12 year old Robbie Rosatto sits with his family in the living room. Wearing his red and black plaid Christmas pajamas, he eagerly waits to open up the next present. It is his turn so he rips open a box containing a small DJ Board that connects to his iPhone. He is so excited he runs up the steps to his room and practices while watching youtube tutorials to understand the switches and buttons.

After a few years Robbie forgot all about his DJ table and the interest he initially had. However, after starting college his passion began to reappear with the help of a few friends.

Robbie is currently 22 years old and is a senior at Temple University. His Djing career has come a long way since performing and practicing in his bedroom. Currently he and his friends own an entertainment company known as Read the Room (RTR).
Robbie and his 2 roommates created RTR during their sophomore year of college. Anthony Rocca, one of Robbie’s roommates, said, “I met Robbie my sophomore year of college” and he had already created a “photography and videography car company called Pennsylvania Boost.”

After sharing this business with other people in their apartment building Anthony said “one of our neighbors came over to us and asked if we would be interested in making a recruitment video for her sister’s sorority.” While doing this “the idea for doing photography at parties came up and Robbie began to dabble with the idea of becoming a DJ.”

The idea seemed to just be something in their free time that they would do for fun, but after creating the sorority recruitment video the business began to evolve.

Micheal Robles, a photographer for RTR said, “Robbie was always very good at curating music and always had a really good playlist.” As the company got more serious Robbie decided to “buy a DJ deck and started practicing.”

At first Robbie practiced a lot even though he understood most of the switches and buttons. However after lots of practice Robbie said, “My first performance was at a small bar here at Temple.”

Robbie was nervous because he was not a very outgoing person. Standing up in front of an audience and talking on a microphone, he did not like the idea of being the center of attention. Not having high expectations for his first performance Robbie said, “the bar was really small but it was packed when I was DJing.”

Since his first performance Robbie has created a company that has become a full time business. Robbie said, “the places I perform have gotten a lot more legit including more pay and have so many more people.”

Robbie has performed at so many different places with different audiences since the start of RTR he no longer feels the fear of standing up in front of a crowd. Since the beginning RTR has dramatically increased the amount of customers and gigs they take up on a weekly basis.

Micheal said that “Robbie used to average at one gig a week and now he is averaging at two to three gigs a week.”

Social media has been a huge help in making RTR a known company in the Philadelphia area. Robbie and his roommates created a website displaying portfolios of videography and photography. Robbie believes that “social media is practically the only way to market our business.” He also believes that “it has helped us connect with tons of people and the photography we do at these parties is able to be seen by so many people online.”

Despite the success that RTR has had since starting sophomore year, there has been many struggles with making money off of a hobby. Robbie said, “One thing that is hard in the DJing world is the clubs and bars are fun and all but it is really the private events that help me make money.”

Robbie plans to continue his career after graduating from Temple University with a major in marketing. RTR plans to continue their company, however, changing their audience from college students to more private events.

Robbie said, “I will be DJing for a while and after graduating I am planning to take the private events full time.” Robbie said he wants to “continue performing at bars and clubs” however “he believes those will be events [he] only does when he has free time.”

Robbie hopes to continue on this passion and believes he “owes DJing for helping him become a more outgoing person.”