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

Hi Cara, what role has risk played in your life or career?
You might say I live by the motto, if I go a day without taking a risk then I have settled for complacency. Exploring the unknown is a daily routine for me. I feel comfortable being uncomfortable. There’s always so much more to learn and improve. I’m grateful for every struggle and success. More importantly, I don’t fear failure, I fear not trying. It takes drive, determination, sacrifice, and motivation to be the best we can be. Without taking risks, we would never know how great life can be!    

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My path as an artist has remained steady since inception. I typically have a full time marketing job or my own company in addition to being a DJ, and I happen to have both at the moment. If there’s one thing 2020 has shown all of us, is that it is good to diversify your income. When you are balancing a full time job, a company, and DJing, you have to be really good at delegating time. Time management is key. The reason I still continue to DJ, though, is because it is a passion of mine. As an artist, I have been told by many people I have good stage presence. I get into my sets and that is not just for a show…I truly love music, particularly house music, which is what I DJ. It moves me.When I started out having my own radio show in high school, I remember first hearing the sounds of house and techno, but I really didn’t know where to find it 1992-1994. The station would get some random demos, but aside from that, it was so new, that no one knew where to get it. Because of this, I played mostly rock and underground hip hop on my open format show. It was when I became fully immersed in the rave culture in Detroit and Chicago when I really learned where to find underground house music, which eventually led to me learning how to spin vinyl. I was also in college, so balancing school, work, partying, and DJing was quite a feat. I had an alternative rock show called Monday on Monday in college.  After I graduated from Eastern Michigan University, I moved to LA, bought my own turntables and began booking gigs right away. I played all over the city, Hollywood, DTLA, and the beaches. Then, I moved to San Diego for 3 years for a change of pace in mid 2000’s. When I was there I started dating someone who had a clothing line, and I shifted focus to that for awhile, only DJing on occasion. I moved back to LA and dissolved the clothing company, broke up with my partner, and began getting back into DJing again. I bought Traktor so I could start doing gigs, since I had gotten rid of my turntables. I landed a couple bar residencies and MAC make up gigs right away, and was back at it in no time. Before long, I learned how to use CDJ’s, which opened up even more opportunities for me. I started playing on friends equipment, then got my own. I also started throwing house music parties, and became more immersed in the scene again. I threw parties in Venice and Manhattan Beach called Beatch (beats at the beach) and some underground parties in Hollywood called Underground Playground. Then in 2019 I signed with 2 booking agencies, one being the Purim Agency, who books talent at the Marriott’s, and the second being Secret Agent Booking in the South Bay. Also, in early 2019 I was asked to become a monthly co-host with pop painter, Jamie Roxx, and we started the Monday-Roxx Hot Topixx podcast, which features music industry guests and one of my mixes at the end of every show. We get thousands of listeners across many platforms, which is super exciting. I also had a career highlight happen in March 2020, when I joined my friend DJ Twee main stage at LA’s biggest club, Avalon…right before the lockdowns.  Talk about going out with a bang! Since then, I have been DJing live streams, desert parties, and some underground gigs. Interestingly, during the pandemic, I was approached by an international booking agency called Kanga In Space out of Switzerland, and I signed with them. I hope to start booking overseas in 2021. They found me on SoundCloud (www.soundcloud.com/djmsmonday). So, when pre-covid life ever resumes, I have a lot to look forward to as an artist. I’m currently expanding my music horizons learning how to produce, too. I will continue doing what I love and go where there’s flow.  As long as I’m enjoying myself, it’s all worth it.  

