Yes you and I can DJ

I had fun telling this story again at dinner last night so I wanted to share it. I really believe it's possible to do anything when you put your mind to it and if I can, anyone can. If only I could figure out what I really want to do once I leave Corporate!

My dad always used to say to me that I should have a back up career. I used to joke back with him and say I wanted to be a DJ (not really close to IT Director right!?). When I left my life in the Czech Republic and came back home to the UK after living out in Eastern Europe for a few years I had a shocking change in my social life. I went from heading out almost every Friday and Saturday night, adventures during the weekends, I could call any friend up on a weekday night and find someone to head out to dinner with. All my friends were in walking distance and as flexible as I was. Ok, I was in my 20s back then but it was also about the environment we all lived in that made it possible. When I moved back to London to my parents place, I had to book into people's diaries 3 months in advance, it took over an hour to get to a destination to meet anyone, the tubes finished early and it just wasn't the same.

One night my sister came to be and showed me a voucher (Groupon type) for DJ lessons at Ministry of Sound, one of the most popular clubs in London. I waited until 10 mins before the offer was going to close as it was quite expensive and finally came round to booking it. She was right, I had talked about it a lot but never actually tried it or done anything about it. I took the afternoon off work and trekked to the club in central London to have my first DJ lesson. It was me and a group of kids about 10 years younger than me. I had a brilliant time learning the new skill, realised it was actually quite difficult to beat match and we finished off playing in the huge hall all the famous DJs play in, it was awesome.

I waited a while then decided to purchase one of the less expensive pieces of equipment to see if I wanted to continue learning the skill. I have a habit of trying new things, then dropping them or getting bored so I didn't want to invest too heavily in all the equipment.

I let it sit for a few months and slowly started pulling a playlist of songs together as I found ones I liked that I would DJ with.

I also had this dream of bringing all my friends together - from Eastern Europe and UK. I always wanted them to meet as they were all very close to me, just from different chapters of my life. I finally clicked on an idea that I wanted to DJ at my 30th birthday and use that as an excuse to bring all my friends together for one big party. This was it, what better time than any.

3 months before my birthday I went to Chicago for a holiday to meet one of my friends and decided it would be cool to have a 'top up' lesson in America. This lesson led to the first date with my now fiancé so I have to drop this in the story!! Whilst I had time off work I researched where I wanted to have the party and tested out a few friends to see if they would travel for it. I had 3 months to plan the party and give people notice.

3 months later, it all came together. I had hired a club bang in the middle of central London, had over 60 guests, a lot of them travelled in from around Europe and I DJ'd at my own 30th birthday. My family still tease me for crying during my speech that night but I was so overwhelmed I managed to pull it off and moreover had (still have) some amazing close friends who wanted to come and celebrate with me. They did also get a good weekend away in London for it.

This story always reminds me that no matter how crazy it sounds, if you put your mind to it, it is possible.