Meet James Corona | DJ

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Corona and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Growing up, I’ve always had a passion for music. At the age 16, I went to my first teen club and fell in love with all the sound and lighting. It was incredible how the club DJ commanded the dance floor and immediately knew, I wanted to be a DJ.

For the next few years, I started buying lots of CD’s and DJ’ing for free at friends and family parties. A few years later, I started DJ’ing college sorority parties and later became the resident DJ of several nightclubs in the Dallas (Deep Ellum) area. While DJ’ing in the clubs, I had the opportunity to mix live on Wild 100.3 with Billy the Kidd.

After DJ’ing in bars/nightclubs for over a decade, I decided it was time for me to go on my own and began DJ’ing private events like weddings, corporate events, etc. And just like that, my DJ company, Corona Entertainment was born.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
It was a big struggle in the beginning. I knew I wanted to be a DJ but didn’t know ANYTHING about sound and lighting. Back then, we didn’t have the internet or Youtube! So I had to learn and teach myself everything through lots of trial and error.

I purchased my first DJ sound system from a store named Radio Shack. On my first event, my sound amplifier burnt out within the first 15 minutes of my event and the music stopped. I was boo’ed by the crowd and it was so embarrassing! They ended up turning on the house radio for music and I went home. I almost gave up on the DJ dream but something told me not to give up and try again.

On my second event, my speakers blew out because they were cheap speakers. Again I was boo’ed and my DJ’ing career was turning into a disaster!

My third event was bad as well because my DJ mixer stopped working at the beginning of the event. Luckily, I was playing with a band so the party was able to keep going.

I quickly realized that I didn’t have the right tools for the job. If I wanted to be a professional DJ, I would need professional DJ equipment.

I stumbled across a DJ store called Crossroads Audio and they were able to help me get all the DJ equipment I needed. Finally, I had someone who I could ask questions and help with with my journey.

After that, my DJ career finally got off and I was up and running!

My next challenge was the business aspect. It was hard to put a value on something I loved to do. And there were people who knew that and took advantage of it. But fortunately, I was mentored by other DJ’s who helped me put a value to my skill.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am a huge animal lover so our first stop would be the Dallas Zoo. For lunch, we would go to Pete’s & Mito’s Mexican Cafe in Deep Ellum for delicious fajitas and cocktails!

Next would be a stop at the fun Perot Museum and at night, we would go see my favorite sports team play, The Dallas Mavericks!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife Cindy deserves a lot of credit for my success. She motivates me to be better and my biggest supporter.

To my wife: Thank you for believing in me!

Website: www.coronaentertainment.fun

Instagram: corona_entertainment

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djjamescorona/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/corona-entertainment-dallas?osq=corona+entertainment+dj

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/djcorona319/videos