I mentioned earlier, I also have a company, and I definitely want to share that here, too. This year, in light of the pandemic, I teamed up with fellow DJ, Sophia Lin, and became a partner in Viv Vitals, which is a health and beauty e-commerce store. Health and wellness has always been something I am super passionate about and the products we offer have the highest quality ingredients available on the market (with no fillers). You want results? Visit the site to learn more (www.vivvitals.com).  Type in SHOUTOUTLA for 15% off your order. Send us an email at info@vivvitals.com if you have any questions. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to help people with their health, especially after this year!  Sophia recently set up a nice green screen studio at her place, where we will be conducting interviews for Viv Vitals with holistic practitioners and experts to help educate people how to best take care of themselves, which is now more important than ever. This content will be available on all Viv Vitals social media. The great thing about the studio is that it can also be used as a 2×4 DJ set up for livestreams, and Sophia set up a channel for this on Twitch at twitch.tv/clubmaverick, too. To tie everything in together, when social life resumes, Sophia and I plan on throwing parties for Viv Vitals (calling it the Vitalitty Party), fusing DJs, dance music, and healthy elixirs. Stay tuned for a lot of great shows and music coming your way!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have hosted guests on numerous occasions. Where I take someone really depends on the person. It’s always nice to go to the beach for lunch and drinks and chill out by the ocean. If a friend visits in the summer, I usually try to line up a boat/yacht party, a pool, or outdoor party with DJ’s. Everyone always has a good time at these types of events. For dinner, I like to bring people to West Hollywood, downtown, or near the beach (Marina, Venice, or Manhattan Beach are my faves). Sometimes, we will go out to hear DJ’s or live performances after dinner, as well. I’ve taken visitors to Catalina, the desert, the mountains, SF, OC, and SD. Most short trips include some hiking, biking, or even roller skating. I’m always down for outdoor activities. It’s not hard finding something fun to do in Cali!

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?
I’ve had so many mentors through the years. It started with my grandmother, who just passed away in 2019 at 92 years old. She exuded humility and was the definition of unconditional love. Then, when I was in high school, there was my parents next door neighbor (whose kids I used to babysit), Pat, who was a social worker. When I would babysit, she would arrive home and we would end up talking for hours. She helped me keep my sanity growing up in a very strict household. Unbeknownst to her, she ended up being a counselor to me, even though she was just being herself. She was really kind, non judgmental, uplifting, and not to mention a great listener. She also had a very interesting library in her living room with a lot of books about psychology, which I would sit and read while the kids were watching TV. I’m sure that contributed to many of our conversations, and thankfully it gave me enough insight to rise above feeling stuck. When I got older, I made sure to let her know how grateful I was for her lending an ear when I needed it. Also, in high school, I was accepted to WEJY, the local high school radio station, led by Eric Diroff.  I am so grateful professor Diroff saw something in me, because his program taught us how to be on air radio personalities (with our own shows). Even though I was an athlete, I was still a rebel, and the radio station provided me the edge I needed in my life.  Since I was an athlete, Professor Diroff gave me the opportunity to be a commentator for the boys basketball games, which were broadcast live. The local paper even did a write up about the play by play show, giving it a great review. These mentors guided me when I was coming into my own. Toward the end of high school and in college, I was introduced to the life changing rave scene experience, and that has shaped me into who I am today. I fell in love with the music and mentality of the scene, and more than anything, the universal love. If I were to attribute my technical style as a DJ now, I would hands down have to say Derrick Carter’s DJ style in the 90’s and early 2000’s was the biggest influence in shaping how I play house music to this day. Any chance I got to see him perform, I was there. Another huge influence for me was John Acquaviva. He was also a DJ whose shows I tried not to miss. I felt like his sets took you on a journey like no one else…his ability to blend genres seamlessly literally blew my mind. After I relocated to Los Angeles in 2001, I eventually started getting into fashion, too, and I had an amazing mentor at the Fashion Business Inc. downtown LA by the name of Francis Harder. She ran this organization bringing all the top industry experts together to help up and coming designers and brands. I learned so much from her and the program. Even though I’m no longer working in the fashion industry, the training I received through the Fashion Business Inc can still be applied to other areas of life, and I am forever grateful for the experience. There is no way for me to name every person who has impacted my life, however, anyone who has been in my close circle, be it for a reason, a season, or a lifetime, they have all helped make me who I am today.

Website: www.soundcloud.com/djmsmonday
Instagram: @Djmsmonday @vivvvitals
Linkedin: Cara Monday
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VIVVITALS
Other: www.vivvitals.com www.mixcould.com/caramonday

Image Credits
Avalon Photo credit: David Takeda Miss Monday logo: Blair Seifert

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