Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Acosta.
Nathan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Man let’s see, where do I start? Honestly, I started DJ’ing by chance. Back in 2005, my family was looking for a DJ for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. We were all standing around when my aunt Mary Lou looks at me and says, “Hey! Why don’t we have Nathan do it?” and to my surprise everyone agreed! Mind you, I had never DJed before, but I was always into music. A few days after that meeting my mom took me to Murphy’s Music in Irving and bought me an old Mackie Mixer along with two Peavey SP 5’s. I went home, hooked everything up and started to practice. Over 300 people showed up to that anniversary party and considering it was my first gig, I would say it went pretty well!
After that, I continued to DJ, taking low paying gigs and doing friends weddings here and there all while attempting to better my skills. One day, a friend of mine mentioned that I should try and intern at the radio station, KNON 89.3. They stated that I could learn a lot from the DJs there so that’s exactly what I did. I went up to the station and walked in during a Wednesday show, Wild Wednesday’s and asked if I could help. The team was cool and really taught me a lot regarding the in’s and out’s of DJing (A big shoutout to DVS, Mrod, Kurve, and all the other dope DJs who took me under their wing and showed me the ropes). Fast forward to 2015, when my DJ career really blew up. As I grew older, I knew that I no longer wanted to be in the club scene and this year I thought about calling it quits. At a wedding one day, I met this guy who was doing all the lighting and he mentioned to me that he was looking to partner up with a DJ.
Coincidently, I too was looking to partner up with a lighting person since I didn’t offer much lighting to my clients. After that wedding, we decided to do some events together and the rest is history. Before partnering up with my business partner Joel, I was probably average 10 to 15 weddings a year. After our first full year together we did over 50 weddings! Our second year together we did another 50 plus. This year, 2018, will be our third year growing Total Event Audio & Lighting and we are anticipating 65 weddings this year! The journey has been amazing, and I am extremely thankful to all of the couples who have entrusted us with their big day!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
To say it has been a smooth road would be a lie. There have been bumps along the way for sure and I think the biggest thing I struggle with personally is finding a balance between work and personal/family life.
In the wedding/event industry, you want to make sure your clients know how much they mean to you by making yourself readily available as much as possible. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always seem to translate into one’s personal life. Juggling these two crucial components of my life is something I still struggle with to this day.
Because family is so important to me, I need to learn how to manage my time more efficiently and spend time with my family without having to worry about work so much.
Please tell us about Total Event Audio & Lighting.
Our business is called Total Event Audio & Lighting and we specialize in packed dancefloors, everlasting memories, big smiles, and good times. I would say we are known for treating our couples and clients like family. They know that no matter the time or hour we are always a call or text away. We are more than just a DJ company, we look at it as if we are providing more than just a service, we are helping create memories.
Our clients know that they can hire anyone with two speakers to come in and “push play” for their event but its the people behind the equipment who make the difference. The one thing I would say I am most proud of as a company is that all of our reviews have been 5 stars! We go above and beyond for our clients because in most cases this is their first wedding and we want it to be one that they can look back on and say “Man Nathan and Joel were so easy to work with, we didn’t have to worry about a thing!”
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t think there is really anything that I would go back and change. Each time something bad has happened I am able to take it as a learning experience and grow from it.
We use every negative and turn into a positive, that is just life, you live and you learn. My dad always told me that a little rain is always followed by sunshine you just have to be patient enough to wait for it.
Contact Info:
- Website: totaleventaudio.com
- Phone: 214-364-0068
- Email: nathan@totaleventaudio.com
- Instagram: @djdnadfw/@totaleventaudio
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/totaleventaudio
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/totaleventaudio
- Other: https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/total-event-audio-lighting-llc-waxahachie/e56bc53fed0df470.html
Image Credit:
Roaming Wild Photography, Roldan Rivas Photography, Macpherson Jr Photography
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