Today we’d like to introduce you to Dianna Feliciano.
Hi Dianna, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Thank you for having me for this, honored to be interview. Where to start? I always had an entrepreneurial spirit and a love for dance. I had a turning point in my life after graduating college in a Marketing degree and having my life rocked, I felt I had a reset in my life. I wanted to go out and try new things and get back what made me happy. One was dance. I mainly danced salsa because it was fun, social, and reminds me of home. Where salsa music filled the house along with the aroma of cooking our traditional Puerto Rican meals. I joined a Latin dance studio and learned to dance formally and on-stage. I was not the most talented but I loved the process and the feeling of expression and the joy people had of watching art unfold. But in the studio, we had some very talented dancers. So talented they were featured in NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Now if you don’t know, not much happens after being featured on America’s Got Talent other than bragging rights unless you really take advantage while relevant. So I asked if I could represent them as a manager to have more opportunities.
With my marketing experience at this point I worked in radio, nightlife, and corporate settings so I had a well-versed understanding of how marketing and events worked in different industries. So I reached out to clients of these industries to do shows for their holiday parties, grand openings, you name it and it worked! We had a reputation for an amazing wow show and professional demeanor. So we were asked if we had other types of shows. But we only were skilled in what we know. So I started recruiting more talented dancers that I met throughout the years and had more options. Then I wanted to go outside of dance to represent all types of talent so then officially created DFNTLY Entertainment which provides all types of entertainment for events. Now we offer dance, fire, characters, and other special skill performers throughout Texas and beyond and continue to grow on what we offer for entertainment. I still personally go to many of the events because I love to see people enjoy the performers just as much the performers love to entertain.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There was definitely a learning curve to a type of business that I did not know much about and working with a lot of different types of people. If I was doing photography, there are many resources to get information to answer many questions. But for this type of business, it was a lot of trial and error. I knew a lot about dance but not a lot about costumes at the time, so I learned. I did not know much about fire and circus acts, but I learned. I did not know what was needed for a particular performer to perform to the best of their ability. But either learned by other performers or not so favorably, at an event, when things don’t go quite as planned. But it is part of the process and without downfalls, you never really grow. Also, it helps to build a dream team, not only to grow the business but put one accountable to raise the bar in the quality of the business.
As you know, we’re big fans of DFNTLY Entertainment. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
DFNTLY Entertainment (definitely): We are an event entertainment talent agency. We are known for amazing shows and interactive fun like our party starters known in the industry as Hora Loca (Crazy Hour) which our brand is DFNLTYaParty that provides a unique mix of entertainers in one hour of fun on the dance floor. We also offer other acts that cater to themed parties and so much more. If you ask us, we just might have it!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I say I am a conservative risk-taker. I take risks if it makes sense to me. Does not have to make sense to everyone. But if I can logically imagine how it can happen, it will likely happen, even if I don’t have all the answers at that given time. I don’t feel running towards every idea is a good idea, but I feel some ideas do have timelines in the business journey. What may not work now could work in the future, so small progress can make it happen. Some people get hurt going headfirst into the pool, the risk is not how deep it is, the risk is not seeing that you are in the shallow end. Some people go in not preparing the basics and understanding the risks that cause unneeded stresses and easy failure, plan for the worse but hope for the best. But at the end of the day, it’s just show biz!
Contact Info:
- Email: dianna@dfntlyent.com
- Website: MyEventEntertainment.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dfntlyentertainment/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dfntlyent
Image Credits
LimeLight Photo & Video, Cecila Grace Photography, Okushi Photography, Danielson Photos
