I grew up in Alexandria, Virginia. I was born in San Diego,
but moved to Alexandria when I was two. It's kind of the the the
only home that I consider mine and very you know, proud to have been
born and bred here in Virginia. I went to school on the West Coast.
I went back out to Los Angeles for college at cal State, and
then stayed in California to work in the entertainment industry. I was in the
music industry. I started working on tours and live concert productions and was intending
on staying in that industry. I became the talent buyer at Baby Kings in
Hollywood, and our staff was so small that I ended up doing a lot
of the leg work around the buyouts. You know, whenever we would have
a movie, rap party, or a corporate holiday party there in the club,
I would do all the logistics around that and kind of fell into special
events through that means. And moved back about fifteen years ago to the DC
area and started looking for a job doing what I had been doing in Los
Angeles and really couldn't find one at the time. Really, the only jobs
that were available in special events were hotel catering gigs, those that type of
work, which just was not kind of meeting the creative outlet that I had
found, you know, with the events that I had print producing in Los
Angeles. And I always say that if I was any smarter or any older,
I probably wouldn't have done it. But I was running out of money,
and he fit a job, and thus our GI Events was born,
and fifteen years later here we are, well, thank you for that origin
story, and it's a lot of fun. And I got to tell you,
you know, you're in an industry now more than ever. As you
know after getting through COVID, the customer service is just imperative with everybody.
And I mean when you go out to a restaurant, or if you shop
at a store for clothes or shoes, or if you want an event put
on, and I imagine that there's pressures that go with that. So before
we talk about all the capabilities and the cool things that you and your team
do, I would like to ask you about your mission statement and what that
is. Our g Events connects organizations to audiences through the power of shared experiences.
We draw on our decades of successes and an unshakable belief in what can
be achieved when we gather together. All right, So let's talk about capabilities,
because when you're an event company, I think there are so many tentacles
that you can touch when it comes to different events that it must blow your
tops sometimes about there's so many different opportunities out there. But if anybody that's
put on a party knows how hard it is, and I know you and
the thirteen person team that includes yourself, Rachel, there's a lot of work
to be done all the time. But with all that said, why don't
we talk about some of the capabilities with a company that you work with?
The clients are most important, what people are requesting these days. Yeah,
absolutely, you hit the nail on the head. This is an incredibly multifaceted
industry and there's a lot of nuance between what's a planner, what's a producer.
The role that we fill is really taking a lot of those tentacles and
bringing them all in one place for our clients. So we are strategically driven
planning, production, design, and management for primarily corporate, some government you
know being here in the DC area, and nonprofit partners. Basically, what
we aim to do is to achieve our clients' goals through treating the event as
the vehicle rather than the destination. So really all aspects of the event process
from conceptualization, you know, and setting those goals throughout the entire logistical and
project management process, you know, from your venues, to your attendees,
to your sponsors, to your media partners obviously design. We've been broadly recognized
across the country in a class the world as one of the top event designers
when it comes to how your room looks and making sure that then once everybody
is in the room, making sure it's strategically goes off without without a hitch,
and that on the backside of the special event that we're producing for you,
you take away assets you know that your event keeps working for you long
past when the event concludes. So, whether your goals are to raise money,
to raise awareness, to educate, to inspire, to galvanize your team,
whatever those end goals are for your particular organization, whatever type of organization
it might be, we use our strategic special events expertise to make sure you
achieve those you know, we had talked off the top that including you,
it's a thirteen person team that you have and to relate a story to you
with context. My wife and I went to a Washington Spirit game over the
weekend and we watched the on field coordinator basically handle everything when it came to
pregame before they kicked the ball to start the game, and my wife and
I were remarking, and I'm in sports too, so I've seen these people.
The communication that you need to do something like that is incredible, and
I throw it at you. For you and your thirteen person team that includes
you, I imagine communication is utmost at top priority, but maybe if you
could take it to the next level, give us a big behind the curtain
kind of scene what it's like when it comes to communication with your clients,
about what all that entails. Oh my gosh. Absolutely. Communication is a
pillar of our project management style. We want our clients to feel as though
we are just at the next desk. And this is not you know,
a post COVID or a COVID inspired you know, new way of working ethos.
