Global Beats and Community Ambitions: A Conversation with DJ Mr. T

Join us on an insightful journey as we sit down with Terrance Thomas, better known as DJ Mr. T, for an engaging discussion spanning his dynamic experiences around the globe. From his electrifying adventures as a DJ traversing continents to his immersive stints living in China and Africa, Terrance shares captivating stories of cultural exploration and musical influence.

But that's not all - delve deeper into Terrance's multifaceted life as we uncover his transition back to Dallas and his unexpected foray into political commentary through his acclaimed book on China's political landscape. Discover how his passion for community development led him to embrace a new role as an ambassador for Delahn Realty, empowering him to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.

Explore the intersection of passion, purpose, and philanthropy as Terrance opens up about his dedication to giving back, whether it's through his active involvement in the DFW Chamber Network or his philanthropic endeavors with the 501C3 DFW Network Chamber. From spinning records to spinning narratives of social change, join us for a conversation that resonates with the rhythms of global unity and local empowerment.

Transcript

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What's up guys, Chris Bowen here with Level Up the Podcast. Hope everybody's having a great day. I am joined today by Terrence Thomas. Terrence is an author, a DJ. He's the head of DFW Network Chamber. He does it all. So Terrence, why don't you introduce yourself, man? Well, hello everyone. My name is Terrence Thomas. As Chris has already stated, I'm the official DJ of Dillon Realty. I am also an admin of the DFW network group, which now has over 37,000 members. I am also the chairman of the DFW network chamber and the DFW network chamber is a 501 C6 nonprofit organization that was established to help connect professionals. and small business owners in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with more customers and clients in an effort to make the Dallas-Fort Worth GDP and economy more inclusive. Love it, man. Absolutely love it. So why don't you talk us through kind of how the chamber came to be and how the network group kind of came to be. No, fantastic. Well, it was 2019 and I was actually in Africa at the time on this small island east of Madagascar and. The DFW network was established back then because one of the things that I was observing was that there was just small business owners and professionals all across the Dallas, Fort Worth Metroplex that would get a lot of hate whenever they're trying to tell people about their products and services. You know, it's kind of like when you're walking in the grocery store and you see that AT&T or that spectrum guy, you know, just the automatic feeling you get, like, I need to go the other way. Right. And so a lot of people, that's, that's exactly what they run into. you know, whenever they're talking about their products or services, it doesn't matter if they're selling bottled water, oil, lotions, potions, shoes, whatever, you know, people are like, don't talk to me. So the DFW network platform was originally established to create a safe space for people to promote their products and services. Because at the end of the day, nobody's going to promote your business if you're not willing to promote your business. But you need a safe space to do it. And that's what the DFW network was. And then in 20, go ahead. I was going to say, I've been lucky enough to be a part of several chambers, you know, throughout my career and being a part of a chamber, man, it is one of the greatest things in the world. Just the people you get to connect with and spend time with and learn from, man. There's so many great business people that are part of chambers. I just think everybody should be a part of a chamber. Well, I absolutely agree. And since you're talking about chambers, the DFW network chamber came nearly three years later, okay. I was talking to a group of professionals and business owners in the Dallas Fort Worth. uh, Metroplex that had been engaging in the DFW network group for a while. And so these were people that were obviously, you know, like permanently established and they were in a long run. And so me and this group of people, we decided to actually launch a new chamber because we realized that as a 501 C6 membership organization, there was a lot more that we could do in the community and our influence in our reach would expand. so much greater, you know, in terms of helping people and making this economy more inclusive, if we had that 501c6 status. And so in 2022, we launched the DFW Network Chamber. And so the DFW Network Chamber is an organization that seeks to make the economy inclusive. We focus on the celebration of diversity and We celebrate the multicultural, the multicultural that we have here in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex because Dallas Fort Worth is one of the most international regions in the United States. It's comparable