Mick Unplugged
DJ JayLew: From Beats to Business, A Journey of Innovation and Impact
Sat, 19 Apr 2025
Justin Michael Lewis, also known as DJ JayLew, is a renowned DJ and entrepreneur who has successfully navigated the world of entertainment, business, and education. Born in Columbia, Maryland, and currently based in Las Vegas, Justin's journey began with a passion for DJing that sparked at age 12. By his early twenties, he had achieved many of his youthful dreams, including performing at festivals and hosting live events. With a unique approach to goal-setting and collaboration, Justin went on to become a successful business leader and co-founder of Data Global Hub, a company poised for billion-dollar success in the data tech and AI industry. He is also a professional boxer with three title belts, and a committed mentor and advocate for education and empowerment in the minority communities. Takeaways: Purpose behind Goals: Justin emphasizes the importance of having a clear purpose behind every goal, ensuring they align with where you're headed and evolve as you do. Power of Collaboration: He highlights the significance of collaborative goal-setting and how having a supportive team can be a game-changer in achieving success. Resilience and Adaptability: Through his journey from DJing to professional boxing and founding a tech company, Justin underscores the value of resilience, adaptability, and learning from failures to achieve long-term success. Soundbites: "My goal is to inspire other DJs to do more than just music and make an impact before seeking notoriety." "Sometimes we have to take inventory to see if our goals align with the next version of who we want to be." "The greatest advantage I've had is playing a fool to catch a fool; it's something that God has blessed me with." Quote by Mick Hunt: "When I did the intro, I said one of the greatest business minds that I know. And that's why I truly mean that." Connect & Discover DJ JayLew: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djjaylew/?hl=en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/djjaylewtv Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djnocap/ FOLLOW MICK ON:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mickunplugged/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mickunplugged LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/Website: https://www.mickhuntofficial.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: Who is DJ JayLew and what is his journey?
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mic Unplugged. And today I need you to turn the volume all the way up. We've got a trailblazing DJ who's refining the art of mixing with electrifying beats and a knack for bringing people together on the dance floor. He's more than a DJ. He's a storyteller through sound and one of the greatest entrepreneurs that I know.
Please join me in welcoming the dynamic, the innovative, the unstoppable, my guy, DJ J. Lou, my guy, Justin Michael Lewis. DJ, how you doing, brother?
Thank you, Mike. I appreciate that. What an incredible introduction. I'm just glad to be here with you on your podcast. And yeah, man, it was actually great to see all the incredible interviews you've been doing so far.
Well, I am honored to have you on here. Honored to be in your presence. I know you're so busy. So for you to take some time for me, the listeners and viewers, that's what means the world to me. So I appreciate you, brother.
Absolutely.
Yes, sir. So let's get into it, man. Like, I don't know. I can't say the king of DJing because to me, that sells you short. Like your energy behind the decks is unmatched, man. So what first sparked your passion into DJing?
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Chapter 2: What sparked DJ JayLew's passion for DJing?
The first thing that sparked my passion in the DJing had to be when I was growing up. My mom, she threw this incredible party for me for my graduation. And it was my opportunity to actually touch the turntables for the first time. And that was my first time actually being exposed to the art of DJing.
Then I actually ended up going over to a friend's house who owned a set of 1200s and just kind of played around with those. And then I just fell in love with DJing instantly.
That's great, man. So where were you born and raised? Where were you born and raised?
Columbia, Maryland, but I lived in California for almost a decade, currently based in Las Vegas.
Good stuff. Good stuff. And so that passion started early, man. So what was your because? Like on Make Em Plug, we talk about that thing that's deeper than your why. What was your because for wanting to use DJing as a way to let your message or story be told?
Hmm. Well, it's changed over the years because my why initially when I started DJing,
ultimately was to be famous that was the original why full transparency as i've continued to grow as a man and in my career my goal with djing has been to educate people to inspire other djs to do more than just music and to get out there and you know like you said be a trailblazer start a business provide impact over over over notoriety really i mean the notoriety is the bonus i think after you provide the impact
But I think a lot of people get into DJing as well as a lot of other things because they're trying to get the notoriety before they make the impact. So I think that initially when I, so it's a great question. When I was 12 years old, I made my goals list. And those goals list to me at 12 years old was, you know, unimaginable.
