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

Hi Johnathon, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Although the goal is stay booked and busy, I’ve learned that work life balance is very important. During the early years of my DJ & Entertainment Company, I was desperate to fill my calendar with events, mainly weddings. As we got busier, and the fact that most weddings are on the weekends, my free weekends started to dwindle down. Although we were booked, which is the goal, I often missed out on events such as family reunions, family vacations, friend’s birthday celebrations, and most of all I didn’t prioritize dating my wife. Over time my wife brought this to my attention and I knew I had to make some changes. From there, we decided to commit to at least 2 vacations per year in which I’d blocked those dates off of my calendar. We also committed to going on at least 2-3 dates a month. If I had a wedding booked on Friday and Sunday, we’d make Saturday our date night. The same way I go hard for our wedding clients, I had to learn to go even harder for my beautiful wife and family. Gigs will come and go, but quality time with the fam is priceless.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My name is Johnathon (DJ J-SMOOV) and I make up one half of J² Entertainment which is a full-service DJ and Entertainment company. I’m most proud of our diverse clientele and events. Over the last 3 years I’ve served as the summer resident DJ at the Ritz Carlton, we’ve served Dobbins Air Force Base at their annual family day, and we’ve rocked weddings serving Caribbean, Nigerian, and Russian clients. But please understand, this did not happen overnight. There have definitely been struggles in the past. I can remember dj’ing backyard parties for FREE just to get my name out there. I’ll never forget the times when we’d go months without any gigs. I often wondered if all the time and money I invested would ever pay off. Something that I’ve learned along the way is that branding and professionalism is everything. You can’t think of yourself as just a DJ. I’m running a business and people are trusting us with some of the most important days of their life so I fill obligated to give them everything they paid for and more. At the end of the day, I want people to know that they aren’t just booking a dj and emcee, they’re booking an EXPERIENCE.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Six Feet Under for seafood and drinks – straight from the airport on Tuesday Uptown Comedy Corner for a comedy show – Wednesday Night Bankhead Seafood Food Truck – Thrusday My favorite cigar bar – The Patio ATL – Thursday Night Peter’s Street Friday night Pappadeaux Seafood Saturday lunch Saturday Day Party @ Suite Lounge Harold’s Chicken in Edgewood for some wings and Hennessy Margaritas – Sunday Afternoon before heading back to the airport

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to shout out DJ TJ, whom I found via a Facebook Ad. He was the 1st person to really help me understand the business side of DJ’ing. After taking his course about 3 years ago, my whole mindset has changed, and I haven’t looked back.

Website: www.jsquaredent.com
Instagram: @djjsmoov82
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djjsmoov82
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3REzPBqNlEzlOo0YFPzXeA?view_as=subscriber

Image Credits
Stanlo Photography, Lajoy Photography, Joshua Dwain Photography, Christina Marie Photography, Echols Elegance Photography

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