Digital Social Hour
The $0 Networking Hack That Landed Me Shaq as a Client | DJ Irie DSH #939
Sun, 01 Dec
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Discover how a $0 networking hack led to working with Shaq and transforming the NBA entertainment experience! 🎵 In this incredible conversation, learn how one DJ's authentic approach to building relationships changed the game forever - literally. From turning down a tennis match with Roger Federer to becoming the NBA's first-ever official DJ, this story proves that timing and genuine connections are everything in business. Get ready for an inspiring journey filled with amazing stories, including how the Miami Heat took a chance that revolutionized sports entertainment, building lasting friendships with NBA legends, and turning unexpected opportunities into game-changing career moves. Plus, hear the incredible story behind landing Shaq as a client and how it grew into an amazing partnership. Perfect for entrepreneurs, networkers, and anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes world of sports and entertainment. This conversation reveals how authentic relationships and being in the right place at the right time can lead to extraordinary opportunities - even if you don't spend a dime! 🏀 #Networking #BusinessSuccess #EntertainmentIndustry #NBA #DJLife #Entrepreneurship #MiamiHeat #SportsBusiness #howtonetwork #onlineeventplatforms #personalbranding #selfimprovement #howtonetworkwithconfidenceandpoise CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:32 - Journey into Tennis 06:34 - IY Weekend Cruise Experience 10:08 - Miami Heat Overview 11:42 - Becoming the Miami Heat DJ 18:50 - Son's 18th Birthday Car Gift 22:44 - Upbringing and Background 25:50 - Pat Riley's Inspiring Pep Talk 28:58 - Alonzo Mourning's Impact on DJ Irie 34:22 - DJ Irie's Upcoming Events APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: DJ Irie https://www.instagram.com/irie/ https://irieweekend.com/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What was DJ Irie's journey into tennis?
That is. It's crazy how life, you know, things happen when they're supposed to happen. Some of the biggest and best tennis players in the world. And I'm not even following what's going on. And I'm there taking it in, watching the best tennis players, and then I'm just existing. To a point where even Federer was like, hey, man, if you want to, you know, go hit, this is in Dubai.
If you want to go hit, you know, we're here. And I was like, I don't want to waste your time. Federer hit you up to go hit? Yes. Damn. Yeah, man. And you turned that down? Yes. I would never turn that down. All right, guys. Finally made it happen. DJ Irie. Got him in Vegas. Yo, we're on the pod right now, man.
Yes, sir. We're on the strip. SK, what's up? In my hometown, man. Man, good things come in time, right? They do, man. You've been all over the place. I've been moving, man. I've been moving. I see that. Out here now for Kevin Hart's weekend. Nice. So we did it up yesterday over at Resorts World. And yeah, it's timing worked out great, man.
Chapter 2: How did DJ Irie become the Miami Heat DJ?
Oh, yeah. I think if you can do it anywhere, it might as well be in your hometown. Might as well, man. So are you the DJ for K-Heart? Well, I played around. It's a bunch of people. Okay. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's myself, Akon, Ludacris, Sweetie, Bryson Tiller.
yeah like yeah it's stacked holy crap yeah that's all for his show like kevin hart show yeah yeah for sure for sure so i mean it started uh yesterday so you know friday saturday sunday day and night um janelle monet aka dj johnny jane was with me yesterday so she did her thing yeah it's it's good nice and kevin's doing his show sunday night yeah how often are you at an event because i know you got iry weekend you got shack you got gronk
Yeah, man. We got a lot of stuff going on, man. Like, just back to back to back. You know, our weekend's coming up. Actually, tomorrow, it'll be next month. It's October 9th through 12th. In Miami? In Miami. In Miami. And that's going to be pretty stacked as well. I just don't understand how you stay this healthy while going out till 3 a.m. every night.
You know what? Shout out to wifey. Shout out to wifey. She's got me right. You know, she's changed my life for the better because things weren't as healthy before. You know what I mean? I mean, this is like this is not like anecdotally. I mean, like this is this is empirical. Like my I got my butt work done. about a couple weeks ago. And the numbers speak for themselves.
Everything's going in the right trajectory. So I'm very appreciative of that. Naomi J, appreciate you. I love that, man. I love that. Getting your boy right. No, that's incredible because you see some people in the nightlife space and they look like they've aged like 10, 20 years.
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Chapter 3: What is the story behind landing Shaq as a client?
Chapter 4: How did COVID influence DJ Irie's personal health journey?
Everything's going in the right trajectory. So I'm very appreciative of that. Naomi J, appreciate you. I love that, man. I love that. Getting your boy right. No, that's incredible because you see some people in the nightlife space and they look like they've aged like 10, 20 years.
