We recently connected with Alie Stewart and have shared our conversation below.

Alie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

What I do is quite different from the industry standard – Especially out here in Nashville.

When I tell people that I own an events company, they automatically assume this means “event planning”, such as planning a corporate event or something in the realm of a wedding or baby shower.

The truth is, we specialize in gatherings that cultivate culture and community. The term “events” is familiar enough in immediate society for folx to swallow, and acts as a gateway drug towards understanding what we do.
We are a progressive boutique, we curate custom gatherings, fundraisers, social events, edgy original show formats and city-wide activations. For example, in June, we organized The Nashville Drag Crawl. – a bar and restaurant crawl involving businesses like Old Glory, Fait La Force, Il Forno, NVRNVR, Diskin and Bastion. Participants were inspired to dress in drag and the goal was to raise money for LGBTQ foundations while creating awareness around the threats towards the TN queer community – a light protest of sorts to show solidarity for those affected from the Drag Ban.

Nashville is full of artists, creators, innovators and risk-takers. We enjoy sharing space with the bachelorette and country music side of the industry, however, that real-estate is packed! There is such a gap and need for the other residents who live here. We want to provide safe gathering spaces where our demographic can express themselves authentically.

Alie, 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?

Right now, I identify as a Creative Director, running a Creative Agency, Previously I called myself an Emmy-Nominated TV Producer.
I started off working in documentary formats for film and television.

I used to fake sick when I was in grade school to watch as many episodes of 2020 with Barbara Walters as possible. This led me to Journalism school, which led me to working in documentaries, which led me here. I’ve always loved humans. The grey area, the duality of life… capturing people in their most beautiful and honest moments is what I love.
Journalism taught me how to truly connect with people and find amazing stories. Documentaries taught me the granular work of leading a team, the art of expressing oneself, the business behind distribution, media, funding, partnerships etc. It fueled me with lessons of how to document life properly – without judgment, fear or manipulation. It provided me with tools that I then figured out how to tweak into event formats. It gifted me a new goal –
How can I take the execution of documentaries and implement them into live events?

That has turned into successful activations and programs such as Never Sent, a storytelling show where folx go up to a mic and share messages they never had the guts to send. Or, like Lost Nashville, a city-wide elevated scavenger hunt where Nashvillians unravel clues about Nashvilles lost history in order to discover hidden showcases throughout the city.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn how to lead like a man. I had to unlearn my ego.
I had to unlearn burning the candle at both ends.

Leading like a Man –
The Documentary / Hollywood industry… like all others, is led by men. Even the women I worked for had to act like one (or a toxic one) in order to get anywhere. I’ve always said my spirit animal is a baby tiger – so i have that fire in me – however, I always felt a little bit of my soul chipping when I put on the man mask. I had to let that lesson die and rebuild. With influences from my childhood self, and incredible support, I learned how to lead like a woman. It’s more authentic, nourishing and fulfilling

Ego –
Ego doesn’t have a gender. It just is. Places like New York reward it. I’m not going to lie- I’m a superficial person at times. I like how my name sounds when other people speak it – whether they’re saying something good or bad. I am not selfless. I definitely have my moments of generosity, empathy and kindness… but it is not my whole makeup. In my line of work, especially in the film and tv industry, that sort of personality got me far and far fast. However, it is not long lived. One starts to smell their own bullshit. Through 2020 breaking me down, a lot of life kicking my ass, failure, therapy and meditation – I learned to balance my ego with the more attractive parts of my personality. I’m still working on killing it completely, but I know that is a long game. And since the decision to notice it and work on that side to myself, my work has gotten so much stronger – as well as my personal life.

Burning –
Burn Out is very real for me. I have PTSD from it (as well as other child hood traumas, of course) but work is the main character monster in my story – so it’s complicated. I love what I do, but i can really run myself into the ground when I become obsessed with a project, it can be incredibly unhealthy.
This is partially why I decided to run my own company, so that I could manage my time. I wanted to be in control of the work I was putting in, so that I could have a healthy lifestyle and give myself, my brain, my body, my soul some love as well. I now know my capacity, with my own company I can stay within those limits and manage everyones expectations.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

It’s less cute than it seems.

I have impressive parts to this answer, like investing, bitcoin, saving money and acquiring impressive sponsorship. But the real answer is – The Hustle.

My initial capital mostly comes from The Hustle.
This is part of cutting down my ego, I had to get on my hands and knees and clean up dog shit. I will walk dogs, drive Lyft, door dash and house sit if I need to make that extra amount of money. I think this is the thing that everyone keeps quiet – but if your not a trust fund baby, I don’t know how else you could actually pull in that extra 5K that you need and only have time for at odd hours during the week.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.raganacreative.com/
• Instagram: aliestew
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alie-stewart-97aa6a10/

Image Credits
Title image – Emily April Allen Black and White – _gamito Drag Queens walking – Lauren Williams Me in black theater – unknown Me in Julia Martin Gallery – Lauren Williams Me with my cat – selfie Me in white on stage – Emily April Allen