Have you ever wondered how a career in law enforcement could shape a successful path in the event planning and entertainment industry? This episode takes you on an extraordinary journey from the world of true crime to the exhilarating realm of music and events. From my start as a teenage DJ for Dave Holland's company in Alaska to the birth of Streamline Events and Entertainment, discover the unique experiences and lessons that have fueled my passion for precision and exceptional service. Learn how early gigs filled with weddings, school events, and social gatherings laid the groundwork for Streamline's unwavering commitment to exceeding customer expectations.
Transitioning from a police officer to an entrepreneur, I share how my mentor Justin and our shared values of service, faith, and relationships played a crucial role in shaping Streamline Events and Entertainment. We’ll discuss the importance of building strong customer relationships and the meticulous effort that goes into creating unforgettable experiences for weddings and corporate events. Listen to insights on enhancing event planning with the Vibo app, the necessity of backup plans, and the role of effective communication and collaboration with other vendors. This episode reveals the heart and soul behind Streamline's mission to deliver flawless, memorable events on clients' most important days.
Have you ever wondered how a career in law enforcement could shape a successful path in the event planning and entertainment industry? This episode takes you on an extraordinary journey from the world of true crime to the exhilarating realm of music and events. From my start as a teenage DJ for Dave Holland's company in Alaska to the birth of Streamline Events and Entertainment, discover the unique experiences and lessons that have fueled my passion for precision and exceptional service. Learn how early gigs filled with weddings, school events, and social gatherings laid the groundwork for Streamline's unwavering commitment to exceeding customer expectations.
Transitioning from a police officer to an entrepreneur, I share how my mentor Justin and our shared values of service, faith, and relationships played a crucial role in shaping Streamline Events and Entertainment. We’ll discuss the importance of building strong customer relationships and the meticulous effort that goes into creating unforgettable experiences for weddings and corporate events. Listen to insights on enhancing event planning with the Vibo app, the necessity of backup plans, and the role of effective communication and collaboration with other vendors. This episode reveals the heart and soul behind Streamline's mission to deliver flawless, memorable events on clients' most important days.
www.StreamlineEventsLLC.com www.DoubleDownDuo.com
@StreamlineSEE @DDownDuo
Youtube-Instagram-Facebook
Speaker 1:
Welcome everybody to the Murders to Music podcast. So the last few weeks we've done a lot of the Murders episodes. Today we're going to switch it up a little bit and go more into the music side of things. So on the music side of things, you know one thing stick around if you guys want to hear a little bit about how Streamline was born and what Streamline Events and Entertainment brings to the table. My intent is not for this to be a commercial about Streamline Events and Entertainment. However, I do want to talk about the business a little bit, because I think the business is very, very it's important to me. I think that we exceed our customers' expectations on a regular basis and I want to talk about how it was born and I want you to be able to see the value in what I was doing versus what I am doing now. So if you're interested in Streamline, which is a part of my life, stick around and let me tell you all about it. So, streamline Events and Entertainment.
Speaker 1:
I have to start way back when. So let's start back when I was 13, 14 years old, I was living in Alaska, I was playing in some bands and the people I was playing with were much older than I was. There was a music store in town that I grew up in called the Music Box. The Music Box had an employee named Dave Holland. Dave Holland is a long-haired, super cool guy guitar player and a couple of years later, when I was about 15, 16 years old, dave opened up a DJ company called Dave's DJ Service and Hell If I Know Entertainments Hell If I Know was all one word, play on words. It was fun. So I went to work for Dave at about 15 years old DJing and very quickly I became his most requested DJ. I was DJing a lot of weddings for him. I was DJing a lot of homecomings and proms and school events, but a lot of weddings, and that's where I cut my teeth in the wedding industry. So you have to understand a wedding is different than a corporate event.
