Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Notoya James. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Notoya, thanks for joining us today. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

My name is Dr. Notoya James and I am the owner of Gleaming Events by NJ and Gleaming Event Hall. In 2017, I opened my first event hall in Georgia. The Gleaming Event Hall in Cumming, Georgia was considered middle size accommodating up to 100 seated guests. In 2018, I acquired the space next door which allows me to expand and accommodate more guests (up t0 150 seated). During this time, I was a full-time employee and a full-time student. My 24 hours was split in so many ways, sometimes I didn’t know if I was ever going to sleep. What i did know was that I wanted/needed to have three or four venues in order to be able to take it easy. Through the years I worked on building relationships with other venue owners and event planners. Through these relationships, I would become the first point of contact when a venue was either going out of business by either closing their doors or selling the business. July 2020, I learned about a venue in which the owner was looking to sell their business. I met with the owner and decided based on that meeting not to move forward with the purchase. As a business major (PhD), I understood what was important when buying an existing business and these factors was not met. In October 2021, I received a call from a management company in regard to possibly leasing the same venue. This deal made it possible to use my existing business name which I had since 2017, I was also able to take this suite and make it my own by adding the architectural structures that Gleaming Event Hall is known for.
Taking on a space that is already existing can be difficult when it comes to renovating because you have to work with what is already there. This can be more costly than if you take a blank space and add your special touch. Since, I saved through the years by charging what I was worth and by keeping my overhead low, I was able to take this new building and do some renovations. When old clients walking into the new space they were in awe of the changes that were made. As this space was much larger than my first venue, I was able to accommodate more guest and therefore charge more. Gleaming Event Hall in Lawrenceville took off faster than I expected so the overhead was a bit more and it took me a little bit longer to figure out what to charge to be able to be a successful business (especially right after a pandemic). There are venues around me that many may consider “affordable” or “cheap”. Though my prices are not as high as some places, I never wanted to be the venue that was described in that way. Instead, I built a reputation on being reasonable, clean, bright, airy, and perfect for all event types. You may even hear a few people say, “you mean the venue with the high open industrial ceilings”. Before I even had a chance to bask in the success of venue number two, I received a call to lease another existing venue that was closing its doors. In December 2021, Gleaming Event Hall Fayetteville, Georgia was born. Then In July 2022, Gleaming Event Hall 3.5 in Fayetteville, Georgia opened its doors. The biggest obstacles with opening #3 and 3.5 was not expecting the hidden costs and the requirements of the new city/county. What was supposed to be a simple renovation turned into a major setback requiring double the funds budgeted for as the time. Again, I was tasked with pricing just right and finding ways to stand out from the many other venues in the surrounding areas.
How was I able to scale up? I understand business. I understand that you never want to be the cheapest, but you also need to have something special to offer your clients. It is important to invest in your business within reason. Marketing is very important in all business types. In the event business, things go out of style quickly, so you need to stay on top of the trends. Be strategic and innovative. Most importantly is building great relationships and treating the people that you interact with, with honor and respect.

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?

As mentioned in my previous interview. I spent many years planning and decorating events for family and friends only as I was afraid to venture out. My family was always having gatherings both big and small. We weren’t party people; we just loved to celebrate and show appreciation to others. In 2015 while planning my wedding, I had a difficult time finding a venue that would allow outside catering, outside vendors for decorations and was price friendly. Once our venue was secured, I planned our whole wedding including decorations with the help of a just few family members and friends. Our Pastor convinced me to start Gleaming Events by NJ as he was impressed with the level of professionalism and how stress-free the wedding was.

Gleaming Event Hall was a future dream until I was driving one day and found a laser tag location close to my house that also had a party room. Three months later that location was available for lease. I viewed the building and although it was beautiful, I was not ready to jump. The realtor convinced me that it would be perfect and after speaking to my husband, we decided to go for it.

When I opened Gleaming Event Hall in Cumming in 2017, there were not many venues like mine in the area. Although, the venue is located in a small shopping plaza, the inside looks like it could be on any golf course or hotel banquet room. I made sure anything a celebrant would need is available to them (prep kitchen, dressing room, multiple bathroom stalls, photo area, built in bar and recently an LED dancefloor).

The first year was rough and I even contemplated closing down a time or two. I didn’t understand the demographics in the area, therefore, I was becoming discouraged because the business wasn’t growing as fast as I expected. I learned that I would need to show potential clients why they should trust this young lady born in Jamaica and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I did a few events for either free or very low cost (I don’t suggest it) and I used those events to build my clientele. I reached out to the clients that I felt was my ideal client (hospitals, businesses, etc.), I joined the chamber of commerce, and I just made myself be seen as a member of the community. By year two, I was loving what I was doing, and the venue was growing both in actual clients and in reputation.

Have you ever had to pivot?

One of the industries that had to pivot during the pandemic was the event industry. In March 2020, Atlanta was locked down. Being completely shut down for months was very difficult. I had clients who had to cancel or postpone their event. I had clients who passed away before their rescheduled event could happen. During the shutdown there was a campaign called “Postpone don’t cancel”. I used that time to call my clients personally and convince them that they should not cancel because when the world opened up again, they will want to celebrate. During that time, I also built my inventory by selling older items or items that I didn’t use often and replaced them with items I can use often. Once smaller events were allowed, I turned to my planning services and started planning small scale events and virtual events. I could take a living room and make it look like a wedding in Paris. Elopements were a big thing, and I took advantage of that as well. I also kept in mind that these elopements may eventually lead to bigger celebrations ad/or baby showers. I kept in contact with those clients by sending birthday cards, holiday cards, thinking of you cards, etc. I wrote more than I ever wanted to during the pandemic.

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

The best source of new clients is referrals. I love to get calls from potential clients, and they mention they were referred by someone I went to High School with or a planner that I didn’t even know knew we existed. I tell my staff all the time, to provide great customer service because there is always someone watching. One person can turn into hundreds of referrals. I am not big on algorithms so I may not get the full benefit of social media. I use Facebook ads a lot and I post as many pictures and videos as I can on IG. I do prefer face to face interaction to show and tell what I can offer. Pictures are great but there is nothing like a great experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gleamingeventsatlanta.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/gleamingeventsatlanta
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/gleaming-event-hall

Image Credits
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