We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katie Lenns. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katie below.

Alright, Katie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

I was planning my first destination wedding. I needed to find a Catholic church in Ireland willing to conduct the ceremony for a couple who did not belong to their parish. Unlike in the United States where priests are often relocated after a number of years, most priests in Ireland stay in one place throughout their tenure. After several failed inquiries via telephone and email, it became clear to me that I would need to make this request in person. I flew to Ireland on a mission and was told “no” four times before finding a priest who listened to my story and agreed to perform the Sacrament.

Over the course of the next year, communication with the priest was a bit difficult. He was an older gentleman who lived in a small and rather remote town, so technology was not his strong suit. About three months before the wedding, we got to a point that I simply needed to go back and speak to the priest in person and finalize details. I planned a trip to do site visits and meet with all of the wedding vendors. The priest and I picked a day to meet. He told me to come by the church whenever I had time as he would be there all day, but I needed to make sure to stop in that day because he was leaving on an early flight the next morning.

I arrived at the church early because I did not want him to be waiting on me. The church was open, but the priest was nowhere to be found. I called his cell phone, but did not receive an answer. I called the church phone and could hear it ringing behind a locked door, but no answer there, either. After doing a thorough sweep of the place I decided to visit another vendor and try again later. After my next meeting, I returned to the church. Still no priest, no answer on either phone. So I went to lunch then tried again. No one in sight. I continued my day in the same manner, going to a vendor meeting then back to the church, each time returning to an empty church and no answer on either phone or email.

As the sun was going down, my last scheduled meeting was with the hairdresser. I went to the salon and spoke to the point person for the wedding. After discussing hair details, she asked where the wedding was taking place. I feel like the best way for me to communicate the rest of this conversation is to switch to dialogue:

Hairdresser: “Oh the wedding is at that church! Isn’t Father [name omitted] such a nice man?”
Katie: “Yes, he is very nice, but he’s difficult to reach. I have been trying to meet with him all day, but he has not been at the church and isn’t answering his phone.”
Hairdresser: “Well, he’s not there today. He is out of town.”
Katie: “Are you sure? He told me that he had an early flight tomorrow, that’s why we were scheduled to meet today.”
Hairdresser: “I think so. Let me ask the salon owner, she should know for sure.”

The hairdresser calls the salon owner over.

Hairdresser: “Hey, did Father [name omitted] leave already?”
Salon owner: “Yes, he left yesterday.”
Hairdresser: “That’s what I thought.”
Katie: “Does he travel often? He has rescheduled things a few times now for various holidays.”
Hairdresser: “Oh, he’s not on holiday. He’s in rehab.”
Katie: . . .

My jaw dropped. At first I thought it was a joke, but she then went on to explain that not only was he sent to rehab, but this was the second time he was going, and this facility was farther away than the first one. I still couldn’t believe what I had just heard. What was I supposed to do now? She said he wouldn’t be back for a while, certainly not for the remainder of my trip. I returned to the church with my mind in a fog. In a sheer stroke of luck, the community center was open this time for an exercise class. I spoke to the instructor who didn’t know much, but suggested I go to a different church down the road and speak to the priest there.

As I drove to the church the instructor mentioned, I started to recognize my surroundings. I glumly realized that I was on my way to one of the churches I visited on my first trip where I was quickly told that we couldn’t have the wedding there. Alas, I had no other option. I pulled into the parking lot right as the evening mass was starting, so I attended mass and made sure to catch the priest at the end before he left the church. As soon as I mentioned my name and the name of the other priest, he brought me to his office and told me that he would be taking over all of the other priest’s appointments. He knew the rehab program was supposed to take at least three months, which meant our original priest would definitely not be back in time for the wedding. Thankfully, this priest who had once said no to me was now willing to conduct the ceremony. I was so relieved that I didn’t care that we needed to change the venue and ceremony time. I left Ireland with a church, a priest and details arranged for the wedding.

Despite several conversations with the new priest after my trip, I was still nervous about the wedding until we arrived for the rehearsal. Everything went smoothly and the wedding was beautiful, but I have never been so relieved to have a wedding take place!

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 sort of fell into event production. I got my business degree in Marketing and Management and my Masters in Sports Industry Management. I had several sports related internships, and in each of them I ended up running smaller events that took place during or around the main attraction like fan appreciation events, themed activities and athlete engagements. When I got my job at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, I was one of only two full-time staff members, so though my title was in sponsor services, I managed many aspects of the event. The majority of my time was spent on the largest pro-am in professional sports. When there are so many details and so few people, you just figure out ways to get everything done. I didn’t think when I first started my career that my path would head in an event-focused direction, but my years working for the golf tournament really developed my event production skills and helped me to realize where my passion and talents shined brightest.

