We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Teya Lucas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Teya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Meshay & Madison, LLC didn’t start as a “business idea” on paper—it started as something I was already doing from the heart. Back in 2019, I was working a corporate job and planning events on the side just because I loved it. Baby showers. Town halls. Birthdays. Holiday parties. I’d decorate, organize, create moments—and my daughter would help me. It was our thing. I didn’t think of it as entrepreneurship yet; it was just something I was naturally good at and genuinely enjoyed. Then one day someone asked me, “How much do you charge to plan a birthday party?” And I realized…I didn’t even have an answer. That question stopped me in my tracks and planted the seed: maybe this wasn’t just a hobby. Maybe this was something I was supposed to build.

So in 2019, I launched Meshay & Madison, LLC—and almost immediately, people started booking me. Looking back, I know part of that was because I was underpricing and lowballing myself, but at the time, it felt like confirmation: people trusted me with their moments. Then COVID hit, and everything changed. Events didn’t stop—they just had to look different. I pivoted to date nights, backyard celebrations, and micro-weddings. In 2020, I assisted with my first prom, and in 2021 I became the official planner for that same high school’s prom, which we hosted outdoors in a parking lot. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was meaningful. It showed me that events aren’t just about pretty rooms—they’re about creating experiences, even when circumstances aren’t perfect.

In 2022, when my daughter graduated, I took a step back to focus on her and that season of life. When I returned in 2023, I had to rebuild momentum from scratch. By 2024, I made a major pivot into corporate events, nightlife, and larger-scale productions, including brand activations and community-focused experiences. That growth led to organizing the first annual Loc Expo in Atlanta in 2026 and working on even bigger events for the city. Around the same time, I relaunched my passion project, Meshay & Madison: The Series—a curated monthly experience for small, intimate groups of women. It’s about bringing women together in beautiful spaces, supporting local businesses, creating real connection, and giving people something memorable to walk away with.

What excited me—and still does—is that I wasn’t just planning parties. I was solving a real problem: people want meaningful experiences, but they don’t always have the time, vision, or capacity to create them well. My approach has always been personal, intentional, and community-centered. Meshay & Madison grew because it was rooted in real life, real relationships, and real moments—and every pivot, pause, and comeback just clarified that this isn’t just what I do. It’s what I’m called to build.

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

I’m the founder and lead planner behind Meshay & Madison, LLC, an Atlanta-based event strategy and experience company rooted in one simple idea: moments matter, and how people feel in a space matters even more. I came into this industry not through a traditional event-planning pipeline, but through years of actually doing the work—inside corporate environments, in community spaces, and in real life—organizing everything from internal company events and celebrations to nightlife experiences, proms, brand activations, and curated gatherings. Over time, what started as “you’re really good at this” turned into a clear calling and a business built around intentional, people-centered experiences.

Today, Meshay & Madison operates across corporate events, nightlife and social experiences, community events, and brand activations. I also run a passion project called Meshay & Madison: The Series, which is a curated monthly experience for women focused on connection, community, and supporting local businesses through beautifully designed, intimate gatherings. Whether I’m working with a brand, a company, or a group of women looking for a meaningful night out, my work lives at the intersection of strategy, logistics, and experience design.

At the core, I solve two big problems for my clients. First, I take big ideas and turn them into clear, executable plans—removing stress, confusion, and overwhelm from the process. Second, I help people create experiences that actually feel good and make sense for their audience, not just events that look good in photos. A lot of people have ideas. Fewer people know how to structure them, resource them, and execute them in a way that feels seamless and intentional. That’s where I come in.

What sets me apart is that I don’t approach events as just production—I approach them as purpose-driven experiences. I care about flow. I care about how guests move through a space. I care about how a brand shows up in real life. I care about how people leave feeling. My background in both corporate environments and community-based events allows me to bridge professionalism with warmth, structure with creativity, and strategy with soul. I’m equally comfortable managing logistics and championing the emotional experience of the room.