Oh, no, for sure. For sure. And I think for me, well, you know, it's funny, too, is that, you know, pre-COVID, right? I'm talking, you know, 16, 17, 18, 19. When I tell you, I was probably like in a death spiral. Whoa. Seriously, I can honestly say that. I was not taking care of myself at all, right? And you know what is burning the candles on both ends, you know?
And I'm sure I was literally taking years off my life, you know? And then COVID hit. And here's the thing. I know for a fact, you know, some families got just devastated, you know, between losing loved ones, loss of income, you name it, right? People being very, very sick. For me personally, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me because it took me out of that spiral, right?
It took me having to have everything stripped away to be able to have that experience of just sitting my ass down. Just sitting down and being like, well, you know what? There's nothing else to do, but let me go for a run. Let me start eating better. Spending more time with the family. All these things. Having those experiences because I just didn't have it. I was like, no, I... I want this.
I don't want to let this go. And then that's when better decisions started to come out of that. So it was good. So COVID forced you to kind of reflect on yourself. Yes. Yes. In a very, very positive way. Nice. Is that when you got big on tennis?
That is. So you know what, here's the thing about it, it's crazy how life, things happen when they're supposed to happen. Because I was on this tennis tour called the IPTL, this is back in 2016, 17, right? And I was on tour with Nick Kyrgios, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, some of the biggest and best tennis players in the world, right?
And I'm not even following what's going on because I'm the DJ for the tour, right? And someone has to go in my ear and be like, okay, play now. Because I didn't even know when the point was over, right? I didn't know when the set was over, when the game was over, you know? And I'm there taking it in, watching the best tennis players, and I'm just existing, you know?
And to a point where even Federer was like, hey, man, if you want to go hit, this is in Dubai because it's in Dubai. If you want to go hit, you know, right here. And I was like, I don't want to waste your time.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of DJ Irie's events and partnerships?
Federer hit you up to go hit? Yes.
Damn. And you turned that down? Yes. I would never turn that down. I mean, because I just, you know, I had no interest whatsoever. Oh, you weren't playing at the time? No, not at all. Oh, got it, got it. This is like 2016, 17, right? Got it. And I had no interest whatsoever. It wasn't until a buddy of mine bought prints, right? You know, the bracket and intense equipment maker.
Yeah, I used to use those.
Yeah, and sent me like a whole kit, you know what I mean, with the bracket and the balls and all that stuff. And another friend of mine invited me to go play one day, right? And I was like, man, I don't play no tennis. I was like, wait a minute, I have all the things. I said, you know what, let me just go ahead and use this stuff because it's been sitting in my closet for all this time.
And I went out there and I was so terrible. I was like Babe Ruth, just hitting homers. I was so bad, we had to leave because we ran out of balls. I gave him to the water. I was like, all right, let's go home. And I felt like, you know what? I got to do better than this, you know? And that's when I decided, okay, I'm going to work at it.
At least like, you know, be like decent, you know, getting on the court. And then I just got hooked, man. I play every day. You play every day? Every single day. Damn. Like two, three hours a day. Sometimes twice a day. Like, listen, you know how to get me to play tennis? How? Ask. That's it? That's it. Nice now. All you got to do is ask. The answer is yes.
I love it, dude. So tennis over pickleball? What is that? That's a rare opinion these days.
Listen, nothing against, you know, people that play pickleball, but there's nothing like the workout you get with tennis, you know, in my opinion. And it's like, you know, I go out there and I track it on my watch and I'm hitting 1900 calories, dude, which is insane. Yeah. Like insane. You never can do that playing pickleball.
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Chapter 6: How has DJ Irie's career evolved with the Miami Heat?
Hell no. It's just not going to happen. So do you play like the ratings or do you just play casually?
I play casually, but I'm starting to get into tournaments. Actually, I'm hosting my own tournament during the weekend. Matter of fact, I usually do a big pool party in concert on Saturday. And I was like, you know what? Scratch that. I'm doing a tennis tournament. So now it's golf on Friday and tennis on Saturday. Dang. And I play in it. Okay. Of course. So last year was the first one.
This should be the second one. And yeah, I take it serious, man. Let's go. Yeah, come on. Anytime. Let's do it, baby. Just ask. All right. Who wins the golf one usually at your event? You know what? The 11 team. The 11 team. The guy named... So it's... Well, Jeremy Spund, who's not... officially with Eleven, but like he plays on their team. And what's my, Zach, Zach, Zach Booch. Zach is a beast.
So Zach, Jeremy, and they have like two of like scratch golfers that are on their team, and they crush it every year, man. Oh, so you allow like pros to compete? Well, I mean, they're not like pros, pros, but they're really, really good. They're really good, man. It's probably not fair. They're really good. They probably could join the tour, but they're super, super good. They crush it every year.
