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

Alright, Michelle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

One of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken wasn’t starting a business.

It was outgrowing one.

I built Elaborate Outings from the ground up. What started as luxury picnics quickly became a recognizable brand. We were curated, elevated, detailed. The setups were beautiful. The community loved it. I had awards. Media features. Loyal clients. It was safe but it was also small.

At some point, I realized I was swimming in a pool I had built myself.

The water was comfortable. I knew every corner of it. I controlled the temperature. But I also knew something deeper: I wasn’t built for a pool. I was built for the ocean.

Transitioning from picnics to full scale luxury event production meant stepping into a completely different ecosystem. Higher budgets. Corporate clients. Weddings with six-figure expectations. Complex logistics. Larger teams. Bigger financial exposure. Bigger reputational risk.

It meant swimming with sharks.

And sharks don’t care that you used to do picnics beautifully.

The backstory behind the pivot wasn’t boredom it was calling. I became increasingly driven by scale. I wasn’t just excited about table settings anymore; I was thinking about room transformations, production flow, lighting design, sponsorship integration, guest psychology, and revenue models. I wanted to architect experiences, not just decorate moments.

But here’s the honest part: I had momentum in the picnic space. I could have stayed there and grown incrementally. Instead, I chose to disrupt my own brand.

I rebranded to Elite Occasions by Michelle, a name that carries my personal reputation, not just a concept. That was risky. When you attach your name to the brand, you remove the safety net. If it fails, it’s personal.

Financially, it required reinvestment. New inventory. Higher end materials. Strategic marketing aimed at corporate decision makers and luxury clients. Mentorship under nationally recognized designer Dr. Tori Williams. Exposure in rooms where I was no longer the most established person at the table.

Emotionally, it required confidence. You go from being “the luxury picnic lady” to reintroducing yourself as a luxury event producer in a room full of veterans. That transition can humble you quickly.

But risk has a way of refining you.

Since the pivot, I’ve stepped into spaces I once only imagined. I’ve begun producing elevated experiences that require not just creativity but operational excellence. My conversations have shifted from color palettes to capital budgets. From Instagram aesthetics to long-term brand strategy.

And perhaps most importantly; I’ve grown into the CEO I knew I was becoming.

The risk didn’t just expand my business; it expanded my capacity.

It taught me that sometimes the greatest danger isn’t failing in the ocean, it’s shrinking yourself to stay safe in the pool.

Elite Occasions by Michelle is still growing, but it’s growing with scale in mind. The vision is larger. The stakes are higher. The rooms are bigger. And so am I.

That risk didn’t just change my business model.

It changed the way I see myself as an entrepreneur.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For readers who may not be familiar with me, my name is Michelle Bethea, founder and lead producer of Elite Occasions by Michelle, a luxury event design and production company specializing in high end weddings, corporate events, galas, milestone celebrations, and immersive social experiences.

My journey into this industry didn’t begin in ballrooms, it began in service.

Long before I ever launched a company, I was the person getting direction from my pastor on how to assist decorating for our church’s celebrations. I didn’t know it then, but those early experiences shaped the foundation of my design philosophy: events should make people feel seen, honored, and valued.

In 2021, I launched Elaborate Outings, originally focused on curated luxury picnics. What started as intimate, styled outdoor experiences quickly gained recognition. We earned awards, media features, and built a loyal following. But as the brand grew, so did my vision.

I realized I wasn’t just passionate about styling tables. I was passionate about producing environments. I found myself thinking beyond intimate setups and into full room transformations, large scale logistics, lighting design, brand integration, and multi vendor coordination. I wasn’t just decorating moments. I was engineering experiences.

That realization led to the evolution into Elite Occasions by Michelle, a full service luxury event production company built for scale.

Today, we provide:

• Wedding planning and design
• Corporate event production
• Fundraising galas and nonprofit experiences
• Luxury milestone celebrations
• Full concept to execution event design
• Vendor management and production oversight

What sets us apart is that we don’t just create beautiful events; we create structured, strategic experiences.

Many clients come to us overwhelmed. They have vision but no framework. They have budget but no blueprint. They have ideas but no execution strategy.

We solve that.

We bring clarity to chaos. We align design with purpose. We manage vendors with precision. We elevate aesthetics without losing operational control. Our clients don’t just get décor, they get leadership, structure, and an experience that reflects their stature.

One of the things I’m most proud of is the courage to evolve publicly. Rebranding from a well known niche into a luxury production company required reinvestment, mentorship, humility, and discipline. I chose to attach my name to the brand which means I stand behind every detail.