Speaker 1:
A wedding has lots and lots of moving pieces and, as the not the master of ceremonies, but the master of technical ceremonies, the DJ's position in streamlines, in my opinion since I am streamlined, in my opinion is to make sure that all the moving pieces, the large ones, are executed with precision. So what do I mean by that? Starting off, at 16 years old, I'm getting turned loose on what is going to be the most memorable day in many people's lives. So imagine coming into that wedding and seeing that 16 year old kid behind your DJ booth and there's nobody there shadowing him. So that was my situation for many weddings, was my situation for many weddings, and the reason that I think I was successful at that at such a young age is because of the mentoring of Dave Holland, mike Silva, some of the other folks that I worked with back in the day through the music box, through the different bands I was in, steve McFerrin. You see, at a very young age I started working in an auditorium doing lighting and sound, and that taught me the importance of not only executing with precision but also systems, putting all the pieces of the puzzle together and making sure that a show technically can run smooth from start to finish a beginning, a middle and a conclusion, and the weddings are the same way. So at 16 years old I find myself DJing these weddings and having to be the master of technical ceremonies to coordinate the sound system for the ceremony, the sound system for the ceremony Granted, back in those days a lot of the ceremonies were conducted in churches or places of worship.
Speaker 1:
So a lot of times they had their own sound system, but there were times when we would do something remote and we would need to bring a sound system so everybody can hear the vows and the officiant. Everybody can hear the vows and the officiant. So then we next step in that grand master plan is to get them to the cocktail hour. Cocktail hour is an opportunity for everybody to mix and mingle and for the bride and groom to go get pictures, change their clothes, whatever it may be, before that grand entrance. Then there's the grand entrance. We bring everybody in, we announce the bridal party, we announce the bride and groom. It's the kickoff to the reception and the party end of this event.
Speaker 1:
Oftentimes this is a very, very important moment because it's the first time that the bride and groom have been announced into a social environment as a couple. You heard it during the ceremony, however, there's not a lot of people getting up and glad, handing and, you know, hugging and that kind of stuff in that ceremony. That's still their moment. Well, this is a time for everybody to kind of let loose a little bit and relax. It was a very important moment. Then we move on to the reception. That's where we keep the party going with music, and then it gave me an opportunity to emcee all of this.
Speaker 1:
So I did that from about 15 years old to 17,. 18 years old. I moved to Phoenix. At 17 and I DJed in Phoenix for a short time and then I ended up coming back to Alaska to be a police officer a few years later. So that was where I got my start.
Speaker 1:
Now, fast forward the time that I was a police officer. I didn't do a lot of DJing. I did some, but not a lot during those years because most of my time in the music scene was spent doing live music and in bands. I've been in bands essentially my whole life and a lot of my time was made formulating bands, running bands, booking gigs, booking shows. And again, you have to make sure that that technical master of ceremonies can make an event go from booking all the way through the conclusion of the final note and if you know anything about me, I don't do anything halfway. I'm all in on everything that I do and the details are super important. The details are super important. So during my career as a police officer, details mattered, words mattered. The effect that you have on people matters.
Speaker 1:
So I was able to take that into the music scene when I was doing a bunch of live music because I got to put all those pieces together, I got to perform for people and it was really a relief from my everyday job and lifestyle. I would go to work every day and be bombarded with darkness and negativity and death and destruction and then on the weekends I would come out and get to play some live music and talk to people and engage from the stage and interact with the crowd and really form a bunch of relationships there. Relationships, I think, are super, super important in life. I believe relationships are key to success in no matter what you're doing, and the opportunity I had to play music for people was an opportunity for me to build relationships with sometimes five people, sometimes 50, sometimes 500 people out in that audience. There was a time we played for 25,000 people. That was a great experience. So those relationships are key and that's what keep people coming back.
Speaker 1:
And I thought that it was amazing how I could go from my darkness world every day where, frankly, I was known as being high strung. Uh, if you've ever seen that one Disney movie, the characters all have emotions inside out. I believe they I was angry emotion. I have the little red doll with the flaming red hair. That was kind of my nickname. Yet on the weekends I'd get to go out and entertain and my co-workers who would come see me would often say holy cow, cow, you know who is this guy. We've never seen this guy before because they're not used to seeing me in the outside world. So I enjoyed that and, like I said earlier, it was kind of a crutch. Sometimes you know an entire gurney to carry me through. Whatever hard time I was in in my real world, it was a little escape for me and I got to make people happy. So now, if we're coming out of law enforcement, I considered getting back into DJing, because DJing you use it in a lot of different environments. But it reminded me back when I was 16, on those people's best day, and I've said this before in another episode.
