Dani Thompson is CEO and Founder of DNT Entertainment; a boutique artist development, management, music marketing and PR agency. She is a self-made entrepreneur, artist development and music marketing expert, director, photographer and talent manager with a diverse skill set that has broken industry boundaries. Thompson has mentored and aided in the development of dozens of social influencers and indie artists careers since the official inception of DNT Entertainment in 2014.

Website: https://www.danithompsonmusic.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danithompsonmusic/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DaniThompsonMusic
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani-thompson-00b02125/
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5937337/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danithompsonmusicDNT

1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to be entrepreneur for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?

I have always had a passion and love for music. I knew very early on in my life that I wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. The karaoke machine was my favorite toy as a child and still is to this day. I would say watching TRL on MTV in the 90’s and early 2000’s is when I first realized my interest in music was more than just an interest and was a career field I wanted to further explore. I was unsure if it was going to be on the music side as an artist or as a host, but I knew I wanted to do one of the two. Growing up I did lack a bit of confidence with my vocal abilities. That was in large part due to the fact that the songs I was singing in my band were oldie rock covers from many male artists such as Led Zeppelin and Ozzy Osbourne, and were totally out of my range and key. It was however this experience that made me open my mind to other career possibilities in the music industry and not limit my focus to being an artist. I thought to myself if this doesn’t work out (that was due to my lack of confidence in my talent), then I can and will interview the talent or find another way to be involved in the industry. This led me to my pursuit of a degree in broadcast journalism. It was my plan B. My plan B never really fulfilled my plan A, so I found a happy medium with artist development and management that satisfied a bit of all my interests together and we will call that my plan C. It was this unforeseen plan which turned me into an entrepreneur and business owner in the music industry. My influences are other successful leaders, entrepreneurs, artists and creatives in my field such as Scooter Braun, Gwen Stefani, Taylor Swift, Oprah, Ellen, Simon Cowell, Jessica Simpson, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Lopez and Kelly Clarkson. My heroes are all the men and women who fight to protect our freedom, my husband Ryan Thompson, and my father Chuck Hirbour. My role model is the kindest, most selfless woman I have ever known. Her name was Janet White.

2.) If you could compare yourself to someone who is already established in your line of work, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then what separates you from other everyone else who does what you do?

I say Scooter Braun and Simon Cowell; two highly accomplished entrepreneurs and record executives. I have a long way to go before I hit that notability point in my career, however I aspire to be a female version of them. I would like to see my artists reach a point of success in their careers where my talent discovery and development is recognized on this level. I would like my advice to be sought out by other aspiring rising artists and wouldn’t mind judging TV talent competitions at some point in my career.

3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on the work that you do? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming an entrepreneur?

I escaped a very dangerous situation when I was 16 years-old while pursuing my own artist career in the music industry. Thankfully I was unharmed because of my survival instinct. It was that experience that made me hypersensitive to the dangers of the industry and the very real sexual harassment that comes with being a female in any male dominated industry. This is why I gravitated to working primarily with female pop artists where I find comfort and safety. My girl boss attitude came out to protect vulnerable aspiring artists, but especially my girls as they navigate their careers in music. I’m a momma bear. Being a female entrepreneur has and probably always will come with a set of challenges, BUT I came from a family with a brother and 8 boy cousins and am a boy mom, so I can hang. I have learned how to draw very clear hard lines in my professional relationships with men in my life and when you do that respect follows.

4.) How do you prepare yourself to create? What is your process?

As a photographer, music video director/producer I am always creating content. So much content that I can fill up 2 TB of iCloud storage in less than a year! My process for creating comes with lots of pre-production preparation and lot’s of post production hours. My OCD has held me back a bit because I have a hard time letting go of creative control. Until recently, within the past 2 years, I have self-produced, directed and handled all pre and post production editing on my own for all my projects. I have produced over 40 music videos and have photographed dozens of artists. I now have an amazing creative director I work with for many of my projects and her name is Joelle Cary. I also have production support from my staff PA’s and will call in larger production help when necessary and when budget allows. Most of my work and content for my talent is produced on an all female skeleton crew with 3-5 people max including hair and makeup artists, creative director, myself and a PA or two to help run audio and take BTS video and stills.

5.) Unfortunately many industries are full of talented individuals who more or less become the “starving artist” and don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed?

