Apollo: The God of Music by Heather Martino
From rags to riches, a young man from the projects goes from running the streets of New York City to partying in the Hamptons. After college and fraternity life, Apollo, 23, finds a lucrative career in nightclub promotion. Through this experience, he’s able to raise money for his mother’s cancer treatment, and make a better life for his family.
No one gets to pick where they grow up.
I grew up somewhere where there was a lot of negativity and poverty.
I remember moving a lot, my parents split up. There wasn’t always something to eat.
When you don’t have money for a haircut or money to get the clothes you want,
I’ve done everything to selling drugs or robbing people.
It’s always like that in the hood.
But just being able to be picked up out that environment and placed in another environment made all the difference.
And I was able to just change my entire life.
I never thought I would be a promoter because I never knew what promoting was.
I always knew I wanted to get involved with music and entertainment, because I love dancing.
Im getting ready for the club and for like twenty minutes straight I’m putting on a song doing some choreography just getting me pumped up.
Throughout the night I might get a couple random texts saying hey we’re a group of five guys, seven girls can we get in. So theres a lot of different tricks I do so if I see a girl taking a selfie, I’ll ask them to take a picture for them. I just tell girls that I have a great camera I work for a promoting company I’m going to send them to you. Take a picture give me your number.
You see me dancing on couches and tables.
It’s kind my thing.
Pouring drinks and everything.
I always remember everything cuz I don’t drink.
Not a drop.
Usually I have orange juice in my hand.
I’m a totally different person when I’m in the nightclub
I’m real shy, I meditate, just some downtime – is really good for me.
I have this persona Apollo with the hat and glasses, kinda like an actor.
And when I take them off I am you know my mother’s child. That person I was born as.
Promoting might not be forever but it’s definitely taken me to what I want so I can save and invest.
And it’s definitely a blessing for myself, my brothers, my mother. And other people too I see other people I grew up with. I definitely get a lot of positive feedback,
Mentoring some of the kids where I grew up at and also just giving good advice.
Apollo, 23, grew up in the projects in New York City, and didn’t think there was much else for him but joining the local gang. Desperate for money, Apollo was committing robberies and selling drugs by the age of 14. But after a run-in with the law, his mother moved him and his younger brothers to the suburbs to live with a Suffolk County police officer she was dating at the time.
In just a few short months, Apollo went from hanging out on the streets to partying in mansions in the Hamptons. Apollo went on to go to attend college and made his way back to New York City.
While Apollo was in college, his mother was stricken with ovarian cancer, and he and his fraternity raised money for her treatment. That’s when Apollo first realized that he was good at organizing groups of people. After attending a party at Greenhouse in the Meatpacking District with a friend, Apollo decided to give nightclub promotion a try.
Like Apollo, the Meatpacking District in New York City underwent a transformation during the Bloomberg Administration. It went from an area known for drugs and prostitution to a bustling neighborhood, full of fancy store, restaurants and nightclubs.
When Apollo moved back to the city, he began a lucrative side job promoting for nightclubs in the Meatpacking District on the weekends. As a result of his financial success, Apollo’s family no longer lives in poverty, and he is not only a role model for his younger brothers, but also kids in his old neighborhood. This is Apollo’s story.
