{"id":1486,"date":"2021-05-04T17:31:51","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T22:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/totalgirlboss.com\/?p=1486"},"modified":"2021-05-04T18:04:57","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T23:04:57","slug":"dani-thompson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totalgirlboss.com\/dani-thompson\/","title":{"rendered":"Dani Thompson is Crushing the Music Industry with DNT Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Founder, Dani Thompson started DNT Entertainment in 2010 with one goal in mind, to guide\u00a0emerging artists on their path to success through education, mentorship, and strategic\u00a0artist development. Today, DNT Entertainment has been selected for 2021 Best of Tustin Award in the Arts & Entertainment category by the Tustin Award Program<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell us about DNT Entertainment. How did you come up with this idea? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Dani Thompson:<\/a><\/strong> I have always had a passion and love for the music industry. I spent over half my life on the artist side of the business performing as a lead singer for multiple bands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got my start at Fender Museum under the guidance of Lee Zimmer (my guitar teacher and band manager) and my dad Chuck Hirbour who was on the Board of Directors for a non-profit community music program called Kids Rock Free. I came up with the idea to start DNT Entertainment after graduating college and being denied multiple industry jobs due to lack of experience. I was hired as an artist manager and publicist for an upcoming artist\/ family friend during her time on a reality TV show and knew I needed a way to process and track income and expenses for this project which pushed me to officially set up my business entity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around that same time I was introduced to an influential industry manager who managed the band \u201cNo Doubt\u201d and Gwen Stefani, and the advice he gave me I will never forget. I asked how he got to where he was and asked what I should do to become a successful manager and talent rep myself. He said, \u201cwork for yourself, develop talent on your own, and eventually you will get to the top of the hill.\u201d That gave me the confidence and motivation I needed to work for myself and stop chasing entry-level label jobs. DNT Entertainment<\/a> was named after my initials (Danielle Nichole Thompson). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How have you been able to grow your business? Be specific.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dani Thompson: <\/strong>Growing my business has been extremely challenging!! When I first started \u201cDNT\u201d I was a kid out of college working a part-time job (unrelated to the industry) and barely able to support myself. I also met the love of my life and was planning my wedding in 2010. There were a lot of distractions, lots of life noise, and not much time to focus on my personal career goals. I did however have a dream and a vision and more motivation than my family can handle. I knew what I wanted to do and nothing was going to get in my way. To be a successful business owner you need to be a self-starter and self-motivated. Nobody will work harder for you than YOU, and that’s what I did. 14 hour days sometimes pulling all-nighters. I still do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My dream job was to manage and develop young talent, mentor them, provide a safe space for artists to be creative contributing members of our local music community, and protect young girls from falling victim to the same industry scams that I did when I was a young artist myself trying to navigate the industry.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first office was in the back of a warehouse in Anaheim at a studio called ReAmp. I had hot pink and orange curtains hanging from the exposed aluminum wrapped ceiling, a DIY green wall for my video and photo sessions, an old soundboard that doubled as the front of my desk, and music-themed props, surfboards, guitars, fur carpets, bean bags, a makeup station, and all the faux plans and uplights you could imagine to give you the vibes of a creative workspace. There was no air conditioning and the walls would pound all day long because on the other side of the warehouse was the live room where my former partners would be tracking drums and guitar around the clock to meet their publishing quotas. I never complained\u2026I loved the noise. I loved my job… I found solutions any time I hit a wall. My first solution was to put on noise-canceling headphones, buy an AC wall unit that I put on the floor and pumped the air out the side door, and tried to get through my conference calls without melting or losing my voice box from screaming over the drum kit. My second solution was to get a remote workspace at Regus in the tallest tower in OC across from Southcoast Plaza so I could hold my calls and in-person auditions without distraction. I rolled a suitcase in every day, staged my temp office, and pretended like I owned the whole building. Maybe one day I will. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As I started to make some money I felt it was time to move into my own space. The money I was making however wasn’t from DNT, it was from a side hustle job that helped feed my family.   In addition to that income, an investor saw potential in my company and gave me an extremely generous gift to get DNT on its feet. I then partnered with my best friend Allie, hired my first assistant, staff photographer\/videographer, brought on a few interns, an in-house music production team, and we officially had our \u201cown space.\u201d I worked around the clock with 2 computer monitors balancing 2 careers side by side. One for money and one for love. I didn’t want to quit my \u201cmoney job\u201d until I was confident that I could support myself and also be a financial contributor to my growing family and help us get into our first home. Fast forward 12 months and I was now married for 4 years and pregnant with my first son Taylor. That pregnancy rocked my world in the best but most dramatic ending to this chapter. I was extremely sick during my pregnancy, knew I was soon going to be in need of child care to continue building my company and was living too far from my mother to help me once the baby came. I decided for my health and well-being to quit my money job, move closer to family, and when the time came not to renew my lease on my office space in Tustin, but instead work from home at a slower pace so I could focus the next few years on raising my son. Balancing work, kids, and home life is a long story in itself so I won’t go into the next 6 years to bring us up to date, but let’s just say it’s been equally rewarding and extremely challenging attempting to grow a business while raising a family. We now have 2 beautiful boys (ages 2 and 5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the years (while working from home) I have partnered with multiple artist development teams, music producers, label heads, local venues, non-profits, artists, event planning companies, and many local businesses that nurtured young talent; it’s those relationships that I owe all my success to. I have never used marketing or advertising to grow my business. I don\u2019t care about quantity but quality when it comes to social media growth. Slow, steady, and organic has been the best approach for my business. My business has all come in from collaborations with other development partners such as OC Hit, insanely talented artists, and the doors they have opened for me (Thank you Lauren Black for all you have done to help DNT grow), industry referrals, and word of mouth. \u201cThe larger your network the larger your net worth.\u201d \u201cIt’s not about who you know but who knows you.\u201d By working with other artists and partners my audience organically grows from collaborations with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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