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

Victoria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Clarity of purpose, having the ability to say no and be not only good, but damn good at what you do. Nobody strives for mediocrity — so reach your ultimate potential by working smart, with preparation and with focus.

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

Before COVID changed the world, I HATED having to plan for events. However, when 2020 hit I developed a new appreciation for gathering people together to celebrate. I started to look forward and dive into my kids’ party planning- my favorite aspect being the little details. While planning my daughter’s birthday party, I came across this beautiful white bounce house but it was booked out 4 months in advance! Needing every detail crossed off my list- I sought out vendors and decided to have my own one made. I figured if I loaned it out 5 times, I would have already made my money back and then we could just always have this cool canvas of a bounce house ready for all occasions. Word of mouth started to spread and soon my family realized- wow we could make a business out of this.

Suddenly I found myself collaborating with different vendors for events ranging from baby showers, birthdays, non-profit events, grand openings, styled shoots and weddings. We’ve had such a welcoming introduction in the event planning space from all types of vendors- it’s been an incredible experience so far.

My regular corporate job is a procurement analyst for one of the largest global companies – so I deal with a lot of numbers, long meetings and Excel spreadsheets everyday. On top of that I’m a mother of two under 6 and in the throws of school, extracurricular activities and homework (wow 1st grade math has changed a lot). The Space City Party surprisingly became a creative outlet for me.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Holding your current clientele to their true value! Our biggest aid in gaining new customers is word of mouth from current customers. I would say there’s two factors that we hold very close to us with our clientele– our integrity and our authenticity. When our clients book with us, we are going to provide them not only the best customer service, but we’re going to be blunt and honest. If we know an idea isn’t going to pan out to give the client their dream result, we’re going to tell them so we can pivot and figure something out. If we know it’s not the safest idea, we’re going to tell them. We even go as far as to look at weather and wind predictions for the day and strategize a plan b should anything arise. The Space City Party was created to inspire exceptional moments and provide a magical place of perfection for your celebration with friends and family. Not just to make a buck off of a bounce house rental. That also slides into our next factor- authenticity. Every client, no matter how extravagant their event or how big their invoice is, is going to get the same personality, integrity and spirit. We really try to stay true to our initial vibe- which made the beginning process slower than if we just went with the cookie cutter trend, but now it’s really paid off. Doing this has helped us cultivate relationships with clients and vendors with similar vibes and has made this business such a dream to be in.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The hustle harder mentality aka toxic productivity. I used to be the person that portioned out every aspect of my day – everything had to be productive or I would feel guilty that I was wasting time. I was notoriously the friend that would bring their work laptop on trips, excuse myself at lunch to talk to a client and stay up till 2 or 3AM working just to wake up a few hours later to start the morning routine with my kids. 2020 I had the notorious toxic productivity crash and COVID forced me to prioritize all aspects of my life. While my plate is still plenty full – perhaps even a little too full – I learned how to say no. Warren Buffet had a quote on how the most successful people barely have anything scheduled on their calendar. They say “no” more than they say “yes”. You don’t have to say yes to every collaboration request, photoshoot invite or even event for that matter. For example, I closed out the possibility for any bookings to be held on my son’s birthday weekend. I wanted to be able to be fully present and not have to worry about a possible delivery mishap, still being present for a client, and worrying about everything that entails with a rental. Time management is key when having a healthy work life balance. I love a planner but my biggest asset to this is time blocking. This way I don’t sit down at the end of the day and go “oh my gosh, I literally didn’t do a single thing for The Space City Party”, “I didn’t even touch my regular work”, “Great, I forgot to do literally all the stuff I needed to for the kids”. It can be difficult- sometimes my timer will go off and I tell myself “ugh if I just have 15 more minutes I could create like a few more pieces of content” and I have to pry myself away from the computer because no, I set this timeframe for my kids, my mental clarity, etc. and I need to honor that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thespacecityparty.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thespacecityparty
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/thespacecityparty
• Other: Find us on TikTok: @thespacecityparty

Image Credits
Ashlynn Mari Photography