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DJ Stacks shares his secrets for success

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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.”

Rosario is from New York and has worked with leading companies like Microsoft as a copy-writer in the past. Now he spends his time writing for readers of BigtimeDaily.com

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Lifestyle

Derik Fay: The Quiet Architect of Impact-First Entrepreneurship

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In an era where noise often overshadows results, Derik Fay is quietly shaping a different kind of legacy — one built not on showmanship, but on undeniable substance. For more than two decades, Fay has engineered the rise of over 30 companies across industries as diverse as real estate, technology, healthcare, and entertainment. Yet his name rarely leads headlines — not because he hasn’t earned it, but because he never needed it to validate his success.

Growing up in Rhode Island, Fay learned early that the world rarely hands out opportunity; it must be seized, created, and multiplied. While many of his peers pursued traditional paths, he took a risk that would define the rest of his life: at just 22, he founded 3F Management, a venture firm with an entirely different mission — to build companies that would outlast trends, outperform markets, and, most importantly, out-impact their competition.

Instead of obsessing over short-term wins, Fay approached entrepreneurship like a craftsman. Much like Henry Ford, who famously said, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business,” Fay built companies that weren’t just profitable — they were purposeful. Every venture was designed to create real, sustainable value, both for shareholders and for the communities they served.

Through his relentless focus on structure and leadership, Fay’s ecosystem of businesses now touches thousands of lives daily — from employees finding new opportunities to entrepreneurs gaining the mentorship they never had before. But unlike typical moguls who boast about headcounts, Fay views every job created as a ripple in a larger mission: empowering individuals to write better futures for themselves.

Where others have scaled fast and crashed harder, Fay’s model thrives on foundations few are patient enough to build anymore. His method is slower, smarter, and almost surgical: find what others overlook, fix what others fear, and grow what others abandoned too early. It’s this principle that led him to not just build companies — but to resurrect them, reimagine them, and sometimes even walk away if the mission no longer aligned with the impact he envisioned.

Fay’s philosophy extends far beyond boardrooms. Philanthropy isn’t a checkbox at the end of his success story — it’s embedded into the way he scales. His ventures are built with giving back written into their DNA, from local community initiatives to broader mentorship platforms that help emerging entrepreneurs get their first real shot at success. His life’s work is proof that wealth and generosity are not mutually exclusive — they are, in fact, essential partners.

Today, while newer generations of entrepreneurs hustle for likes and magazine covers, Fay’s name is whispered in rooms where real power moves. His reputation — built quietly but relentlessly — is that of a man who delivers, builds, and elevates without the need for public validation.

In a business world increasingly built on spectacle, Derik Fay reminds us that the most lasting legacies are forged not in the glare of the spotlight, but in the thousands of lives changed quietly along the way.

For more insights into Derik Fay’s ventures and philanthropic efforts, visit www.derikfay.com and follow him on Instagram @derikfay

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