We recently connected with Lisa Hickey and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lisa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

In 2014, after 14 years, I left my job at as Marketing Director for one of the most successful concert promoters in the world. I started when it was just a small office consisting of two people and a dream to produce a music festival in Austin’s Zilker Park. When I left in 2014, there were 150+ people and a portfolio of music, food, and wellness festivals spanning multiple continents – a meteoric rise that was one of the most significant adventures of my life.

While I was extremely proud of everything we had built, I was running out of steam. On paper, this job was ideal: rock and roll, high profile, a young and fun culture, an entrepreneurial mindset, and great pay! It didn’t make practical sense to walk away, especially without knowing what I was walking towards, but that is exactly what I did. I was no longer thriving, so after much internal turmoil, I decided to listen to that little voice inside. I left, having absolutely no clue what might happen next.

Well, what happened next was even more of an adventure than the last! I co-created Panacea Collective with my best friend over a cup of coffee, and we hit the ground running. What started as design-forward furniture rentals for events morphed into producing events and brand activations, and designing experiences at the same music festivals we helped to create many years ago.

The early years were some of the most physical and most anxiety-filled of my life, but all of that reminded me what I am made of: I create, and I build, and I make things happen. Knowing the person I am today, I am grateful for listening to that little voice, and walking the path of the unknown adventure.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am the co-founder of The Panacea Collective, a 360-degree experiential event production firm with an expansive boutique furniture rental and environmental design operation. Our clients dream it, we make it happen.

Our extensive capabilities allow us to manage every aspect of our clients’ events as though they were our own, or simply provide distinctive design and furnishings for events huge or intimate. My passion is bringing people together and creating authentic experiences that will be remembered.

I often say that I was born to party. I started throwing some pretty epic parties when I was a teenager. By the time I was 20 I was working for the small company that would become C3 Presents, one of the most successful concert and festival promoters in the world. I co-created Panacea in 2014 with my best friend, Autumn Rich. Our mantra is: “If it ain’t fun, don’t do it.”

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The second step to building our design-forward event furniture rental business was to collect and curate our inventory of furniture. Our first step was to raise money to buy said inventory. Our initial plan was to secure an investor, maybe two. After pitching and receiving one yes, we immediately started buying furniture so that we could be ready in time for a major event that was six months away – with our personal savings. The company could reimburse us once we received the funding, right? Not long after some big shopping sprees, our investor called to withdrawal their commitment due to unforeseen circumstances. You can imagine the panic we experienced at that point. Left in an extremely vulnerable and uncomfortable financial position we had no choice but to hustle hard. At that point, we pivoted to bootstrapping the business. No more expenses until cash was coming in. We operated like that for the first few years, taking no salaries or draws until the company started to become more and more profitable. My business partner continued to run her events firm, and in 2019 we merged the companies and became the Collective we are today. We outright own the company, with no investors, and no debt other than our American Express, which we use to manage cashflow. Once you invest your own capital into your business, you are especially motivated to recoup, and you will become unstoppable in the process.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Brené Brown’s Netflix special “A Call to Courage” was a huge inspiration for us as company managers, so much that we watched it with our whole team one day. At that point in my life, I was scared to have hard conversations, and you can’t avoid them as a business owner. We found we were both making up stories in our heads and letting those fester, when we could be starting conversations with: “The story I’m telling myself is…” and opening up lines of communication. A big takeaway is the reminder that sometimes winning is not coming in first place, but doing the hard thing. I look back and feel a lot of pride in facing the challenges, as much as, or more than, the wins.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thepanaceaco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/panaceacollective/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/panacea-collective/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCavVYMDiwecAngLXllrKPKQ
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thepanaceacollective

Image Credits
Miki Ash