We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jeanette Reitz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jeanette, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

We came up with it by the way people look things up! It needed to be something relevant so Picnic Party and since we are local SD for San Diego.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Hi my name is Jeanette I was born in Panama and raised mainly here in San Diego! My dad was in the military so I moved A LOT!!

I have worked for Sysco San Diego since 2005 and I started my little side business in the midst of COVID! I just needed something to focus on other than what was going on with work and  the pandemic.

Working for Sysco was tough at the time. Listening to owners have to shut down and let go of their employees was hard! I cried with many customers & friends! The food service Industry was nearly impossible. I had to find something that would calm my nerves! That was planning picnic as it let me be creative. With a little help from my oldest niece and a lot of research in 2020 I then launched Picnic Party SD in 2021.

We set up fun luxury style picnics for any occasion and have recently launched wedding services.

You can check out some of my work on Instagram @ picnicpartysd or on my website www.picnicpartysd.com

I have always loved setting up events and being a party planner. It’s where I thrive!! Most people find it daunting where I am always looking forward to planning the next event!

Events shouldn’t be stressful and they don’t need to be!! They are meant to be joyful and full of excitement & love!

I absolutely love working in a fast paced environment where you are running against a clock/timeline it’s fun and exciting! One of the biggest compliments I receive from clients is how quickly I was able to respond and how well I communicated to help them thru the process.

That speaks volumes to me as I believe it is important to respond in a timely manner and to be as transparent as possible. I find it helps the client understand the process and also helps manage the expectations.

Everyone should always have a great experience and I find by being transparent they can always have an above excellent experience!

I am in the right place knowing that I can help people achieve that!

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

Social media has been great for new clients! Then a lot of word of mouth.

Different platforms work better for different age groups. I will get requests from a parent for my 17 year olds and younger as they are on TikTok and YouTube.  Then 18 year olds and above are on Instagram and YouTube. These aren’t exact just the info I get from my social media and website analytics. I have been fortunate to meet a lot of my clients while out setting up a picnic. They get to see it live and that is great advertisement!

Another great source for finding new clients is by collaborating with other small businesses. This works in many different ways and I think it’s one of the best ways! What I love about it is helping one another. That is such a rewarding feeling. I believe when your in these moments the vibes of happiness that everyone exudes is just pure magic.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

I initially started with just 1k dollars and a few pieces. I bought a couple tables and all the flatware, plates, cups, umbrella and blankets. It was just the basics and my website domain. I spent a lot of time building my website and that was a lot of fun!

I have always hosted parties so I already had a lot of decor. As parties were booked I slowly added more items. I just would manage it so I was putting back into the business. I now have 6 tables a couple umbrellas and canopies. I can set up for up to 18 guests at a picnic.

As I mentioned before decor was easy for me because I had a lot of it already and my mom did as well. She gave me a lot of items. I know that saved a lot of money in the initial set ups.  Once I would get a request they would let me know the colors they love and the package they wanted.

I want everyone’s picnic to be unique and since I love being creative I love love love up-cycling items. When I get tired of a piece or need a different look my creative side takes over. That’s my favorite part building something unique for each individual client.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.picnicpartysd.com
• Instagram: picnicpartysd
• Facebook: picnicpartysd
• Youtube: picnicpartysd
• Other: TikTok: picnicpartysd Pinterest: picnicpartysd

Image Credits
Christina Rogers Photography, Jennifer Valdez Photography