.

So I love it. And then obviously you started this sound like visual sound company from the DJ back. Like, how did that come about?

Yeah, so in 2011 I'm like, okay, I think, I think it's time for me to make this like official, an actual business. So that's when I started Visual Sound Productions Incorporated. And I started off with just the entertainment side, just the DJs part of things. And then I slowly started to expand and I added on lighting, the photo booth rentals, and then we added videography and photography. And now we kind of, we're a one stop shop when it comes to weddings. And then we ended up expanding into a multi op production company. So now we have three other divisions beside just the wedding division. We do multimedia, we do audio visual production and then we have a talent agency side. So it just kind of blew up into a whole empire just from, you know, just from me playing music.

Where are you headquartered?

So we just moved into our brand new headquarters located in downtown Springfield. So we're, we're over here in Massachusetts, we're on 130 Union street and we just moved in this week. So we're in the process of, you know, finishing things up and organizing everything. And it's pretty much like we're starting a new company because now we have new processes, new places to put things. New, new places for people, you know, clients to come in. So we're really excited about this new chapter in vsp.

Amazing. And so where do you service? Is it just Massachusetts? Do you travel? Like what, how far do you travel, I guess is the question.

All over. All over. Literally no place is too big or too small, especially with our talent agency side of things. We book DJs all across the country and international. We had our first international wedding this year in Canada. So, yeah, we're really all over, wherever you need us. And if we're a good fit for you, and vice versa, we will travel.

[Jackie Zuck]

That's amazing.

[Nikki Nell]

So what is one of the most memorable jobs you've booked that this year to date?

[Unknown]

Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?

[Nikki Nell]

Right?

[Unknown]

And the best part, they accept Discover. Except Discover in a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer. Oh, yeah, huh? Discover is accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby, get with the times. Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think.

[Nikki Nell]

Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide.

Based on the February 2024 Nielsen report this year. Honestly, I would, I would say it was the, the Canadian wedding. It was for, you know, an NHL hockey player. So it was a really, you know, high end client and we were very, very excited to work with him and his wife. And it was just really cool to say that not only are we starting to get our word and our brand across the country, but now we're starting to go, you know, international. So that was stepping stone for us this year. So I will say that was definitely the highlight of our year.

Amazing. What was like your breaking point for you to really feel like you're. I guess it's breakthrough. Like, what was your breakthrough moment that you were like, wow, I'm really on to something. I'm making an impact. What was that for you?

It was for me. It was kind of like a monetary goal, right? So it's like I told myself, once I reach a certain threshold that I would. So I started in 2011, but I was still teaching on the side. So I was still teaching and doing the DJ on the side. So it actually wasn't until 2020, ironically, none but notes that the craziness was going to begin in 2020. I quit my job completely Choreographing and went full force on this. And that's when we really needed to pivot, because that same year that I quit my job is when the whole world shut down. Couldn't even do what, you know, couldn't even do any events. So that's when the multimedia division was born. So I feel like every little step that has happened has just kind of fell into place. Like just the opportunities just happen or, you know, things just. Obviously the whole world shut down. So I didn't. I had no choice but to pivot. So it's just figuring out how to maneuver when life just throws crazy things at you and you could either, you know, take it to the next level or you can break. So, you know, I really don't have another option, so I made it happen.

I love it when you say you're building your talent pool, like, who is the talent? Because I have people that listen from all over. So, like, who is the talent that you're looking for?

Yeah, so right now on our roster we have DJs and we have live musicians. So I want to start adding in. And actually we have talks and relations with other people, such as comedians, inspirational speakers, especially for our corporate events, where they want people to come in and kind of, you know, whether it's training or just giving somebody just a story to kind of inspire them to keep them pushing. And like I said, comedians, we'd be looking for any type of entertainment aspect of it. We have a lot of people that are asking for not just, you know, the entertainment side as far as musicians and DJs goes, but other things as well, just to kind of bring a different level of entertainment to their. To their guests or clients, whatever. Whatever the event entails.

So cool. So you're. So also from the other side, you're booking corporate events, weddings. What other things are you booking in terms of clients seeking people like you?

