We recently connected with Dee Lee and have shared our conversation below.

Dee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Entrepreneurship and event production is not for the faint of heart. Every day you are always learning and growing. You are constantly putting out fires and fixing situations. I am so grateful for all the love and support I got from so many. However, to be successful in what we do it takes hard work, perseverance, and a strong network of people around you. I am nothing without those around me. It truly takes a village to execute it all. It takes knowing how to approaching things with heart, hiring professionals who become like family, that share the same values/goals, and navigating through together.

Be kind and humble. It is so important to share the love and positivity with those around you. People generally gravitate to this. You are what you attract. Be a good human. It is so easy in such a stressful environment to lose sight of the goodness around you. I am only as strong as those around me. I am so blessed to have so many people praying and cheering for me because I will always try to exude the same love. I wouldn’t be where I am at without my village behind me.

Dee, 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?

I was a middle school teacher in LAUSD for 13 years. I loved my students but realized my passion was events and photography. When my miracle daughters were born I prayed for a way to do what I love to do. One door opened into another and one of my first events upon leaving my first love of education I met Oprah. It was the highlight of my career to meet someone I idolized. This was my sign to keep doing what Ioved doing and inspiring others to follow their dreams.

When I first started this journey my goal was to elevate and inspire women to pursue their dreams. There were not that many Asian females entrepreneurs in the industry as well. I wanted so much for my brand. I wanted to be an advocate for the AAPI community and female entrepreneurs. In the process of my journey I was able to build teams of strong beautiful women around me to execute events. It was amazing to see how working interviewees, interns, and single moms grew to join our event family. My next goal is to build our event family so that I can enter the next chapter of possibly coaching and mentoring new event planners in our industry. I want to impart the knowledge and blessings that were bestowed upon me to others.

Dee Lee Designs is an award winning, event design, and production company based out of Los Angeles, California. We have been curating weddings that embody modern sophistication and romance throughout Southern California, Hawaii and destinations beyond. Our team of event planners and designers are recognized for the unparalleled, lavish designs we create, that uniquely tell your love story.

Captivating audiences through our passion for storytelling, we take pride in our artistry at Dee Lee Designs. We have produced luxurious events with the finest quality and professionalism in the industry. Our mission is to curate an elegantly seamless full planning experience with memories that will last a lifetime.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Dee is a first-generation Chinese Cambodian born in the United States. Her parents escaped from the Cambodian genocide and she is the oldest of three siblings. Dee was a middle school teacher in the largest school district, starting full-time teaching at just 23 years old. She had a talent for grant writing for the various schools she worked at. However, Dee’s pivot came when her daughters were born, and she felt unsupported. There were a lot of politics.

“I was doing events and photography as a hobbyist. I quickly learned that I found a new love and pursued it part time. Eventually I retired from teaching and opened my first LLC, got liability insurance, and the rest was history,” Dee said.

She faced a lot of challenges at first, mostly because she didn’t have enough business background to understand how to properly run a business. “Both my Bachelors and Masters were in education. I didn’t have a mentor. I learned a lot through trial and error.”

Eventually she found a network of event professionals that opened more doors for her. She started out in the Quinceañera market, where she made a name for herself as a designer in a Latino market. Although it was challenging, Dee thrived in it.

Along with the challenges she faced, she also encountered people who told her that she couldn’t make it. There was a time that she assisted a celebrity planner she admired, and was told that she was only good enough for small things. This was a devastating blow to Dee’s confidence. But despite these challenges, Dee persisted and emerged victorious.

Dee made a lot of entrepreneurial mistakes in the beginning of her journey. It was a new learning curve for her. She quickly learned why liability insurance was so important to have as a business owner, and she learned about quarterly taxes.

“I still had a hobbyist attitude about pricing when I jumped into it full time. I didn’t know what market value was on anything and had to do a lot of research,” Dee said.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Covid was a time most of us wanted to forget. A lot of businesses went upside down in our industry because the Gig Industry was the last industry to open. Imagine 12 million gig workers without work! I had to pivot to smaller events that were safer to do. There was a lot of division in the industry. Some people were for the smaller events and others were not. We had to navigate who was vaccinated or not. We had to deal with Covid outbreaks and try to keep our teams safe as well.

We did everything from drive by events, life streamed events, to micro weddings, and destination weddings. Talk about a story about survival. It took a lot of perseverance and pivoting. We had to think outside the box. It was not for the faint of heart.

I can proudly say now were are internationally featured planners. Our hard work is getting us wedding and events around the world. Truly a blessing!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.designsdeelee.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deeleedesigns/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deeleedesigns/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/deeleedesigns
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dee-lee-designs-pasadena-2
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@deeleedesigns

Image Credits
Photography Bellasposa Photography Caroline Tran Photography Duke Images My One Love Steven Nguyen Photography Tin Photography Florals Dolce Fiore Irises Designs Jl Floral Boutique Nisie Enchanted The Floral Boutique