Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kassandra Nordhoff. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kassandra, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

My story of failure doesn’t necessarily come from work but rather from a moment in my personal life.
While failure at times can be inevitable it’s not about how many times you fall, but rather how you choose to fall forward.
Being human comes with plenty of mistakes and missed opportunities, but it doesn’t have to be what defines you and you are in control of the narrative you want people to remember you by.
I’m no stranger to failures but I think in 2020 I experienced the hardest kind. In 2016 I was hired at my first corporate job and made it a mission to get myself out of debt and start the process of buying a house. It wasn’t until 2019 where everything was coming together and I was in the final steps of my home buying journey. Come 2020 I had not only found my home but I was days away from getting my keys. Then covid happened…like many, my job status became an uncertainty and what started as a notice of reduced hours -overnight resulted to me being laid off. Almost 5 years to the day and I was getting laid off. As if that wasn’t bad enough I had my secondary verification of employment scheduled and as luck would have it, I no longer was eligible to continue my home buying process. To say I was heartbroken was an understatement. I felt like life had kicked me down and I was slowly being buried alive. At that time I didn’t know what would transpire from these events and now I had no job at all! I took some time to grieve but I knew giving up wasn’t an option for me. I started to apply for any and all jobs possible and finally I got lucky. I assumed I wouldn’t get the house I wanted but I would be willing to start over if need be. My mom told me not to give up and to continue the process even if it meant starting from scratch. I’ve never been one to take “risks” but hearing her say that, made me believe I could do this with her support. I then contacted my realtor and found out that the home owners were willing to give me time to re-group and get my 30 days of employment underway. I was told I needed to have a co-signer on the home and when asked (my then boyfriend) refused. So then I had no one and came to a dead end again. By the grace of God, I found not only a higher paying job that would allow me to qualify on my own, but I could work from the comfort of my own home.
Fast forward to 2024 and I am proud to say that I have been a single home-owner for the last 4 years. The ability to have a sustainable income that allows me to have this as well as pay all my bills without the reliance of anyone else has been the biggest win and blessing of it all.
Having faith and people who love and support you the way I had during this emotional time was what allowed me to succeed in ways that I didn’t think were possible. So never give up even if it seems like life is throwing bricks at you.

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 back background and context?

I have two jobs. One is being a Director of Business Development & Catering for El Rincon Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar and the other is my part-time small business called Black Tie Flair – Event Planning.
My main purpose at El Rincon is to bring brand awareness and to help facilitate local businesses and events with delicious Mexican catered food. I also take pride in my customer service skills and love being part of the chamber community that allows me to share my passion and knowledge with other small businesses and create relationships with well known corporate and city leaders.
As an entrepreneur I started Black Tie Flair alongside my business partner earlier this year.
Think of me as your General Contractor for all your event planning needs. I started my company because as an admin assistant I was regularly tasked with finding different vendors (balloon artists, DJ, Face painters etc.) and getting quotes for their services. This process would take hours at times and then the pressure of making sure I found the right vendor was another added stress. Seeing that there was a need for a one-stop-shop concept, I started Black Tie Flair. As I mentioned – Think of me as your GC for event planning. As a client you would reach out to me and let me know your needs as well as what vendors you were looking for and with my “little black book” I find not only reliable but reputable vendors who can complete the job and the best part is you only have to pay one invoice. It’s a seamless process and think of the time you save by not having to do the work/search yourself!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Well when I first started working for El Rincon, I definitely struggled getting the opportunity to get my one on ones. Even with a free lunch offer, I would get maybe one meeting a week. I attended a young professionals event where they were talking about creating your own identity and from that I learned that the best way to approach these meetings is to allow others to talk about themselves and build a genuine connection with them so that they remember you by your name and not by the place you work for. I then changed my approach and started getting more opportunities. From that we would have great conversations and before I knew it, they were reaching out to me for catering proposals. The food truly sells itself and I am here to sell you on the experience. I have had the pleasure of working with some amazing companies and I get compliments on my quick responses as well as my thoroughness. I simply attribute this to the “golden rule” and treat my clients and potential clients as I would like to be treated. This has allowed me to grow my clientele as well as have a high client return percentage.

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

I met my business partner for Black Tie Flair from El Rincon. He started off as a stranger and was actually the friend of one of my clients and then after doing a catering for him, he quickly became my personal client and I even hosted his company Christmas party at the restaurant.
As time passed he got to know me and my aspirations to be an entrepreneur and was kind enough to not only believe in me, but he also lended his connections and used his own marketing business to build me the platforms needed to have a successful beginning. He provided everything from business cards, promotional products, to providing me a social media team who create and post content, and even went and built me my own website! – www.blacktieflair.com
I’m extremely lucky for sure!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blacktieflair.com & www.elrincontx.com
• Instagram: Blacktie_flair & elrincontx
• Facebook: Black Tie Flair
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/kassandra-nordhoff-4b1386242