As some of you may know, I am a professional event planner. My specialties are corporate events such as board meetings, conferences, conventions, speaking engagements, etc. I found my passion and I love it! However, the road finding myself has been quite interesting to say the least.
I started out like the average young adult. I had NO idea what I wanted to do with my life. I went to college and graduated with a degree in Business and a concentration in Marketing, because I was told it was what I was “supposed to do”. Fast forward a few years after getting my degree I was bartending in clubs and bars attempting to “find myself”. Somewhere around the age of 23-24 I decided it was time to get a “real job”. I ended up in property management leasing apartments. Initially it was a cool gig. I made good money with my base salary for my age and my commission checks were sometimes in the $1,000’s which gave me a nice little steady additional income. I had my own place and I was living pretty comfortably. I even ended up buying my first luxury car…a little beamer (which is something I won’t do again because I realized I am cheap as hell. Lol!) I eventually got promoted to the corporate office where I became a trainer and I was part of the marketing team. By the time I was around 28-29 I was doing well. I had a nice little career, decent money (not balling, but aight). I was comfortable and moving up in my field. Sounds cool…right? Well, the only thing was I HATED it. Oh My God!
The job became boring as shit. I didn’t care about what I was doing. None of my tasks moved me. It was uptight and corporate. The execs were stuffy and overall the environment was fake as hell. Ugh! They got on my damn nerves. It was your typical political bullshit. All about who can kiss the best ass to get ahead. Grown ass adults creating cliques, unnecessary gossip, white folks bullshit, management completely disconnected to staff, layoff…all that. You know how that goes. I HATED those people. It was so bad one day I was getting dressed and started crying. Around this time I was recently married. My husband looked at me and said “Quinda, just quit the damn job”. I was like “naw, I’m going to stick it though until I get something better” Y’all. Talk about struggle.
So while I was working this job I hated I was crafting and helping my friends with events. It was a hobby and brought me joy. My home girls kept hyping me up and were like “girl, you need to do this full time, this is your gift and you need to share it with the world”. See why friends are so important?! *Plug to my previous post about friendship…if you haven’t read it…do so.* So anyway, at that time I was like fuck it. Let me go for it. What do I have to lose?
I ended up applying for and getting my business licensed. I facilitated events for free to build a portfolio. On the weekends after work I worked on perfecting my craft and learning as much as I could. One of my besties and me finessed me into landing a job I wasn’t qualified for (my friends be coming through!). I worked my ass off to keep it. I mean I went in! Stayed late, read, attended learning events, took webinars, took on tasks and worked them until they were right, etc. That came with making A LOT of mistakes, but I owned up to them and took what I could and leaned from those mishaps.
While I was working full time I was trying to build my own business as an entrepreneur. Chile…let me tell you! This is where it gets interesting. It was so much struggle. I couldn’t really afford a staff so it was me on the planning and my husband as the muscle. We would pack up my SUV with props and decorative items and he would be setting up helping to create the vision I had along with my clients. Y’all! We would be beat down tired after setting up then breaking down cleaning up. We did what we have to do though. I ain’t gone lie, he was the real MVP. His ass was working hard helping me build my dream.
At the time I was working social events such as baby showers, birthday parties, kid parties, etc. Now, while the events turned out nice for the most past it was a hot ass mess internally. I realized I was working backwards and not placing the value in myself as I should. From the start I fucked up. I marketed myself as “design on a dime” which is something I should have NEVER done. Folks really thought I meant a dime. They wanted reality t.v. type events with fast food budgets. They expected me to create magic with no money. They worked the hell out of me trying to figure out how to create these impossible visions. Bruhhhhh
Let me say this. I had some amazing clients who paid on time and didn’t try to nickel and dime me. They had realistic budgets and expectations while respecting me and supporting my dream by giving me a chance. I am forever grateful for them. We remain friendly and speak regularly.
Oh baby, but there were some clients who were some damn fools. They tried the entire fuck out of me.
