Flying High: Juan Quinones Revolutionizes Luxury Drone Content and Training

Juan Quinones is a visionary entrepreneur, luxury drone pilot, travel influencer, and the founder of Luxy Drone, a leading company in luxury real estate and innovative drone videography. Based in Las Vegas, Juan has transformed the drone industry by creating immersive content that has garnered millions of views online. Through his groundbreaking work with high-profile events and luxury brands, he has positioned himself as a leader in the creator economy.

Beyond his stunning visual content, Juan runs a thriving community dedicated to teaching aspiring drone pilots how to fly and build successful businesses. “My mission is to help at least 100 drone pilots hit their first $1,000 from flying FPV drones,” he shares. His educational program has already helped students, including a 12-year-old, earn their first income through drones.

In this episode of Pursue Vegas, Juan revisits his humble beginnings shooting wedding videos and shares how he built Luxy Drone into a global brand that serves luxury real estate and high-profile events. The conversation dives into Juan’s creative process, his journey to mastering FPV drone technology, and his approach to creating viral content. “What’s really fascinating about creating is that sometimes, it’s like an idea just gets downloaded to you from the universe,” Juan explains.

Juan also discusses the challenges and opportunities of Las Vegas’s evolving creator economy. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration over competition in fostering a supportive creative community. “It’s collaboration, not competition. The people at the top are collaborating. There’s no one competing at the top,” he notes.

Looking to the future, Juan shares his vision for making Las Vegas a hub for innovative content creators, with projects like Warner Brothers’ upcoming studio positioning the city as a global creative force. “Vegas is becoming the second Hollywood, and I want to put my flag here for Luxy Drone,” he says.

Key Takeaways

• Transforming Drone Videography: Juan redefines how luxury real estate and high-end brands leverage drones for captivating media.
• Empowering Creators: His training program helps aspiring drone pilots turn their passion into profit.
• Innovative Storytelling: Juan merges technology and artistry to create immersive, brand-elevating content.
• Collaboration Over Competition: He champions unity in Las Vegas’s creative scene to foster greater success.
• Las Vegas as a Creative Hub: Juan sees Vegas becoming a global leader in content creation, rivaling Hollywood.

Resources

• Follow Juan on Instagram: @juancquinones
• Learn about Juan's Drone Training Program: @fpvcreators
• Book Mentioned: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

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Transcript

0:00:00 - (Juan Quinones): I am Juan Quinoneswith Luxy Drone, and this is Pursue Vegas.

0:00:04 - (Dave Burlin): All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Pursue Vegas podcast. I'm your host, Dave Burlin.

0:00:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): And I'm your co host, Tawni Nguyen.

0:00:11 - (Dave Burlin): And you know what I'm gonna say, I am so excited. But man, the level of excitement just gets deeper and deeper. I cannot wait to introduce today's guest, Juan the Incredible with luxydrone and so many things. But I remember when I met this guy, and I'm gonna nail it. It was October 14, 2020, and I'm throwing that out there just because it may have been 2019, it may have been pre pandemic. Either way, I just know that October 14th because we were at a wedding together. I was DJing this wedding and this. I've seen weddings all over the United States, but never in my life have I seen somebody roll up shooting video the way that he shot. What was that thing that you were on, bro?

0:00:54 - (Juan Quinones): That was a segue.

0:00:55 - (Dave Burlin): A segue, Like a g. What rolls in and just. He's been one of my favorite characters of this city ever since. So, Juan, welcome to the Pursue Vegas podcast. What is going on in your world, my friend?

0:01:08 - (Juan Quinones): Thank you for the warm intro, Dave. It's gonna be hard to top that. Quick question. Do I look at you? The camera? Hu.

0:01:17 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, just flow with all of it. Avoid the camera. Don't look right at the camera.

0:01:22 - (Juan Quinones): All right.

0:01:23 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:01:25 - (Juan Quinones): Sweet. Yeah. Happy to be here.

0:01:27 - (Dave Burlin): Awesome. What are you working on now? Because when we met, we were both in the wedding industry. That's been several years back, of course, a whole pandemic has happened. The world is a little bit of a different place. But what are you excited about right now?

0:01:40 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, great question. So right now I'm in the process of teaching a bunch of drone pilots how to fly drones and get their first paid gig. So, yeah, that's my main focus right now. And I'm also helping luxury real estate agents sell more homes online using my EPIC FPV drone footage.

0:02:01 - (Dave Burlin): Epic is not the right word for it, my friend. There's almost. There's gotta be like a new word in the dictionary to come up with what you are doing with drones. I've made the mistake today of introducing you as the guy who invented drones, which isn't true at all. But you're. But no, like, it's so powerful because again, when I saw you on the segue, I was like, wow, this guy's really taking a different approach at video than I've ever seen.

0:02:28 - (Dave Burlin): And I'm not surprised that you've went that hard in the paint going in a direction, not just you doing drones, which I'm sure there's a lot of great drone pilots out there, but you're also teaching people. So how many. When did you launch that and how many students are you working with right now?

0:02:45 - (Juan Quinones): Wow, that's actually a great question. Exactly one year ago, like two days ago is when I launch.

0:02:52 - (Dave Burlin): Happy birthday.

0:02:53 - (Juan Quinones): Thank you. Happy birthday.

