We were lucky to catch up with Erick Ramos recently and have shared our conversation below.

Erick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

We started a few years ago, 2020, right when COVID was hitting the economy hard. At the time, my former partner was the one who came up to me with the idea of being event producers/promoters for Kansas City’s alternative scenes, and he needed a partner. At first, I was honestly kind of shocked to be considered a business partner, for one I had no business experience, I was not popular, I was also very introverted (still kind of am), and I had no idea or training on how to be a successful promoter at all. I knew there were other promoters out there that could easily topple us if we weren’t careful in this competitive world. At that time, my band, Black Vatican, was most important to me and the many promoters we spoke to either did not believe in us or would not fulfill their promise to help us; and I really wanted us to be lifted off the ground. So for the sake of the band, I accepted the position. Overtime, this sense of purpose would change though, from being self-centered to wanting to do this for the city; Acts of Service is considered to be my love language, so my event promotions became my way of showing love to the alternative communities here in KC. I did not know if this would be worthwhile, I did not have confidence in my ability to learn business in a short amount of time, and I was nervous to become potential competition with other well-known promoters. But I did have a few things up my sleeve; I am very observant, pretty good at strategies, and possibly overly ambitious. The first thing we needed to do was address the elephants in the room, them being COVID’s effects were high and powerful, venues were closing left and right, and the experienced promoters in the city did not want to help each other out. So we took the heavy risk of beginning our operations during the height of the pandemic with the goal of keeping as many venues alive as possible, all while following the COVID guidelines, of course. Social media algorithm was also something to consider, it is ever-changing and seems to only serve those with the most active accounts, even the most experienced promoters had a hard time adapting to it, but over time we figured it out, adapted, and overcame. Thus in less than a year we became a formidable entity in Kansas City for events and venue promotions; venue owners spread word of our services to others and our influence grew while many performers and DJs came to collaborate because of thus.

Erick, 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?

What got me into this business was music and the love for the many arts in the alternative scenes of Kansas City. Once an artist, always an artist. And as an artist I want to help lift venues and other artists whether they be musicians, DJs, dancers, even painters, craftsmen, and merchants. All of which are provided in the events we throw; we have designated locations for the crafters while everyone enjoys well crafted cocktails and themed music. We specialize in helping venues get customers through the doors with our themes, all while giving them a unique vibe that can set them apart from other similar venues. What I’m mostly proud of is how much we’ve grown in such a short amount of time, to the point that several local comic and anime conventions reach out to us for collaborations or partnerships. Recently, we’ve even been featured in the documentary series Underground: Uncovered. If I want anyone to know anything about us is how our events are always a safe place for members of the alternative scenes. I say this because I think that’s what really helped grow our service reputation; by having hawk-like security and to always place the customers’ safety and comfort above all else. That alone keeps the good vibes in while filtering the bad vibes out, making the nights much more enjoyable than at an average night club.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Your team is your gold, your team is your bread and butter, so always respect them. They can break your company as quick as they can build it. It’s kind of like the saying goes: Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. I’m sure we’ve all had those jobs full of toxic management, gossipers, and overall fake love for the employees. Those are the type of jobs that would not care about replacing you in an instant, regardless of your loyalty how much you’ve helped them. I for one, refuse to ever become that kind of boss. I am usually a very emotionless, serious individual with a cinderblock for a face, but I care very much for my team and want to make sure they are always acknowledged. Periodically, some would leave to pursue their own ambitions and I always encourage them to, but never do I feel like I can simply replace them; they are much more unique than that, even if they don’t see it themselves, I do. A boat may keep its sailors dry, but the sailors keep the boat afloat. Respect your team and they will help you succeed.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

This past February we held our very first anime formal event: Queen Serenity’s Moonlight Waltz, a Sailor Moon inspired waltz where everyone was encouraged to dress to impress either in their best cosplays or formal attire. We noticed the city wanted a formal event for a long time and, so far, every other “formal” event that others made was faced with backlash and harsh criticism due to them not having food nor any classical music. We wanted to make a formal for a while and have been planning this for at least two years because we wanted it to be perfect. The odds were definitely against us though; con season was early this year so we had to make it before the season started, in this case it meant making it in February while it was still winter, the Midwest is well known for having unpredictable weather changes so we had to hope that it would not snow randomly. There were also many potential partners that refused to work with us because they thought the idea was not going to work out, that people would not like an anime formal event. And to make matters worse, we developed a lot of nay-sayers who wanted to discredit or slander our event due to themselves being unsuccessful competitors, to say the least. So we did our research and an extensive amount of behind-the-scenes work to find the right talents and musicians for guests to admire, the right venue in the right place, the right promos at the right time, and the right partners to help bring traction to the event. Thus over a period of almost two years we were finally ready to announce the event and execute it. I feel like it only took us this long because we had to train ourselves on how to conduct in-depth customer analysis and marketing research as well as developing our reputation even further just to make sure our plan is bullet proof. So once the day of the event came, it was a full house and we managed it well, making sure everyone felt welcomed and encouraged to express themselves as the anime lovers they are. Everyone danced, drank, bought from the several local vendors we had, then danced some more. It was actually at that moment that we realized how much influence we actually have in the community and how much they support our cause. It was a great success and we learned so much, we can’t wait to make another one (next time it wont take us two years).

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaizenkc913
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaizenKC913

Image Credits
Massev Productions and Phrike Pictures