I had people who called me to “pick my brain” and didn’t want to pay me. I had a client who spent her whole party budget on the venue. I asked her “so how are you going to pay for food, a d.j, décor, the cake”…she looked at me square in the face and said “oh, I figured we could save money by you and me cooking”. Dafuq?! I am a planner! Not a damn chef. I had to tell her oh no baby I ain’t cooking shit. You hired me as a planner. I had folks who called me and asked to borrow MY décor items for their parties they weren’t paying me to plan, people’s mamas and aunties going off on me when things weren’t right in their eyes, people trying to use my personal vehicle as a dumpster after their event, and just overall fuckery.
This one takes the cake. Y’all ready? A girl called me and wanted to use me for her friend’s baby shower. We spoke about possible themes and ideas. She asked to use the clubhouse at the apartments of where I stayed at the time. I told her to meet me and we will coordinate all of the details. We arranged a time and date and I gave her the address where to arrive. I never heard from her and I figured she decided on another planner/location. Tell me why a few weeks later I’m at home chillin’ and she calls me asking where the dumpster is. I was like huh? This bitch walked into the office and told them I said she could use the clubhouse and she had the event there without even letting me know. (I worked for the community at the time so they took her word for it) Y’all, I was pissed. She had her whole event for free at my expense using the ideas we discussed. I felt like a complete dumb ass and learned I was too damn nice. At that point I questioned if this career path was for me.
I decided to keep going and pursing my passion. I kept working my fulltime only panning events for the non-profit I was working at until I get my own company together. That time was not in vain though. I networked like crazy. I soaked up all the knowledge I could. I kept attending training sessions, events where I learned and could apply that knowledge to my own business. I also worked on my negotiations skills. Y’all, I’m a beast on them contracts. My knowledge on A/V, selecting vendors, food catering management, travel coordination, marketing, managing attendee registration, and whatever else you need as far as brand alignment is legit. I know my shit.
When I was ready to jump back into getting my on business back out there I figured I’d take a look at what worked and what didn’t and make adjustments. My focus will remain on event planning, but in a professional setting. My clients are those who need assistance with luncheons, networking events, fundraisers, product launches, etc. I have found that when people are producing events for monetary reasons such as marketing the clientele is of like mind. We are both on the same page as far as budgets, expectations, and the overall goal. Invoices get paid since their bottom line and investment is affected. That works better for me. Plus I’m able to help brand companies get exposure which feels good to me. I mostly work with small business so I love that I can share my expertise to benefit them. As a black woman with a black husband and son I’m a strong advocate of the black community. I have many projects lined up where I will facilitate expos and events that will shine light on the black community in a positive way. The funds raises will directly affect minority business owners which makes me feel so fulfilled with my work.
I have recently revamped my entire website and business model. In a way it feels like I’m starting all over again. It’s like I’ve been here before, but the thing this time is that I’m more prepared, experienced, and ready for whatever comes my way. It’s actually exciting to start fresh and new! I can’t wait for these new projects to be completed.
With my experiences everything has start to come back full circle. I ended up on a path that I didn’t even think of initially. Where I am now surpassed my original plan. Each time I received a setback I tried to take it with stride. I’m human so of course there are times when I feel defeated and just don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I try to just sit back, readjust and keep moving.
I type this long drawn out post to say this: sometimes life happens with our plans, but we gotta keep going. Anything worth having will be a journey and will have obstacles. It’s ok if your plan A fails. That’s why there are 25 other letters to try. We all go through it. I haven’t spoke to a successful person yet who hasn’t had to start over or take a step back to readjust. Your plan hasn’t failed. It’s just been altered. Stay the course. We’re all in this shit together.
I hope my words have inspired someone who is in a tough spot. We all go through them. I’ve had to be talked off the ledge too. Had words spoken into me. I’ve had to pull myself together, put on my big girl panties and get shit done. Things happens sometimes to teach us or put us where we’re supposed to be. Sometimes we’re not where we need to be and life has a way of adjusting your situation so you ca get in line with where you’re meant to be. Just don’t quit. You got this.
In the words of Nipsey Tha Great-“ The Marathon Continues”
As bonus inspo. Look at the pictures of where I started and where I am now. I'm still learning and improving, but I'm grateful for my growth.
Early Events:
Events Now:
My new website can be found at www.quindajevents.com
I'd love to hear your comments!