0:02:55 - (Dave Burlin): Free lemon waters for everybody.

0:02:58 - (Juan Quinones): But yeah, it started all about like a year and a. Yeah, about one year ago today or a few days ago. I. Let's see, what was I doing at that time? So I was in Vegas just shooting for luxury real estate agents, flying through giant houses, 10 million dollarars plus properties, and I just purchased a new car. So I was kind of tied on funds and I had this Bali trip coming up with some friends. And I remember thinking like, dang, all my clients have already paid me out.

0:03:28 - (Juan Quinones): I've got my return. Sorry, I've got my flight there, I've got the hotel stays, all that stuff already covered. My flight back I don't have covered. So I had to get real creative to see how I was gonna make like an extra 1500 bucks. So I thought, huh, what if I create a course and teach people how to fly drones? So it was a silly idea, but I just put it out there on my Instagram and I was like, hey, I'm gonna be training 10 people how to fly NFPV drone in 30 days if you're interested. Just hit me up.

0:03:55 - (Juan Quinones): And then I must got at least like 90 people to message me immediately. We got like 25 students in the first beta test. And not only did I have enough money to get to Bali and back, but I had some left over. So that became money that I put into like bu building out the COR course, the curriculum. And yeah, that's how it started.

0:04:15 - (Dave Burlin): And how many people are you working with right now? Did you say?

0:04:18 - (Juan Quinones): Right now? We have 75 students.

0:04:20 - (Dave Burlin): Wow, that's great, man. And some of your students, like they're getting paid. Like is there. Are you keeping track of that data? Like what's the fastest that somebody's got paid and what s that? You've got some younger kids that are on there too that are getting paid.

0:04:33 - (Juan Quinones): Yes. So the youngest kid in our program is actually 12 years old. And he's actually like, I want to say he's top three students in the entire community. Cause he just, he's like a sponge.

0:04:44 - (Tawni Nguyen): You know, his brain is still fresh. Yeah, he hasn't been corrupted like the rest of us.

0:04:49 - (Juan Quinones): Kid's young, he's coachable, he's teachable, and he's very creative. I feel like as you become an adult, the creativity just kind of stops growing. So he took, you know, he took off with all the trainings, no pun intended. So he got his first paid gig, like, a couple of months ago. He made his first 300 bucks, which is pretty cool for him, and then, like, in a couple of hours. But right now we have five members who we've helped hit that first 1K mark.

0:05:13 - (Juan Quinones): And right now I'm on a mission to help at least 100 drone pilots hit their first $1,000 from flying FPV drones.

0:05:19 - (Dave Burlin): That's so powerful, man. It's one thing to have a business, but to be able to teach people how to have their own business is a whole different skill set. You know, one of the things that is really kind of behind the curtain in my life, which is getting a lot more louder now, you know, I help coach 100 restaurants all around the world with my business partner back in Oklahoma, Mike Boucsch. And it's been fascinating because I don't necessarily come from the restaurant world, but I can do systems in pretty much anything.

0:05:48 - (Dave Burlin): And I was a big encouragement for him to take the knowledge that he has. He has 12 restaurants and, you know, he's home every night for dinner. So how could we teach him to or how could we help him build something where he could teach other people? And it's been phenomenal. Like, some of these people's lives are being changed forever. Like, for that kid, like, there's no. You can't even compare his life because it's just taking off.

0:06:14 - (Dave Burlin): All pun intended. Right. So with that, like, where are you at now? Is that. Are you all in on that? Are you still shooting for clients and stuff as well? What does your life look like on a day to day?

0:06:27 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, great question. So I want to say about like a year and a half ago, before I started the program, I was invited onto a podcast and my friend Billy was asking me, so what's. What's your vision for Luxy Drone, for your course, your community, all this stuff, And I came up with a really great idea, like on the fly. I said, all right, so step one, we're gonna teach a bunch of drone pilots how to fly drones safely, responsibly, create epic content.

0:06:53 - (Juan Quinones): Step two, I'm going to basically work with a bunch of luxury brands, agents and help them get millions of Views and followers online through the drone content. And then step three, I'm going to connect those two things together. So plug in my pilots that I've trained myself with, you know, the most luxury brands in the world so that they can create epic content for them. So I said all of this on that podcast about a year and a half ago, and it's all playing out exactly that way. So that's the big picture of you is I want to create, I call it Luxie Drone Worldwide, where I just have 20 to 50 pilots who are talented, vetted by me.

0:07:30 - (Juan Quinones): They're safe, they're insured, they have all of their certifications and just trust them with my high end clientele so they can, you know, share the results that I've gotten for my clients. But for their clients.

0:07:40 - (Dave Burlin): That's amazing, man. And kudos for not only doing it, but you're here in Vegas. And how long have you been here?

0:07:48 - (Juan Quinones): I moved in, I moved here during COVID So like 2020.

0:07:52 - (Dave Burlin): Nice, nice. Now you're all over the world and I see your stuff like your. You said Bali. Where are some of the other places that you frequent on. On a. It looks like on a weekly basis.

0:08:05 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, just a lot of LA Miami trips, just locally, but every, every three to four months will go somewhere. Like, we just came back from Tulum most recently and yet before that it was Bali. And I think this year we may or may not be doing Thailand.

0:08:22 - (Dave Burlin): Okay.

0:08:22 - (Juan Quinones): So we shall see.

