Let’s Get to Know Each Other.

Mary Nisi founded Toast & Jam in 2005 based on the idea that her clients and guests should be entertained, not overshadowed. Music-obsessed since childhood, Mary got her start in community radio and began DJing events when a listener called the request line and asked if she would DJ their wedding. Since then, the company has provided the soundtrack to thousands of weddings and events in Chicago and beyond, most notably for Barack & Michelle Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Laura Jarrett, Vince Vaughn, and this one afterparty for every important NASCAR driver who were all very amused by the fact that she didn’t know who any of them were. She is a founding member of the Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP) and currently hosts "The Noonday Underground" on Mondays from noon to 3pm CST on CHIRPradio.org. She’s DJed at numerous spots around Chicago including The Whistler, Cole’s, Danny's (RIP!), Schuba's, The Burlington, Delilah's and Smashing Time, the legendary Saturday night dance party at The Hideout, as well as abroad at All Tomorrow's Parties, the celebrated music festival in Camber Sands, England. A graduate of DePaul University and a native of Omaha, Nebraska, Mary has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered, Chicago Public Radio, Ignite Talks, CS Brides, The Knot, Wedding Wire, The Atlantic, Chicago Tribune, Brides Chicago, Martha Stewart Weddings, Logan Squarist, and Block Club Chicago. She has spoken at many conferences and events, most notably for The DJ Collective, WIPA Omaha, and others. Mary is also the host of "All Up In My Lady Business," a podcast about the slings and arrows of being a woman, an entrepreneur and a mom. Mary fills the rest of her time with beekeeping in her Evanston backyard, getting crafty with needplepoint, downhill skiing, watching Jeopardy!, and bicycling around the neighborhood with her husband, John, and son Sebastian.