Oh, yeah, dude. And you've been having this irony weekend for how long now? This year is year number 18. Holy crap. 18.
And it's been a grind, man. But it's a blessing that it's been a huge success every year. Gets bigger and better every year. I mean, this year I'm doing it on a cruise ship. What? It's kicking off on a cruise ship. Yeah. So our friends from Princess Cruises, they gave us their brand new Sun Princess ship. And it's serendipitous because...
I did the launch of the ship in February out in Rome, right? And then we put out our save the date earlier this year. And my buddy that works for the line gets it. And he's like, yo, he calls me. He says, yo, your gala, your kickoff is on the 10th. And I go, yeah. He goes, you're sure? I go, absolutely. He goes, the date won't change, right? I go, it's Columbus Day weekend.
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Chapter 7: What challenges did DJ Irie face in the entertainment industry?
It's definitely going to be the 10th. He goes, because the Sun Princess is going to be in town on the 10th for one day only. It will never, ever be at port again for the full day, right? And we want to offer it to you to do your event. What are the odds of that? Oh my, come on. Destiny. Right? Just the one day out of 365, the one day, and it lines up. And I was like, all right, let's do it big.
And that's when we just, we committed. You got the whole ship. Got the whole ship, man. Holy crap. And I was like, holy ship. It's crazy. You know? How many does it fit? Well, we're going to have about 1,500 people on there. Yeah. And then because they have their debut event as well, so they'll probably have another 800 or so. So we'll have our own spaces to do our stuff. Got it.
And then we'll all converge at a Melito deck. I have Pitbull performing. Wow. To kind of like close out the night. So everybody will be on the Melito deck for that. And it'll be awesome. That's legendary. Yeah, man. It's going to be good. How's the Miami heat stuff doing these days? The heat. The heat. The heat is heating up. The Heat are heating up, man.
They're looking good. They're looking good. They're looking good. They're looking good. It's crazy because, you know, thinking about it, I mean, they've really, really been one of the more consistent and successful teams, you know, over the last decade.
Chapter 8: What are DJ Irie's upcoming projects and events?
I would put the Spurs first and the Heat second. I agree. I agree. So you really, really follow basketball. I do. You do. Yeah. It's been amazing. I mean, even 2020, like who would have thought that we would have ended up, you know, in the finals, you know, in the bubble. Yeah.
Right. And then, you know, a couple of years later, back again. Like, it's crazy, dude. It's crazy with a completely different lineup, you know. That shows to the culture, though. It does. It does. It does. And you know what? When you have an owner like Mickey Arison, that's all in. Right? That's all in on whatever it takes to win. Right?
And then you add that with the insight and the discipline of someone like Coach Riley. I mean, that is a winning combination. Right. You know? And that's where it starts. You know? And then it kind of flows from there. So, yeah. I think big things. I mean, this season, you know... We'll see. We'll see, because competition is... Celtics are nice. Celtics, yo.
And they're going to be pissed after what happened with Tatum and Jalen at the Olympics. Yeah, they are. You saw the kid in Miami. I was like, really? Of all the places, go to Vegas, you know? Yeah, they got a chip on their shoulder. They do. They do. They do. But we'll see. We'll see. We'll be ready. I love it, man. And they were the first organization to hire a DJ, right? The Heat. Yeah.
Yeah, man. Yeah. Not just in basketball, but in professional sports. Oh, really?
Yeah. Whoa. Because I was trying to figure out what the deal was. When I sat down and met with them, I was like, damn, okay, you know, it sounds like a great opportunity, right? But I mean, how is this being done, you know, in Chicago or in LA, you know, in New York? And I asked these questions and said, hey, you know, we looked into that. They're not doing it, right?
Like, okay, what about like in the NFL, right? Or Major League Baseball? Like, we looked into that too. No one's doing it. And I was like, all right, let me go ahead and screw this up for everybody. You know? So you were the test dummy. I really was. I was. But it was so cool because that's what made me say yes. I actually, I initially said no. Wow. You know when like keeping it real goes wrong?
That was the situation. I almost kept it so real that it was a bad decision. Because I was doing, at that time, I had the number one mix show on the hip-hop station, 99 Jams in Miami, right? And all my clubs, I was playing hip-hop and reggae, and people were coming to see me. It was my name on the marquee, right? And I was doing what I do.
I would have to do something completely different and off-brand at the time to be able to change my style for the arena. And I was like, these season ticket holders aren't the people that are coming to my parties and probably not listening to my radio show. So I was like, no way. And then when they told me, hey, you know what? This has never been done before. And I was like, you know what?
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