Speaker 1:
But I was so used to helping people in their worst day in law enforcement. I never got a call when they were happy. I got a call when their loved one was killed, when their child was injured. That was my life, so I would help them and we would get through whatever their issue is. We would solve their case, find the people responsible and hold them accountable. And then I have built a relationship with these people and my victims' families.
Speaker 1:
But after that case was over, more times than not they did not want to continue a relationship with me. I would reach out to them and just to check in on them, maybe at the year anniversary or whatever, and or you know, whatever time we would end up talking and several times people told me hey, aaron, we really appreciate what you did, but please don't contact us anymore. You're a bad memory, you're a trigger to our trauma and we just need to put this chapter of our life behind us. And I didn't understand it. I didn't understand that when I was on the job, because I was looking at it from my perspective and not theirs. A trigger to trauma was a joke. There is no triggers to trauma. There is no trauma. I'm sorry you went through this, but I was there to help you and I was looking at it from a very selfish point of view. Well, now that I'm on the other side, I get it. I get exactly what they were saying. And now there are people in my old world that I don't want to see. I don't want to go back to that police department. I don't want to go back through the city. I totally get it. So that was one of the epiphanies that occurred for me. But I was so used to helping people in their worst day I went back to when I was 16. Now I want to help people again in their best day.
Speaker 1:
So I reached out to a complete stranger to buy some speakers Mr John Lay and he owns a DJ company up near Seattle, washington, and I told him hey, I'm interested in getting back into DJing After a long hiatus. I've done live music and technical stuff and sound engineering forever, but the actual art of DJing I've been out of it for a minute. So John reached out through a Facebook group and connected with a guy named Justin Babbitt with Paradox Productions. Justin Babbitt is an absolute rock star, ladies and gentlemen. So Paradox Productions is an amazing company based out of Oregon, and they have a lot of DJs, they run a lot of events and they are a great, great company. I'll be happy to take your event. However, if I'm not available, they're going to be the first ones that I send you to. Justin will take care of you.
Speaker 1:
When I started talking to Justin, I found out really quick that he and I have a lot in common and we're literally cut from the same cloth. We think alike, we talk alike, we act alike. We believe in God alike. We talk alike, we act alike, we believe in God alike. And I started working with Justin for about a year, year and a half, did a lot of events with him 20, 30 weddings and it got to the point where Justin and I working together, we didn't have to communicate. We showed up, we knock it out, we do the event. There's no talking about setting up or what we got to do. Justin is an amazing man and I was able to gain his trust in that environment, which was good for me. Justin mentored me. He told me right away Aaron, I know what you want to do. I know you want to go out on your own. Let me help you get there. So he helped me over that year, year and a half. Then I opened up Streamline Events and Entertainment.
Speaker 1:
One of the conversations that Justin and I had was helping people on their best day instead of their worst day. Justin and I both have a heart for service, we both have a heart for people and we both have a love for relationships, and our conversation that afternoon really resonated with me about doing this for people on their best days. Now I get to be a part of their memory making forever. On the good side of things Now, when I reach out to them a year later, they want to hear from me, they enjoy it. They refer to their friends, to me. I'm no longer a dark cloud in their world and it was the first time in a long time that I realized this is no longer a crutch. This can be my way of life. You see, when I was a police officer, I was so used to doing it on the weekends when my pager wasn't going off or my phone wasn't ringing for another call out. Now that's all behind me. Now I get to look forward to doing this for as long as I want, as long as I live, if I choose. That was the birth of Streamline Events and Entertainment. That was the birth of Streamline Events and Entertainment.
