If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. —Marc Anthony

When I was 8 years old, I enjoyed playing make believe. I honestly spent so much of my time daydreaming; thinking and imaging what my professional life would be.

I dreamt of being a teacher. A scientist. A set designer. A singer. An artist. A hair stylist. And a makeover specialist (this was before What not to Wear).

Luckily, I didn’t commit to any one profession without “testing it out” first. This led to real life experiments, and many moments of arriving and leaving hobbies and activities out of love.

My first year of undergrad brought forth a valuable life lesson; you’re never done experimenting, and life is about choosing what creates joy, instead of what keeps you searching. So I did what I knew to do, I lovingly left psychology for a new love – Product Marketing.

Though, when I was in undergrad, product marketers didn’t exist. I didn’t even know what to call it. I only knew I thrived in projects where both the technical and creative were incorporated, and I wanted a profession where I could merge those two worlds into one dream position.

Though I knew the destination, I had no idea where I was going until I stumbled upon a JD that changed my life. I’d spend the next 7 years creating a fruitful career as a product marketer, and I enjoyed every moment of it, even the grueling days where night snuck in and I hadn’t eaten lunch.

I made it, and I could finally exhale. That is, until my plans changed. Unbeknownst to me, I had become a different person in those 7 years. I wanted a different lifestyle and my career goals were different; more creative in nature. I wanted to create more than I wanted to support.

Fast forward to 2023, and I’m experiencing the rockiest year of my career. In those 12 months, I was laid off, lost both of my grandmothers, and was hired to take a nonprofit tech product public (my dream industry role 🥹). After navigating the waves of that year, I began to reimagine my life. And in that time, I rediscovered a forgotten love – party planning.

I began party planning with my grandma eons ago. It always made me content to see others enjoy the experience I had created for them

And so I did what I always do, I left product marketing to create a party planning business in honor of my pioneering grandma who loved to party. And that is where I am today. I use my talents, gifts, and learnings from previous work and life experiences to create parties where the host feels seen.

I’m sure by now you’re wondering, how is this an homage to my 8 year old self? Well, without her vivid dreams, courage, and determination, I wouldn’t have had the knowledge or skills needed to get a business up and running in under 2 months.

My driving force is to build community-centric parties that meet the personal or professional needs of the host. So it truly is an homage to her, because without her curiosity to "test it out", I wouldn’t be where (or who) I am today.

Thank you 8 year old me! You are, and forever will be, my greatest motivator ❤️