I’m most proud of the resilience of this brand and the evolution of the work—from small, intimate gatherings to large-scale community events like The Loc Expo, and from social events to corporate and brand-driven experiences. I’m also proud that Meshay & Madison has stayed rooted in community, collaboration, and creating access—especially through The Series, which is about bringing women together in real, meaningful ways in a time when connection can feel harder to come by.

What I want people to know is this: Meshay & Madison isn’t just about throwing events. It’s about creating environments where people feel seen, celebrated, and connected—and doing it with excellence, intention, and heart. If you work with me, you’re not just getting a planner. You’re getting a strategic partner who cares deeply about your vision, your audience, and the experience you’re trying to create.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One of the clearest examples of my resilience is what happened to my business—and my faith in it—during and after COVID.

Before the pandemic, Meshay & Madison was gaining real traction. I was booking events, building momentum, and starting to see the vision come to life. Then, almost overnight, the entire events industry shut down. Everything I had been working toward paused. Like so many people, I had to sit with the reality that the thing I built was suddenly “non-essential” in a world that was just trying to survive.

Instead of giving up, I asked myself a different question: How do people still need connection right now? That’s when I pivoted to planning date nights, backyard celebrations, and micro-weddings. In a season when big, beautiful ballrooms weren’t possible, I learned how to create meaningful experiences in driveways, backyards, and small spaces. It stretched me creatively and professionally—and it reminded me that my work wasn’t about rooms or décor, it was about people.

In 2020, I assisted with my first prom, and in 2021 I became the official planner for that same high school’s prom—which we hosted outside in a parking lot. Planning a milestone moment like prom in a parking lot wasn’t what anyone dreamed of, but seeing those students still get their night, still dress up, still celebrate, was one of the most rewarding moments of my career. It taught me that resilience isn’t about perfect conditions—it’s about showing up anyway and making something meaningful out of what you have.

Then in 2022, I stepped back to focus on my daughter during her graduation year. When I returned in 2023, the momentum was gone. I had to rebuild from scratch—relationships, visibility, confidence, and pipeline. That was humbling. But instead of quitting, I chose to evolve. I re-entered the nightlife space, then pivoted again into corporate events, brand activations, and larger community experiences. That journey eventually led to producing The Loc Expo and relaunching Meshay & Madison: The Series, my curated experiences for women.

Resilience, for me, hasn’t been one big dramatic comeback. It’s been a series of quiet decisions to keep going, to adapt, to rebuild, and to believe in the vision even when the version of it in front of me kept changing. I’m proud that I didn’t just survive the hard seasons—I let them refine the way I lead, create, and serve.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was the belief that the people closest to me—my friends and family—would automatically become my core customers and biggest supporters.

When I first started Meshay & Madison, I assumed that because people loved me and cheered me on, they would naturally book me, refer me, and consistently support the business. And some did—but not in the way or at the level I expected. At first, that was really hard. It felt personal. I had to wrestle with disappointment and check my own expectations, especially when I saw strangers trusting me with their events before people who knew me best did.

The backstory is that I launched my business from a very relational place. I built it in community, with my daughter by my side, and I thought that same community would automatically become my client base. What I didn’t understand yet was that love and support don’t always show up as purchases—and that’s not a betrayal, it’s just reality. People have their own budgets, priorities, and boundaries, and sometimes they simply see you in one role and struggle to see you in another.

Unlearning that taught me how to build a real business instead of a passion project funded by proximity. It pushed me to learn marketing, positioning, pricing, and how to sell to people who didn’t already know me. It also helped me develop thicker skin and a healthier relationship with expectations. Now, I’m grateful that my business isn’t dependent on who I know—it’s built on the value of the work itself.

The lesson wasn’t “don’t expect support.” It was “don’t build your business assuming support will look a certain way.” Once I let go of that, I became a stronger entrepreneur and a more confident leader.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.meshayandmadison.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meshayandmadisonllc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088400662498