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

Alright, William thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with 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?

I’ve learned over 20 years of running a business, there is never one singular thing that makes a business successful. Scaling up for WM Events came from a special recipe of different strategies, foundational beliefs and education. We are a very curious team and seek knowledge from everywhere we can. With a strong work ethic, our team is never afraid to put in the hard work it takes to push the boundaries thereby giving us the confidence to grow.

Making the decision to hire up was a pivotal moment which truly catalyzed our scaling efforts. After years of hiring very smart but inexperienced people I took the leap and began hiring seasoned executives. I was intimidated and insecure about the financial and administrative aspects of hiring at a higher level, but it paid off beyond my imagination. You are suddenly staffed with someone who already talks the talk and can hit the ground running.

The Power of No has also be vital to our growth strategy. When you first start out you take everything you can to survive. Saying No has taken many years to perfect, but it has changed the face of our bookings and saved us a lot of headaches. No empowers you and allows you to take the business you truly want and can handle. More times than not a NO leads to a YES of something spectacular.

By shedding the scarcity mentality, narrowing our focus to our core strengths, and politely declining ventures outside our expertise – even those that seem appealing on the surface – we’ve witnessed remarkable strides in our growth trajectory.

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.

I am the principal and founder of WM Events, a nationally recognized, true full-service event house for people with discerning taste. We are based in Atlanta and work throughout the country (and sometimes beyond!) orchestrating every moving piece of the consulting, planning, design, and production of our clients’ events. We are planners, advisors, partners, designers, and, every once in a while, miracle workers, who take on corporate events, fundraisers, meetings, tradeshow design and private affairs.

I am definitely living my passion, and I have always had events in my blood. As a child, I was obsessed with setting the table and etiquette. At the age of 12, I planned my mother’s birthday party complete with a stripper and baked Alaska flambé! Coming from a family that loved entertaining and did it well, hospitality is at my core.

While at the University of Colorado, I studied art history, which led to a job in an art gallery as an art consultant. In addition to selling art, I was tasked with renting out the gallery as an event venue. Through this endeavor, I met Sandy Tenenbaum, who owned the established Denver catering firm Occasions by Sandy. She coaxed me away from the gallery into her business, taught me everything she knew, and I have never looked back.

Since launching WM Events in Atlanta in 2004, I have been thrilled to be part of this industry,
where a high level of professionalism is celebrated.

At WM Events, we approach our work and build our working relationships from the idea that it’s not one-size-fits-all — it’s couture. Each client’s goals and vision inform all we do. We’re obsessed with nailing the overall strategy and the minute details, and we get it right every time.

This high level of performance and attention to detail have allowed us to be trusted by clients, including the major Atlanta professional sports teams — Atlanta Braves, Falcons, Hawks, and United, as well as Microsoft, Chipotle, University of Georgia, and Delta Air Lines. Community involvement is key both to my business philosophy and my personal life. I serve on the board of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – Hughes Spalding and volunteer with numerous philanthropic organizations.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Surviving both the recession and the pandemic proved a major challenge in the events industry. Being steadfast about what you are doing and continuing to work in whatever way you can in your field is a strategy for succeeding during difficult times. That means staying visibly alive, showing you are actively engaged in your business, letting people know you are still there.

During the pandemic, we kept working it. We stayed on social media, reached out to clients, and expanded our skillset significantly by delving deeply into virtual events, videography, lighting, scriptwriting, and launched a brand around those services.

Currently in a significant growth phase, we are bursting at the seams of our office and warehouse space. To manage this situation, we have implemented a rotating hybrid schedule for the office team. Our warehouse is shared between the operations and floral teams, so on a daily basis, those teams are required to make spatial concessions based on who has the most immediate need as determined by our event production schedule.

Knowing that we need more space, I initiated the purchase of a building, which has been a true learning experience. Having never completed a commercial real estate purchase or project before or shopped for this type of loan. Through this experience, I persevered through a multitude of challenges, including initially hiring the wrong team, that would have made many people give up. But resilience is about having a long-term vision, and I know the facility will be the right fit for my company. The building renovation is now half-way done, and we expect to move into our new headquarters by summer 2024.

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

Creating a positive, cohesive team begins with the hiring process, and we are consistent about everything from what language we use in advertising a position to how we conduct the interview and check references or background. We provide personality testing for newly hired team members that helps us understand their communication style, so we know how to best work with them.
Then we focus on three main areas that boost morale and increase retention – education, acknowledgement, and camaraderie.

Knowledge is power, and professional education has been shown to be one of the best methods of ensuring employee retention. People feel empowered and cared for when you are teaching and investing in them. We offer industry-specific training, such as etiquette classes and napkin folding, but we go further by including sessions on business improv (thinking on your feet) and even fashion styling that aligns with our employee manual. Our education and training program has been a total gamechanger. People are more confident on-site at events and better at their jobs.

We strive to recognize employee wins, and I am a huge proponent of spot bonuses. These can take place several times a year, particularly after surges of business. Some business books caution about “carrots,” but I disagree in this case. It’s not that these bonuses are expected, but when people have been pulling 10- to 12-hour shifts for a week or two, you’ve got to give them something to tangibly show your appreciation.

Of course, even in the most caring team, problems sometimes arise. When I hear even rumblings of issues, I respond quickly, either addressing them personally or asking a department manager to do so. We maintain an open-door policy and let all team members know they have a voice in the company.

Finally, the camaraderie. We are a party planning company, which naturally attracts social people. Our team members like each other; they like being with each other; they like having fun at work. They are happier because they can be in this congenial environment, some of which came about because of our open workspace. In addition to being in the office or on-site together, we have weekly catered “family” lunches, DEI training, event travel, and workout sessions. All of these help create high morale throughout every level of the company.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wmevents.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wmeventsinc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WmEvents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wm-events/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/WmEvents
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/wmevents
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/wmevents/