You know, this is always you know, for the last fifteen years,
with clients flung to the far sides of the country and all over the
globe, how we work with our clients. We I think are very unique
in that we bring a really very highly recognized and sophisticated level of production to
our clients with a boutique style client management. You know, we see ourselves
very much in the business of hospitality, in the business of customer service us
and we want our clients to get that responsiveness from us as though you know,
we were just in the next room rather than across the country or across
an ocean. So I mean, it's really it's key. There's a lot
of trust that you have to have. Special events are kind of intangible,
right It's you know, you might bring on a production partner for an effort
that you might have going on nine months in the future and say this is
our goal and here is our budget, and you might write me a check
and I'm off to the races. But I'm not handing you back something that
you can hold. You know, you're going to be on this ride with
me for the next nine months or six months or three months until we bring
it across the finish line. So we want every single second you know,
of our relationship, our interactions with our clients, and through that thorough enthusiastic
communication to paint this picture of the end product they're going to get and to
build that trust. And that's one of the reasons why or client retention rate
is so high. We have held an over eighty percent client retention rate year
over year for over the last decade. So I really think that people come
to us, you know, for our talent, but stay with us a
lot for what you just said. You know that communication aspect, Well,
thanks for sharing all that. And that's about customer service and I know that
means a lot, especially in today's climate where at RACHEL, I didn't want
to ask you about challenges and success stories. So let's put let's put a
pin in success story just for a second. You can think about that,
But I know that today's climate brings a lot of challenges with that and with
all that said, being a boutique agency like you are when it comes to
our GI events, what kind of challenges even though you can get through them
and navigate present themselves today with your clients, I'm sure our challenges closely mirror
what a lot of other business are going through at the moment. You know,
UM, supply chains are less reliable, costs are higher, UM,
So there's a lot of expectation again communication, you know, we it's up
to us to manage our clients expectations, you know, about things like turnaround
time or how much things are going to cost. Um events that are annual
events who maybe have worked with us for the last ten years, we might
have a completely different budget you know, these days to put on the exact
same event. Um. I think that customers and consumers you know, an
attendee base are also far more savvy um we have. They have so much
information you know, at their fingertips and us living in kind of this,
uh, the age of the influencer. They also have barreted by these amazing
you know images, and so I think there their sophistication, uh is very
high. They expect a really high level of execution and work product and to
balance that with you know, any client's budget. I think it's also always
you know, a challenge that we navigate through authentic, timely and transparent communication
and leaning on our expertise, you know, in our relationships in the industry
and what those relationships enable us to be able to get for our clients faster
or at a lower price point, you know than maybe a newer company or
one that hasn't enjoyed kind of the successes that our GI has. All right,
well, thank you for sharing all that. And as Rachel mentioned,
I mean when it comes to life and running a business like this, you
know so eloquently as you explain, there aren't a lot of rainbows and unicorns
all the time when it comes to this type of business. But with that
set, I would like you to share maybe one success story that you were
proud of. You don't have to mention who the client was, but maybe
just something you said, you know what, we really knocked it out to
the park for that client. It was pretty special. We're pretty proud of
what we did. Oh my gosh. Yeah. You know. One of
the things I love most about this industry, and I think the reason that
you know I'm still in it after twenty years, is that there really is
a lot of job satisfaction. The road is not smooth, you know,
but when you get to the end of it, truly making an impact that
we have made for Titans of industry, for some of the most well known
nonprofits in the world is really something that I am very proud of. We
say a lot here that you know, we may not be the ones to
change the world, but we will build the ones that will change it a
stage literally and over the last fifteen years, we have supported raising over a
billion dollars for our nonprofit clients, you know, in their fundraisers throughout the
year, throughout about the years of our fifteen years in business. And I
think that is not a small drop in the bucket. And I'm pretty darn
proud of that for sure. You know, in my series, Rachel,
I've had the opportunity to talk to so many smart, talented women like yourself
that are now running companies or at a manageria role that's very prominent. And
as you as principal and creative director, we have a lot of women that
are listening to this series and if you were to impart any advice on coming
up the system, whether they want to be a CEO and executive director of
principle or at a manageria level, impart some advice for our female listeners out
there about your experiences and maybe just some advice that there are going to be
challenges, there's going to be some doors open and closed, but not necessarily
your specific experiences, but just maybe some advice in general for them. I
think that's so important, and it has always been really important for me throughout
my journey of being a business owner to take part as much as possible in
opportunities to mentor women UM and and speak to and encourage women on their own
journeys. UM. I think that one of the most helpful things that I
may be able to impart to other women is to trust yourself and to lean
into the things that make UH A leadership coming from a woman different than leadership
that may come from a man. Don't you know, run from the aspects
that you know, you don't have to to to fit into any specific mold.
