Meet Paul Avila | DJ / Podcaster / Entrepreneur

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

Hi Paul, how do you think about risk?
How do I think about risk? Usually risk taking comes to my mind when I’ve hit a plateau in whatever career I’m in at that moment. (Currently I wear many hats i’m a chef, dj, music producer, audio engineer, podcast engineer, event coordinator, digital marketing manager, video editor, videographer, and a few other occupations fill this list lol)

Whenever I feel like it’s time to take a risk, I try to think of as many outcomes as I can. Will the risks outweigh the benefits? sometimes risks can be the greatest part of life; once I quit djing to learn the ins and outs of restaurants and catering, completely risking my dj career but in the end it elevated it because I learned to incorporate food with djing and it took that risk to be able to succeed in that.

What role has taking risks played in my life? Risk taking is a big part of my life and career, I’ve pivoted so many times to different careers because of risk taking. If I learned to live life through safe planning and complacency, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I will talk about my first love.. djing. It was the gateway to so many other careers in my life now. If I was given a chance to start over I’d go the same exact way, I wouldn’t say there’s something that sets me apart from others, I just like to add things to this skill. Being able to orchestrate a food event behind my dj set at a venue, being able to do the marketing and visuals for yourself as well.. it’s a beautiful thing. Was it easy? Nothing worth it is, I had to take classes and complete courses to be able to get to the start of my vision. It took years and I’m still learning new things every day to add to the “sauce”, challenges come on a daily basis, I’m not saying I overcome them all but I sure do try.. and I’ll keep trying. I’ve learned many lessons but the one that always sticks with me is just to keep on failing, that’s the only way to learn.

Honestly, I just want people to know that it’s never too late to learn something new….

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?
Wynwood is always my go to for some fun, drinks and music, can’t go wrong, you have about 7-10 venues (Centro, shots, coyo, dirty rabbit, pilos, etc) next to each other!

Little Havana & Brickell are a favorite of mine as well. Just beautiful parts of Miami.

One of my dj residencies. The Wharf Miami is always a spot I take my friends, family, whoever I meet! It’s always a fun time there and since there are multiple Food trucks, we must try them all! Haha

I’m known as a foodie around these parts so this should be fun!

To eat, there’s so many options nowadays , Miami has turned into a foodie hotspot over the years, I guess I’d say we would start off by getting a Cafecito at Latin America, hit up some breakfast at the big pink, some lunch at Joes takeaway (the fried chicken!!) & dinner at eating house for one their famed 6-8 course meals. I really enjoy so many places here, we can also go to the citadel or 1800 lucky (both are food halls) so we can try so many different options and share everything, grab some prince street pizza at oasis or
Hopefully by then.. old Greg’s pizza will be open!

I’m just gonna name food places real quick lol
Carbone (worth the hype)
Uchi, Ariete, Nave, Mandolin, Tacos & Tattoos, El Carnal, Paseo Universitario, Hijole Taqueria, El Primo, PUB SUBS, Lung Yai, that just to name a few. If you want a detailed list of places to eat just let me know !

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This is tough

There’s a lot of people that helped me or Influenced me along the way. From djing to cooking to marketing and it goes on…

The list is long but I’ll name a good amount, I wouldn’t be able to do anything without my parents, the positive and the negative. They weren’t receptive about the DJ thing after a while but I was able to prove to them that it was worth it and they saw that and helped motivate me to keep moving forward eventually.

My uncle Alex (rip) I wouldn’t be a dj if it wasn’t for him, my friend Joel Aka MAVEN – he gave me my first shot as a dj, the partyerz crew, DJ Kaos, DJ GQ – they let a 16/17 year old kid help carry their records and just experience the night life. The dream team crew, Chino (RIP) – he helped me elevate my brand as a dj, QBA & Satz – they opened up my musical ears and introduced me to music production, Pedro aka Henrix – we became a dj duo and took Miami by storm at one point, that was fun. Bryan Herrera & Rockwell Talent (my current manager) – he taught me that a dj that has a team behind him is much more valuable, thanks for always having my back, Richy Barrenechea and Dan Maughan – they saw something in me and even became my managers at one point, because of them I was able to be an Opium group resident (at clubs like Mansion, Set, Mokai & Cameo) and even helped me make my debut as venues like Space & Nikki Beach. Jackie Richie, Emi Guerra, Tony Guerra, Eddy Guerra, Scuba, Nelson, Brooks, Alex Rock, Edgar V, Najib & Blake, Ariel Assault, Reflex, Armand Pena, Danny Snow, Vinni Soul, CR, Emkay, Zilla, Fresko, Ideal, Danny Daze, Digital Lab, Konflikt, Joe Maz, Obscene, Hectik, Juan Fonseca, Louie Arson, Sharpsound, Jordan Sanchez & Adrian Pou, Bad Dog Records (I appreciate everything we started!), Christian Falero, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Ape Drums…as a dj this list can go on so much further, I’m sorry if I left your name out trust me I want to name you all! Thank you!

Zea & Ka5 my OG Rockwell Talent teammates, when us three work together nothing can really stop us, these guys help me out every single day & are my co hosts on MIA Radio.. btw thanks for helping me jumpstart this podcast network (big things coming!)

Raphy Prior, my co host on The PR Cast and now close friend, congrats on your new born, I’m glad I get to share a podcast space with you!

A big shout out to Chef Billy G, you helped me decide on a big pivotal change in my life and I am forever grateful for the opportunities you’ve given me and continue to give me. If you guys need a caterer he’s your man!

Alfonso Soldi, he helped me realize that if I learned some new tricks to add to the dj brand, I could elevate even more, thank you. #idealconsulting

Joe Budden, Andrew Schulz & Charlamagne the god, I learned everything I know about podcasting because of them. My passion for this part of my career is driven by these gentlemen and how they handle everything coming at them. Thank y’all

Dadfilmedit & Alexx Media, videography/video editing wasn’t even on my mind until I was able to appreciate it by watching their work. Dadfilmedit’s style and how he continues to add more “sauce” to his repertoire is amazing to me. Alexx media from his start at ‘Brilliant Idiots’ to his work now is inspiring, always learning new things, always elevating the standard. Bravo guys.

Lyric, Jeff, Chrisrian & my other fellow youtubers (can’t name you all) but thanks for the crash course on this YouTube thing!

My best friends.. past and new (You know who you are) You guys help me on a daily basis, you guys always had my back through the best and worst times and I wouldn’t be able go on without your energy!

Lynette, thanks for everything.

Last but certainly not least, my idol, Kobe Bryant. I’ll keep this one short.
I’m a different animal but the same beast because of you. (RIP)

(I know I forgot a lot of
Y’all, don’t kill me please)

Website: Www.Rockwelltalent.com

Instagram: @thisispaule

Twitter: @thisispaule

Facebook: Facebook.com/whoispaule

Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/PaulAvila13

Image Credits
Lee – @lvlvisuals Kris – @shotbyrogue Maria Danny