to New York. It's comparable to San Francisco. If you can think of any country off the top of your head, we have some people from that country living right here doing business and making a life. Yeah. It's, it's pretty crazy how diverse Dallas is. I've never lived somewhere that has quite the diversity that Dallas does. And I'm a big foodie. So I really enjoy that diversity because guess what? When people from that area come here, they bring their food and their traditions with them as well. And so I love, I love that part of Dallas. Absolutely. true. No matter what food you're looking for, whether it be Mediterranean, Iranian, Indian, English, German, we have it all right here in the Dallas for right. It's pretty cool. So walk me through, you said you were living in Africa at the time. How in the world did you get to Africa? What brought you there? Well, crazy enough, before Africa, I was living in China and I had nine years under the belt in China. I lived in the city of Chengdu for three years. I moved from Chengdu to Taiyuan for one year and then from Taiyuan to Luoyang and then from Luoyang to Tianjin. Tianjin's right on the outskirts of Beijing. And then I spent my last three years in China in this tropical city that's comparable to Honolulu called Sanya. Okay. from Russia, Ukraine, and obviously China, they come down to the city of Sanya regularly for surfing, yacht parties, five-star hotel resorts like MGM Grand. I did a contract at the Atlantis in the summer of 2019, and it's just a really, really beautiful place to be. Some of the most unbelievable sunsets you would ever see are happening there. Some of the most incredible views. breathtaking scenery nature. That's all there. And so I lived there for three years. I think the question everybody wants to know is, why'd you come back to Dallas then? Okay, well, it's all Lincoln. It's all Lincoln together. So I went on a vacation and Cambodia when COVID hit and what happened was the entire country of China just locked up and closed its borders. I could not get back to my home in China. And so because COVID struck randomly when I was outside of the country. Well, I could not get back in. Yeah. And it turned out to be a blessing because anybody who followed the news throughout 2020 and 2021 know that there were these COVID lockdowns in China. And it was something that it was seriously terrible. And I feel like it's an absolute blessing that I didn't have to go through that. But that led me to Africa. I took a flight with my wife from Cambodia all the way to Mauritius Island. My wife had family in Mauritius. And so we got to Mauritius and the idea was, we're gonna chill and just wait for, you know, this COVID thing to pass over China, right? It didn't pass over. And in fact, Mauritius ended up doing its own lockdowns. The airport closed, people couldn't be out on the streets. You could only go shopping on specific days, depending on whatever your last name is. That's when they call you. And when you went to the grocery store, you had to follow a very specific path and you could not turn around. So if you missed it, oh well, next week. Isn't it so crazy to look back four years ago and be like, that was life. Like that's just, it was what it was, you know. really is crazy to think about that. It really is. And we all have different stories, but it impacted us in some way or another. I don't know anybody who just was not impacted. So many people lost their jobs. So many people got stranded in foreign countries. I know one lady, she was in Brazil for her mother's funeral when COVID struck. And her kids were in China with a nanny. for a minimum of three years. She did not see her kids. I don't know how that story ended. I don't know, but I followed her for three years. She could not get into China to see her children and the nanny was supposed to be doing a job for Saturday and Sunday. That was not supposed to be a gig for three years. That's insane. Oh my gosh, as a parent, that'd be horrible. Horrible. absolutely terrifying. Yeah, dang, that's crazy. So, okay, so... that's how I ended up in Africa. Okay, so how'd you end up back in Dallas then after all that? trying to get to Dallas since 2019. My wife is a South African national. She's not a US citizen like myself. So obviously I could just get on a plane and you know, fly back as long as I wasn't in a COVID lockdown, right? You know, it's for, you know, about six to eight months when Mauritius was in his lockdown. I was trapped. I couldn't leave that country. Yeah. But after they opened back up, I could have flown back in any time, but we were just waiting on US immigration to process my wife's visa. And that took four years. And so, you know, don't like to get political, but if you ever hear anybody talking about, Oh, the borders are open. That is an outright lie. It took a US citizen four years with his wife to get back here. And that's the border being open. It means that legal entry. That's what that means. If you are doing legal entry, it takes forever to get in this country. See, and that's wrong in my opinion, man, not to