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Chapter 3: Where was DJ JayLew born and raised, and how did his background shape him?
So the goals that I set when I was 12, I had accomplished those goals by before I was 20. And things like going on tour, things like performing at a festival, things like meeting some of the famous people that I wanted to meet at that time, hosting certain events with live entertainment and artists, you know, being on the radio.
All these goals that I set for myself, I had pretty much achieved those before I was 20. And because when you're still a young man or a young person growing up in this world, you're not very familiar with how your life is going to kind of transition and go in different areas and which way you're going to kind of go.
Chapter 4: How have DJ JayLew's goals evolved over time?
After I graduated from college from music business, I ended up finding myself working in business and corporate. And then I found myself working as an educator at Scratch DJ Academy, teaching other DJs how to DJ for Scratch 101. Then I found myself working back at ground level again as a PA for a film director. And then I ended up becoming a music director.
So, you know, life is interesting in that way. But to make a long story short, I redid my goals. I would say in my late 20s, probably around 27, 28 ish. I redid my goals and I realized that the goals that I set for myself when I was 12 years old didn't match the goals that I wanted to see for myself long term.
So one thing I will say to anyone that's watching this podcast is sometimes we have to take inventory. and see if our goals that we set for ourselves still align with where we're trying for our next version of who we want to be.
Because what I see a lot of times, even in business and also in, I would say, when people are looking to go into different fields, their goals sometimes don't match with where they're trying to go. So I think that's very important.
Man, I love that. And that's one of the things I actually talk to people about on a regular basis. So I'd love from your viewpoint, man, from your viewpoint, what are some things that people can do right now or what are some steps they can take to make sure that their goals are in alignment with where they're trying to go or who they're trying to be?
The main thing that I would suggest for anybody who is trying to to set goals that align with where they're trying to go. First and foremost, there has to be a purpose behind why you're doing it. And I think a lot of times when we set goals, we don't think about purpose. We think about a goal to achieve something, which is another point.
A lot of times when we set our goals, we're doing it by ourselves, which is why teamwork, partnerships, collaboration is so important. Why your circle defines how successful you'll be. because I've realized as I become more successful in my career that the goals that I set now, they come from a collaborative space.
So I'm not the only one behind a lot of the goals that I'm trying to achieve as a team. And I think that's the most important aspect when goal setting is to not only have your personal goals, but also have your team goals, whether you're a part of a team or you're ahead of a team.
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Chapter 5: What advice does DJ JayLew give for setting purposeful goals?
But having those different milestones that you can actually see and then also not just depend on yourself, but have other people depending on you.
I love that, man. And one of the things that I know about you personally as a friend is the power of collaboration. How did that value add first become an important pillar of the foundation of you?
Well, I think that a lot of people who meet me, full transparency, they're not used to meeting people who are just completely genuine and honest and authentic because it's really hard to find in the world. I was raised very naive. My mom, she raised me to pretty much look at the world through a singular lens.
So I've been burned a lot because my mom always said, treat everyone how you want to be treated, which I still believe that to this day. But I've also realized as I've gotten older that not everyone deserves their time to begin with.
So I think what happens a lot of times, especially in how I've become, you know, the person that I am now, the man I am now, has been for me, honestly, trial and error in meeting people and offering value and seeing some people that didn't want it. And then other people who have, you know, the people I'm still working with today who have looked at an opportunity for them to grow.
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Chapter 6: Why is collaboration important in achieving goals according to DJ JayLew?
Like I give you a great example. My business partner, Moji. We're the co-founder of the Data Global Hub, and we're putting on four different events currently. We have a billion-dollar company. I know it's going to be a billion-dollar company. We've been doing very, very well. Me and Moji, we connected at Forrest last year at 30 Under 30.
When I met him, he already had a business and I had my own business, but we instantly clicked because we saw that we could add value to each other's businesses. So it wasn't any ego. It was just, how can I help you? How can you help me? And then ultimately we came together and said, you know what, instead of us partnering, we need to just come together and co-found this company.
So now I'm in the data tech and AI space. And who would have thought that a guy coming from entertainment media would be in the data tech and AI space, which is the future? Because now it's funny how roles change and switch. Now the people in entertainment media who don't have any connection to data tech and AI, now all of a sudden everyone wants to be a part of data tech and AI now.
Chapter 7: How did DJ JayLew's value of collaboration develop?
