We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Scarpaci recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

When I started my business, I was 20 years old. Still in college, very much trying to find my way. One weekend, I emailed event planners in New Jersey, asking if any of them were taking on any interns. I got hired by one of them and got super lucky- I still work with that very talented planner today and have learned so much over the years.

I made every celebration in my life an ordeal: Mother’s Day, Anniversaries, my sibling’s birthdays, anything where I could do some fun things with design, decorate some tables, you name it. I did everything to just learn. I started an Instagram and a website with next to nothing to share on it, but I worked my way up. I took extremely low budget events in the beginning, because I knew anything and everything was going to shape me into the best planner I could be.

They say an event planner isn’t truly established until they’re 10 years in to their business, so I figured “why wait?” And here we are, about to be 8 years later, and my company is everything I could have hoped it would one day be. I have amazing clients, a lot of which are repeat. I have gorgeous, spectacular events being held every year. I have an amazing team behind me, one of which I would not be able to accomplish the work that I do without them. And the best part? I’m happy. When I see the look on a client’s face at their event, knowing they’re truly happy, all of the work leading up to that moment makes it totally worth it. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Amanda, 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?

Scarpaci Designs is an event planning company in the business of making people happy, and bringing to life their dream event. We offer all different tiers of planning, whether it be full planning, day of coordination, balloon arches, floral centerpieces and installs, we do it all. One of my favorite things about my company is the versatile nature and the true innovative talent that comes with making each event we plan as unique as the client it is for.

Being an event planner, and small business owner for that matter, really does take a lot of discipline and determination. Your company and brand is only going to be as successful as you allow it to be. You have to network, get your name out there, volunteer, and just be a personality the public can count on. I pride myself on making the planning process with me personal. I want clients to feel like they know me on a personal level by the time their event comes, and I feel like we really do accomplish that every event season.

The satisfaction of my clients is everything to me. Making you happy is why I do what I do. And I hope to do it for many years to come.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

A couple of years ago, I made a few balloon arches for some events that I was planning, just because I felt like I was capable and it was easier to just do it myself than to involve a third party vendor. After two or three arches, I realized I was kind of sort of good at it, and that I even enjoyed it! (Even though I have a latex allergy, but that’s a story for a different day.)

When I realized how in demand balloon arches and installs could be, I decided to create another sector of my brand called “June Balloon,” and opened my own balloon company as a subset to Scarpaci Designs that year. I was shocked at how much business picked up for me after that. There are now months where we have three or four balloons orders every single weekend, on top of planning events at the same time. I get to have so much fun bringing to life different themes and color schemes for events of all sizes, making people smile one balloon at a time!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I must say, Instagram stays being the best source in finding new clients for me. I know with TikTok now becoming the most popular social media outlet, Instagram has taken the back burner for some companies. But for me, it is still my most active outlet. It really gives me the best platform to share my work and to connect with past, new, and potential clients! I treat my Instagram pages as a “portfolio,” so to speak. It’s a place where I can share my favorite collection of images from past events, and gives me total control on how I want to showcase my capabilities. Instagram stays number one in my book!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.scarpacidesigns.com www.juneballoon.co
• Instagram: @scarpacidesigns @juneballoon_

Image Credits
Courtney Occohio Photography Grace Torres Photography Anna Panutsa Photography Lauren Ashley Photography Rebekah Talbot Photography Madeline Isabella Photography