Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Ha.
Andrew, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I founded my company HB entertainment by pursuing my passion as a DJ; Me and my brothers have always been natural performers and we’d perform as “Ha Brothers”’ as breakdancers to our local community festivals, dance competitions and help fundraise for nonprofit when we were in high school. When we transitioned into college, we picked up DJing as a hobby and did gigs at house parties and community events, but nothing too crazy.
After attending our first music festival, we fell in love with the scene and aspired to play on the bigger stages.
It was challenging for us to secure any shows because we were “nobodies” in the industry, even though we were confident in our talents and we’d bring out a big crowd to support us due to all the different communities we were affiliated with of since high school and were really fortunate enough to have multiple big supportive friend groups that believed in us.
This was quite frustrating that there wasn’t many opportunities for young aspiring DJs and artists starting off. So I decided to drop out of school and dedicate a year of extensive networking and working 2 jobs to save up enough money to rent out my first venue for one night and curated my first show in San Diego that completely sold out!
Not only were we able to perform our first headline show that we curated, but at the same time, we were able to help all the communities involved fundraise and provide opportunities to empower our DJ friends with their first industry show as well! This was by far one of the most fulfilling experiences and since 2017, we’ve curated over 120+ live shows in 8 cities and have provided a platform for student communities to fundraise over $175,000 in total.
HB Entertainment is dedicated to continue to curate some of the most unique experiences and opportunities to empower aspiring creatives & student communities through our live shows and events. Our company values is Community, Experience, and Opportunity; our simple philosophy was founded on the basic principle of empowering students to serve students.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely was not a smooth road and we had a lot of adversity we had to overcome along our journey.
In the beginning, I didn’t really have the support of my parents, growing up in a traditional Asian family, you can imagine what they said when I told them I was gonna drop out of college to become a DJ. I was also the eldest brother in my family so I had a lot of expectations from my parents to lead by example for my little brothers. It took a lot of courage for me to really believe in myself to pursue something I was really passionate about; I just had a strong intuition that this was my calling toward my higher purpose.
At the end of the day, I know my parent’s intentions were all out of love and they just wanted what they thought was best for me and I’m really honored that they are now understanding and proud of all my achievements.
I have also met a couple of different people in the industry that really deceived me and took advantage of my kindness and platform for their own hidden agenda. I’ve learned a lot working with many different people and now I only work with partners that align my personal values that will help serve the mission of our company.
I understand that this is all a part of the process and I’m definitely grateful for all of the experiences, good and bad because I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for all those adversity I had to overcome.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Creative Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and real estate investor.
I believe my superpower is honestly being the eldest brother, I have four little brothers which I truly unconditionally love, and they are a big part of who I am today; Ha Brothers was something our friends always labeled us as growing up in school cause we would always do everything together and go everywhere together, till this day. We breakdanced multiple shows together as Ha Brothers, we performed as DJs as Ha Brothers & built that reputation in multiple different communities. I believe these values translates into all of my work and personality, which is why I’m so dedicated to empowering the communities I surround myself with, stems from me being a big brother and caretaker since I’ve been doing this my entire life!
I’m proud of the platform that I’ve created with HB Entertainment because I believe everything I experienced in my entire life has led me up to this point to serve my higher purpose and I will continue spreading love & positivity to my community and help as many people as I can through my platform.
What sets me apart is that I am first generation Asian American and I want to break the current stigma of Asians in the entertainment industry and have more representation for our minority group. Which is why I dedicate every single day to become the best version of myself in every possible way. Physically, mentally, financially, and spiritually.
Hobbies and talents that are unique to me: Breakdancing, High Energy DJ performance, Calisthenics Workouts, and Empowering people to become the best version of themselves.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
They can apply to join TEAMHB: https://hbentertainment.org/Internship or follow us on instagram @andrewsangha & @hbentertainme
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hbentertainment.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hbentertainme
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HBEntertainme
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hbentertainme
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hbentertainme
Image Credits
HB Entertainment Bryan Miraflor