get too political in this, but that's so wrong that they make it so difficult to get a visa to come over. It's crazy. Mm hmm. And it's like, you know, you have USC is let's just say perhaps like you send an email, right? It's going to take them probably like a month and a half to two months to respond to your email. If you call, you're not going to get anybody on the phone. You can just forget about it. Yeah, and yet people want government ran everything. Yeah. Well, I don't think that'll ever change. I don't know if any government agency that's not staffed the way that it should be. Yeah, it's a disaster. It really is. There's no anyway, it took four years to get back. And you know, we were looking forward to getting back anyway, because in China things were starting to get a little hostile to say the least. And what I mean by that, we lived in the city of Sanya earlier. I described the beaches. I described the surfing and everything, but Sanya is also a massive military city. Okay, like where I lived. I had a naval base right next to my apartment. And a lot of the guys that I used to bank with at the ICBC bank in Sanya, China, they were all Chinese Navy officers. And so those who don't know, that's the International Chinese Bank, correct? Uh, it's just, okay. All the banks in China are stayed on. Okay. They don't have privately owned banks. And so, uh, ICBC, the Chinese agricultural bank, bank of China, uh, China, self-debate. All of these are just different competing branches. They, they compete with each other, but at the, at the end of the day, they're all stayed on banks. They don't have private ownership. And so I used to bank with, uh, I ICBC because of my employer. the employer helps you to set up your bank and they do direct deposit and everything. And I would always go and withdraw my money. I get paid. I go withdraw all my money because I didn't trust Chinese banks. It turned out that was absolute gold because they froze everybody's accounts when Covid happened. And so I just had a wad of cash in a closet. I had my buddy go and get it and send it to me. But anyway, I would be at the banks and there were just Chinese Navy officers all around me, white uniforms dudes are sharp, right? And they all thought I was a South African DJ because that's what I used to tell people, right? And occasionally these guys, you know, like they'd be open with me and then be talking to me and like, yeah, they're preparing for war. I'm like, well, who are you guys preparing for war with? And they're like the United States. And the reason is, is because our aircraft carrier strike groups would regularly sell in the South China Sea near the island where I lived. And the Chinese government did not like that. Taiwan was a little bit more North, but the same story is happening there as well. US aircraft carrier strike groups are sailing in that area as well. And the Chinese government doesn't like that as well. It's just very, it's kind of like if you had a whole bunch of gunpowder and fireworks and then there's a guy who's just, you know, lighting matches and he just keeps throwing them. Yeah, exactly. At some point... these things are going to blow up. That's kind of what may happen over there. One day, if there's ever some type of miscalculation, like the U.S. Navy think the Chinese are shooting or the Chinese Navy thinks the U.S. is shooting and they retaliate, bam, suddenly we're, we're sucked into a kinetic conflict. So, and that's kind of what your book that you wrote is about, correct? That is correct. I am the author of Made by China, A New World Order. It's a 470 page book about US-China relations. I measure the military and economic implications of a lot of what's happening because the United States and China are both interconnected in so many ways. And to a very strong degree, that interconnectedness is what keeps potential conflict from happening because it would be too costly for both nations. But since the Trump administration, a significant decoupling has been happening, and that means to sever economic ties. And so the more we sever these economic ties with China, the more likely that war becomes, because it's less costly for China, it's less costly for the United States. In fact, something that's intriguing for me, right? I like to go in my closet and I'm just looking at the tags on all of my shirts. I see made in Pakistan, made in Ecuador. Made in El Salvador, made in India, just even like some of the chemicals under my sink say made in Canada, like my hand soap, right? And so you have the diversification of these significant supply chains, right? Where a lot of that stuff used to be made in one place and one place alone, China. But the diversification is the result of decoupling. And so we have a lot that's being made in Mexico, more that's being made in Canada because we have very reliable supply chains. with these two neighbors. And they're a little bit friendlier. I think that plays a role as well, but that's wild, man. That's crazy. And so while you were in China, you were DJing there, correct? That's what you were