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

Alright, Jamie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I have always wanted to start my own events business and during each of my pregnancies, I strongly considered leaving my job security to venture out on my own, but the time didn’t feel right with babies on the way. Ultimately when the pandemic hit, I unfortunately lost my job, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It was the push I needed to take the leap. And four years later, here we are!

Starting an event planning business during a global pandemic is like one giant oxymoron! My business certainly started off slow, which I chose to use that time to get my business off the ground. I had my website and branding developed, worked on my portfolio, networking, etc. so that when the world opened up again, I would be ready. And ready I was. The day the mask mandates lifted, it was like the flood gates opened. People were thirsty for events, and I was there for it! The pandemic opened my eyes to even more creative ways of thinking for my clients, whether virtual or in-person.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a veteran event planner with over 16 years experience conceptualizing, creating and implementing high quality events for my clients. I started my career at a leading New York City-based international public relations agency where it was truly love at first event. From press events and trade shows to event sponsorships and more, there was no turning back.

I then continued my events career, joining a top three international commercial real estate firm in the Washington, DC metro area, where I led the events team, planning and implementing small to large-scale internal and client events.

When I ultimately left the corporate world, I knew I had to start my own thing. Today Jamie Kramer Events is a full-service event planning company, specializing in high-quality, custom event services for individuals, companies and organizations in the Washington, DC metro area. With over 16 years experience, our team will confidently take every detail and logistic off of your plate, so that you and your guests can enjoy the event with zero stress.

We offer planning for any event you can think of – Corporate, Mitzvahs, Social, Weddings, and beyond. We will handle every detail from start to finish – including, budget creation and management, venue and vendor selection and management, design and decor, vision boards, gifting, branding and collateral, on-site event management, and so much more!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My business is fostered by word of mouth. Being a mom in the DMV, there are infinite social groups, whether on social media or IRL where moms will go to share their recommendations for anything and everything under the sun, so I do have a large referral business. The also often “I found you on Google” always brings a big smile to my face as well, but my business would not be what it is without people recommending me. Every recommendation that comes my way shows me that the work I put in to keep my reputation in the market is paying off.

I am a relationship person and I believe that so much of business is that, so for me, fostering those connections with clients from start to finish and even beyond the event is so important. It is crucial to me that people only have good things to say about my work and the experience working with myself or my team. If there are challenges, I want to know about them immediately so we can work to remedy together. When people spend money on a vendor, they hope for it to be everything they want and more. Events can get pricey and I want them to look back at it as one of the best decisions and memories of their life and that they could enjoy it because Jamie Kramer Events was involved.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I had a corporate event a few years ago in the dead of summer that had a large budget and lots of bells and whistles. Our huge vendor team had been setting up for 4 hours and we were just about finished. The event was to start in less than an hour. The air conditioning in the space we were in went out and the building engineers said it was a bigger problem and would not be fixed in time. We had to get the entire vendor team to break down 4 hours of setup and relocate to a different space in the building.

This was less than ideal and we knew we wouldn’t have enough time to match the setup before the event started. We had to pivot a bit and audible the setup so it would still be amazing given the circumstances. It was a very stressful hour and it was all hands on deck, but in the end, we did a pretty amazing job given our plan b and the circumstances at hand. We had to show an immense amount of resilience for ourselves and our client. I knew then that if I could get through that, I could get through anything in my business. Events are not for the faint of heart!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jamiekramerevents.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiekramerevents
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamieKramerEvents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jamie-kramer-events/?viewAsMember=true

Image Credits

Michael B. Kress, MBK Photo