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

Alright, Kelley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I started the business 10 years ago, in 2012. And I actually came up with the idea because I got divorced.

I was working for an ad agency in New Orleans at the time, as their VP of Operations and I was going through a divorce, with a young daughter. My husband at the time was living in Baton Rouge, so I was the primary caregiver. I was having trouble keeping up with my work demands and the demands of being a mom so I made the decision to leave the company right at the new year.

I have always been a project planner and also someone who enjoys a great party. I absolutely love creating epic events for my friends. Back in 2012, it was my brother’s 40th birthday, and my sister-in-law wanted to surprise him. So, we planned the ultimate 40th Jazz Fest Birthday celebration. It had everything – crawfish, live music, cocktails, a second line, and the grand finale was a surprise performance by my brother’s favorite artist – George Porter, Jr. It also included all of his friends who traveled far and wide to come and surprise him. He was completely overwhelmed and all the guests were blown away. I kept hearing the same thing from people “you should do this for a living”.

And that’s exactly what I did.

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 began my career in New York City – working for a number of online retail startups including Music Boulevard and CDNow. I moved out to San Francisco in my 30’s and got a job at Walmart.com – I worked there for a number of years and then accepted a transfer to their home office in Bentonville, AR as the Sr. Director of Marketing Operations. I really built the Marketing Ops team from the ground up. My proudest moment during my tenure at Walmart was being a part of the core team that transformed the WALMART brand from smiley rollbacks and ALL CAPS to the Walmart we have today, along with the Save Money. Live Better. tagline.

Thus, the majority of my career was working on the client-side for larger businesses. I believe that is one of the things that helps me in my business today – I can think like a corporate client because I was one myself.

What I do today operate a boutique event production firm, called Clandestine Events & Experiences. We create events & experiences that take your breath away ~ but always in a way that feels genuine & authentic to both the brand, the product, and the location/venue. When I started this business, it was very New Orleans focused – with a goal of giving guests from out of town an authentic New Orleans experience. We still have a considerable amount of New Orleans based events – but we have branched out and are producing events across the country now.

There is so much that I am proud of. I’m really proud of myself – I’ve kept my head down, worked my ass off, 10 years with a solid year being amidst the pandemic is no small feat. But, I believe what I am the most proud of is the team I’ve got with me and the relationships we have cultivated. I am a firm believer in treating people with kindness – even if they might not be able to “do anything for you”. It doesn’t matter – being a good person, and having a team of good people – has really worked in our favor.

In this business (as with many) – trust is so important. Our best client relationships are the ones where our clients trust us completely and we have a true partnership. My style is direct and no-nonsense. Being from the East Coast, I still operate as if I’m about to miss the subway if I don’t hustle. And candidly, in a city like New Orleans, where things move a little slower – I believe my hustle has really helped Clandestine stand out and win business because we are quick, responsive, creative, and collaborative.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ve already shared one – when I left the business world to start Clandestine…

My other pivot was during COVID. I took our EIDL money and used it to continue to pay my team – and we also used it to create high-end custom gift boxes. With no event work, we were able to dedicate all our time to these gift boxes. Sourcing the custom boxes and everything that went in them. Identifying gifting themes. We did a photo shoot in which we rented a mansion in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans and hired actors & a photographer. We ended up having to do another photo shoot just for the gifts themselves because the boxes and some of the product hadn’t arrived on time.

We posted all the items on our website – sent out newsletters, sent some gifts to a couple local influencers.

We ended up selling 3 boxes total. And all the custom boxes we ordered (which we paid a pretty penny for) are still sitting in our warehouse.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Word of mouth has hands down been the best source. As a matter of fact, our largest client is one that we sort of fell into because of someone I went to high school with. He told a friend about us, and that friend ended up giving us the biggest opportunity we have had at Clandestine to date. The job was actually something we had never done before; it was a huge project. By sheer will and a refusal to believe we couldn’t do it, we pulled it all off and we have been with that same client for 4 years now. Because … relationships & trust.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.clandestine-events.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clandestineexperiences/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClandestineExperiences
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ktroia/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClandestineExp
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ClandestineNOLA
• Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/QUMFbAX5vvY1uvcmmbMIZg
• Other: https://www.partyslate.com/event-pros/clandestine-events-and-experiences

Image Credits
Xistence Photography World Red Eye