Yeah, so we do. We do a lot of weddings. That's kind of what we're known for. But then we have a huge corporate side of everything and we do concerts too. And I was actually able to mary my dj, you know, my. My dance side of things and my DJ side of things. And now what we do is we go on tour with certain dance competitions and we provide all the sound and lighting and staging, photography and videography for them. So I was able to do a whole new breakthrough with the dance competition world and bring my. My other. My other side of my other passion and start elevating the dance competitions and really do some really Cool. Custom lighting. And it just gives it a whole nother level of professionalism for the students when they're on stage dancing. Because now you feel like you're actually at a Broadway show. You feel like you're actually performing, you know, under the big lights. And we customize everything for their song. So it makes it very immersive and it actually makes it very entertaining for those poor parents who are there all day. You know, I'll DJ during the break and during the award ceremony. So we kind of make it more of an interactive part of the awards rather than just handing out the awards.

I love it. Okay, this is a testy question because I have experience in event production myself when things go wrong. Because I feel like in events there is always things that come up last minute, like, what is the best advice that you have to pivot in those situations? Because really you only know about it, like the interior internal people know. But, like, what is the best way to pivot and like, move on because it always works out in the end. But there is something that tests you. I always feel like before a big.

Event, always, no matter how much we prepare, and we prepare months, sometimes years for some events and we could think of every little thing. And then like you said, sometimes the day of left wrench. And it does happen more often than not. The biggest thing is never letting anybody see you sweat. You never want to let the client know that there's some craziness going on in the back end and even like the guests as well, because energy transcends. So if you look stressed out, clients going to be stressed out, guests aren't going to have a good time. So it's all about, you know, it's all about that energy transfer. So just staying calm and cool under pressure. And you need to be a problem solver. You need to just figure it out, even if it's just a temporary solution. And just make sure nobody knows that's the biggest thing.

I love that.

Don't break.

Great advice, Great advice. Because that is. That's key. So key. No one would know as long as you're calm and cold and collected. So good. So. So what's next for you, Nicole? Like, what's big goals that you have for your business and can you share a little bit?

Yeah, so I kind of 2025 is more of a personal goal for me because I feel like, you know, since 2020 and just working nonstop to getting to the building and kind of where I want to be in the business. And now that I see we have we have our new brand and our new future with the four different divisions that we have. I think that I want to focus a little bit more on my DJ career because I've had some amazing opportunities as a professional performance dj, but it's really hard to be the business owner and then also be a DJ as well. So I've constantly been struggling back and forth with my time, you know, because there's not enough time in the day, really. My life would be so much easier if there was just more hours in a day or more days in a week. So I think for 2025, I want to try my best to start delegating more and taking a step back and being able to perform more. So that's kind of. That's my. That's my personal goal. So I love that.

Where would you perform? Where was the ideal scenario?

I want to start going on tour with artists. I, you know, I've opened up for a few really big names, and, you know, I've DJed, you know, on Pitbull's globalization. I used to DJ for the Miami Heat. I had some really, really great accolades, and so many opportunities came from it, But VSP was first. I needed to get to where I wanted it to be. And now I want to kind of piggyback off of those other really, really cool opportunities that I don't want to miss out while I'm, like, young and cool, you know, like, there's always an age limit to being a deejay and to being a performer, you know, it's really the reality of it. Just like being a dancer.

So interesting. You're full of, like, inspiring nuggets. Like, thank you for that today. So how can you follow? You get in touch, reach out all the things.

Yes. So you can follow our business journey. Everything's all visual sound. Prod P R O D name. The company's visual sound productions were very easy to find. And if you ever want to jam with me or listen to any of my mixes, you will find me at DJ Nikki Nell. That's N I C K I N E L L On all platforms.

Amazing. Nikki, you're amazing. To go by Nicole or Nikki. What's like, your favorite? Do you like Nikki better or.

So if you're gonna call me Nikki, gotta say, like, Nikki Nell, you gotta say, like, the whole DJ name, right? Like, I love it.

I love it. Okay, so, yeah, either way, follow Nikki Nell everywhere. And thank you so much for making the time today. You are awesome.

No, thank you so much for having me. You're amazing. And I love your platform and everything that you're doing. So I appreciate it.

Thank you, everyone. Thank you so much for tuning in to becoming next on scene. And stay tuned for who's next.

[Unknown]

The ups, the downs, and all the in between. What it takes to become next on scene. Are you next? Follow us at Next on Scene.