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

Obianuju, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

Let’s start with the fact that I sat on this idea for NINE months. Nine whole months, from when I created the website, to when I finally put it out there to the world. During that time, I was reevaluating my motivations in life, I was moving across multiple states, I was traveling a whole bunch, and the world was seemingly getting back to what life can look like following the biggest pandemic of our lives.

Launching the business did not take as much of a priority, in my mind, and I did not know where the support was going to come from, quite honestly, to get started. I knew this would be a multiple person operation to serve clients this more demanding way. Upon moving from an area to watch out for so long, I was very isolated, very lonely, and I lacked the community in which I once had. I desired to find a way to connect with people again, and create these moments, even in the smallest, to make people happy and help them celebrate, too. I thought, at the time, that since I was finally closer to family after all these years, I would be able to have that support in my sister, and finally have the opportunity to do something amazing together, as we both share such creative and entrepreneurial spirit. Why not finally start something from the beginning stages collectively?

In thinking that our sister duo was all that we needed, for the first few months, the attempt was for it to be she and I, but in actuality, it just ended up being a lot more me, myself, and I, and although the willingness was there, the support that she needed to take on this role as a business partner was unfortunately not granted in her home life. A few months into coming to terms with the reality that this may no longer be a “sister business,” I had to begin in the early stages of figuring out how I would find and work with people who I trust, how to locate them in their busy lives, and introduced them to this idea and this way of work, this philosophies that we’re building, although we were still very much in the learning stages ourselves.

It was unconventional at first, because we were offering above average wages per hour therefore blowing our ROI out of the water, and because we were paying higher hourly wages, we experienced something we never did before – those who only wanted to work for the immediate pay day, and then we would never see them again. This took a pretty big toll on our confidence, and made me question when we would ever be able to scale towards hiring committed individuals who truly appreciated and valued our vision, respected us as individuals and our business at its infantile stages. We needed individuals who were here for the growth. Months later, we did our first official round of hiring – not just word of mouth and not just social media – we rallied to find quality candidates, and thus our next busy season had the dedicated individuals it needed to see itself through. That is where our hiring story began.

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.

My path has always been heavily predicated on creating opportunities for other people who look like me. I quickly learned that if I want to sit at the table, I would have to create one for myself. That is where my drive began. I grew up watching my mother build and grow her own pharmacy from the ground up, so I was under the impression that women could do absolutely anything that we set our minds to. I didn’t see it any other way, and I was too young to realize that we live in a world where our ambitions are not always quite as welcome.

That is when I began on my path to creating platforms, safe places, and opportunities with a purpose. My first events, marketing, and branding collective led me to meet the most amazing spirits and allowed me to cultivate relationships with inspiring women who I had the opportunity to invite as speakers, sponsors, guests, and honorees on a national scale. We developed a community of thriving women and people of color who were enthused to attend event after event and stay connected throughout the East Coast.

Following the pandemic, it became challenging for most event planners to find ways to gather safely. Naturally, it was a matter of happenstance that the gradual transition of B2B work became a shift toward welcoming and entertaining the idea of B2C clients. We transitioned into the business, under a sister branch, now known as Pampas Picnics & Rentals.

We work tirelessly to help create intimate and unforgettable moments for people and families in all stages of life, from weddings to baby showers and baptisms and every event in between. We have found joy in being fair and reasonable, building new connections, and bringing sheer and utter happiness to people within their means.

What started as a way for us to get out of the house during the pandemic has transitioned into a growing being that needs constant nurturing. Today we serve multiple regions, have an office in New Jersey, and love to create opportunities for young event professionals and people who look like myself.

This space is not easy. At times, it’s hard to lead a Black-owned business. It’s very commonplace for potential clients to have a preconceived notion of what a Black-owned business looks like or how we operate without even exploring our track record. But what sets us apart from any company in our space is our standard for execution, integrity, and the trust that our clients have in us. We truly value collaboration over competition when it comes to working with our event peers, and we hope to continue to stand on those pillars to let our work proceed us and grow in the right directions and communities.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

My employee experience was something that I had to totally and wholeheartedly lean into and commit our practices towards. As I struggled with the confidence to attract and retain top quality candidates, I would enter consistent rabbit holes of comparison in wondering what really set us apart from other small business owners, particularly in the event space, and the thought finally dawned on me, “well, I can’t offer a more than we have, but I can offer an unforgettable experience with working with us.”

I took myself back to the time when I was green, living in Washington, D.C. I was hungry for experience in these otherwise unorthodox fields, and I would reach out regularly to event planners, party promoters, expo producers for a position that I could commit to to get my feet wet. That is all I wanted, was going up and down the East coast to ensure I received that experience. I learned valuable lessons, had my eyes opened to my likes and dislikes in the industry, and most importantly, took note of what I would do more of or differently, if I were to ever have the opportunity. Flash forward, now I do.

From early stages of my career journey, the employee experience began to take its shape, and all these years later, continues to grow and emmenate with my Pampas team members. Our priority is to help develop skills and create lasting positive memories. In building a team, I learned that not everyone is going to stick around for the long haul—sometimes you are just a stop on their journey, a blip in their path—and that is alright. In knowing this, I have grown a better appreciation toward supporting my team members in building their skills and resumes. It’s great to have individuals who grow with us, but I wholeheartedly value increasingly transitioning more creative and thought leaders into the world.

With that in mind, our employee experience is something I have continued to rework, develop, and invest in to hopefully create an environment of support, excitement, and success for our team members.

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

For the most part, this business began with $500 and a dream. At its inception, we worked with the small amount of decor we had, as he often hosted parties and gatherings in our home and apartments. Thus, we had a nice beginning inventory to work with while we developed our aesthetic to continue to dial it in what made our look and feel unique to potential clients. My theory with this business was to start exactly where we were, and to not allow myself to overthink, over analyze, and over critique to the point of never putting anything out there, hence, my initial nine months of sitting on a completed website. The funding for the business grew as we started booking clients, truthfully. Each deposit turned into more and more inventory, until more of what was requested of us was actually “in stock,” and the purchases became increasingly minimized.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pampaspicnics.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/pampaspicnics
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/pampaspicnics
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/pampaspicnics

Image Credits
Photos of me with the Vespe: @beloved.bliss.studio Photos of our grazing table and events from that day: @photoshoot.trent All other photos were taken by me.