doing? That is correct. While I was in China, I worked for the Golden Yacht Company. And we had events on the South China Sea every weekend. I tried to bring a lot of American theme parties. For example, we did Halloween. We did Cinco de Mayo. And for a lot of Chinese people, Russians, and Ukrainians, this was something that was exciting. They got to experience new culture. I tried doing an NFL party. That one was a complete flop. Nobody knew what the hell the NFL was and they were not interested. Yeah. like a strictly American thing for the most part. American, everybody else is into soccer. Everybody else calls it football. So yeah, I was working for the Golden Yacht Company for three years. And I also did a summer contract with the Atlantis. The Atlantis is one of the like biggest and most luxurious hotel chains in the world. They typically have killer whales, seals, dolphins. Where I was working, there was a... massive waterpark five or six thousand people will come in every single day. I was on this massive stage surrounded by the wave pool. So the waves are just going up and down, you know, and I'm over there doing 90 sec note. I would call it the Honolulu of China. Honolulu because Vegas is landlocked. Honolulu is beaches everywhere. That's how this place was beaches everywhere. cool, man. I love that. That's a cool story. That's really neat. So, and now that you're back, you're DJing full-time? Or what does that kind of look like? full-time job. Now I am the official DJ of DeLon Realty. DeLon Realty is a boutique real estate company based out of Allen, Texas. I think that something is really different in regard to other real estate companies is the level of attention that clients get because DeLon Realty is small. It's not like one of these multinational or corporate conglomerate real estate companies. And... 300 realtors out of one office? Yeah. exactly. I would also say something that was different for me was coming across a real estate company that also did a lot of business with ranches and farmland. You know, typically when I'm on like the DFW network, I have a lot of connections with a lot of real estate agent. And of course, everybody's talking about houses, you know, sell a house, right? But They do a lot of rank sales. Yeah. And, you know, large plots, you know, across, uh, Dallas, Fort worth. And so I'm the official DJ of the law and realty. And what that simply means is, is that as a community advocate, a person who believes in engaging in the community, there are a lot of community events that I would like to do. Unfortunately, I don't have the time and the resources to go and do all of those events. I don't, yeah, I'm just one person, you know, rather it be events for schools. Uh, events for like the DFW network chamber or events for other nonprofit organizations, I don't have the time to go and do them all. And so being the official DJ of the law means that the law sponsors me. And frees me up and makes me available for the community. And what I do for the line is when I go to events, I make people aware of the law. Exactly. But let people know, Hey, I'm DJ Mr. T the official DJ of the lawn realty. Uh, Today I am sponsored by Dillon. If you want more information, get in touch with me after the show or talk to my wife, Karina over there in the blue coat. Ha ha ha. love it, man. That's cool. That's really nice that it allows you to really free up your ability to go do things for the community. Because at the end of the day, if it's not for entrepreneurs, nobody's giving back to the community. Not in the same way, at least. I mean, corporations will give money back, but they're not giving back their time, their people, that energy the way an entrepreneur does. It just isn't the case. I agree. So that's cool, man. I like that. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Terrence, man. I really appreciate the awesome conversations. I feel like we could sit here and probably talk all day about this. And maybe someday soon we'll get to do that. I definitely want to hit you up about the DFW Chamber. But for those listening who want to get in touch with you, whether it's about the Chamber, the networking group, DJ gigs, or to buy your book? How do people get ahold of you? The primary way to get a hold of me is to get in touch with me on Facebook. This is where I'm absolutely the most active. You can find me at Terrence Thomas Dallas. And when you put in Terrence Thomas Dallas, you'll see a DJ picture, headphones and everything. That is me. Additionally, sagnatevents.com. That is... our event website that we have where, you know, people can look at DJ services. I'm there, but if a person really wants to communicate back to my Facebook DJ, Mr. T live at gmail.com is my email. And of course I would encourage everybody to go and check out the lawn.com as well to see what kind of properties on the market and how the Dillon company can help you with your real estate needs today. love it man. Thank you so much for your time today and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and thank you to everybody's listening.