0:08:24 - (Dave Burlin): Nice. Very cool.

0:08:25 - (Tawni Nguyen): Friendsus. I think it sounds like we're coming with you, right?

0:08:28 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah. Yeah, let's go. Let's do it.

0:08:29 - (Tawni Nguyen): No, I love that your story came and it shows like different sides of innovation in entrepreneurship. It's not always something that has to be like, hardly written, but sometimes it starts on a napkin. And for you it's like I needed to create something because I needed, like there's a need for it because that's where the market was going. And I love the real estate. Maybe we know some people in there. Do you work with other. Juan the wolf.

0:08:51 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, I know thee the Wolf of real estate.

0:08:55 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, immediately. Because I think I've seen some of his stuff. When he showed me some of his listing suits, I'm like, those are cool shots. I didn't know it was you. So now it kind of connects the dot. So I've seen some of your work and that's awesome because prior to him showing it to me, which I did, I look, I don't know. But. So I love that aspect of you just coming up with something on a fly, having a vision and then really leaning into it.

0:09:16 - (Tawni Nguyen): And you know where it's going with like Miami and LA and here like and globally obviously Dubai, right. Like they have crazy cinematic like photography and all that stuff. But something that I really wantna know, it's on the funny side of like the drones because all the insurance logistics and coordinations around that with Vegas being like they have like certain areas you can't fly above and people's backyard. So something I always wonder when people talk about drones is like, hey, what are some of the funniest things you've seen like while you're shooting drones that have you ever been sent like a cease and desist for like getting someone naked or doing something in their backyard they shouldn't have been to where like that side of the business is like kind of funny to me.

0:09:57 - (Juan Quinones): You know, funny stories about drones. I, I don't, I don't really know. I mean I've heard like maybe this isn't funny. This is like probably pretty dangerous. But there are some pilots in the community who they've had their dogs like get a hold of their drone batteries and you know, the dog thinks is like it's a toy and he just punctures his drone battery and it causes this big like fireball. So this is something that happens like with FPV drone pilots, like if they're not trained on safety and lipos safety and they don't have the proper precautions, they could start house fires. But luckily the person that I heard the story from, like you know, the poochi was fine, the house was fine.

0:10:41 - (Juan Quinones): But u. I mean that's, that's one thing that could happen in the, in the drone world. And then there's other things like actually I don't really know about other funny things that happen. I just from my own personal work, like I often fly my drone through like with actors. So for example, if someone's pouring a cup of coffee, I'll fly under their arm and stuff like that. So it's always kind of funny seeing people's reactions to like whoa, this crazy flying thing is, you know, not gonna hurt me.

0:11:11 - (Juan Quinones): Soah. I don't know if that answer the question.

0:11:13 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, no, that's what I'm always curious about because people that like I've seen drones over my backyards and I'm like, what if I happen to be naked, like who do I go after? Is there any regulations against that? Because where technology and AI and everything is going, there's got to be Something that protects the people versus the robots, which essentially is the drones and the AI and all the automations and systems that have put in place to capture just nature scenes and people that live by the mountains, like, you know.

0:11:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): So that's something I'm curious about.

0:11:40 - (Juan Quinones): Oh, that's actually kind of something pretty funny. So I heard a story of a guy who basically shot a drone out of the air because it was in his backyard. And that's illegal to do. You're not allowed to shoot a drone out of the air.

0:11:52 - (Dave Burlin): It's like a. Drones have rights to.

0:11:54 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, drones have rights to. So I think it was like either a felony or something, but I mean, I'm sure it's probably not a good idea to shoot a gun up in the air. Just. Anyways. Um, but yeah, so that, that was something kind of funnyap. So the drone guy was actually in the right. And the guy ended up getting arrested.

0:12:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): Wow.

0:12:11 - (Dave Burlin): Wow. So let's talk about the restrictions part. Right. Because, um, I saw somebody the other day on the strip and they were like sitting there trying. They were like messing with the drone. And I just, I walked by shaking my head. I was like, I'm pretty sure that's not gonna fly here. But you have been able to fly in some really incredible places. I've watched, you know, so much of your content. Like one time you were flying in one of the clubs for like John Summit Tiessto at Omnia. I don't even know if we can say that on the radio, whatever the. Whoops.

0:12:43 - (Dave Burlin): What was his name? It rhymes with Tiesto Omnia. But no. So how. What was your first big break that you got? And then how did that kind of open up the opportunity? Because then is it just like a domino effect where it's like, whoa, I've already flown here. And it's like, oh, well, then you're good.

0:13:00 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, definitely. So. So I was working with a few local luxury real estate agents, is flying my drone through their houses. And then I one day I did a collaboration with someone named Stan Lopez here in Vegas. He does like of mine.

0:13:18 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:13:18 - (Juan Quinones): Yep. You know Stan? Yeah. So him and I did a collaboration for one of his clients. Her name is Wendy, and she had this beautiful property like out in like Dragon Dridge, I believe it's called. And basically he comes up to me's like, hey, I wonder what this guy is doing. Hey, excuse me, how much do you pay for rent here in Vegas? I was like, oh, actually don't live here. I'm just working. He's like, oh, what do you do? Working on. I'm like, I'm just finding this drone through this $11 million house.