Speaker 1:
Why Streamline? Well, it's a really cool name, but I want to streamline. I want to make people's lives easier. I want to make whatever it is that I'm doing, whether it's their wedding, corporate event, if I'm providing sound or lighting production for any other events or shows, whatever that may be. I just want to make it easy. The world is way too complicated and complex for the everyday person as it is. The last thing they need is to be thinking about all the technical stuff, from extension cords to sound systems, to to lights, to smoke, to whatever it may be for their wedding or corporate event. That is where Streamline comes in.
Speaker 1:
I take care of all the details. You tell me what you want, I execute it. I show up on a crime scene. There's a dead body, I figure out the pieces and I make a great production on the other side that we can present in court. I'm used to making something out of nothing. That has been my life. The project management side of this has been my world forever. But instead of dealing with people and hurt people and injured people on the dark side, I'm putting all the pieces of their puzzle together on the brightest day of their life. So Streamline Events and Entertainment was born out of darkness and brought to a place of light.
Speaker 1:
My goal was to exceed, and is to exceed, our customers' expectations. I charge a fair price. I am not the cheapest person in town. However, I'm not the most expensive person in town. You get a lot for your dollar when you're dealing with me, because I don't want to gouge people, but I want to under-promise and over-deliver with all of the stuff that I do. I want them to see the devil is in the details.
Speaker 1:
When you're working with streamline, you see there's a lot of other competitors out there and one of the things you have to do if I'm in a homicide case, I need to do what's called victimology. I need to know my victims suspectology. I need to know my victims Suspectology I need to know my suspects and what they're all about. What makes them tick? Where are they good, where are they bad? Victims? What part of their lifestyle was in the lightness? What part of their lifestyle was in the darkness? What might cause this fatal relationship that they got into?
Speaker 1:
On the DJ side of this, I use that same concept to get out there and learn my competitors. Who's in the market? What are they providing, what are their reviews look like, what are they charging, what are their demographics and where are the holes. So when I did that market analysis, it really put Streamline in a place where we are catering to middle to upper end weddings. We are not the $500 to $800 DJ company. There are plenty of those out there that will play music for you. But I think there's some value in what I wanted to do. I didn't want to play in that world. I wanted to play in a world't want to play in that world. I wanted to play in a world where I am middle to upper weddings. So that's exactly what we set out to do. So when you're considering charging somebody a considerable price, you better be able to deliver the goods.
Speaker 1:
One of the things that Streamline does in order to be able to execute that is I like to build relationships and from that it means a lot of communication. So I will be, we will be in communication a lot, whether it's on the phone or in person. I invite all my customers out and my clients out to happy hours. I'm buying, but let's go get to know each other a little bit. The reason I think it's important to get to know each other is because on that wedding day when we're interacting, I want to interact as friends, as a relationship, not as a sterile third-party stranger that's just coming to check a box Again.
Speaker 1:
Every wedding is a one-time event. It's just by design. Every wedding is a Super Bowl according to my buddy, nick Spinelli, who I've never met but I watch his shows because he's awesome. Every wedding is a Super Bowl and you don't get to redo this. So you have to make sure that you know your players involved know the little inside jokes. I know that. What the jokes? I know it makes them tick. I know how they met. All of those things make it very seamless when I'm emceeing or engaging with them.
Speaker 1:
You know, one of the tricks to emceeing or being a good emcee or speaking to any group of people is just to have a conversation. If you get up and you try to put on a show or you try to be somebody you're not, or use big language everybody listening to this has heard somebody give that kind of speech and you're pretty sure they don't even understand what those words mean. So one of the best ways to emcee a wedding is just to have a conversation. No big ladies and gentlemen, none of that. Ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, thank you so much for coming today. We're here to celebrate the beautiful wedding of Bob and gentlemen, friends and family, thank you so much for coming today. We're here to celebrate the beautiful wedding of Bob and Susan. Whoever it may be, just have that conversation, you're able to get over your nerves because I've built a relationship and I actually feel like I'm talking to friends and I'm one of the group, not a stranger.
