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

Alright, Alexa 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?

It was 2020, shortly after the covid lockdown went into place and I lost my job as a corporate event planner in NYC. At the time I was mostly focusing on organizing their fashion showcase. I had a lot of fun with it but felt that there were so many missed opportunities for creativity or technology innovation. I have never been one to do well sitting still, so the lockdown left me with so many creative ideas but no where to release them.

So when we are all stuck at home, and I wasn’t working I dreamed daily about starting an event planning business. But I think we all know it wasn’t the time for it. No one was having a party of more than their household size at that time, and no one knew when that would change.

While on one of my sleepless nights, I tried to think of how I could wiggle my way into the events space given the current environment. And when I tell you a light bulb went off, it was actually like a scene from a movie where a little cartoon lightbulb turned on above my head. So at around 2am, I came up with the idea for The Boxed Party.

I started writing down ideas, making Pinterest boards, setting up social media accounts. But my favorite part of the story of starting was how I created my logo. I created a logo on a “logo generator website” in under 15 minutes. I was supposed to actually pay for the logo in the end but to avoid that I screenshotted the page, cropped it and that was my logo for over a year.

When I decided to talk to people about my idea, everyone told me it wasn’t a good idea. And I mean everyone. It wasn’t a good time for it, the economy was going to crash, it was too much overhead and I didn’t have the money for it, I had to finish college, etc. etc.. Although if you know me, once my mind is set on something I’m not asking people their opinions for permission, I’m just basically giving you the courtesy of knowing it from me first.

For the first 2 weeks of this , I blocked most of my family from my posts so they wouldn’t see that I started the company anyway, amongst their disapproval.

When I started this I honestly never expected this to be more than a hobby that I had fun with for a few months before I drifted on to something else. Commitment wasn’t always my strong suit. I lacked a lot of purpose before 23 years old that I tried so many different things to see what stuck. I started at FIT in one major, left to try out teaching, and then went back to FIT to finish out a different program than I started with.

Before college I think I fantasized about the dream of being part of almost every profession- a forensic scientist, lawyer, teacher, beauty chemist, fashion marketer, visual merchandiser and store designer, the list goes on. I sit here starting to laugh while I head down career memory lane. But none of them ever stuck. Now being almost 5 years into this business and having pivoted into the direction I have, as a full service event planner and designer, I can confidently say; yes it stuck.

Alexa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into the events industry by chance. I never really knew how much I would love it until I immersed myself in it through an internship I had in my last year of college. I always had a very creative thought process and loved to think outside of the boundaries of trends and the “norm”.

I think that is what sets me apart the most. I have a knack for a deep understanding of what our clients want before they are able to even put it into words themselves. Each and every event, regardless of scale or size, is planned and designed with precision and dedication. The Eventful planning journey is curated to give peace of mind so each of our clients can be present in each minute of the beautiful memories they will make.

My planning style is unique because of my design process. I implement technological innovation and keep guest immersion and experience at the forefront of all of my designs. I am not confined to norms or trends, and alway strives for that “wow” affect. I designed a glamorous, vintage Vegas theme 40th birthday at a private residence last Fall and I was startled awake one morning around 4 AM with an idea. “How cool would it be to have a custom kiosk seating chart designed as a slot machine, so when you pulled the lever it simulated a slot machine spin, and spun through all of the guests names until it landed on their table number”. Well we made it happen, and it was awesome. I love to come up with ideas that surprise people with unique production design in ways they couldn’t even dream of.

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

I am a full believe that you cannot teach people to care. That is something my Mom taught me from a very young age. You can train someone to do just about any task within a job, but you can’t teach them to care. I think it starts with hiring the right people first and foremost, and it doesn’t mean that the ideal candidate will have the most experience but it does mean they should be someone who has the most enthusiasm. You want to hire people for your team that are excited to come to work, excited to learn, someone who is inquisitive and eager and passionate about what you do. The rest comes easy, but you can’t teach those core personality traits.

I try to keep an open environment for ideas, collaboration and honesty. No matter what it is I always try to consult my team on their thoughts on something, whether it be our logo when we re-branded, or a design deck for an event. I always tell my team that I have a business owner mindset, which makes it difficult to see things from an outsiders perspective, free of financial concerns, or risk vs. reward thinking. I like to hear what my team has to say about everything that we do within the business and I think that is what keeps our morale high. No one’s role is more important than the other, and certainly not mine over anyone’s on my team.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

No one really starts a business knowing exactly what they are doing all of the time. Mistakes or “failures” are what build successful businesses. You have to fail 4 times in order to succeed once. Fake it until you make it right?

You can think in your head over and over again about the business plan and best time to start, but if you keep thinking you will never start. There is no better time than now so as soon as you feel confident enough to take the risk, take it. Dreams don’t work unless you do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://eventfulbyalexa.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eventful.byalexa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eventful.byalexa/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexa-ferraro-370b7a190/

Image Credits

Brooke Walsh Photography
Imagine Studios
Purroy Productions