0:13:43 - (Juan Quinones): He's like, oh, wow, can I come to work with you? So that was, like, the hook of the video. That video, like, at the time, I was getting, you know, gigs here and there, but after that video, like, took off, it got, like, 1.6 million views or something like that within a few weeks. So that was, like, my first, you know, big moment where things just started taking off. And then shortly after that, it was EDC week in Vegas, and I got invited to shoot.

0:14:10 - (Juan Quinones): I think it was the Marquee Day Club, and I was filming. I think it was John Summit, if I'm allowed to say that it rhymes with Juan.

0:14:22 - (Dave Burlin): We're so afraid of Juan Done Itan.

0:14:29 - (Juan Quinones): Who did it? Juan Donean done it. Who shot that?

0:14:32 - (Tawni Nguyen): He signed his liability waiver.

0:14:35 - (Juan Quinones): So I had the idea of, like, filming all of the behind the scenes of me filming that event, especially because I was so excited to be flying over a crowd of people to be flying a big DJ that I listened to for years. So I documented the whole thing, and that video got, like, over 600,000 views during EDC weekend. And it got me. I was. I had, like, 2.5 or 3K followers on Instagram, and then I just shot up to, like, 19K within just a few weeks.

0:15:07 - (Juan Quinones): So that was my second introduction to, you know, things kind of taking off. And then at that point or a few months after that, I realized, man, all these views, all this traffic, all these questions people ask me, like, hey, what drone should I buy? What drone should buy? I'm like, let me just create a video training on this. So then that was, like, when the ideas of creating a training in a course, like, started.

0:15:27 - (Dave Burlin): I love that. I love that. Did it make it easier, though, for, like, because you. One of my favorite sets of videos that you've so graciously shared for us to use for some of the footage for Even for this show was when you shot during F1. Like, man, what did that. How was that process? Did they. Did someone reach out to you?

0:15:48 - (Juan Quinones): So I work with a really talented photographer, and he's, like, the head of marketing for a lot of the big casinoss here. His name is Tony Tran, and he basically outsourced that work to me. He was working with the Venetian as his client, and they had some creative ideas for F1. They wanted to, like, advertise their VIP seating where you can see, like, the race happening right on the strip. So, yeah, he hired me directly for that project.

0:16:14 - (Dave Burlin): That's great man, that's great.

0:16:15 - (Tawni Nguyen): It sounds like virality has done a lot for your business, so congratulations because social media nowadays is either used for good or evil in the business world. And for me I'm wondering about like the conversion that you have especially working with with strictly the more luxury end of things versus your own conversion with from the coaching program to the individual clients and where that kind of lays in between like your ability to service individuals versus like now hotels and just bigger projects. And how does that play out in terms of now you're getting more reach which is great for business. Right. But are you, what does the bandwidth look like now that you're training like your students and having them tap into the resources of this empire that you're building? What does that vision look like in terms of conversion and helping agents? And are you looking for industries like outside of that that you think will take their business to the next level?

0:17:08 - (Juan Quinones): All excellent questions. Let me try to process that for a second, Throw a bunch at it. So let me try to backwards engineer that. So basically our end goal is to provide luxury brands all over the world with the most high end viral content so they can get more sales. But I guess one obstacle to getting that is me only just being one person. So that's where the course and everything comes in. I'm teaching my pilots everything I know about like I have a few concepts or strategies when it comes to creating viral content. So I'm teaching this to them, I'm showing them how to be safe, responsible pilots, how to create epic videos, all that stuff.

0:17:53 - (Juan Quinones): And then. Sorry, I got lost. What were the other questions you asked? So that's the end goals. I want to work with, you know, the best brands in the world and help them get more sales through viral content. All organic.

0:18:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. So just anyone like else in the industry that you think could really use, you know like the drone aspect to grow their business outside of now? You know, just the agents for real estate and the hotels and like what's next? Like what's another industry that.

0:18:18 - (Juan Quinones): Oh, I see what you're saying.

0:18:19 - (Tawni Nguyen): You use your service to like disrupt their business model.

0:18:22 - (Juan Quinones): So that's a really great question. I think that any business can really benefit from getting lots of views to their social medias. But restaurants, live broadcasting, there's guys who will broadcast like an entire NFL game on a little drone and it'll be shown like on the big screen TV like at the actual event. I'm thinking churches can use this for Live broadcasting. You know, the Megaurches go crazy with all their camera equipment and the sound design and all that stuff. Like, they could basically show the drone flying through the crowd as everyone's singing and chanting, stuff like that.

0:19:00 - (Juan Quinones): Another industry that could benefit from this would be like the luxury automotive. Just like, being able to help people sell their cars faster or get more rentals. Yachts, too. Blue waters, white yachts. You know, drones. I feel like that stuff goes together. Nightclubs, day clubs, RVs. Just anything that looks interesting that is happening either, like in a physical location, like. Like a real estate property or, you know, an ATV out in the desert.

0:19:31 - (Juan Quinones): Like, anything that's captivating could benefit from a drone video.

0:19:36 - (Dave Burlin): I've seen you use it. And I think there's a unique thing that's happening in the customer experience these days, right. People, they want to be entertained, but it's like they also don't want to be surprised. Right. So it just a little thing, right? It's like, I don't want to roll up to a spot if I don't know what the parking situation is like. Not that you've used that in some of your videos, but what you have shown is you've shown what it's like walking into the door.