UM. Lean into your own talents and your own strengths. Diverse leadership
is good leadership. UM and uh and and trust yourself, UM. Don't
second guest herself. The mistakes that I find that I have made along the
way were mostly made in times where I second guessed my gut instinct. And
it really is not easy. But if you commit yourself to you know,
seeing the path in front of you and then walking down the path, you'll
make it. I promise. That's really good advice. And there's also a
common theme listeners that Rachel's talked about that. We hear regularly from our leaders
and if I could read the tea leaves and what she's saying, leap of
faith as an entrepreneur, you really have to take a leap of faith in
these situations. Even though it's scary, just go for it. There's going
to be some failing down there. But you know what, at the end,
if you're driven enough and if you're passionate enough like Rachel and her team
mark, you're going to get there. So Rachel, I think that's great
advice, and thank you for sharing all that. I did want to take
a little bit of break from the business and ask you about philanthropic and charity
work. I know that the events of business, it's seven days a week,
three hundred and sixty five days out of the year, so I know
that there's not a little at a lot of time for sleep and also doing
some charity work. But whether it's through the business or maybe you personally with
your family, what do you like to be part of Yeah? Absolutely,
As I said, I really do jump at any chance that I've had to
support women in business, and I have been very active in our local community
and associations and organizations over the years as a board member or cheering events specifically
to empower and support and educate, you know, women in their business journey.
I'm also, as I said, a really proud Alexandria native. I
grew up and now live on the original five farms of George Washington's Mount Vernon
I live now. I just back up right to the mansion and the mission
and the preservation of Mount Vernon and of the legacy of George Washington is very
important to me and we do a lot of work, my husband and I
as fundraisers and patrons of various causes at George Washington's mout Vernon as well as
for some of the land preservation you know, in the state of Virginia in
general, and to be good stewards of our natural resources, especially in this
beautiful state. So yes, there's not a ton of time for it,
but I think it is really really important to kind of find those causes that
you're passionate about and make sure that you know you spread the success around a
bit. Wow, I think that's so cool. I happen to be a
history buff and this is my fourth time living in the DMV, and I
think that people take for granted the history that we have around us, and
you're living right on at which I think is really cool that you and your
husband do that. So that's wonderful and thank you for sharing as we put
a bow in our conversation and wrap up a lot of fun talking about our
gi events. Rachel, if you were to give our listener one takeaway about
what exactly eye events is, what would that be? Passionate strategists. I
think we really have made a mark and differentiated ourselves. There are a lot
of you know, fabulous special event resources here in the district and across the
country. I think what makes us different is that we truly do obsess our
clients brands. You know, we want to act just as passionately to achieve
our clients goals as our clients are. And I think through our strategic mindset
of the power that we know can be harnessed in these opportunities where you can
bring a group of people into a room and affect change or inspire or educates.
I know that we do that. You know, work better than almost
anybody in the country. That's a good sales pitch and I love that.
And confidence too. You gotta have a little chip on your shoulder, folks.
That's what it's all about, especially when you're running a bootigue business and
there's competition out there. So Rachel, if anybody is interested in working with
you, maybe a career or just finding more about our GI Events, what's
the website and any other social channels you'd like to give out. Absolutely,
you can find us online at www dot RGI events dot com and we're super
active on Instagram. At our GI Events, we do a lot of posting
behind the scenes so you can get a feel for a little bit of the
mechanics behind the magic, which is always a lot of fun. And that's
where we are on Facebook as well. Is at our GI Events outstanding And
I know you know this, but for our listeners I've been on the website
and in the event business, you better have a great presentation. Your website
is gorgeous and easy to navigate, so whoever is putting it together is done
a very nice job. It's a really good looking website. Oh, thank
you, Dennis. That's amazing. Well cool, Well listen, Rachel,
continue success. Give my best to your team there and thank you so much
for joining us today and CEO, as you should know, we really appreciate
it. I sure will thank you Dennis