Meet Scott Gerke: Event Producer & Community Activist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Scott Gerke and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Scott, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet.” As an owner of an event production company and advocate for mental health, living by this quote has filled my life with so many incredible clients, adventures, and deep connections with people I never thought I’d cross paths with. It has allowed me to take a step back and not only be grateful for what I have, but also reminds me that everyone has a story to tell and can offer great insight if you accept them for who they are. I actually started a YouTube series called, “Once A Stranger”, where I use this quote as the theme in my videos. It’s all about documenting my experiences with people I once never knew. In March of 2020, when the pandemic hit and after losing all of my work as a DJ, I decided to move into my van and tour as much of the country as I could for inspiration. Whew, that was an eye-opener.   

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m most proud of my excitement to turn talk into action. There have been times when a group of us are talking about something and someone mentions, “how cool would that be…”. That night would usually end with me by myself trying to figure out I can actually make that happen. Then, I come back with a plan and find people to help me execute. I don’t give up until the writing on the napkin becomes a reality. Just recently, my buddy came up with the idea that he wanted us to kiteboard the entire length of the Florida Keys; Key Largo to Key West. A challenging and ambitious idea, yes, but I knew we could pull it off. What we decided to do was to take it a step further was get the community involved and turn it into a mental health fundraiser campaign. Within three weeks of planning everything, we had raised $2,500, had people from all over the world cheering us on, and actually completed the trip. 138 miles, 9 hours, and 2 days later. I would say my professional life is a lot like the kiteboarding trip. I enjoy the entrepreneurial aspect of my life, but I always find myself getting the community involved. It’s just much more fun and challenging when you have to incorporate different behaviors and take the reactions you receive from them as a welcoming gesture that will ultimately decide the fate of your product or service. Living as a career DJ, your artistry is constantly put to the test, and without complete dedication to the art, you just won’t succeed. It’s been incredibly challenging putting myself out there, to be judged by all walks of life, as a way to make a living. But the knowledge and growth you gain from every event feels awesome. I constantly overcome challenges by focusing on being true to myself. People take notice and will respect you for it. If you come across fake or spend too much time people-pleasing, they’ll walk all over you. I’ve been there, done that. No thank you. I want the world to know that being true to yourself is the absolute best feeling in the world. You will have so much success you won’t even know what to do with it all. And to be clear, I don’t measure success by the money in my pocket. To me, success comes from the happiness you feel waking up in the morning, knowing that today is going to be a great day and you will get the chance to meet new people that will help you grow and inspire you. With that mentality, money will come. Don’t ever let money be your driving factor while on the way to creating your best life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in the heart of Key West, so our first trip would be on the water and appreciate the environment in which we are surrounded by. I would then take them up the Keys and show off all the hidden gems that make this island chain so magical, think wildlife safari. Definitely go say hi to the drag queens on the 700 block of Duval, check out the super talent musicians in town, and catch some late night parties at whatever bar is hosting a DJ. We have a lot of talent in this town, so there would be no shortage of entertainment. As for food, hmmm, just whatever restaurant shows up in front of us when we’re hungry. I eat to eat. It’s more purpose-driven than anything else, ha.    The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There’s no way I can narrow it down. My life has had so many layers over the past 35 years on this earth, that I can’t even keep track of everything I’ve been involved in, ha! But what I will say is that every bit of my achievements are with the help of someone else’s willingness to lend a helping hand. That person made a conscious effort to stop what they were doing to help someone else. Just think about that for a second. That is how powerful human connection is.

Website: https://www.scottcgerke.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottcgerke

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottgerke

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scottcgerke

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/scottgerke

Other: Those are all of my personal accounts, which are the ones I’ve been trying to drive traffic to the most. Below are my event production company links… https://www.visualizeent.com https://www.instagram.com/visualizeent https://www.facebook.com/visualize.entertainment https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtLOSiLNrFjiaARtdBl-Kyw And if there is anyone interested in kiteboarding the entire length of the Florida Keys and raising money for a Florida Keys mental health non-profit organization with my buddy Joey and I next year, https://www.kitethekeys.com

Image Credits
Filip Konec Photograhy Mark Hedden