0:20:02 - (Dave Burlin): You've shown what it's like, what like, no, there's no surprises when somebody goes in, but they almost say, wow, when they get to see the whole place. Like, you, like, you'll take them through. And I love how you really do the behind the scenes and you like, show people like, okay, this is going to happen. I remember when you did Around Christmas with the Santa Claus and you followed the Santa Claus guy on the segue, right?

0:20:23 - (Dave Burlin): And it was really perfect because you could see like your vision of like, what you saw, all those pieces coming together, but it also really showed a day in the life of what that place looks like. And then now somebody can go there with no surprises. And they like. It almost adds that layer of comfortability when it's like if there was anything holding them back, now they kind of want to go see, like what it's like.

0:20:47 - (Dave Burlin): Is it really like it was on the video?

0:20:48 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah. So that's actually a funny story. So the owner of Young El la, that's the warehouse where I was flying the drone through basically to their property. He reached out to me because he saw some of my drone videos and he had an idea like, hey, Christmas is right around the corner. I want to show how busy we are at our warehouse. We have like millions of parcels and things that we're shipping out.

0:21:09 - (Juan Quinones): Can you fly your drone through it? It's like, yeah, sure. Just do me a favor and like, record a video of yourself walking through the warehouse so I can see what it looks like. And then after ext sending back that video, I just, you know, saw a lot of hardwork, working people just packing boxes. I'm like, okay, how can we make this viral? How can we add more oomph to this? So I proposed him a crazy idea, and I was kind of afraid that he was gonna, like, shut me down. Be like, yeah, maybe this isn't our guy.

0:21:34 - (Juan Quinones): So I said, okay, hear me out. What if we get a Santa Claus riding a one wheel scooter into the warehouse where he's passing by a bunch of happy elf workers wearing, like, you know, elf hats. And then we have two grown men who are fighting over this gift. And then we have the workers that are playing limbo with, like, a candy cane stick. And then we have some Christmas carers who are just like, you know, they're all singing and dancing.

0:21:59 - (Juan Quinones): And then I fly above where there's these, like, little storage boxes and there's these two guys who are slacking off. They should be working, but what are they doing? They're drinking eggnog. They cheers. I fly under them, cheersing. And then I fly into this one wheel Santa Claus who's got his gift sack open. I fly into that bag. And then we end the video. And then he took like a good 24 hours to respond to that. And I was like, oh, yeah, I scared him off. That's it.

0:22:24 - (Juan Quinones): Better start looking for workoutse where he's like, I love it. Let's do it. And that video ended up doing exceptionally well online. It's one of their favorite videos. I just recorded a test, a case study with them last week, and I think they pulled either 800k or a million. I forgot how much they did on that video. But then they also wanted me to fly through their private gym where they have all of their, like, fitness influencers basically working out there. So we did a one take showing off the entire gym.

0:22:53 - (Juan Quinones): And that one did, I want to say 1.5 or 1.6 million on their account, and then 6 million on a different account. So a whole lot of eyeballs on that brand.

0:23:05 - (Dave Burlin): And that was a good one too, because, like, I mean, you did it so with so much class. Because I want to say you were in and out of a bathroom or something on that too. Like, you went through everything, but you did it. In such a classy way that again, I just felt like I've been there before and I would like to go there again. Like, and I've never been, but it's like, that's the kind of feeling that you can create with drones.

0:23:28 - (Dave Burlin): If you could shoot somewhere here in Vegas that you haven't got to shoot yet, like, what's the. What's cooking? And you don't have to like, say, like you're onto that. But like, if you could shoot anywhere right now, where would you love to just get in and go crazy?

0:23:42 - (Juan Quinones): That's a great question. Actually, I haven't thought of it yet. Cause I've been so preoccupied shooting clients and teaching this community. But guess the Sphere would be a nice one. I've seen some cool videos from this very talented drone pilot named Jaybird Films who hasah filmed through the Sphere. Yeah, that's definitely one that would be cool. Outside of that, I'm not sure I've been blessed and lucky enough to connect with a lot of entrepreneurs and, you know, people like Tony who have sent me on all these amazing gigs.

0:24:10 - (Juan Quinones): So my FPV bucket list for Vegas is, you know, getting close to being complete. Because I've shot so many cool places here. I do have a potential gig coming up with Fight Club here in Vegas. The owner there, you know, he's displayed interest in one of our videos. So I'm planning out a flight plan with him right now to see if we can do something with him and some of the influencers there.

0:24:33 - (Dave Burlin): Is that the one over at Palato Fight Club? Oh, Fight Club.

0:24:38 - (Juan Quinones): Fight Club. No, it's. I actually don't even know what street it's on. O. It's like somewhere in the middle of Vegas.

0:24:42 - (Dave Burlin): Very cool. Very cool.

0:24:43 - (Juan Quinones): And then Spring Valley.

0:24:44 - (Dave Burlin): That's the stuff that you're doing here. What about other places? Because I see some. That's why. Like when I texted you. And first of all, thanks for saying yes. U. I'm so glad that you're here. But, uh, I was like, are you in Las Vegas? Because sometimes you're not. Uh, do you have some cool travel and stuff coming up soon?

