Royal Queens Rising Podcast: Interview with DJ Dayna

DJ Dayna is a full time DJ and part time MC and freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. She works by herself and works weddings, corporate events, fashion shows, and cruise ships. Dayna was friends with DJs during her time at Miami University and began working with DJs there. After college, Dayna moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in journalism. She DJ’d on the side in LA and eventually came back to Ohio after five years in Southern California. Her return home made Dayna realize that she should become a full time DJ. Dayna loves variety so she is always trying to play different types of events. Her need for diversity drove her search for unique gigs. After her move back to Columbus, Dayna was contacted by a company for a local event. She asked about more opportunities available and was told about cruise ship gigs that ran for two weeks to a month-long. Her first cruise ship job was with the Disney Cruise Line; this job also helped solidify her decision in becoming a full time DJ. Aside from DJing, Dayna also MCs on the side to expand her horizons. She loves pushing herself out of her comfort zone and MCing is the perfect opportunity for her to grow. Dayna has MCed for many different events, including a TedX talk. She advises new MCs to have a general script in their head to keep the event going. DJ Dayna and DJ RunDat then share their special DJing and MCing stories with each other. Lastly, Dayna tells new DJs to build a strong support system of friends, other DJs, and business/life coaches. She also emphasizes the idea of not being afraid of failure and continuous positive growth.