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Bobby Stinnett is familiar with small business operations as the co-owner of SoundSkin Ink, a custom tattoo and body piercing shop in Mt. Sterling.

For new reasons, he has plenty of opportunities to feel welcome in Winchester.

On Thursday, Make Em Dance Entertainment from Lexington – owned and operated by Stinnett – joined the Winchester-Clark County Chamber of Commerce following a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“I joined the Chamber in Winchester here because I’m interested in networking and meeting more people in the community,” he said. “I do business in the community here as far as weddings, and things like that.”

With over twenty-five years of experience as both a club disc jockey and a disc jockey at private events, Stinnett’s expertise has brought him a wealth of knowledge.

First known as “DJ Make Em’ Dance,” he received his unique nickname from a source familiar to many Kentucky natives: the University of Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team.

It came while working at Gambino’s in Lexington, which has since closed.

“I’ve always kept it for that reason,” Stinnett said. “A basketball player actually owned that so that’s how I met all [those] guys.”

Make Em’ Dance Entertainment provides services for corporate events, non-profit events, weddings, high school dances, parties, celebrations, and more.

They can offer dance floors, a photo booth, dance lighting, uplighting, cold sparklers, red carpet, custom backdrops, large televisions and even gobo projection in a festive atmosphere.

A gobo, which stands for “goes before optics,” empowers producing a light projection of an image or text.

As such, it often gets employed at corporate events and weddings where it can be used to project a logo or other image onto a wall.

While tastes in music have changed through the years, Stinnett notes that there is often a recurring theme.

“No matter what, the music is predominantly mid-2000s or late 90ss”, he said. “That’s what they want to hear at Tates Creek [High School’s] prom; most of our requests were for the early 2000s.”

As a highly regarded business, Make Em’ Dance Entertainment was a WeddingWire five-star Couples Choice Awards winner in 2022 and 2023.

For all they can offer, the idea of them coming to Winchester has excited many.

“It’s a great opportunity as we get more and more entrepreneurial business owners who come in and open up to be able to provide that service,” said Nancy Turner, the executive director of Winchester Tourism Commission. “We’re grateful that he’s joined the Chamber and look forward to helping him grow his business.”

Asked what he looked forward to, Stinnett took little time to respond.

“Creating an environment for people to have fun,” he said. “You meet new people every week, and you see their faces on the dance floor light up. That’s what it’s about; creating memories.”