0:25:01 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, so actually, uh, tomorrow I'm getting flown out to Colorado to film over the Red Rocks Amphitheater for this band called Re Revolution. And it's crazy because I just got into town, like on Monday. So I'm like, okay, I guess I'll go. What? Always me. Life's tough.

0:25:22 - (Dave Burlin): Your problems are so real.

0:25:25 - (Tawni Nguyen): Manifestation is.

0:25:27 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, I gotta, like, slow it down a little bit. But yeah, so I'm probably gonna go shoot with them tomorrow or go out for that shoot tomorrow. But, yeah, I'm trying. I'm trying my best to stay in Vegas. But, you know, if'calls, it's an awesome opportunity. I'm notnna say no. Which is why I really want to build out this team even faster so that I can just send people out who are closer to Colorado than I am.

0:25:51 - (Dave Burlin): I love that.

0:25:52 - (Tawni Nguyen): Wow. I'm still kind of stuck on the whole shoot with the eggnog and everything. Like, I'm just trying to visualize it as someone that's a creative right. And for you to tap into that, it feels like there's a lot of interconnectedness with yourself, with your creativity, with your inner child. And now you get to live fully expressed, like, in the art of, like, creating visions and for other people. So what does that work look like for you? Just on a personal level, outside of the drones and the fancy technology and everything else that you have, working on your personal transformation so that you can stay really in touch with, like, how creative you are being and how you're a leader in your community and how you're pouring back, like, so much value into the students and what they can do, not only to create money, but to build a lifestyle around something that's luxury but fun, but also, like, really creative.

0:26:40 - (Juan Quinones): I just got chills as you asked that question because it just reminded me of something so beautiful. So when I was actually 16 years old, I was lost, depressed, anxious. All my friends were going off to college or like, filling out applications and stuff, and I was still very much figuring life out. And I was sitting in history class one day watching a YouTube video, and it was about this guy who got to travel the world making videos and creating content, and he made a full time income doing that.

0:27:08 - (Juan Quinones): So at that moment, being this lost, scared kid, like, all these changes happening, I found my purpose in my path in life. Just at that moment, like, it just all became so clear to me. And now I'm actually really happy that I get to help other people, you know, find their path in life through creating content like I was once inspired. So I don't know if that answers the question as far as where the creativity comes from, but I feel like that's definitely something that has inspired me to create this community and to, you know, share what.

0:27:35 - (Juan Quinones): What I know with everyone.

0:27:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah. Back in. It's just like, when you create something so beautifully, like when I watch other people's content, like, you can really feel like you're there. Like, that's the, like, epitome of, like, what a good creator does to other people is it taps into their feelings and emotions and the goosebumps. And it really just feels like you're traveling through time and space without being on drugs. Sometimes, like, I feel like when I watch other artists, like, creations, I'm like, were they high when they did this? Like, how did they think of this? Because it just feels so surreal that they're entering, like, a different, like, dimension of just unlocking things that we can't visually see on this three dimensional world. And sometimes that, for me, it's like, in itself, like, the question of, like, the universe. I'm like, why are we here? Like, what's the meaning of life? Until I look into other people's, like, tapestry of, like, their create, like, creativeness. And it's just like, so, like, in awe. And you're just like, wow, I'm so small in the world, you know, and it just makes me, like, really tap into the spiritual questions of, like, wondering about the world.

0:28:35 - (Juan Quinones): No, I totally relate to that. I've actually listened to podcasts and interviews and people talking about how, like, you know, Elon Mus, Tesla, Nikola, or Thomas Edison, like, they asked them, like, how did you come up with the ideas for these crazy inventions? They're like, honestly, I don't even feel like they're my ideas. They're just kind of downloaded to me from the universe, from the ether, whatever you want to call it. But I definitely feel like, you know, as creatives, we do tap into that whenever we're creating something new. So I think that's pretty dope.

0:29:04 - (Dave Burlin): There's actually. I don't know if it's one of the podcasts that you've listened to. You. There's a. There's a great book called the Creative act by Rick Rubin.

0:29:11 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, I actually just downloaded that oneud so good.

0:29:13 - (Dave Burlin): I fall asleep to that one at night. And it's literally, that's what he talks about. The universe is a factory delivering these ideas. And some of these ideas are your responsibility to take from inception all the way to completion. But some of those you may carry halfway down the conveyor belt. And then it's either because of the creator type that you are, that that's your specialty, or it's just wherever the universe falls. Because that could be a thing where it's just like, oh, I just let it fly. Back off. Even this show, the premise of this whole show is based on an idea from a project that we had Back in Tulsa that was based on an idea three years before that. This goes back 10 years for us to be here right now. It started with some kids that were great at video.

0:29:56 - (Dave Burlin): They came to me. We all worked out of the same building, and they said, hey, watch this video. And it was. That one was called what's happened in Tulsa? And it was just this girl. She said, hey, it was all this great B roll footage. And they said, you know, we want to show you all the things that are happening in our city. And when it went off, I just sat there and I was just like. And I just waited for somebody to talk, and they go, how do we. How do we monetize this? And that created a whole thing where in just two months, we were at Oktoberfest.

0:30:28 - (Dave Burlin): And I had went to some people, I had some. You know, I could pull some strings, and I was like, hey, we got these video teams. We want to do this thing. All we need is passes. We're not asking for the big $20,000 budget. Just give us a couple passes. Let us go. And they were like, how many passes you need? I was like, we need eight. And they're like, you just want eight passes? And I was like, no, this is like a whole team.

