We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brittany Doran. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brittany below.

Brittany, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

As the oldest of four sisters, I have always been the go-to planner. Birthday celebrations, family trip itineraries, special milestones – I loved the prospect of coming up with ideas and seeing them come to life to celebrate the important people in my life. Nothing makes me happier than bringing people together to have a good time, and my dad has always encouraged me to take this passion and turn it into a business. I’ve already met so many fantastic clients and vendors that have been great to work with.

After graduating from Manhattan College with an MBA in Marketing and Management I began working in digital media and continued to be the de facto planner for events for friends and family. Through this I learned several key aspects of party planning: it takes a significant amount of time and research, it’s imperative to stay organized, and most people don’t find it enjoyable. In fact, the majority of people I spoke with found planning to be overwhelming and stressful, and often overshadowed the excitement of the event. Meanwhile I found myself looking forward to the entire process of planning, thinking of creative ideas, and organizing the little details that helped to create a great party. I want my clients to be able to enjoy their event as much as their guests will, and I can do that by taking the stress out of planning, coordinating and executing.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a dedicated party and event planner specializing in full and partial planning as well as day-of coordination. I offer services for birthday parties for all ages, showers, graduation parties, fundraisers, grand openings, intimate weddings and more. No party is too big or too small!

I create custom invitations, decorations and signage in-house to bring your event theme to life. I also collaborate with fantastic local vendors to provide catering, entertainment, event spaces and more. When planning an event, all the options and packages can feel overwhelming; I’m here to take away that stress and perform diligent research to find the best offerings for my clients’ budgets, so they can make confident and informed decisions on who to work with.

Multitasking and efficiency are skills that come naturally to me; in my personal and professional life I never leave things to the last minute, and I like to make sure every detail is taken into consideration. Coordinating vendors, pickups, deliveries, managing schedules, making sure the event flows smoothly – these are areas where I thrive. I actually get excited to create a to-do list and check tasks off as I go.

Since every party is unique, all packages are fully customizable – just ask! All clients receive a detailed Excel outlining their individual party needs to stay close to the planning process regardless of the type or size of the event. This includes a schedule for the week leading up to the party or event so you don’t have to think about anything except having fun!

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

While I don’t have a team working with me for Piece of Cake (yet), I do have several years of management experience in advertising. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is there is no one way to manage a team; everyone responds to different management styles, and a good manager understands how to adapt to the various needs to help their team grow and thrive. I always say it’s free to compliment someone – when a person on my team has thought of an innovative solution to a problem, provided a well-thought out answer to a client, or has been a resource for a coworker, I make sure to let them know their efforts are not going unnoticed.

These are skills I bring to party and event planning. Every client will have a different set of needs, visions and requests, and my job is to adapt to those characteristics to help give them a truly memorable event. When a vendor provides a fantastic service or is communicative throughout the process, I make sure to leave reviews so everyone else can know how great they are! Parties are supposed to be fun, and remaining flexible and positive will go a long way in driving success.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

“You have to spend money to make money” – that’s a lesson I learned very early on when starting Piece of Cake! While I had relatively low overhead, there were some startup costs that I knew were investments for a successful business down the line. First and foremost I have invested money and time into networking events; Westchester is such a close-knit community, and I have been lucky enough to have been welcomed by wonderful female entrepreneurs across a variety of industries. This has been invaluable in growing my client and vendor base early on.

There are also tangible assets that I focused on that helped grow the reputation of professionalism I wanted to exude. From a Google business email (small investment) to a better quality camera to document events (bigger investment) I want to make sure my dedication to building up my name and business is at the forefront.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pieceofcakeny.com
• Instagram: https://pieceofcake.ny
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-ciano-doran/
• Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558804804184

Image Credits

Leo Sotelo – Story Alley Photography