Turning the Tables - Macc's a DJ

Macc has developed his passion of DJ'ing into a business, but he's keeping his options open with a catering course at Bury college too. 

We were thrilled that Macc came to DJ at our PersonAwards in 2023 and when we spoke to him about it, he said:

'I've just started my second year in Level 1 catering at college and it's amazing! We've made a condensed milk cake and next week we're making a chicken dish.
My DJ'ing business fits in well because I can just take jobs at the weekends or in the evenings - it's getting busy now, with bookings coming in for bonfire night and Christmas.

Shared Lives have helped me with my business in lots of ways - they spread the word and get me jobs at Persona events like the PersonAwards, the Shared Lives Macmillan coffee morning and I've got one soon at The Elms too. They help me move my equipment around when they can, too.

I enjoyed the PersonAwards, although it was a bit stressful because it was a new venue for me and then my speakers didn't work properly on the night. I've got someone coming to look at them soon though, and I was able to plug into the system at the Fusilier's Museum which was also really powerful! I got a whole book full of requests and people were enjoying the music until 11.30pm

As well as do school leavers and birthday parties, I've done gigs at Prestwich Carnival since before lockdown. This year they gave me the Young Citizen of the Year award! I travel a bit for work, I've been up to Carlisle to do a job and this month I'm going to Blackpool to DJ at the World Firework Championships.

I usually have some help with setting up and equipment from some local sound techicians. I think it's really important to ask for help if you need it. I'm looking for someone to work with me on the admin for my business too.

If I knew someone who wanted advice on setting up their own business, I'd say it's really important to ask for help and also try it out so you know it's something you want to do. Before I started my own business I helped a friend with his DJ'ing. I picked it up really fast and knew it was really what I wanted to do.'

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