09/22/2026
If you asked younger me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said an interior decorator.
Then I realized it involved math. 😂 So… that dream ended quickly.
Next came advertising. I wanted a creative career without actually having to be the artist. I got my bachelor’s in advertising, convinced I was going to make Budweiser commercials. I literally wrote my thesis about it. Then came my MBA because I thought I wanted to teach someday. Still haven’t done that one… yet.
But there was one constant through all of it: hospitality.
I started working in a restaurant at 15 and eventually found my way into events. In 2007, I was incredibly fortunate to jump into the trade show world in Las Vegas, producing nationally from the beginning. Big productions, big expectations and one hell of a place to learn this industry. I still produce nationally today, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.
But there’s something different about creating at home.
When you travel from city to city, you work with incredible people, but you don’t always get to know them.
Tonight, brought together the planners, vendors and creatives they work with throughout the year, and I found myself looking around the room thinking… this is really freaking cool.
To know these people. To collaborate with them. To be part of this creative community.
I never planned on becoming an event planner.
Events found me.
And somehow this career combined everything I was searching for all along: advertising, marketing, design, hospitality, storytelling, creativity and connection.
I may not have the biggest production company or team, but I’ve built a business that stays busy largely through referrals. People trust me with their events and then put my name in another room.
I will never take that lightly.
Tonight was a really good reminder that through all the twists and turns, I somehow ended up exactly where I was trying to go all along.
And damn, I’m grateful. 🤍
