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

Michelle, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?

My entire professional life has been in the events hospitality business. To provide true luxury service to my clients is to surround myself with colleagues and vendor teams who uphold the same values as I do: an unrelenting desire to make guests feel seen and comfortable, staying steps ahead of guests’ needs, and a passion for creating unique experiences that make you lose track of time being so present in the moment.

When I worked for another production company prior to starting Ellamae Productions, I learned that it is true you are only as good as the people on your production team because it takes a village to produce a successful event of any size, may it be a nonprofit gala, unforgettable wedding, or annual corporate celebration. I’ve also witnessed moments where vendors were misaligned, and it created tension and an overall unpleasant working environment, and it definitely seeped into the event’s energy and guest experience.

Now as a business owner and running an ever growing production company for nearly five years, I can wholeheartedly say that the most important lesson from past job experience is to connect with like-minded vendors and business owners that you enjoy and are excited to collaborate with. You will want to go above and beyond for one another while exceeding your client’s expectations, therefore generating long lasting client relationships and a good business reputation.

Michelle, 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?

Opened in 2019, Ellamae Productions is a full-service event design and production studio focused on creating intentional, unique events inspired by our clients’ visions and missions. I had nearly eight years of event production experience prior to starting Ellamae Productions.

When meeting potential clients, whether private, corporate or social, I stress that we are a production company which takes our clients’ budgets, design visions, and goals as our north star in the planning and production process. In short, we will never make suggestions which take you out of your budget’s comfort zone, we create event designs aligned with inspiration words or palettes shared, and we ask what your priorities are or what you want guests to take away from the event experience. These three points set us apart from other production companies because we are truly client driven and tailor our planning process and communication method according to each client’s unique story.

Since establishing Ellamae Productions, I am most proud that we have retained all of our annual corporate and nonprofit clients year after year, and we have only received positive, glowing reviews from our private sector clients. I am also proud to have established and continue growing our trusted network of vendors across all event disciplines. We truly partner with the most talented, honest, and good creatives in the events industry. I feel so blessed knowing our clients get to work with and have wonderful people collaborating on their special celebrations delivering their best work every time.

Lastly, I want to share that Ellamae Productions signs only a limited number of weddings each year. While we produce events of all nature, we understand that weddings are particularly sensitive, emotional, and special private memories in our clients’ lives. To ensure that myself and my team are performing our best and not overworked or overcommitted to multi-event wedding weekend celebrations, I am intentional in ensuring our weddings are well-spaced out throughout the year to give myself and team rest and time to recharge. Ultimately, Ellamae Productions is only as reputable and good as our last celebration, and I want to ensure every client feels taken care of throughout the planning process.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Our best source of new clients has been referrals from colleagues, friends, and past/recurring clients. Our focus on exceeding expectations with each event has opened doors for us with guests who become clients or happy clients who want to support our business and refer us to their network.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

As a business owner and therefore leader of my associates and vendor teams, it is 100% true that my energy and overall demeanor affect their quality of work, so keeping rested and positive is important. I aim to empower and support my associates and vendor teams in a very genuine, honest way. When we encounter problems, I am focused on problem solving together and constructively. When compliments and praise are given, I am sure to share spotlight with those who helped achieve the success.

Secondly, we ask for uninterrupted attention and obsessive attention to detail from our associates for 10+ hours a day when onsite producing events. We basically ask our staff to put our client’s needs, dreams, and wishes before themselves and their personal lives for those days. Therefore, I fully respect my associates and vendors boundaries and time off the clock and on non-working weekends. I believe that allowing proper ‘work life balance’ in your associate and vendor teams lives set them up to perform better and at their highest level when executing events.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ellamaeproductions.org/
• Instagram: @ellamaeproductions
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-ella-mae-chan/

Image Credits
Joe Kim Studio, Christine Skari Photography, SDK Photography, Nadia Hung Photography, Johnathan Moore Photography, Safeena Noah Photography, Alfonso Flores Photography,