We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Francesca Pellegrino a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Francesca , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

Hi!! I’m so honoured to be here with Canvas Rebel and share a glimpse of our story with you all…

This is a great question…I can still remember the time I received my first cheque addressed to Pellegrino Events – a business name I came up on the fly. Funny story, to this day, I have yet to cash it. The client was a non-profit organization, and the event was for a charity fashion show. I came across a post on Instagram from someone I follow saying they were in need of event planning help, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get involved. After a couple meetings with the head of the department and finalizing the necessary details, we hit it off. I remember jumping for joy in my bedroom when I got the official contract in my inbox. I learned a lot from this first experience and it wasn’t easy I can tell you that. I created my first call sheet, built floor plans from scratch, did over 4 site visits with different vendors, built proposals and completed two long 15-hour work days as a one woman show. I remember at times feeling like I was taking one step forward and two steps backwards, but I pulled through. The most rewarding aspect of this experience was the acknowledgment I received from the clients a couple of days later, expressing their happiness and gratitude. This recognition prompted me to reevaluate my passion and the activities I truly enjoyed. I remember thinking how much I enjoyed the planning process and whether every day at work could be filled with such fun and challenge. On February 22nd, 2022, I launched my first company, Pellegrino Events. Specializing in event design, each event we do is custom tailored to fit your style and personality. Choosing from our various services, our team will provide premium, unique designs and will be that onsite manager for seamless execution.

Francesca , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My first official job was a part-time buser at Duff’s Wings which I was so pumped for. Looking back, I would work my 9-5 teaching job, eat a quick meal in the car and then drive straight to start my 8-hour evening shift at the restaurant. My only day off would be on Sunday and it would be mainly for brainstorming new ideas and business strategies. From when I was young, I always had a strong work ethic and was very passionate about working hard…there wasn’t really another option. I remember being 8 years old and selling stickers I would custom print on sticker paper at home and sell to classmates on the bus home from school.
I made $200 a week doing this which was a pretty chunk of change at the time. Fast-forward to my 22nd birthday, when I took a big leap to leave my steady and comfortable early childhood education job and go full time into hospitality. I became a lead server and quickly worked my way up the ladder to different hospitality companies as a floor manager, general manager and later operations manager for a three floor operation in downtown Toronto. My passion stemmed from my drive to make others feel valued and happy by providing excellent customer service and overall quality. Throughout the decade of working in hospitality, I learned many key skills that tie into my event business now, such as problem-solving, multitasking and networking. The clients and friends I met in hospitality actually were the guiding factor to pushing me start my own business. They would joke around saying “Francesca needs to plan my wedding” or “Francesca is going to be an entrepreneur”.

All jokes aside, I ended up starting Pellegrino Events as a passion project targeted just towards friends and family. After word of mouth and a handful of referrals that quickly grew, we had a big clientele. When we think in terms of what makes us different from our competitors, the main reason I would say is we are a micro company, which means we take a select amount of events per month to ensure we provide the top quality service for our clients. Some services we provide are rentals, staffing, coordination and wedding planning. As for videography and photography, we have partnered with amazing vendors to include this under our umbrella now. Launching this month, our team have invested in a LCD photo booth which will be one of the first in the GTA. I am really proud of how far we have come and am forever grateful for our amazing clients we can now call friends – You know who you are!

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

When you work with our team, you gain someone you can count on and trust – this is so important. The key to building brand loyalty at Pellegrino Events has always been adding in that personal touch that sets us apart. One of my mentors told me that responding to an business email within an hour increases success rate by 700%. I’ve always kept that close to me especially with my business and gaining new clientele. Below are our top 3 suggestions that you can use in your business to increase your brand loyalty and keep in touch with clients:

1. Building Relationships Beyond Business: Understand your client base and tailor your messages and event offerings to suit their preferences and overall needs. This will show that you truly know and care about your clients on an individual level. We recommend engaging with clients on a more personal level, such as remembering their birthdays or anniversaries, or checking in to see how they’re doing outside of event planning. This builds a more meaningful connection that can lead to long-term loyalty.

2. Feedback Loop: Implement a system that works for you to regularly act on client feedback. This will help you understand what’s working and what could be improved, and also shows clients that you value their input. Go the extra mile to deliver exceptional service. Surprise them with small gestures that show you’re thinking about them beyond the scope of the event planning. If you are planning their wedding, provide a small gesture if it’s a custom gift or even a morning message to provide that reassurance.

3. Post-Event Follow-Up: After the event, reach out to your clients to thank them for their business and ask for their feedback. We have a short questionnaire that we now send out to our clients afterward which has been working well. This allows us as a business to make necessary adjustments to reach our full potential and allow us to offer assistance with any post-event tasks that may arise!
By incorporating these strategies, you can create a client experience that fosters loyalty and encourages repeat business and referrals. Keep up the great work!!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

In full transparency, this is still a work in progress! Building our following involved a combination of strategies focused on content creation, engagement, branding, and promotion. Our top applications we use currently are Instagram & TikTok. It’s important to define your target audience and understand what they really want see. One example we started on TikTok was a “behind the scenes series” for a 2024 wedding. I believe it helped new followers get a glimpse on how we work and provided value to our audience. Another strategy we live by is engaging with our audience by always responding to comments, messages, and mentions in a timely manner. We use social media analytics tools to track the performance of our posts and campaigns to see what’s working and what isn’t. We try to highlight our vendors and collaborate with them on many reels to gain outreach to both communities. Remember, it takes time and effort, so be patient and persistent in your approach.

Follow us here- we will follow back!
Instagram & Tik Tok: @pellegrinoevents

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pellegrinoevents.ca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pellegrinoevents/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PellegrinoEvents/