Following a successful, decade-long run in improv comedy, Mary Nisi made her foray into entrepreneurship when she founded Toast & Jam DJs in 2005. Since then, the company has provided the soundtrack to thousands of weddings and events—including a birthday party for Barack Obama.

Today, Toast & Jam operates from the upper level of her other business, Ampersand Cowork, a shared office space she launched in Chicago in 2017. When she’s not tending to one of her businesses, you can find Mary consulting and hosting workshops for aspiring entrepreneurs in various industries. Her latest venture, The Toast & Jam Lab, is a comprehensive online course for mobile DJs looking to transform their business into a thriving empire.

Mary fills the rest of her time with a weekly DJing stint on long-standing local indie station CHIRP Radio (she is a founding member); beekeeping in her Chicago backyard; and bicycling around the neighborhood with her husband, John, and son Sebastian.