We recently connected with Laura Clark and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Laura , thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Growing up everyone always asks you what you want to be when you grow up, and while I would answer Veterinarian or Radiologist, I truly had my heart set on being a tour manager. That’s right, a tour manager for bands. I wanted to plan and execute all the details of their tour both logistically and day-of; but then I began to realize that seeing the world out of a tour bus or plane window, didn’t sound as desirable as I once imagined. It was at that point that I began brainstorming, ‘how to civilize this dream job’ that I had my eye on. After A-LOT of research, I decided to go back to school and get my degree in Corporate Communications. I know, almost everyone will tell you, ‘I never use my degree,’ but this degree has literally paved the way for me to grow and expand my knowledge for things I do everyday, from marketing, to social media, branding, you name it, and it probably comes with entrepreneurship.
Fast forward to my senior year, an internship was not required or even in my curriculum but I decided to take it upon myself to make it a requirement in my curriculum, because I couldn’t walk into the events world with zero experience. I accepted an internship with the Kansas City Mavericks while I finished out my degree, which lead me to positions at (formally) Sprint Center, Sporting KC and Audacity (radio)! The day I got the call that Audacy wanted to offer the Events Director position for 96.5 The Buzz and 98.9 The Rock, I thought, “I did it, I made my dream job a reality right here in Kansas City!” I was over the moon excited, especially with the hopes of bringing back RockFest, because I would be the one planning and executing Kansas City’s largest 1-day rock music festival!
And then, COVID-19, a global pandemic hit the world. All events stopped. And I was eventually asked if my passion could be adjusted, and the reality was no, absolutely not. I made this dream a reality once, and I’ll do it again. In August 2021, I departed my dream job, with zero ideas of what to do or where to go next. Former employers, friends and loved ones immediately asked if I was finally going to start my own event planning company, I responded “no” for all of about 1-week and then I sat down and started the process for my LLC to start At Ease Events KC, LLC, and events and wedding planning company, knowing that my focus would be weddings for the foreseeable future during the pandemic.
Initially I thought jumping into the events industry feet first would be a breeze, because I already knew so many great contacts, but what I didn’t know what the how different the sports and music events world and the wedding industry truly were. The individuals that you will meet in the wedding industry is mind blowing! The amount of support and welcoming to the industry right out of the gates was so heartwarming but I knew I had a lot of work and new knowledge ahead of me. Upon the completion of becoming a legitimate licensed and insured company, the absolutely amazing people at 28 Event Space were looking for new planning and coordinator partnerships and quickly welcomed me with open arms. And I would say the rest is history from there but, I tend to be an overachiever sometimes.
My dreams have only grew and shifted, and ultimately I knew one day, I wanted to own my own small venue. A place for my planning clients to meet with me instead of on video calls as well as a place for people to host smaller events like bridal showers, baby showers, holiday parties, that wasn’t someone’s house, an airbnb, or even a neighborhood clubhouse. This was definitely a five-year plan of mine, but little did I know, it was going to be a year and a half plan! I received an inquiry for my planning services from a bride that had not yet chosen her wedding venue because she was looking for a modern micro-venue and just was not having any luck. I remember reading what she was looking for and thinking ‘that venue doesn’t exist yet in Kansas City… but it will someday.’ I then remembered that a local photographer, that I had meet many years ago, had a beautiful photography studio called PHARE, that really fit what this bride was looking for and decided to reach out and ask if she had hosted or would be open to hosting a micro-wedding at her venue. She informed me that she had, but had actually moved out of the space and sent me the listing… while that was not the response I was expecting or even ready for, I couldn’t just let this opportunity go without at least inquiring on the space myself.
Within a week, my husband and I were touring the space, submitting our letter of intent, meeting with the bank, etc. And I thought we were insane for once again, jumping feet first into another adventure but we both knew with our years of experience and knowledge we can absolutely make this dream a reality. So in October of 2022, we officially opened the doors of The Juliet as a small micro-use event space and just a short 3 months later we are so proud to announce the collaboration of At Ease Events KC and The Juliet under one roof to ease everyones event and wedding planning stress! Not only are we able to offer The Juliet, for events up to 100 guests but every client that books with us, receives a complete planning portal that I’ve worked so closing with a software company to build and a day-of coordinator, as all of our At Ease Events KC coordinators will be in-house at The Juliet.
Laura, 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?
Absolutely!
At Ease Events is an event and wedding planning + coordination company based here in Kansas City with myself and three day-of coordinators on our team. We offer full planning, partial planning as well as month-of coordination. Now that we are under one roof with The Juliet, we are offering our day-of coordination services directly in house as well.
The Juliet is located in the beautifully restored Historic Luzier Cosmetics Building that was built in 1928.
Whether you’re looking to host a small gathering, networking event, or intimate wedding, The Juliet is a small luxury multi-use loft venue. Featuring white-washed walls, original black framed pane-glass windows, 20 foot ceilings, modern light-fixtures, and a Juliet balcony, this contemporary space is a dream come true!
The Juliet offers a beautiful event space including tables, chairs, linens, a custom curated planning portal and an experienced day-of coordinator on-site the day of your wedding or event.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Brand awareness and vendor recommendations. It’s so important to network with other vendors to grow relationships, because they are honestly the biggest spokespeople for your brand. While we are frequently on social media, and will be at upcoming wedding shows including WedKC’s January 28th show and Kansas City Engaged’s February 19th shows, the vendors that you connect with are truly your biggest advocates. We are all about community over competition and helping each other grow ourselves and our businesses!
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
We love to keep our clients in you the loop of our upcoming events, as we host many of ticketed and/or free events and open houses. We often share this on both our social media outlets, our google listing as well as our email newsletters.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
First 2: Meghan Savage Photography (www.meghansavagephotography.com) 3rd (moody green) Samantha Jacob Photography (samanthajacobphotography.com 4th (christmas) Rose Arrow Photography (rosearrowphotography.com) Last 4: Copper Tree Photo (www.coppertreeweddingphotography)