We were lucky to catch up with Allie Gee recently and have shared our conversation below.

Allie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I spent my whole life as a dancer. I went to college and got my BFA in Dance Performance. Moved to NYC after graduation and joined a dance company in the first year of living there. Performed in NYC for 2 years before receiving a job offer for a company in Mexico City. Relocated to Mexico, traveled the country and performed with them touring the world. Retired performing and became a model/actress and full time dance teacher. I lived the life people kept telling me was a risk but I didn’t truly feel like I was taking a risk until I decided to change careers and start my own business.

After devoting my life to dance, performance, and teaching – I found myself completely burnt out and still living paycheck to paycheck despite having a bountiful resume. I knew something had to change. So at 30 years old, I stopped to figure out what else I could potentially enjoy doing. After long talks with supportive friends and family, I decided on event planning. I should’ve seen it sooner, but when looking back, majority of my supplemental jobs during my dance career were based in event planning. From New York Fashion Week events to local artist networking events, dance recitals to skill-learning workshops. The through line was that I loved organizing and putting on a show. So I took a risk and left 75% of my teaching positions to study and get my event planning certification. I took internships with planners, venues, caterers, and other vendors in the industry. All the while, I was forming my own brand and business ideas. From the classes and internships, I realized I already knew more than I thought and that I had a real knack for event planning, specifically wedding planning. Soon, the risk started to pay off and I felt joy and validation from this new career. I moved forward knowing I had made the right choice and continue to take a risk on myself everyday.

Allie, 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 name is Allie Gee and my business is O.M.Gee Events. My journey to event planning has been anything but linear. I described my path to event planning in the previous prompt so here’s more information about my business.

O.M.Gee Events is a queer and woman owned event planning & coordinating company based in Philadelphia, PA; serving the Greater Philadelphia area and Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. O.M.Gee Events is about creating events that you’ll remember for a lifetime. I want to celebrate you and everything that makes your life unique. I specialize in creating personalized details for the most personal days. I believe our clients should be able to make their own traditions! Let me help you create them.

Event planning should be fun, exciting and stress-free. With years of experience and an everlasting passion for what I do, rest assured you will get the event you were dreaming of. I’ll make sure to tailor a magnificent celebration that will exceed your expectations. There’s nothing I love more than seeing the look on my clients’ faces at the end of the night, because I know the job was well done. I know what questions to ask to make sure you’ve thought about all the details and possibilities. Last minute changes? I’ve got you covered. Leave all the stress and worries to me, and focus on enjoying your upcoming celebration.

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O.M.Gee Events offers packages for day-of coordination, month-of coordination, partial planning, and full planning. Design consultation is also available as well as Build-Your-Own packages. I pride my business on having transparent pricing so all pricing is available on my website. I offer each client a complimentary consultation prior to booking of services.

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I think it’s important for my clients to know a bit more about me before working together so here are some fun facts about me:
-I also model and have walked in New York Bridal Fashion Week
-I came out as queer later in life and have been loving every minute of it
-I enjoy dyeing my hair different colors
-My favorite genres of music are disco, funk, and pop music.
-My spouse and I love to travel and have visited 9 countries so far (Iceland and Japan are my top 2 favorites!)
-I have a cat (Filly) & a dog (Finn), and yes, they get along
-I believe there is no such thing as too many houseplants

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

When I first started, I knew my prices were just below the average prices in the field. This allowed me to cast a wider net and attract clients willing to take a bit of a risk on me. Even though I knew I would pull off a great event, I didn’t have the reviews to prove it. I always go above and beyond for my clients, but the first few clients were not expecting the quality of service they received for the lower price. Building this rapport with my clients helped me to be able to increase my prices, with new clients being able to rest assured that I was worth it.

I also believe communication and preparation are key, so when coordinating with other vendors I’m always responsive and listen to their needs of the day as well. It’s a group effort to pull off an event and I do everything I can to ensure we are all set up for success. This has given me the positive reputation with other vendors in the industry that I have today.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I focus mainly on weddings, so Zola is my main source for new clients. Zola is especially great for smaller businesses in the industry that don’t have the up front capital to pay for vendor profiles. Other sources for new clients include google/website, word of mouth, business cards at local coffee shops, and social media. All of these methods have proven to be fruitful for new clients. It’s important to have ample reviews and documentation of your work so that clients have a better sense of what they will be getting. It’s a lot of money for the client to invest so you need to make sure they feel secure in your abilities to make their day go seamlessly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.omgee-events.com/
• Instagram: @omgee.events
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552603615430
• Other: https://www.google.com/search?q=OMGee+Events&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAA_-NgU1I1qDAyMjezNLEwSE1MtTBPSja2MqhINrIwTjFNSzE1N0hONUxMWcTK4-_rnpqq4FqWmldSDADO1pJGOAAAAA&hl=en&mat=CSb9Rl65qpalElcBqiIDwgnOzvIZK3MTW1A-1-_Vs_CAU4_INI_C4JrL9Q-_KR9RUVYd4PVx_I4JaF5ah8CGetkd6U8SaR7tfN3zpdC6rEyE_Icf-1jJldpF6vlBd1NYmcI&authuser=0#mpd=~11931911975892090150/customers/reviews

Image Credits

Justus Henry Photography, Mirage Media, Limetree Photo, Sakar Photography, Bliss Photos, Rachel Lincoln Photography