I am also deeply proud of being a Coastal Entrepreneur Award winner and a member of the Wilma Network, and of continuing to refine my craft through mentorship under nationally recognized event professionals. Growth has never intimidated me, stagnation has.

What I want potential clients to understand is this:

Luxury is not just about how something looks. It’s about how it feels to walk into a space and know it was intentionally created for you.

Elite Occasions by Michelle is for clients who value excellence, structure, and impact. For corporations who want their brand represented with sophistication. For couples who want more than a Pinterest copy. For organizations that understand that experience influences perception.

We don’t compete on price.

We compete on precision, presence, and production.

At the end of the day, I am not just a decorator. I am an experience architect and I build moments that leave a lasting impression long after the lights go down.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience, for me, became real during a season when my body slowed down but my vision refused to.

There was a period in my journey when I was transitioning from Elaborate Outings into what is now Elite Occasions by Michelle. I had already built recognition in the picnic space. The brand was respected. It would have been easy to stay there.

But at the same time I was preparing to scale into larger, more complex luxury events, I underwent a laparoscopic salpingo-oophorectomy due to an abnormal cyst. Thankfully, it wasn’t cancer and that gratitude shifted everything for me.

Physically, I had to recover.
Mentally, I was recalibrating.
Spiritually, I was being refined.

I remember sitting in stillness during recovery realizing something important: if my health could change overnight, then playing small no longer made sense. I had been given another opportunity. I wasn’t going to use it to stay comfortable.

Faith became my anchor during that time. I truly believe God stretches us before He expands us. The surgery forced me to slow down and evaluate not just what I was building but why I was building it.

Was I creating something safe?
Or was I building something significant?

Resilience looked like reinvesting in my business while still healing. It looked like attaching my name to a rebrand that raised the standard and the stakes. It looked like choosing growth when retreat would have been understandable.

There was a moment, reviewing financial projections and new inventory investments, when I realized I was crossing from comfort into leadership. This wasn’t about pretty setups anymore. This was about scale, structure, and stepping into rooms that required more of me.

I chose to move forward carefully, prayerfully, strategically.

The months that followed weren’t glamorous. They were disciplined. System refinement. Mentorship. Elevated positioning. Quiet consistency. And gradually, the conversations shifted higher-level clients, corporate opportunities, larger productions.

Resilience wasn’t dramatic.

It was steady.

It was trusting that obedience to vision would outlast temporary discomfort.

Today, Elite Occasions by Michelle stands on the other side of that season. Not because the journey was easy, but because I refused to shrink in the middle of it.

That experience taught me that resilience isn’t just about bouncing back.

It’s about coming back clearer, stronger, and more aligned than before.

And I carry that clarity into every room I design.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Yes, several resources have significantly shaped both my management style and my entrepreneurial philosophy.

One of the most practical books that transformed my day to day discipline is Atomic Habits by James Clear. It reinforced that sustainable growth isn’t built on grand gestures; it’s built on systems and small, consistent improvements. As I scaled from intimate luxury picnics to full scale event production, I realized excellence is operational. Habits determine standards. Standards determine brand reputation. That book helped me build systems that support expansion instead of chaos.

Another pivotal resource has been The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. That framework changed how I approach goals. Instead of annual resolutions that drift, I now operate in focused execution cycles. It sharpened my ability to break large vision into short, measurable sprints. When rebranding to Elite Occasions by Michelle, that structure helped me move strategically instead of emotionally.

Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice by Dennis Kimbro deeply impacted my mindset. It wasn’t just about wealth it was about legacy, self belief, and expanding the narrative of what is possible. As a Black woman building in luxury spaces, that perspective matters. It reinforced that vision requires both faith and discipline, and that proximity to excellence expands your own standard.

But perhaps the most transformative influence has been my mentorship with nationally recognized event designer Tori Williams. Books give theory. Mentorship gives proximity.

Working under someone who operates at a high national level exposed me to a different caliber of thinking pricing strategy, production flow, client psychology, brand positioning, and scale. It challenged me to elevate not just my aesthetics, but my structure and leadership presence.

If I had to summarize the philosophy these resources instilled in me, it would be this:

• Discipline creates freedom.
• Systems create scale.
• Proximity expands perspective.
• And mindset determines ceiling.

Together, they’ve helped me transition from creative entrepreneur to strategic CEO which is the foundation of Elite Occasions by Michelle.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.eliteoccasionsbymichelle.com
• Instagram: Elite Occasions by Michelle
• Facebook: Elite Occasions by Michelle
• Linkedin: Michelle Bethea
• Other: Tik Tok Elite Occasions by Michelle

Image Credits

Photo Credits Jessica Lee Photography, Young Soul Media