Speaker 1:
Human interaction is super important, not only with your couple, but with the guests, and I believe that interacting with the guests, without being cheesy, is a very, very important thing to do, because it's continuing to build that relationship throughout the night, whether it's playing music, getting them another glass of wine or helping you know somebody up off the floor when they fall. That's just part of being a good human, and that interaction goes a long, long way. We understand the importance of that day and we want to take as much stress out as possible. I use an app called Vibo. Vibo is an app that allows me to help with the planning process of that day. You say I'm not a wedding planner, but one of the things that I do is all my clients get to use Vibo, which is an app that I subscribe to for their benefit, and it allows them to help with the wedding process by interacting with Spotify, apple Music, youtube, soundcloud. If they have their playlist there, they can put their playlist right into this app, and that comes right to me. They can pick out songs that they like, songs that they don't like, songs that are must-plays, songs that are do-not-plays. That helps me get a vibe for what it is they're looking for. Now they may only put in 25 or 30 songs, but that allows me to take those 25, 30 songs, understand what they're looking at and then build out 200 or 300 songs that I can use for their wedding.
Speaker 1:
Vibo also has a planning feature where we'll go through and in that app I'll ask them tons of questions about their wedding colors, their dates, their times, their bridal parties names. But, for example, have you ever considered are your parents going to be at the wedding? Yes, they will be. Are they still married? Yes, they are In a very secret way. Figure out what their wedding song was. I want to play that for them. I want to help make that relationship and that moment for the parents. Or the contrast are your parents married? Still married? No, will they both be there? Yes, what was their wedding song? Because I don't want to play that. I don't want to cause any issues or bring up bad memories, not on that day. So those are all kind of questions that we use in that app.
Speaker 1:
That app will help me program the day. It'll allow the clients to move things around in the timeline and then, finally, on the day of, I will print out a spreadsheet. Where I go through that spreadsheet and it essentially is the time clock for the day, it's the timeline of events and I, on my side of it, make sure that the big pieces are in place, make sure everybody's in place for the ceremony, make sure I have the right songs queued up for the processional recessional, make sure that the cocktail hour goes off without a hitch, the grand entrances and everybody's name is spelled right all the way through that last dance. If they're working with a wedding planner, the wedding planner then is able to have a little bit less stress and able to worry about the clients and the bride and groom specifically, while I take care of the big picture and the big moving pieces. Big picture and the big moving pieces that is something that nine out of 10 DJ companies don't do. It's not my job. They say I don't want anything to do with it, but for me, coming from my background, with details being important and me being attention to detail and anal retentive, I want to make sure that the photographer is not going to the bathroom while the first dance is happening. Again, it's a Super Bowl. We don't get to do this twice.
Speaker 1:
Gear I think an important thing is gear and making sure that everything works. You have to plan these events out and you have to have a redundancy in equipment and gear. Every time I go out to a show, I have backups of everything from computers to controllers, to music libraries, to lights. That way, if anything goes down, we're prepared for it. It's just another value that you get. And then, finally, your execution has to be flawless. Finally, your execution has to be flawless.
Speaker 1:
Communication is super, super important during the process. You have to, and it's something I talk to my clients about. I'm not the right DJ for everybody and not every client is the right client for me. We have to agree early on that we're going to communicate, because it takes the stress out of their world and it takes the stress out of my world. So communication is key and that's just part of that relationship building and that human interaction. Not everybody likes meetings and likes to talk. However, we break down those psychological barriers just like we would an interview room where we become friends. We become trusted partners in this and we want to be a partner to your wedding, not just another vendor you hired. So we become partners and we move through this together and then we open up those doors of communication where they can let down their walls and talk to me and vice versa, and at the end of the day, we're just making their day a little bit better.
Speaker 1:
One of the things that people should consider not only communication with their DJ, but how did their DJ communicate with others? How much experience does their DJ have working with other vendors and in the wedding environment? And are they stuck up? Are they conceited? Do they think the world revolves around them or are they a team player? Do they think the world revolves around them or are they a team player? To succeed in this world, well, to succeed in your client's minds, you have to be a team player.
