“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.” - Cicely Tyson. Chris’s journey of becoming a DJ started when his ninth-grade teacher asked him if he could DJ at a party. Chris happily took on this challenge and was delighted to discover his gifted talent and turned his passion into a business. Today Chris is well-known and successful and has DJ’d various high-profile events like Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles, United Cerebral Palsy Golf Tournament and many more. He is a strong believer in disability advocacy and teaches disability awareness and etiquette at various venues including schools and teaches people how to use 911.

Can you tell us about your journey of becoming a DJ? What challenges do you face in this profession?C: When I was in ninth grade my teacher wanted a party, and she asked me if I could DJ, so I said ok, one time, one time only, Well that one time turned into a small business and a certificate in multi media Arts Technology with a specialization in Audio and sound design. After I had the initial party I started "DJing" with a home cd changer. I then bought a CD mixer and with the help with one of my mentors and my grandpa DJ Chris was born. After many years of going by that DBA I turned into DJ of Ability to represent it's not about the challenges that life throws at you but how you over come them, or are you going to let the disability define you? Also my biggest challenge is having people believing that I do what I say that I do.

What is your favorite type of event to DJ? How do you usually plan for an event?C: One of my favorite type of event to DJ is probably dances for people who have disabilities because a lot of DJs without disabilities don't understand our population and they play older music without any dance lighting etc. When I DJ an event like this I pull out all the stops, I have loud music, if people want oldies I'll usually play a remix just to kip the flow going and so people can hear that there’s different things out there instead of the same old song. If people really want the original I'll play it.
What people see is me performing, what they don't see is the time that I take at home organizing music and seeing what gos with what, one thing I never do is delete a playlist, because you never know when it just might come in handy.

What is the best thing you love about being a DJ?C: That’s a hard question, because there’s so many moving parts to it. Seeing people getting up and dancing, preparing music for the gig. What I love the most is seeing people without disabilities see me “roll” into the venue and they question me on how I can be a DJ sitting in a wheelchair, when they hear my talents I’m just like anybody else, except that I need a little help with setting up, and I get around that by hiring roadies to load in and strike (brake down) the equipment. Also if I do a good or a bad job mixing it’s ALL on me, no one else.If there’s something that goes wrong, I’m the one on the hook to figure out why it’s not working, it’s usually something simple like I forgot to connect a wire, or press a button.

How and where do you advocate for disability awareness?C: I started speaking in seventh grade with a few sheets of paper and a outline cerated on Word, and some overhead projector slides, that was in 1997, fast forward to 2003 crated my first of many PowerPoint presentation, started with a 45 minute, and ended up with over a hour and a half presentation, then in 2013, I met my job coach Jeff Shane, he has a background in the record industry, working at Capitol and Epic Records. We met at a local coffee shop, and when he first saw me sitting in my wheelchair he was intimidated. Over time we not only became good work partners, but grate friends also. I went from 1 1/2 presentation down to four different presentations including one on Cerebral Palsy, disabilities in general, how to start your own business while living with a disability, and how to use 911.

What challenges did you face during your school years? How did you motivate yourself to face those challenges?C: My grandparents were my guardians at the time and my grandma took care of my schooling, being that I’m disabled I had an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and she always took me out of the planning process, no matter what it was I changed schools three times once in elementary once in jr high and once in high school., without consulting me. Every time I would come home from school or an outing and she would drill me for information, so I learned from a very early age how to keep my mouth shut. She died in 06, after that I started counseling and learning how to open up and speaking my mind without filling guilty about how the other person receives the information, my only responsibly is to present the information in an intelligent manner.

Who is your inspiration?C: My inspiration is two fold, one is Jesus Christ because He shows me how we are supposed to live and gives me the grace to do so. Also I have a job couch by the name of Jeff Shane though UCP /Work Inc. we work on everything, including my DJ, speaking engagements. He won’t do the work for me, but he will go over it with me when I’ve shown and took some initiative. It may or not be correct and if it’s not we’ll go back and fix it, but as long as I start it he’s willing to help me.

Where have you traveled to? What is your favorite place to visit? What do you love about that place?C: I have traveled all over the U.S. including Sacramento for rallies to do with budget cuts, San Francisco for pleasure and my boss at the science museum took me up there to look at accessibility for the new museum. I’ve also been to Los Angeles for work to pick up DJ gear and also for pleasure to go to Universal Studios. Been to Cleaved O.H. to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Been back east to Main, Cape Code, Boise D.I. where I was born and to see how I became to have C.P. Hawaii by the way of cruse ship, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia National Park I have even been to Nicaragua with my church on a mission trip,I remember that there was one day that we went to a school for kids without disabilities and my chair flipped over and everything stopped I sed “just get me up, that tough them hat people with disabilities aren’t fragile just by a mishap. That was a life changing experience, because they have absolutely nothing but they are the most joyful people I have ever met. The last day we were over there it was a Sunday and the pastor asked me to give the sermon, so with absolutely no prep time I gave the sermon with the Holy Spirt guiding me I gave it and it turned out really well.except my translator had to tell me to stop a few times so he could catch up. One place I haven't gone but is on my bucket list is NYC, Would like to experience the Big Apple.
My favorite place to visit is Yosemite, because it’s quite and beautiful so I can recharge my batteries. I always need to take someone with me because I don’t drive and not able to do the physical work i.e. setting up the camp site.

What are your other hobbies? What sports have you played?C: I also work at a science museum where we ask people questions to make them think about how the physical world works around us. Of course I like to hang out with friends go to night clubs, have a adult beverage on occasion.
I was on a power Wheelchair Soccer team for seven years, it was a lot of fun and a big commitment. So after so many years I had to let it go. I’ve also done three half marathons in my hand trike two to rase money for clean water in Africa and one for the school in Nicaragua.

What tips/advice do you have for those in our community who want to become a DJ?C: First I would get a mentor that has done this for a while and do an apprenticeship withe them while you get your feet wet, be humble, you don’t know everything. Ask for help when you need it. Equipment is expensive don’t think that you need to but everything all at once. If you need to, buy it pice buy pice infill you have everything that you need. If you’d like to contact me my email address is djofability@gmail.com.

Any special message for our community?C: As you proceed in your endeavors you WILL encounter people who will say your disabled how can you DJ, work, have a family, ect. they will try to say you can’t do that and will try to point you in a different direction, I was told by a job placement councilor in high school that I should have gone into computer science and not pro sued my dreams, if I had listened to her I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m here to tell you don’t listen to them stick to your guns and don’t let anything stop you! Heck I had to consult my councilor and some friends on how to answer some of these questions because some of them (especially question number 5) it was a little bit of an internal struggle but I got it done!