We were lucky to catch up with Jenny West recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jenny, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Finding those key vendors can often be make or break for a brand. Can you talk to us about how you found your key vendors?

There’s one lesson you need to learn if you’re going to succeed in Nashville – it’s still a small town at its heart. That means community is everything, especially within the entertainment industry.

Do you bad-mouth your co-workers? Do you always come in hungover? Your reputation will precede you and you’ll find yourself losing gigs or clients to your competitors.

But if you work hard and treat people well, word spreads fast! That’s how our event company, Siler + West, created such a strong event network. We decided early on to prioritize our partners. When you show up for people, they show up for you. These connections give us leverage in the competitive, constantly shifting market that is Nashville.

For example, when we started doing pop-up markets, we priced our vendor booths at an affordable rate so that the local businesses stood a better chance of turning a profit. As a result, we now have one of the largest vendor networks in Nashville.

We also made ourselves easy to work with. We’re organized and communicative, which is not always the case in a city of creatives! We have artists and contractors reaching out to plan their event schedule around us because they know they can rely on us to deliver a great experience. Never underestimate the power of positive, direct, and consistent communication!

Jenny, 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?

My business partner, Hope Siler, and I had become friends through some internships while we were still in college, so we already knew we worked well together when she invited me to join her on the board of this grassroots music festival. She was working as the Operations & Booking Manager and I was their Marketing Director & Volunteer Coordinator. The festival presented a lot of challenges including budget restrictions, awful weather, logistical issues, and a complicated leadership structure. Everything about the experience helped us decide that we could do events better on our own so we launched Siler + West!

Originally, we were focused on doing our own festival, but we quickly realized Nashville’s event scene is so much bigger than that. We started trying a little bit of everything: burlesque shows, pop-up markets, fashion shows, album release parties, professional seminars, private events – you name it! All of these different experiences gave us a really well-rounded skill set and great connections. Now we offer full-service event production and consultation for our clients, as well as producing our own events.

Our attention to detail has set us apart from other event producers in Nashville. We try to look at an experience from every perspective: the performers, the client, the guests, the vendors, etc. That helps us troubleshoot a lot of issues and create a smoother, more enjoyable event for everyone involved. We want our partners to feel like they can trust us, especially our clients. We take executing their event vision very seriously. That’s why our motto is “we treat your time, money, and reputation like it’s our own.”

Have you ever had to pivot?

2020 really changed our plans. We didn’t enter the event industry because it’s safe and stable, but seeing everything shut down was a stark reminder that sometimes factors are just out of your control. We survived, but that’s because our company is small, nimble, and adaptable.

Our focus shifted from owning a venue (which, naturally, comes with a lot of expenses) to creating event concepts that work in a variety of environments. From there, we built relationships with already existing venues that could benefit from hosting our events. This strategy reduced our risks, increased our profits, and helped foster valuable relationships within our community. We emerged from the pandemic stronger than ever before!

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

Marketing trends may come and go but word-of-mouth is always effective! We’ve built a good reputation so that now we have advocates who are quick to share our info with friends and family. We try to do the same for the people we work with! We love hyping up other entrepreneurs. As a result, we have this positive feedback cycle that generates more business for everyone.

I think some business owners are hesitant to share contacts and clients, but we’re confident in what Siler + West brings to the table. We know we can always convert new customers or tap a new market, so why not collaborate and build each other up?

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.silerandwest.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silerandwest/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silerandwest

Image Credits
Credit to Music Neighbors https://www.musicneighbors.org/ And Shadow Creative Entertainment