We had the good fortune of connecting with Dominic DiMaria and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Dominic, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
i finally got a meeting with the Hollywood big timer i had been trying to get in the room with
i pulled up to his fancy West Hollywood office, right above Blue Bottle Coffee and down the street from the Beverly Center
we exchanged some pleasantries and he started commenting on the portfolio i submitted
he said “this is cool stuff, you do nice work”
i was thrilled, but I wasn’t prepared for what he said next
“i’m never gonna call you”
“what do you mean?” i asked, confused
“there are thirty guys just like you lined up out the door everyday. everybody wants a chance.”
he gestured to his award-clad office and said “i started as a PA and it took twenty years to get here”
he leaned toward me
“you would be far better off building something unique for yourself with people you trust”
he never took another one of my calls and never answered another one of my e-mails
shortly thereafter, the commercial agency where i was rostered went under due to Fyre Fest level mismanagement by the owner
that’s when i “heard the call”
when i knew it was time to take all this beauty i could see in my mind’s eye and give it form
manifest all this spirit in the material world
i didn’t want anybody’s green light except my own
it was time to do something unique for myself
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.
every entrepreneur is on a journey to find, build, discover, or otherwise blow a hole in the market that fits
one of the tentpole questions of the entrepreneurship journey is “what problem are you solving?”
but let’s be honest, that’s a boring question
it fits if you’re a tech brand creating infinitely scalable [products] for [users] who do [job] and make [$$ to $$$] and live in [city]
that’s the quintessential challenge of being an artist in an entrepreneur’s world
art creates value through scarcity whereas this Silicon Valley startup recipe celebrates only scale
there’s no right / wrong
there’s only what works for you
so i decided i didn’t want to solve problems
i’d rather create them
they say you never have to advertise a fire — so why don’t we make some of those?
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
i can’t tell you all the secret spots!
okay just a couple
we’re going to hop on the Ducati and go see Ayanna at Equinox downtown for world class Pilates
then we’ll go see our friends at Maru in the arts district for coffee / matcha
next stop is the museum double feature of the Broad Contemporary and, right across the street, the MOCA
once we wrap our museum date we’ll finish the day with the branzino at Bottega Louie, hands down LA’s best restaurant
and since it’s thursday we’re going to pop over to jazz night at the Continental Club for a night cap and to catch a vibe
and for our next trick we’ll sneak up to the top floor of the InterContinental to catch the best view LA has to offer
Topanga has some beautiful sites, sounds, and flavors to offer but we’ll leave that for the second date
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
thank you to everyone who told me no
Website: www.soulmatter.co
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doghsart/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominicdimaria/