“I like creating experiences,” says 27 year old party promoter Punch Dollar. Punch was known as the popular kid growing up; he started throwing teen parties at 16.
His first event was a backyard party in 2004, which consists of 500 kids and was a major success. But Punch didn’t always have a passion for party promoting, his initial interest was basketball. During his junior year of high school he attended a basketball camp at St John’s Prep. He recalls sitting next to Michael Jordan’s two sons and the head instructor, which was the top scout of the country, mentioning how many players would make it to the NBA. “20 of y’all are going to play D1, 10 NBA and 2 will become superstars”, said the scout. This statement is what changed Punch’s perspective on what he wanted to do as a career. Once he heard this, he realized he needed to pursue his passion; he felt the scout gave realistic statistics.
Punch’s upbringing influenced his ambitious attitude
He was born in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn and relocated to Queens when he was 12. He was the only child raised by his mom and step-father; his biological father passed when he was 9 years old. His parents put him into sports which motivated him to be competitive when he got older. Punch reminisces about his dad being a hustler and how he was well connected in the music industry. He managed “Smooth Da Hustler”, linked with celebrities and was friends with rap tycoon, Jay Z. Punch describes his dad as being the poster child for Karl Kani due to him having the entire collection of their apparel and how he was featured in Jay Z’s “Dead Presidents” music video.
His dad’s lifestyle definitely added spark to Punch’s visionary views; he quoted a phrase from Jay Z that stood out to him “My intuition was there even when my vision wasn’t there”, recites the Queens native. Punch doesn’t have a doubt that he is in the wrong field of work, he expressed that the only doubt that concerns him is not making enough profit, or his events not turning out the way he envisioned.
He says “When it comes to failure, I never really thought about failure, I know when I fail, but wouldn’t let it outweigh the positive.”
And speaking of profit, this young visionary earned $20,000 his first year of planning parties. From 2004-2005 he threw 5 parties in which he catered to a teen audience. His reputation influenced the large crowd. At the time promotion came from word of mouth because flyers didn’t exist and DJ’s fee ranged from $50-$100, it was “easy earned”, he says.
10 years ago Punch did a documentary on how to put together a teen party.
He met with a representative of Def Jam named Big B. He had the experience of visiting Def Jam as if he was an actual artist. His conversation with Big B was another major milestone to him fulfilling his dream. He advised him to stick to throwing parties, and that he would get paid for it. Even when events weren’t successful and he wanted to give up, Punch knew it was his passion. He went further to say that its more than event planning and throwing parties, it’s seeing his vision come to life, which is his ultimate goal.
Punch is wise enough to know that with success comes failure.
In 2005 he planned his first corporate event which was a Christmas party. 1200 kids attended, he came up with a theme for the party called “Popping Tags”. At the time he was working for Phat Farm and Baby Phat and he wanted to create brand exposure and sales. “Popping Tags” meant that whoever came to the party wearing Phat Farm or Baby Phat clothing with the tags still attached, they would pop the tags off and collect them; this would show an increase in brand sales. Invitees also had the opportunity to win “best outfit”. This event would have been an absolute success until an altercation took place at the end of the night, which resulted in two individuals being wounded. Punch felt if he was properly staffed with security this incident could have been prevented. He wasn’t prepared for such a large crowd, or this unexpected outcome which resulted in his feelings of failure.
This mogul in the making doesn’t allow failure to discourage him.
He still strives to be successful in all his endeavors. He iscurrently the brand ambassador for Bel Air Rozay (Luc Beliare Rose), which is an exclusive champagne imported from France. It represents a new lifestyle of champagne, introducing a new identity for the young generation; it is pop culture driven. Punch was selected to be the brand ambassador through a mutual business deal; they were looking for individuals that were great in their own field of work.
Punch uses his innovative selling strategies to get the product into various clubs and venues that could benefit the brand, along with promotional videos. He generated brand exposure by having the brand at his 10th Annual birthday party. He had artists perform using the brands name in their lyrics, an ice sculpture design and cupcakes and cake displaying the name as well; this type of marketing approach exhibited true brand loyalty.
Aside from being a brand ambassador, he takes part in community involvement.
The most recent event he planned was Life Camp’s 5th Annual “Ballin’ 4 Peace”. It was a celebrity charity basketball game to bring awareness to the community. It featured hip-hop artists such as Jim Jones, Mack Wilds, Murda Mook, Grafh and Fred the Godson. The event was centered on balling for peace with a cause; proceeds were donated to charity.
Punch has advice for those that dream to do what they love or even pursue a career as a party promoter.
He states that when he executes an idea he takes steps to do it, planning from A-Z. He is not focused solely on the profit but actually seeing his ideas come to life. He says, “starting something and finishing it, is what success is to him”. Punch also reads inspirational books; the last book he read was by motivational speaker, Les Brown. He has two key principlesif interested in becoming a Party Promoter:
Punch has proven that at a young age, you can bring your dreams to life, with patience, perseverance, and a steadfast attitude. He knows who he is and what it takes to get to the next level. He plans to get more involved with corporate America, take his vision to other states and around the world. “Everyone parties, all year around”, he expresses. When asked on a bigger scale where does he see himself in the future; he plans to create a platform of what he does best, entertainment, parties and becoming a hip hop mogul. Punch affirms that you will never know his next move, he will always be creative and ambitious; sky is the limit and he will keep progressing.