So now I'm a cool guy again. Because now I'm somebody who has access to something that most people now won't have access to. Now, I don't consider that inauthentic. I just consider it being in the right place at the right time. And that's one thing that I'm very, very good at. And a lot of people told me a long time ago, oh, you just take pictures with people. You don't really know these people.
And to a certain extent, that's true. But the other part that they didn't realize was that I knew I was going to see those people again. And every time I saw those people again, I would reference the time that I met them, and I would let them know, like, hey, this isn't the first time I met you, but I met you before here. This is us together. So it wasn't a flex.
It was a strategic strategy for me being able to remind people where they met me at. And the same goes with all of us. You don't have to be a big shot to do this. If someone meets you casually and they say, hey, I'm really a big fan of your work. You might want to take a picture. You may not remember them.
But if you meet them again and they show you a picture and say, hey, I met you here, here, here. This is us. We talked about this, this, and this briefly. You're going to now listen very attentively. And to my point, I built a very successful social media marketing company doing that.
And a lot of the people that matched that strategy and were saying a lot of negative things, now they regret it because a lot of them want to work with me now. And it's hard for me to work with people that had a mindset like that. But just like in 48 Law of the Power, they say your enemies become your greatest allies.
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Chapter 8: How does DJ JayLew combine his DJ career with entrepreneurship and data tech?
And I do believe that because I've hired some former people who didn't believe in the company and the vision and they've been doing extraordinary for the organization. But there is a cap, I think, when you do that because anyone who is a great CEO knows that they can't necessarily promote you past their comparability level.
So there still is a ceiling for how far you can go if you do decide to double back and be friends with someone who you necessarily weren't fond of before. Yeah.
I love that, man. And, you know, when I did the intro, you know, I said one of the greatest business minds that I know. And that's why I truly mean that being a huge fan of yours for the last year, year and a half and seeing all the amazing things that you're involved with or that you influence that you have your hands around, man, like it's it's mind blowing. Where did that come from?
personality type start, meaning you knew that you were a person that could influence businesses, influence people, but more importantly, make strategic decisions. Because I think that's where I'm not saying people sleep on you in that realm. I think that's what people don't see is the strategy mind that DJ J. Lou has.
Chapter 9: What is DJ JayLew's unique approach to relationships and networking?
Well, that's the greatest superpower of mine. The greatest superpower of mine is being seen as someone who's oblivious. For a long time, I've been underestimated because people will see me out doing certain things and then they underestimate my intelligence.
So it's actually, now that I'm getting older, because as you continue to get older, what I'm starting to realize, I'm in my early 30s, but as I'm starting to get older, I'm starting to realize how I'm pulling away from certain people in my age group.
And then I'm also communicating with people who are wanting to transact with me who are older, who haven't even reached the level that I'm at, and I'm 20 years junior. So I've realized that The greatest advantage I've had is, what do they say? Play a fool to catch a fool or something or play dumb. Something to that extent. And I've never done it, to be honest.
I've never tried to go out of my way to be less intelligent. I never have. It's just something that God has blessed me with to be able to carry out a certain lifestyle and a certain way of doing things in a way to where it seems almost effortless. But it also, I'm doing a lot. It's almost like I'm not, I guess I'm just really good at organization. I'm a really good strategic player.
I also am really good at cultivating relationships. I enjoy working on things from the ground up. I'm a fielder. So that's another thing too. I actually like coming in when things are bare bones. And I think that's kind of scary for people because most people, I've realized that own businesses, especially owning a marketing company.
A lot of marketing companies, some of the clients that I had that used to be local clients, they used to say, why do you want to work with me? I'm just a small business. And I would tell them, the reason why I want to work with you is so that maybe we can go out of business together eventually.
Not just for right now, you may not have a huge budget right now, but I'm confident in my services to where you will have enough money to start investing in other things and also expand on your business. But then again, you know, it goes back to business 101 again. You know, if that's not in your brain, if you're thinking that you're a small business, you'll stay a small business.
And that's something I'm learning too as I'm getting older because my time is getting more and more scarce is that if people don't see themselves as being high level entrepreneurs, Sometimes the money is not good enough to even work with them.
If they don't see a bigger vision for themselves, then if you have a bigger vision for your client than they have for themselves, it's probably better to walk away from that client unless you want to stay at that level with your client.
