“Don’t let anyone trick you out of your spot” has become a motivational rallying cry as more young Black entrepreneurs navigate their careers online. Those words have resonated with creators figuring out how to embrace their uniqueness and authenticity while building their own spaces and success in the public eye.
For Jay Shalé, the phrase also hits close to home. Her success capturing the right vibes to get a live crowd pumped up using a turntable or on social media for her millions of followers stems from years of combining confidence with intuition. When a one-of-a-kind idea pops into her head—whether it’s a setlist or business play—she realizes that it’s an opportunity to “maximize my life” and share something with the world.
That mindset has allowed her to draw crowds internationally, play with DJ Jazzy Jeff, become an in-arena host for the WNBA, gain the attention of former Vice President Kamala Harris, and earn nearly two million followers across platforms. Now, she’s determined to cement 2026 as her “year of execution” as she grows—not just as an artist, but as an owner.
Shalé’s journey into the music industry starts with her ability to refuse to be locked out of certain spaces and instead adapt to her environment when new opportunities are presented. She was born and raised in Germany, where she fell in love with the wooden recorder as her first instrument and introduction into the music world. When she moved to the United States, she realized that to be a part of traditional school bands and music programs that offer a space for budding artists, she would have to broaden her skills and picked up the cello.
“I’ve done solo and ensembles. I’ve done symphony orchestras. I’ve done jazz orchestras. I’ve done city orchestras— name the orchestra, I’ve done it,” she explained.
Eventually, she moved into the corporate world. Still, when she sat with that vision of success, she realized that it wasn’t what she wanted to manifest for herself long-term.
“I was like, ‘Cool, I can work the job and sing. It’ll be just fine,’” she recalled. “That was cool for like two months. Then, work projects picked up and I was like, ‘oh, I’m going to have to make a decision on which one it is that I’ll be doing.’”
Shalé then decided to take the risk to follow her dreams, and her ability to adapt and absorb new skills came in handy. She hung around her local radio station in Indianapolis and befriended DJs, observing them as they worked. “I was like, ‘This looks like I might want to do this.’ So, I went to Guitar Center, bought myself a cheap $200 controller, and literally went to YouTube University.”
Yet, she’s careful to warn others who assume that creative entrepreneurship is an easy path, as it can so often be edited to look like on social media. She emphasizes that it can take a long time to find stability in a creative career. Behind the scenes, Shalé drove for Uber, refereed basketball, and even did a short stint as a server while trying to make headway as an artist.
“Things cost money,” she stated. “Being creative costs money. It costs time. While I always think people that have creative talents should pursue those, I do think there’s different levels to that. If you have creative talents and you want to do more things, travel the world, be more impactful, do that, but understand that that comes with sacrifice and that sacrifice is you’re going to struggle.”
Other barriers exist for those breaking the traditional path as a creative.
Shalé establishing a name for herself in the DJ space was complicated by the fact that it’s a largely male-dominated space. She reflected on experiences where her skills were underestimated by her peers during her sets. “I had men that were opening for me based on the promoters that booked me, and there was one group of guys that we did the same two to three cities together, and after the first night, the next night, they basically stole my entire set,” Shalé explained. “That kind of set me up like, ‘Okay, I’m playing all the shit she played that was hot last night, so what is she going to do today?’ Luckily for me, I don’t ever have the same set twice, and I also know how to pivot in the room.”
Confidence has become her greatest asset as a professional, while gauging the room’s energy is what enables her to make her set ten times better than the night before, she noted. That knack also helped her overcome sexist barriers.
Shalé shared, “Starting out, I really felt like I had to overdo it almost, or I was thinking too much about other people versus just being in my space. Don’t let the fact that you are a woman and how the men would feel about that trick you out your spot because you deserve to be here.”
For Shalé, being a DJ means being able to think in the heat of the moment and read the room to give the people what they want. Those skills have become increasingly valuable in the social media sphere, where visibility is a valuable tool for creatives seeking to build an audience. However, in an age where algorithms can feel daunting for creatives to break through, continued success has meant “using that content creation to see how experiential I could get in a set.”
While the first phase of her career was spent crafting an identity and skills that an audience will want to return to again and again, Shalé is looking into the future by creating a way to protect her artistry. On her YouTube channel, she deemed 2026 to be the year she begins to build up a multi-million-dollar business in the music industry in the face of “other people having autonomy or control over something that you worked hard to create or that you ideated.”
Shalé explained, “The best way for me to maximize my life is to make sure that the things that I have control over, that I’m creating, belong to me.”
From her years of experience in the creative industry, Shalé recognizes that building something so ambitious is no easy accomplishment. Entrepreneurs are often hit with a sort of “planning paralysis,” the inability to even figure out where to begin building a business. However, during her year of execution, the DJ views decision-making and executing a plan similar to muscles that have to be worked out. “For me, it’s realizing my just-do-it habits—basically working out or training that part of my brain in small, minuscule tasks—will then be easier to do with less hesitation in bigger tasks,” she said.
Beyond the importance of being able to take ownership of what she creates, Shalé’s journey has taught her that acting on her ideas is not only a business decision but a spiritual one. Looking at her success, from taking a leap of faith out of the corporate world to building a niche on social media, the DJ keeps one lesson in mind as she looks ahead to her career’s future.
“I spent too long hesitating. I do believe in God and the universe. When an idea is given to you, you will have a certain amount of time to execute it. You’re meant to do something with that, and if you don’t, it’ll get passed on to someone who will.” Similar to how Michael Jackson viewed Prince, Shalé is hitting the pavement and making her mark— one set and gig at a time.