We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melva LaJoy Legrand a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Melva LaJoy , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?
It is my sincere hope that when I no longer exist witht the living that I am known for these things.
1. Survivor – It is well documented that I am a survivor of trauma but I want people to not stay with the survivor part of my story and rather look at what happened next. My trauma through dedicated therapy, family support and prayer, I used as a tool in my daily life. I strive to be authentic, I strive to be vulnerable, I strive to really try to meet people where they are and because of what I have survived my hope is that others know that you can come back from anything as long as you have breath. I came back from financial struggle, self-esteem struggles and more.
2. Servant – Over the past couple of years, I’ve had the pleasure to have some extraordinary mentees who I think are going to change the world in ways that I can’t fully capture. For me, to be a servant is an ode to my father Melvin whose namesake I share. When my father died in 2021, part of his eulogy was the role he played as a servant and in that regard, I consider myself carrying a high honor. So when my name is called last, I hope they remember I tried to give my mentees everything I could, I tried to ask others to support diverse businesses, I tried to encourage someone new in their business ownership journey by referring them business. I tried daily to serve.
3. Storyteller – This is a new role that I have embraced and I sincerely hope I am given opportunities to continue to tell the collection of stories of what happens when life does not go to plan and oh boy did I have a pretty well written script for my life and guess what happened? None of it. I didn’t get married at 28, I never had children and I never (despite trying) become a size 2 but what did happen is that I learned alot of lessons and the minute I embraced the life that was meant for me, my life expanded and wow, did it blow my mind. I tell these stories not to glorify me but moreso to let everyone know that a mistep, especially the big ones which I excelled in is still a step and that it is still pushing you to the right direction.
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
You know I have told this story many times but looking back I believe I first fell in love with events as a little girl witness my mother Joyce Kennedy organizing smaller events with the National Political Congress of Black Women with black female icons like the incomparable Dr. C Delores Tucker. In college, I had the blessing of being mentored by other strong black women in leadership, contract negotiation and the art of diplomacy but specific to the events industry my first professional foreay was probably around 2004, 2005 when I realized I would not stay in education full-time because event planning was my calling and soonthereafter I realized that event planning for mission-focused organizations(organizations making change) was my unique assignment and so I have mostly devoted my life and career to that work. In 2019, I re-launched a rebranded/refreshed vision for LaJoy Plans, the business I have the honor of owning to deliver on a promise to service mission-focused organizations globally and we have done some amazing things. The business has the name LaJoy Plans as an acknowledgement that my parents named me Melva LaJoy (Melva after my Dad Melvin and LaJoy to represent that I was the love and joy of their life). Event planning is the love and joy of my life.
I am proud that this business has expanded thanks to Covid where we had to get creative. We now write and produce commercials for healthcare organizations, I do executive coaching for organizations looking to scale their events management strategy and yet, we have kept our promise in spite of Covid to work with mission focused organizations such as:The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, The Education Trust, The Smithsonian Instituion, Catalyst Ed and so many others.
In recent years as the leader of LaJoy Plans, I have been honored as 2022 Top Industry Innovator, 2021 Top 500 Event Producers and most recently I just won the Event Industry Council Gloabal Social Impact Award for my commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
When I am asked what sets us apart, I think it’s in the numbers, over 90% of the clients are with us for two+ years, my team has been together for years and I think when people work with us realizing that we really like eachother that comes together in the work that we do. We embody joy and so a LaJoy event has that ethos.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
This is such a good question. If there is one lesson I want to share with everyone it is this. You can’t be successful if you believe in the hustle culture. Hustling is not strategic, it is rooted in fear and it leaves you burned out. I know because I did it, I am recovering from it and every now and again I fall back into that bad habit still. So what I invite people to do is to consider what happens when you make decisions with a strategy in place which means you don’t take on projects just for money, which means you are comfortable pricing yourself appropriately, which means you take a holiday. This also means you are hardworking but you are working on the right things versus everything. I really believe this is the difference between successful businesses.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I realize this may not match the data but I am here to tell you that there is no replacement for consistency and doing the work. Listen, I understand that there is value in social media but if your product only looks good but you can’t actually deliver eventually you will be found out. This year, we obtained at least 4 new clients, one of which has renewed through 2024 and guess what? They all came through referrals, they all came from the reality that each time we strive to consistently deliver, if not exceed on our promise as professionals. Second, I would say that if you do not have strong relationships and strong advocates, if you are trying to build alone, it may be possible but it won’t be pleasant. I firmly believe that every single business person needs strong alliances who will speak up for you when you are not in the room.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lajoyplans.com
- Instagram: @belajoyful
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lajoy/
Image Credits
Ana Isabel Photography Bonnie Love-Douglass, D2D Focus BADJVCK