Lifestyle

DJ Stacks shares his secrets for success

Published

5 years ago

July 2, 2020

Breaking into the music industry is no easy task. Just ask Staten Island legend DJ Stacks; he’s been on the scene since the age of 12, when he started making and selling mix-tapes around New York City. Today he’s a resident DJ at celebrity clubs like 1Oak, Tao and Up & Down, has a regular spot on HOT 97’s Radio Mixshow and is a member of the Heavy Hitters, an exclusive DJ organization. We sat down with the rising music star to find out his secrets for success.

Promote yourself

In the music industry, name recognition is everything, which is why DJ Stacks was out every night, distributing his mixtapes to security guards, club managers and anyone who would listen. “Sometimes I’d be outside a club and I would see a celebrity walking in so I would give a mixtape to their management,” he said. “Even on my nights off, I would still go out because I wanted to show people that I was motivated. I was hungry.”

Networking is key

“Over the years, there are a lot of celebrities and people that I’ve built a relationship with just because they kept seeing me at the same club every time they went,” he explains. However, he stresses the importance of being respectful and understanding people’s boundaries. “It’s all about how you approach people, because if you approach people in the wrong way, you’re gonna be remembered in a bad light.”

Choose your circle wisely

The phrase “it’s all about who you know” is a cliche for a reason. “You always want to make sure you’re surrounded by people that motivate you and have the resources and tools to help you make more connections and grow further,” he explains.

Always be available

According to DJ Stacks, he never turned down a gig. “I was always available. If promoters called me I would always say yes, because then it puts the pressure on me to fit it into my schedule,” he says. Promoters will remember your work ethic and are more likely to hire you again.

Show dedication

“I was always on time,” he says. “You have to show how much you want it. You have to be dedicated and you can’t complain. Many who complain will be replaced because there is always somebody else willing to do the same thing better and stronger than you,” he says.

Take risks

When DJ Stacks was first offered an assistant position at HOT 97, it meant giving up his job deejaying at a local restaurant that was his main source of income. Although it was a huge financial risk, it had the potential to open up other doors for him, and it paid off. He’s been at HOT 97 for 10 years now, and on-air for five.

Never Take Anything Personally

According to DJ Stacks, perseverance is key in the music industry. It took him almost five years before he got his foot into celebrity clubs. “There were times they didn’t want to hire me. There were times they didn’t know who I was. There were times that the doorman wouldn’t let me in,” he says. “But I never took it personally. It actually motivated me.”

Lifestyle

Wanda Knight on Blending Culture, Style, and Leadership Through Travel

Published

13 hours ago

December 24, 2025

Michelle Langton

The best lessons in leadership do not always come from a classroom or a boardroom. Sometimes they come from a crowded market in a foreign city, a train ride through unfamiliar landscapes, or a quiet conversation with someone whose life looks very different from your own.

Wanda Knight has built her career in enterprise sales and leadership for more than three decades, working with some of the world’s largest companies and guiding teams through constant change. But ask her what shaped her most, and she will point not just to her professional milestones but to the way travel has expanded her perspective. With 38 countries visited and more on the horizon, her worldview has been formed as much by her passport as by her resume.

Travel entered her life early. Her parents valued exploration, and before she began college, she had already lived in Italy. That experience, stepping into a different culture at such a young age, left a lasting impression. It showed her that the world was much bigger than the environment she grew up in and that adaptability was not just useful, it was necessary. Those early lessons of curiosity and openness would later shape the way she led in business.

Sales, at its core, is about connection. Numbers matter, but relationships determine long-term success. Wanda’s time abroad taught her how to connect across differences. Navigating unfamiliar places and adjusting to environments that operated on different expectations gave her the patience and awareness to understand people first, and business second. That approach carried over into leadership, where she built a reputation for giving her teams the space to take ownership while standing firmly behind them when it mattered most.

The link between travel and leadership becomes even clearer in moments of challenge. Unfamiliar settings require flexibility, quick decision-making, and the ability to stay calm under pressure. The same skills are critical in enterprise sales, where strategies shift quickly and no deal is ever guaranteed. Knight learned that success comes from being willing to step into the unknown, whether that means exploring a new country or taking on a leadership role she had not originally planned to pursue.

Her travels have also influenced her eye for style and her creative pursuits. Fashion, for Wanda, is more than clothing; it is a reflection of culture, history, and identity. Experiencing how different communities express themselves, from the craftsmanship of Italian textiles to the energy of street style in cities around the world, has deepened her appreciation for aesthetics as a form of storytelling. Rather than keeping her professional and personal worlds separate, she has learned to blend them, carrying the discipline and strategy of her sales career into her creative interests and vice versa.

None of this has been about starting over. It has been about adding layers, expanding her perspective without erasing the experiences that came before. Wanda’s story is not one of leaving a career behind but of integrating all the parts of who she is: a leader shaped by high-stakes business, a traveler shaped by global culture, and a creative voice learning to merge both worlds.

What stands out most is how she continues to approach both leadership and life with the same curiosity that first took her beyond her comfort zone. Each new country is an opportunity to learn, just as each new role has been a chance to grow. For those looking at her path, the lesson is clear: leadership is not about staying in one lane; it is about collecting experiences that teach you how to see, how to adapt, and how to connect.

As she looks to the future, Wanda Knight’s compass still points outward. She will keep adding stamps to her passport, finding inspiration in new cultures, and carrying those insights back into the rooms where strategy is shaped and decisions are made. Her legacy will not be measured only by deals closed or positions held but by the perspective she brought, and the way she showed that leading with a global view can change the story for everyone around you.