Christian Pineda’s Playlist Didn’t Include “DJ.” But Here he is.

Christian Pineda ’27 started DJing for fun, putting together a set list for friends during spring break. But when he saw how music brought people together, he was hooked. Today, Pineda performs as “DJ Naeda” and runs his own business, with performances including opening for Flo Rida during Bentley’s sold-out Spring Day concert in 2026.   

“I was like, ‘Maybe I can actually do this,’” says Pineda, who started out by investing in DJ equipment, including speakers, a small table and a controller to connect to his laptop. One of his first formal appearances was a Brazilian funk event on campus in January 2025. That April, he leaned into music from his Salvadoran roots when he performed at La Raza, a popular on-campus event hosted by Bentley’s La Cultura Latina (LCL) student organization.  

“Showing parts of your culture is a way to connect with others to see ways that they are the same, and different, from each other,” he says. “It’s a way to build a community.” 

Pineda’s favorite type of show is the plug-and-play gig, where he brings his laptop, wires and controller to a venue and does a quick soundcheck before an event. Though private events like baby showers and quinceañeras — traditional Latin American celebrations of girls’ 15th birthday — don’t typically cause pre-performance jitters, Pineda feels a little more pressure at club gigs and college parties.  

“I definitely feel more pressure to make people’s nights when they’re going out to release and let go,” Pineda says. “I play trendy music, songs that are guaranteed bangers and sing-alongs. But I also believe the song choices and reading the crowd is crucial. When the audience is super diverse, for example, playing music from different cultures helps to keep people on their toes. This also allows me to appreciate other cultures, but also the crowd.” 

To help guide the energy of the room during the night, Pineda plans a schedule with a warm-up, peak hour and closing hour set in his head. He also builds in breaks “to let the crowd breathe” and balances high-energy dance songs with sing-alongs. “Once I see the crowd is engaged, I usually just go into flow state and play purely off instinct.” 

While that instinct plays a critical role in performing, running a business requires another kind of strategy. As his DJ business takes off — with bookings at Boston clubs and local private venues — Pineda draws on classroom learning and his Corporate Finance and Accounting major to create a competitive edge as he budgets, invests in equipment and negotiates pricing.   

Creating the Experience 

Pineda was introduced to LCL during his first semester while living on a designated residence hall floor for first-generation college students.  

“Community building has always been a central part of my life,” says Pineda, who co-founded a Latin club in high school and works with youth as a head coach at Intercontinental Football Academy of New England. “That grew at Bentley, first by being a part of La Cultura Latina on campus.” 

Before taking to the stage for LCL events, Pineda spent time behind the scenes — as a freshman liaison and then external relations chair before being elected as the organization’s president in fall 2025. Throughout the process, he fell in love with event planning, specifically working within a budget to create and curate events to showcase Latin culture. This year, he’s “taking a back seat” as the organization’s senior adviser. 

“I’m a natural leader in the sense that I enjoy leading by example, coming to the table with ideas to get a sense of direction and jumping in to help get a job done,” says Pineda, who is part of the university’s FirstGen Presidential Fellows leadership development program. “I’m also pretty direct about asking for opinions in meetings. It gives me a better understanding of where people’s strengths are. It goes back to building a community that others want to be a part of.”  

The Business of Connections 

While Pineda has cultivated a rich community through music and culture, he has also built a strong network in accounting, finance and business consulting. For the past two summers, he completed internships at RSM. The first was in resource management in Minneapolis, helping transition the company to its new project scheduling application. In the company’s Boston office in 2026, he worked in the company’s process risk and controls consulting. 

“Throughout the summer, I had the chance to build meaningful connections and hold some amazing conversations with professionals across the firm,” Pineda says. “I also got to take part in several memorable networking and office-wide events.” 

When the internship ended, Pineda didn’t slow down. In August, he joined nine other Bentley students to attend the 2026 national convention for Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) in Charlotte, North Carolina.  

“Members from our executive board along with members from our general body were able to experience powerful keynote sessions, network with other ALPFA chapters and create meaningful connections with professionals at the career exposition,” says Pineda, who helped re-establish the Bentley chapter and served as vice president in 2025.  

Now in his senior year, Pineda is excited about a future that combines his creative and technical passions as an entrepreneur and in a full-time corporate career.  

“When I came to Bentley, I felt like I had soft skills but needed more of a technical point of view,” he says. “I decided to go for Corporate Finance and Accounting to get the best of both worlds, and then I went for a minor in Computer Information Systems because if I get to learn coding like Python, I know I’ll be versatile in whatever I need to do.” 

That approach leans into what he learned from a mentor during his first year at Bentley. “Just do as many things as you can, even if you try one new thing every semester. College isn’t just about academics. At the end of the day, it’s important to have other releases and take chances to meet other people.” 

Reflecting on his own experience so far, Pineda adds, “Across all these roles — DJ, soccer coach and business consultant — my goal is to foster growth, create meaningful connections and deliver high-quality results.”