The life and autobiography of Scott Mark Huelsman (Waunakee, WI).
DJ Susie & Photobooth
My deceased spouse Susie Huelsman was a quiet, humble accountant by day, but at night and on weekends she became “DJ Susie” and bought all the equipment and resources to host hundreds of weddings, shows and special events throughout Wisconsin from roughly 2012 until a few months before her death in 2023.
During this period, I was basically Susie’s “roady” who travelled everywhere with her, carrying the equipment in, setting it up, waiting for her to finish, then tearing it all down and returning home. I also produced nearly all of Susie’s marketing materials, including business cards, flyers, posters and the like.
Susie's Early Years (roughly 2012 - 2015)
Susie got her start in the business managing a karaoke show at the Mediterranean Hookah Lounge and Bar on the south side of Madison, where she operated the built-in equipment to host the show. Eventually she bought her own karaoke resources and from there expanded into special events, especially weddings. At first she took what she could get, doing simple wedding DJ events at local venues and using the income to buy better equipment. By 2015 or so she was doing better, making a name for herself and doing lots of special events as well as local weddings. Of course, all of this required my help in setting it all up and taking it all down!
Trips to Mobile Beat in Las Vegas in 2015 & 2016
In February 2015, Susie and I booked a plane and flew to the Mobile Beat event in Las Vegas, where she was able to meet with DJs from all over the country, share experiences and learn more about the industry. The event went so well that we agreed to go out again in 2016, when, at that time, we decided to pull the trigger on our very own portable photo booth! Susan absolutely LOVED the events, meeting such celebrities as DJ Jazzy Jeff, Sir Mixalot and Redfoo from LMFAO (the latter of whom actually poured alcohol down Susie’s throat during an event party). Even I enjoyed the two trips we made together and have good memories of them.
Photo Booth Event: EAA in Oshkosh (2017)
While I wasn’t always keen about all of Susie’s many DJ and special events, I did visit places and see things I otherwise never would have that certainly made my life better. For example, in the summer of 2017 at the EAA event in Oshkosh, a photo booth contractor with Phillips 66 contacted Susie and asked us to become his subcontractor, as he had somewhere else he had to be. That allowed us to set up our photo booth within the Phillips 66 tent and take thousands of photos for guests, which was amazing by itself. However, the tent was located just off the flight line, so we got to go see the planes up close and watch all the air shows–a truly breathtaking experience!
Susie's Later (photobooth) Years (2016 - 2023)
After purchasing a portable photo booth at Mobile Beat in 2016, Susie’s wedding DJ and special events business really took off! The photo booth was a BIG hit and with all the props Susan purchased for it, guests absolutely ate up the offering. Susie also offered a wedding scrapbook that the guests would secure photo strips of themselves into, then sign their strips and even attach fun stickers and such, a hallowed keepsake the bride would take home with her at the end of the night (along with a thumb drive of all the photos taken). The photo booth did double the amount of work we had to do but it was also extremely popular! See more photo booth pictures here!
Kindred Spirits Photo Booth Services (2024)
Sadly, Susie Huelsman passed away from her breast cancer in November 2023. To honor her legacy, her daughter Marsha and I started a new photo booth business, Kindred Spirits! We flew out to Las Vegas to attend the world’s largest photo booth expo, made some purchases and returned to rekick the business, doing an initial gig for the Waunakee Chamber of Commerce in early April. Our new booth/software was much more powerful and allowed us to do some amazing things with it, but we continued to use the “traditional” (from 2016) booth as well. Unfortunately, I had to close the business upon my own cancer diagnosis in the fall of 2024. See photos here!