Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Monzon.
Hi Danny, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
From NYC nightclub promoter to award-winning digital agency owner as a New York inner-city kid and older brother, I wanted to start making money early. I started trading baseball cards in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter. Seeing my mother, a young immigrant (she had me when she was 16) from Colombia, count her tips every day for years, I wanted to help her. I rented stands at the local flea market on the weekends before I decided to leave high school in my senior year. My decision to leave school wasn’t very popular with my single mother, but I bet she isn’t complaining today. I wanted to work. I wanted to make money to wear cool clothes and take my girl out. But there was a problem with that. I did not qualify to get a job. I did not have the documents required to do so. I then realized that my tourist visa used to travel to go to Disney World had expired long ago. I had been “out of status.” I was undocumented and did not visit Disney Land. So I learned to make money doing what I liked doing best now in my twenties. I became a nightclub promoter. I worked the biggest dance floors and infamous clubs in the New York City party scene for four years. Little did I know that was to be my “higher education” in marketing. Influencing people to come to my parties went from failed attempts passing flyers on Times Square to meeting celebs like Ice T, professional baseball players, and mingling with models. I even met Yoko Ono once at Club Vinyl after hours. But that lifestyle caught up to me, and the partying was getting out of control. I was spiraling nowhere fast. So I relocated to Jacksonville, FL. I then ventured into network marketing, promoting products for a multi-national nutrition company.
I had no “papers,” but I was determined to make an honest living still, and network marketing offered an ethical loophole where I could be my boss, or so they said. I had some modest success after serious grinding and rejection, as it comes with the territory. But I was still a good promoter. I could get people to hotel meetings and sharpen my presentations in two languages. English and Spanish. I also learned leadership, retention, and other basic business skills that later would be the foundation of what I do today. Promoting one product line for 3 or so years got monotonous for me, though.
I lost interest in selling shakes for people to lose weight and energy drinks, as much as I enjoyed them. So I ventured into the digital space. I have always been interested in computers, chat rooms, and internet money. I even built a desktop computer from used parts back when I lived in my one-bedroom apartment in Queens, NY. I met people making a good living working online, so I had to learn how to do it fast. I didn’t want to attend a formal school that taught internet marketing. Plus, I could not afford it. So I learned from an online community where webinars were offered every single Wednesday at a small monthly fee. By now, I am combining life experiences from promoting clubs, presentation skills, and interpersonal skills from network marketing, connecting with two audiences in English and Spanish, plus some technical skills behind the computer keyboard. Times that with that New Yorker go-getter attitude.
Fast forward to 2017 – My immigrant status had been resolved, and I was unstoppable. I specialized in building chat automation systems for e-commerce brands and select brick-and-mortar businesses. After working on one-off projects with different local agencies in Jacksonville and providing top-notch service based on results, I founded my agency. DM Digital is an extension of me. I am it, and it is me. In 2020 we developed digital solutions that helped keep businesses open during the closures due to a global pandemic. Local internet outlets heard about what we were doing, and I was asked to be interviewed, which led to a worldwide software company naming us Emerging Agency Of The Year. Now I am a Chat Automation Educator mentoring junior chatbot builders in Latin America. Today I serve clients and Agency Partners not only in LatAm. Still, I have consulted for teams in Inc. 5000 companies, have been invited to speak at marketing conferences in Jacksonville, St. Louis, and Chicago, and I’m partnering with some of the brightest minds in my space.
You wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
No. As an undocumented youth, I was limited. Not only did I have to rewire my mental limitations as a foreigner who faced bullying and discrimination, but I also had to endure real restrictions that kept me from other life goals.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
What sets me apart from others apart from my technical abilities is that I am fluent in two languages. Spanish is the world’s second most spoken language, and I can reach, connect and engage with two audiences. Plus, I am from NYC! I’ve volunteered and served community organizations that helped me build meaningful relationships.
What’s next?
I am growing my digital agency by training and mentoring younger and upcoming agency owners in Latin America. We will announce an apprenticeship program at the beginning of 2023, where a few selected individuals will have a formal role at DM Digital after completing 3 months as an apprentice. And we are also in the midst of a beta launch that will enhance our early digital solutions for businesses worldwide.
Contact Info:
- Website: dannymonzon.com
- Instagram: @dannymonzon.tv
- Facebook: facebook.com/dannymvp
- Twitter: @dannymonzontv
- Other: dannymonzon.com/bio