As much as I enjoyed working for that LPGA event and appreciated the people I worked with, I had no opportunity for upward movement. My husband and I had also been looking for a change of scenery, so we decided to move to Austin, Texas, and I started my own event production business. I knew I had the skills and experience to succeed, but I didn’t really think about the fact that all of my industry contacts were on the east coast. I am not the most outgoing person and do not like talking about myself, so it took me longer than I would have liked to get consistent business, but at the end of the day it came back to the same thing I learned while running events–you just figure out ways to get it done.

I love event production because every event is different, and I like to keep things interesting. I have never been a 9 to 5 work at a desk person, and I love the excitement of live events. I am open to all kids of events. I do sporting events, corporate events and social events, and I am a huge fan of traveling, so no location is off limits, either.

I think what sets me apart from others is my involvement in and dedication to all my events and my clients. I don’t have a large staff of other planners to assign to various events, so when you book me, you are working with me. Obviously, this means I am not able to handle as much business as other companies, but honestly, I want to be there for all of my events. Seeing them through from start to finish is such a rewarding process. As for dedication, the best example I can give for that is when one client came to me looking to have a wedding on Halloween night in a cemetery. It took me 6 months of research and red tape just to secure the venue, but I made it happen and it was definitely a cool and memorable event!

I do like to meet any potential clients before they book me because with any event, there is a lot of interaction between myself and the client, and it is important that we establish a good working relationship. I make it a point to get to know who I will be working with and what really matters to them, but I also need to make sure they understand that sometimes things happen and not everything will go exactly as expected. That’s just the nature of live events. If you are going to be upset that we had to switch up the order of speeches because the matron of honor needed to feed her baby, I’m probably not the right fit for you. I truly appreciate clients who trust that I am good at what I do and are comfortable with me making adjustments as we go along to make the event as stress-free and amazing as possible.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I take my professional reputation seriously, probably largely because I started my business in a new city where I didn’t know anyone. With no contacts and little budget, you have to rely on your reputation to get more business. I think my professionalism and quality of work are what helped me to build my reputation among fellow industry vendors and colleagues. People who I have worked with on previous events know how hard I work and how I can make their jobs easier, and if they like working with me I know they will reach out to me for other opportunities in the future.

In terms of clients, I think my portfolio has helped to build my reputation. When people see that not all of my events look the same, they might be more inclined to reach out to me for an event that is a little outside the norm. I don’t want anyone to be nervous that they will be judged if they want to have a Pagan wedding in the woods or if they want to create a fly fishing tournament that’s never been done before. You want to throw a singles event on a random Tuesday because you remember how much you struggled to meet people when you moved to a new city? I’m not here to question your reasons or your choices, I just want to help you make it happen!

I also think my reviews have helped to build my reputation. The nice thing about event production is that everyone likes to take pictures at special events, so there is plenty of evidence of beautiful setups, fun activities and happy customers. There are also people who enjoy their events so much that they take the time to express their gratitude in writing, which is always the biggest treat for me. I love when people reach out days, weeks or even months later to tell me how much they appreciated their experience. It makes me so happy to know that I made others happy.

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

Like many people around the world, I had to pivot during the pandemic. My husband and I both work in the hospitality industry, and when the coronavirus hit and all live events were cancelled, we were in a tough spot. My husband, who is a mixologist, came up with the idea to make craft cocktail mixers just to share with people in our neighborhood so they could enjoy high quality drinks at home while they were stuck in quarantine and all the bars were closed. His drinks were a big hit right away, so much so that our neighbors started spreading the word to people outside our small community. Within a few months we had created a new and completely unexpected business. Next thing I knew, I was designing another website, photographing cocktails, creating drink labels and mapping out delivery routes all over Austin. I remember one day arranging a bunch of fruit for a social media post and thinking to myself, is this really what my life is right now?

I have always liked the saying, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” You never know what’s coming next, and what matters is how you respond to the curveballs that are thrown your way. The great thing about this particular pivot is that I was able to help my husband build a business that compliments my own, and now we occasionally both get booked for the same event. For as much as I am not good at talking about myself or my business, I absolutely love bragging about my husband’s business. He is such a hard worker and is so good at what he does, and I am thrilled when I get to show off his drinks at my events. Ultimately, we are hoping to open our own venue someday where I can host events and he can serve his cocktails. Until then, we very much enjoy when we get the opportunity to work events together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lennsfestevents.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lennsfestevents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lennsfestevents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinelenns/
• Other: zola.com/wedding-vendors/wedding-planners/lennsfest-events

Image Credits
Brooke Taelor, Ben Solomon Photography, Lizard Nickel Photography, T&V Photography, Andrew Murrell Photography