We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Barlyssa Lopez-DeSantis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Barlyssa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

We decided on Homemade Events during the initial start up phase. We knew we were going to start this business so we sat down together and just started talking about everything we envisioned this business to become. As we talked we reflected on the many years we had been doing this very job only for ourselves and family. We realized that for the last 10 years we had unlocked dozens of core memories for ourselves and our families all while creating homemade parties. Every party we had hosted before deciding to really make this a legit business was curated at home.

After having this revelation we realized that our name could only be one thing Homemade. We tagged on the Events so that our clients and community understood that we are in the event planning game. Almost 3 years later and our name continues to bring us joy when we see or hear it in the wild.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We are Barlyssa, or Barbara & Alyssa if you want to get technical. We have been best friends since the 4th grade and have basically fused into one fully operating human, lol.

We both come from large Hispanic families that would celebrate anything and everything under the sun with a huge gathering. These gatherings always consisted of amazing foods, music, dancing, and a whole lot of laughing. Our families would also go out of their way to bring each event to life through decorations, foods and desserts. We were immersed in this event styling world and we didn’t even know it, it was just the way we grew up.

Fast forward to 2012 when Barbara’s daughter was turning 1. While being thousands of miles away from each other, at the time Alyssa lived in N.C & I was in Rochester, we managed to plan the cutest Sid the Science Kid first birthday party (Anabelle’s favorite show at the time). After that party it was a wrap. Each year our pinterest boards grew and so did the ideas.

In 2016 Alyssa had her son and then we were finally able to plan boy parties, which only grew in ideas. In 2020 we hosted our first even that included strangers (to us). Our cousin had recently gotten engaged and we hosted her bridal shower and brought all the Barlyssa magic to the event. Her soon to be family were simply amazed by what we had created and really pushed us into starting this business.

That same family hired us in 2021 for our first paid event EVER, under one stipulation. We had to become a legitimate business. So we jumped head first into the LLC and all the other things that first time entrepreneurs have no idea how to do. We hosted our first event under the name Homemade Events in June 2021 and have not stopped.

Since then we have purchased a local picnic business and added those services to our portfolio. We have rebranded and launched Homemade Events as the go to event planning service for unforgettable events in Rochester NY. And as of Jan 2024 we are venue owners. But most importantly we have unlocked hundreds of core memories for clients while also unlocking them for ourselves.

We 100% do what we do for our clients and their special moments AND we also do it for ourselves. We are absolutely obsessed with this work and make memories for ourselves while making memories for our clients. It’s really a win win for everyone!

Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?

We sure have! As we shared we started our business in 2021, we focused on growing our following on Instagram, mocking up any and every event we could think of to have content to share, and making friends with fellow entrepreneurs in our area. In December of 2021 we received a message from a local picnic entrepreneur we had been following and engaging with. She explained that the business was growing rapidly and was becoming challenging to juggle with her two littles at home. She came to us first to offer the business for sale before putting it out to the public because she believed that we would “love her like our own” and believed we would continue to build the business she started into an empire.

We jumped at the offer without any hesitation but all the self doubt and excitement in the world. By January 2022 the deal was finalized. We rented a u-haul truck and went to pick up all of our new event inventory along with a run down from Angela about how the business operates, inventory lists and review of the books.

The entire ride home (about a 25 minute drive) we were speechless. Did we actually buy a business? Who the hell are we to have bought a business? We are going to love this business soooo much! All the feelings! We knew that the acquisition of this business would only accelerate our growth and help build momentum faster than our current plan. We jumped head first and it was the best decision we ever made! Our 2022 year we hit a sales goal that we would have NEVER imagined hitting, we grew a following that loved watching us take on this entrepreneurial journey and we made countless memories.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

As we shared we have been best friends since the 4th grade. In mid-October 1999 Alyssa transferred to the school Barbara was at. Alyssa and her mom came in and began talking to the teacher and introductions. After the adults were done talking our teacher called Barbara to the front of the class and introduced us to each other. She explained to Barbara that she was to be Alyssa’s friend and show her around school.

I (Barbara) took that to heart and befriended Alyssa for life! We went on to have the most amazing fourth grade year ever. But in try inner city living we both moved to different homes which meant we went to different schools. We were separated and didn’t have any contact because it was the early 2000’s and texting wasn’t a thing.

In Feb 2002 it was Barbara’s turn to start a new school and not know anyone. Barbara started at Charlotte Middle School 2/14/02 and was miserable. How dare my mother make me start school on the day of love while everyone around me is getting all the cards and exchanging all the candies I would have to be the new girl in the back just watching. I was literally dying on the inside.

Fast forward to Math class. I (Barbara) walks into math class and sits in the far back corner of the classroom because I was that kid. 5 minutes into this class Alyssa walks into the classroom and starts huffing and puffing to the teacher about giving her seat away after only 5 minutes of being late. As she walks closer and closer to sit in the seat behind me (Barbara) she says my name “Barbara?”

I turn around and look at her and realize that it was my best friend from 4th grade. From that moment on we were inseparable. We have built our lives together, sharing our children, families, and ourselves with one another. The easiest way to describe it is “plutonic soulmates”. We are meant to be together. There is nothing in the world that could ever keep us apart.

Contact Info:

• Website: Homemadeeventsroc.com
• Instagram: Homemadeeventsroc
• Facebook: Homemade Events Roc

Image Credits
Emilia Callahan Photography