What I am doing right now. Taking more time to share my knowledge in a digital medium that can help others. I plan to open my story up to more journalists, build my online presence, and heck I am gonna write a book. I want to write my story and I want to leave it behind for artists to learn from long after I am gone. The knowledge I have acquired from personal experiences needs to be documented and would add great value to the music industry. With this I hope to help other creative individuals, artists and aspiring entrepreneurs reach their own personal goals. I want to make an impact and make a difference in the world and I plan to do just that.

6.) Would you rather work for a big corporation or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not? What makes one better than the other? Are you able to make a living with your art? If so, how were you able to attain a career doing what you love? If not, what do you do in order to fund your business? What advice would give to someone who’s interested in pursuing a career in the creative industry?

There are times I have thought about working for the biggest record labels in the world, but every time I went to hit send on my application I really thought about what that would mean for my family. I have been there when I worked for a leader in the health and fitness industry. It was actually this job that gave me the financial security to buy my home and to fund my business. I worked with two laptops side by side for two years while I built my company.

It’s not easy to walk away from a six figure salary job with full benefits and all the financial stability you could have ever asked for, to work for yourself. NO benefits, NO guaranteed income, NO weekly paychecks, NO more company credit card. You can never be financially prepared enough to walk away from that type of security, but to me staying home to raise my son, schedule flexibility, and my burning desire to help others make their dreams a reality was more important to me than money. I wanted to be my own boss. I wanted to be a girl boss. I dreamed, I believed and I did. You can too. For someone looking to pursue a career in the creative industry, I would say to stay focused, keep your head straight forward, keep your eye on the prize and don’t look back. It doesn’t matter what everyone else around you is doing or even what they think. Be a leader. Leaders are entrepreneurs and you will become just that if you stay focused, put in the work and surround yourself with others who share your same drive and can motivate and uplift you.

As an entrepreneur, I make my own hours, I can take my kids to school in the morning, I can go watch their baseball games, I can have daily happy hours with my mom, I can say yes to events when I want to and I can just as easily say no. I also make more on my own than I would at any major label so it wouldn’t make sense at this point in my career. I would love to partner with bigger power players in the industry, but keeping my brand that I have worked so hard to build and working for myself is very important to me now and for the foreseeable future. The only thing that could change that is if my family was in a financial situation that required more financial stability that I am not able to meet on my own. I pray that I never get to that point again, but was very close to it during the Covid pandemic which forced me to shut my doors for a year.

7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the creative industry and how artists are able to market themselves? Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s economy if they’re not social media savvy?

Social media is extremely important and key to developing a brand and an online presence in this digital age. These platforms give creatives the opportunity to share their work in the way they want it to be seen, and give them the ability to connect with their target audience. I do hate that social media verification is so difficult for artists and entrepreneurs to obtain, and that we are now in a world popularity contest on the daily, and that inflated fake social numbers are determining entry to events, but you gotta take the good with the bad and there is gonna be that with anything in life. If social media is used right it can really help elevate a brand, and if it’s not, it can be extremely harmful to your reputation. As much as you hate it or love it, I really don’t think it’s going anywhere unless our grid shuts down so I would say learn to adapt and use it to your advantage to get the message you want heard into the world. Don’t use it for fame and popularity, but to share your work and to build a portfolio that can show what an amazing original creator you are. And if nobody is watching… who cares! Do it for yourself and not anyone else! Stop caring what everyone else thinks. Turn off the comments if you don’t have tough skin. See you on instagram 🙂 You can find me @danithompsonmusic

8.) Typically, entrepreneurs who try to create products and/or services for mass consumption for the general public and make more money are seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure that what you offer stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?

I don’t sell products (yet) and if I do they will be physical and digital books to share my knowledge with aspiring entrepreneurs and artists. I would never publish anything that I was not confident could truly help people in need. If I ever sell services for mass consumption they would be to inform, educate, or to help others and would be carefully created with honesty and good intention at the core.

9.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

I would like to see my company and my personal brand grow and be recognized as a leader in management and artist development in the music industry and to continue to build an empire that is fueled by the success of our creators and artists who are living their day dream and impacting the world in a positive way through music. I would like my/our growth to be a result of our talent reaching their career goals, and I hope to be in a position in the next 5 years to give back to those in need through charitable donations and to be noted for my philanthropy and for making the world a better place.