Speaker 1:
And I won't pick on photographers, but I've worked with a lot of photographers that for some reason, have a very air of confidence or not confidence ego about them, and I just don't get it. So, and I'm not sure why that is, but in our world we don't come to it with ego. We don't come to it with this idea that we've been doing this for the last 30 years. We literally come to it with. We're a team player. Let's just make everybody happy and get everything done that we need to do and execute beyond your beliefs.
Speaker 1:
I think that communicating with the venue is super important and that's one thing that we do. We'll go out and do site visits at all of our venues to make sure we're not going to run technical problems, make sure that we have enough power, make sure that the amperage is big enough for everything that we're going to be pulling. If not, we'll adjust what we need to bring and just to make sure that things go smooth in the day of there's no last minute snafus. One of the things that we also consider is insurance. Did you know that we have to have insurance for this, to make sure that if something were to happen, we are covered with liability insurance. So those are all things that me, as a business owner, we have to consider, but the most important thing in this again is the human interaction, the human touch, making sure people are taken care of on their most important day and bringing a a party and be in a part of the memories that will last a lifetime. Nobody is going to remember what was served for the meal. Everybody is going to remember the party, the atmosphere and how things flowed throughout that entire day.
Speaker 1:
So Streamline again was born out of darkness, brought to a place of light. We want to exceed our customers' expectations. We just want to do right by everybody that we work with. Like I said earlier, we are not the company for everyone, but the ones that we do work with. We're going to make your dreams come true on your most magical day. There are brides out there that have been dreaming of their wedding day since they were a little girl, and it's finally coming true. We want to be a part of that moment.
Speaker 1:
Today's episode was a little bit different than what I've been doing, but again I just want to talk a little bit about Streamline and how it works, and let you guys know my heart for service in this world. We want to make sure that we're a good human, a good contributor to the world around us, to the world around me. For years I did it from a place of darkness, filled with hate, filled with anger, resentment, tears that would never shed because I didn't know how to feel. Tears that would never shed because I didn't know how to feel. I thought it was everybody else's problem. And I got a five minute figuratively speaking crutch when I got to go out and play music and I got to see people smile and they saw me as a human being. God had a plan when it was time for me to come out of law enforcement. There was lots of opportunities throughout the years where I felt like I was being called out of law enforcement and just like anything else, we're caught up in that, we're knee deep in and we're blinded by.
Speaker 1:
Sometimes we pass up those exit signs. We're going down the freeway of life. We think we're in the driver's seat, but reality is we're in the passenger seat and every time we pass an exit and have an opportunity to get off exit stage left, do something different, we see the warning signs. We know if we continue forward, we're going to hit a brick wall and we're going to it. There's going to be tragedy. But because we are humans and we think we know best, we keep passing those exits and we just keep heading farther and farther towards that wall.
Speaker 1:
Well, I finally hit the wall and I'm glad that I survived it and I'm glad that God put my experience as a 16 year old into my life when he did that was strategic and divine. I am glad that God put John Lay in my life when he did a random Craigslist purchase. I am glad that he put Justin in my life in Paradox Productions. That wasn't by accident and it helped put me in the right track. The conversations that Justin and I have had and we continue to have until this day Uh, he is a corner man for me. I can call Justin and I know he's in my corner and he will support me and give me honest, god fearing truth to any of my questions or problems that I have. That was not an accident and I'm glad that he's put Streamline in my life, where we can help people on their best days with a godly approach to humanity, love, kindness, relationships and be a part of them coming together in marriage.
Speaker 1:
Thank you guys so much for listening. Thank you guys for if you stuck around, thank you guys for just kind of following through on this and learn a little bit more about Streamline and what it is we do, how we go about doing it and how we go to market. And again, we will be there for you if you need us. Streamline Events and Entertainment based out of the Portland, oregon area. We take care of everything. We'll do it all, we'll execute it and we love you guys. We'll see you guys on the next show and hopefully you guys enjoyed it. We kept this one a bit shorter today. This was only 32 minutes, so that's kind of cool. All right, guys, have a great day. We'll talk to you soon. Subscribe like, share this podcast with a friend and let's get us some more downloads. All right, you guys, peace out, love y'all.