We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marjorie Lashmet. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marjorie below.
Hi Marjorie, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?
Before launching my own events company, I worked at one of the largest media and entertainment companies selling and producing marketing campaigns. A lot of those campaigns were mostly media, but my favorite ones included events I got to produce for some of the largest brands.
I worked there for 7 years and started as an assistant and worked my way up to an account executive over the years. I loved my job and the type of work I did. I loved my co-workers and a lot of the people that have become my closest friends.
The lesson I learned wasn’t so much in the job or role itself, but in the way I mentally and psychologically developed my skills I apply daily now as a business owner. In those 7 years, I had learn how to negotiate, create boundaries, sell, internally navigate, and survive in what was a lot of times a cut throat environment.
I was the type of employee that was the first one in and last one at the office, who mastered as much as I could and got as good as I could and felt guilty when I took a break. I was a workaholic that let my health and well being suffer for the sake of a job. I commuted almost 2 hours each way daily.
My husband (boyfriend at the time) had to watch me go through it and constantly reminded me that it didn’t have to (and shouldn’t) be that way.
Once I got out though and reflected on the experience, I took away the best parts and have applied it to my business. It carries through in the way I treat my team, the way I balance my personal life and professional life. It impacts the way I manage my clients and how I handle difficult situations. I extracted the best parts of the strategies I’d implement for large brands and apply it to my own. I stayed in contact with my favorite people who would help me with my projects.
I got rid of a lot of the pieces that I knew if I didn’t support as an employee, I would not implement as a CEO.
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 am the owner and founder of 329events, a special events and wedding planning company based in Los Angeles, California. I serve Southern California, Northern California, Palm Springs, and destination events worldwide.
My company was created in 2020, but I have been producing events for over 12+ years for other companies and brands. My team consists of myself and a few selected event managers, planners and coordinators.
I built this company because of my passion for bringing creative visions to life and utilizing my detail oriented skills to deliver a seamless process for my clients. We streamline the planning and creative process to ensure your planned event is flawlessly delivered.
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
When I first started, I thought about all of the different marketing strategies I’ve implemented for former clients. One of them was influencer marketing and trade for services. One of the events I produced was for a celebrity that I had known from my previous line of work. I produced her baby shower and in exchange for marketing, influencer alignment, and the potential to reach their audience to become my client.
Some people don’t agree with the strategy, but I personally believe that it is an effective form of marketing in this industry. Brands spend millions in advertising, but in this case I was going to trade my time and skills to produce something that wouldn’t require me to use my own credit card. As a startup and small business, I look at this as a way to give my time and some minimal creative expense for large potential returns.
Finding like minded companies who are the same can be difficult as I understand why some vendors and small businesses do not believe in trade marketing or sponsorship. The influencer industry is also filled with people that don’t have much influence so I also get it. I also understand businesses who can’t afford to trade out services or don’t understand some of the potential, but this type of public relations and marketing strategy exists for massive brands for a reason.
Anyway, I did this event and the outcome turned out in my favor. I was featured in one of the top magazines and this helped my company significantly from an image stand point and also generated sales that made doing this 1 event for trade completely worth it.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Many of my clients come from referrals! I am grateful and thankful for my former clients who saw the value in the services my team and I provide.
We are also on the list of many different vendor and venues as a preferred event planner and coordinator so I am grateful for my vendor partners who refer us.
Contact Info:
- Website: 329events.com
- Instagram: @329events
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=329events
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/329events-los-angeles
Image Credits
@Flashpointgrafix @laurendinhphotography @michaelryu @funlovincamera_weddings @jasmynbphotography @jkp_cheryl