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Chapter 10: What makes DJ JayLew a great business mind and strategist?
Totally agree. Totally agree, man. And another thing that I admire about you is resiliency, right? You never give up, right? If you've got a plan, if you've got a vision, you make sure that you see it through. What are some of the obstacles that you've had to overcome? And then how did you overcome those obstacles?
Oh, man. When I started boxing a few years ago, when I got invited to go on celebrity boxing, a lot of people don't realize, but... That was probably the best thing that I could have ever done for myself. The reason why I did it was because I was told that I couldn't do it from a former friend who I ended up realizing wasn't a true friend, was very negative. So you have to get away from that too.
You have to eliminate all negative influences in your life. But when I started boxing, I realized that it was something that I wasn't good at. And the type of person that I am, I like to be good at things. And I was relentless. It taught me a lot about how much I really had inside of me, which translated into how I do business now. Like a lot of people don't realize boxing is like chess.
It's a strategy. You have to monitor your opponent's weaknesses. You have to monitor your opponent's fatigue levels, their footwork, their hand movements. You have to memorize which punches they threw three or four times. Then again, a lot of boxers don't do that. I'm just being honest because I was the type of person that I wasn't a great boxer when I started.
But I became a professional boxer when I ended with three title belts and one world championship belt. So the way that I did that was by putting myself in an uncomfortable situation, which scared me, having to face my fears head on in an environment that I wasn't comfortable with. I was raised in a family that... told us not to fight. My mom always said, it's better to walk away.
If someone puts their hands on you, defend yourself, but by all means, walk away if you have to. So now I'm putting myself in a position that I've never been in before where I have to now be around people that like to fight. Some people don't have anything to lose, don't have degrees, don't have... anything close to what I've built.
No social media, just people that are coming out of jail, people that like to fight. So now I'm in this type of environment. I'm in a very aggressive, hardcore environment, and I had to rise to the occasion. And I will say that during my amateur career, I put myself, I sparred every, the biggest guys in the gym. I didn't, I didn't go for anyone that I could beat. Like you have that too.
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Chapter 11: How has resiliency helped DJ JayLew overcome obstacles, including boxing?
I noticed, you know, it's funny. I noticed a lot of things in the boxing gym. I noticed that people do in business and in the real world. So in a boxing gym, you have guys in there that are in incredible shape, but they never, they never spar people that are better than them. They always spar people that are a little bit less. They don't have the greatest.
I always sparred people that were better than me. And I got beat, I would say, never actually. Because I never got knocked out in sparring. But I would say that there were a few times that I felt like I didn't win the sparring match. But when it was time for me to actually fight on my record, I would always rise to the occasion that I would win. But that was because I put myself against the best.
And on top of traveling and fighting other people that were the best. So I would say that. From my personal experience, what got me to that point was having to start from ground, from zero again. Having to listen to a coach. I'm used to being in charge of everything as a DJ. My money, my travel arrangements, even my management. I'm used to telling my manager what they need to do.
So being in an environment now where the coach is like, you need to run on a treadmill and not having any back talk. you have to go over here. It taught me how to be a great listener. It taught me more discipline about myself, even my posture.
You know, when you learn self-defense training, you can walk and stand tall and have confidence and people feel that confidence and it's not fake confidence, it's real confidence. They feel it on you. You know, whether you're with a female or just in a group where you're just in presenting like a business meeting or like with your team. So, I would say that was probably the greatest blessing.
And one thing I will say is that out of that experience, because of the business person and the business mind that I am, I started 8th Season. 8th Season came out of me boxing. So all of that turned into me creating a brand that was for combat sports originally. Now it's turned into a lifestyle, luxury, urban luxury lifestyle brand, streetwear and high fashion brands.
So it's funny how things in life can take you one place and then they turn into something, you know, on the other end of it, you know?
Totally, totally. I know one of the things about you also is giving back through mentorship and Who were some of your mentors for you as you were going through your journey and even through today?
Yeah, you know what? Well, we just did a milestone yesterday. So Data Global Hub, a company that I co-founded with Moji, we actually received 1,500 data tech and AI scholarships from DataTamp yesterday. We were approved for the scholarships to be able to give out to students the community. We're also partnering with Forbes Black on Juneteenth in LA. We're doing a huge event.
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