Meet Danny Pham | CEO & Founder of QT Nightlife

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

Hi Danny, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Prior to starting QT Nightlife, I had worked the nightlife industry under existing companies for about 17 years — right up until the pandemic forced all nightlife to abruptly close. Truthbetold, right before the pandemic, I was contemplating about retiring out of the nightlife industry to focus on my day job in government. However, the pandemic was rough on me in so many ways. I realized that many others were likely feeling the same. I figured once the pandemic was over, we were going to need community spaces more than ever. Thus, the idea to finally start my own company and run it in the ways I’ve always wanted to; I was able to marry years of volunteer work in the non-profit space. It’s why before I launched QT Nightlife, I spent time with my team to define a mission, vision, and value statement. This is important because despite my years of industry experience, I know I would need these guiding principles in facing unfamiliar situations and challenges.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve been a career lifelong public servant in many capacities from working for the government, running non-profits, and bringing people together through event production. I could never have imagined that I would be in the nightlife industry for 20 years so far. What often surprises people most is that I consider myself quite an introvert. I feel where I am today has been part seemingly aimlessness, part accidental, and part luck. When I was a freshman in college, I felt my introversion was a weakness at the time. Being the direct problem solver I was, I asked how can I be more extroverted? I’ll become a nightlife promoter! I suppose I was good at sales. I gamified how much I could sell and was competitive with myself. I saw ‘making sales’ as a complex problem to solve creatively. In a short period of time, I moved up the company quickly and laterally tried different departments to understand them all — sales, marketing, operations, etc. In a way, I felt like I kept my head down at the work at hand, looked up one day and here I am the founder and CEO of my own company. Am I any more extroverted? Well, no — but I’ve come to embrace there was never anything wrong with being introverted. For the longest time, I saw my day job in government, volunteer work in non-profits, and producing nightlife events as such separate and distinct worlds. Over time, I realized I was picking up so many skills that was building upon one another — so many to name — but succinctly all things project management related. I suppose I have always been a maximizer of my time — the one most valuable resource we have — make the most of it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take my best friend to a number of my favorite great eats and sightseeing places around the San Francisco Bay Area. Being the nerd that I am, I’d augment with random fun facts and trivia. There’s truly so many things to do; I’d give options.

Hopefully it’s a clear day Monday. I’d drive up to the highest point in SF which would be Twin Peaks–preferably in the late afternoon, perhaps as the sun is setting. I’d point out in all directions the 7 peaks/hills in SF, the golden gate bridge, my alma mater (USF), bay bridge, golden gate park, etc. and my home in the east bay, previewing all the places I’d take them to.

For muesums: choice of Academy of Sciences, de Young Museum, MOMA, or Exploratorium.
For outdoors: explore Golden Gate Park, check out the Arboretum, walk the Golden Gate Bridge — it’s not surprisingly not that long.
For food: go to Da Nang Quan in Oakland for Banh Xeo and Bun Bo Hue; Binh Minh Quan in Oakland to make your own spring rolls; Shabu Club in SF known for its green sauce; Grab to-go Volcano Curry of Japan in San Francisco and eat it outside at Lands End/Cliff House/Beach.

Friday night, I’d host a board game night in, inviting other friends to meet one another.
Saturday morning, brunch at Farm House Thai at Jack London Square, stroll along the waterfront. Naturally, I would take my friend out to my nightlife events on Saturday. Sunday morning, grab some Blue Bottle Coffee at the Ferry Building on the waterfront then wait to get seated at Hogs Island Oysters Company for brunch. Afterwards, jump onto the MUNI light rail north to Fisherman’s Wharf, see the Sea Lions, grab some Trish’s mini donuts, and play a round of laser tag at the 7D Thrill Ride.

There’s really a lot to check out that I’m missing.

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?
Hopefully it doesn’t sound too corny, but my main shout out goes out to my entire management team who I’ve had to privilege to work together for 10 years under a previous company and continued to follow me into QT Nightlife. This includes Dez, Tay, Louis, Joshua, Liam, Lawrence, and Derick. Furthermore, from every promoter, crew member, and event staff I’ve ever worked with to every customer for that matter, deserves a shout out too. None of the events we produce would be possible without the collective work of everyone in the community, by our community.

Website: https://www.qtnightlife.com/

Instagram: @qtnightlife @qtnlceo

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

Other: events@qtnightlife.com

Image Credits
Photos are from my current company QT Nightlife LLC, my former company GAMEBOI LLC, and personal.