0:30:46 - (Dave Burlin): We came with the whole setup and everything. Those kids flipped that video one night, took it. Took it to the Oktoberfest people, and they took down the video from the $20,000 vendor that they had and put. Put our video up. And then it just went crazy. And it's like, then that just kind of died off. Because sometimes creatives, it's a little. Little wonky, right? Working with them, especially the ones that don't know how to leverage what they do and make money, they stay either too. Too much in the creative realm, or they go too much for the gut shot clothes.

0:31:21 - (Dave Burlin): Those kids, they just pulled it back. And as soon as we buried that project, I had three different people reaching out to me, like, yo, we got a plan. Like, here's how we could do it different. And then they launched that as soon as I moved here. And, like, then this. The whole Pursue Vegas idea came from all of that. And it's like, now here it is. It's been this thing that's been brewined for 10 years, and here we are.

0:31:43 - (Juan Quinones): Wow, that's quite the journey.

0:31:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): Makes sense on why we're all sitting in this room together, too. So for you, like, as a creator and, you know, we're entering a different space in entrepreneurship, where do you see? Just us in Vegas Going as a creator economy and the attention economy.

0:31:58 - (Juan Quinones): Well, I recently got word that Warner Brothers is building up a whole new movie studio here, which is kind of cool. So that's a good.

0:32:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): Want to be the first in, huh?

0:32:06 - (Juan Quinones): Oh, yeah. I want to like, put my flag here in Vegas and be like, if they're gonna be filming any kind of drone stuff, it's gonna be Luxie drone.

0:32:13 - (Dave Burlin): Like luxy drone is doing the whole, like it's a 24 hour a day just.

0:32:17 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah.

0:32:17 - (Dave Burlin): Following the construction of the studio.

0:32:19 - (Juan Quinones): Yep, yep. Time lapse. U. Huh?

0:32:22 - (Dave Burlin): The world's first time lapse drone.

0:32:26 - (Juan Quinones): That's definitely possible. Yep.

0:32:28 - (Tawni Nguyen): Kind of get a patent for that.

0:32:29 - (Dave Burlin): That's from the universe. Thank you, Brook. Ruin.

0:32:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): Dave's downloading right now.

0:32:36 - (Dave Burlin): Downloading. Hold on. Just kidding. Tune in to the episode with Josh Hallow.

0:32:43 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, so I think that's a pretty good indication of where we're going with the creator economy in Vegas is it's becoming the second Hollywood.

0:32:51 - (Dave Burlin): So I've got to ask you, man, because you have been very successful in a lot of the other communities that you've been to, but you're here in Vegas now. What do you see with all of those opportunities and everything that's happening? Everything. What is the biggest challenge here in Las Vegas as a community for entrepreneurs?

0:33:10 - (Juan Quinones): I't. I don't really know how to answer. Answer that question, like to give a blanket statement. I can just only speak from my personal experience. Experience. The biggest challenge for creatives in Vegas. Was that the question? Yeah. I think it's just like being able to get out of their shells and connect with more people. I think that a lot of creatives and you know what they are, is, are artists. They're good at creating a vision or a video or whether it's a photo and edit, whatever it is.

0:33:41 - (Juan Quinones): But they're terrible when it comes to like, just networking, marketing, actually tapping into the entrepreneurs side of things and being a business owner. So I definitely think that that's something that could improve. Like, there's a lot of creatives here in Vegas that I've yet to meet. Just because one, I don't know if there's a bunch of creative events going on, but two, a lot of creatives just kind of keep to themselves and they just, you know, they work home. Yeah, they work. They turn in the videos that edits to their clients and then rinse and repeat, but they're not really branching out and collaborating as much.

0:34:13 - (Juan Quinones): That's a big issue too, in the drone community. There's A lot of competition just between pilots. They want to hold on to their secrets, and they're like, no, this is mine. And they live in this place of scarcity. And, oh, Juan is ruining the entire drone industry because he's teaching new guys how to fly drones. When I have a vision that's so big, where, like, all of these talented pilots can fit into it, and it's not competition, it's collaboration.

0:34:36 - (Juan Quinones): And I also have to tell people, like, hey, you know, you might not be exposed to these concepts yet, but the people at the top are collaborating. There's no one competing at the top. At the very bottom, it's where, you know, people are just like, ah, this is mine. My clients stand off.

0:34:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah.

0:34:51 - (Juan Quinones): So I just wanted a whole ran there. That.

0:34:54 - (Dave Burlin): That's the. No, I appreciate it. That's the truth, man. And like you said, my favorite word, collaboration. Right. I run into that all the time in the community, especially in the veteran community. It happens in all communities. Right. So the fact that it happens in the creative community doesn't surprise me. It's just so refreshing to hear it, because then it's like, all right, we're not alone, but we have that same. That's why you're here, man. That's why I'm here. That's why Tany's here.

0:35:20 - (Dave Burlin): That's why everyone's here, is because we do believe in that collaboration. And that's where we just want to bring the right people into this space so we can connect more people and show the world that Vegas is a place that everyone has a shot. So. Than you. Thank you for sharing that. Now, on the other side of that, if you could wave a magic wand, what would be one thing that you would love to see here in the community that you think could really, you know, bring that and change things for the better?

0:35:52 - (Juan Quinones): That's a great question. I have no idea what that would look like if I had a magic wand to fix the. The social part of, like, the creative community in Vegas.

0:36:05 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah.

0:36:08 - (Juan Quinones): I guess people just being more. More open and more open to collaborating, more open to sharing, you know, what they're up to. Yeah, that would be the magic one. I'd want to wave just because I feel like if you help other people around you become better at whatever is that they do or connect them to someone that might be able to help their business, like, as their value increases. I like to believe in the law of veiprocity. They're go goingn to come back at you like, yo, dude, you know, here's Here's a, here's a tip for connecting to this client or here's a client that you know, you might be interested in working with, stuff like that. So I just think more collaboration will be great from the creative community.

0:36:44 - (Dave Burlin): That's so good man, so good.

0:36:46 - (Tawni Nguyen): I love your take on that too. Especially mentioning that the soft skills are what's important too. Not just on the hard business side of like knowing how to run the operations in the system, but really knowing how to talk to people because they speak through art and they speak through creation. But it's like really hard for one another to just sit down and like let down our ego and really just stay in touch with each other. And I love where you're going with that. Is like it sounds like your leadership is very conscious because you're doing a lot of work on yourself and that the idea is like, hey, if you win, it takes nothing away from me. Why don't we just do it together and why don't we build together because someone else's success doesn't take away from you. And that's kind of like the mindset that a lot of people get wrong once they enter the business base because they have to out compete everybody and they have to outma marketk and outsell just because it comes from such a, like an ego driven place.

0:37:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): But for you, I love that you're openly sharing with your students and just promoting something that's just like peace and love, but also like hey, like there's actually ways to build a business and not just be creative and get stuck at home and stay behind your computer and talk to nobody and be depressed and be in isolation and that's a lot of where the creator economy. That's why I was asking that question. It's because there's such like a disconnect in everyone and like I gotta stay in my room all day and then this person's out doing that and then there's nothing in between. So I'm glad you're taking that step and stepping forward and becoming that leadership in that way to where you're leading people at out of like, you know, scarce and just into like capitalism. We all love capitalism and I love that we're all noble and hopefully we're all adding value to each other and how we're connecting people of this town and that's kind of like the pursue Vegas. Haha.

0:38:25 - (Tawni Nguyen): Magic wand, magic waiting for say that he. I could wave a magic one.

0:38:30 - (Juan Quinones): I've actually never thought of that. That was wonderful.

0:38:35 - (Dave Burlin): I love it. Well, I mean, meeting you in the wedding industry, right? Like, this is just a little fun past for me. I've done 750 weddings across the United States. There was a season where I would do more than 100 weddings in a year, but I only have so many dates on the calendar. Like, I had to get to a point where I referred people out because people be, hey, are you available November 2nd?

0:38:56 - (Juan Quinones): No.

0:38:56 - (Dave Burlin): Like, I could tell you that on January 1st. No, I already know that I'm booked out in November 2nd. And I would be like, oh, you should talk to so and so. And that collaboration really makes a difference, especially when you can know and trust other people in your industry, because otherwise, most people might get it. But some people are just like, oh, he just. He said no to me because he didn't like me.

0:39:17 - (Dave Burlin): No, I had nothing to do with that. Like, somebody booked that a year ago. Like, it just. Sometimes that's the thing that people don't understand. So I love that. I love that. Especially that you mentioned the law of reciprocity as well. That's great, man. Thank you so much for sharing. How can people find you? And once they start checking out some of your incredible videos and stuff, what does it look like to connect with you, work with you? How can people connect?

0:39:42 - (Juan Quinones): Yeah, the easiest way to find me is on Instagram at Juan C Keinonesas. And if you're interested in learning how to fly drones and start a business, it's FPV Creatoro on Instagram.

0:39:53 - (Dave Burlin): I love that. I love that. And you've been doing that for just over a year now?

0:39:58 - (Juan Quinones): One year this week.

0:39:59 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, I love it. That's great, man. That's great. Perfect.

0:40:02 - (Tawni Nguyen): Well, that sound like it was faith to me.

0:40:05 - (Dave Burlin): You said fake or fake F. Is it my accent?

0:40:10 - (Tawni Nguyen): Is it coming out?

0:40:10 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, a little bit. Perfect, man. Well, thanks so much for coming on the show. Let's do this again, because I'm sure, you know, one year from now, it's gonna be a totally different space. We see the creator space changing here. I mentioned to somebody else, you know, I can't really speak to that whole film industry. I know. I know that it's happening, but what we see is the middle ground is gonna be like 40, 40 podcast studios of all kinds of people trying to get their word out and stuff like that. So'd love to have you back on the show and see how much has changed in. In a short period of time.

0:40:49 - (Juan Quinones): Stay tuned for the Juan year update.

0:40:51 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, I love it.

0:40:53 - (Juan Quinones): Thank you so much. Thank you. Guys for having me on the show.

0:40:57 - (Dave Burlin): Got it.

0:40:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): For being part of the journey, man. If you guys like what you heard, please like and subscribe and find us all over social media. Pursue Vegas. Reach out to Dave and I personally on how we can connect you with anyone in this town to help you with your life or your business. Just need a friend. Feel free. Shoot us a dm. That's how we connect in this world nowadays. Thank you.