When I began my career, I had no idea it would lead to sold-out events, luxury hospitality experiences, and the chance to work with world-renowned brands. My first “event role” was in the kitchen scullery, scrubbing dishes before I ever touched a clipboard.
A diploma in Event Management gave me theory, but it didn’t give me what I needed to jump-start or truly move the needle in my career. In fact, it made my start harder than I expected — what I really needed was a real-world formula and the grit to dig into the work, not hours in the classroom. Fifteen years later, my classmates and I still joke that we’ve never once used a handbook, lesson, or note from those three years and thousands spent. I realized early that every classmate would graduate with the same qualification — the only thing that could set me apart was real-world hours, connections, and proof I could deliver. So I started hustling, volunteering, and learning on the job.
Each role I took was chosen for growth, not glamour. My first job was at a world-renowned Polo Estate in the epicentre of vineyard and wedding country. I washed dishes, prepped cutlery, drove the wedding car, shadowed coordinators during the day, and eventually ran weddings and celebrity events within 3 months.
The pace was relentless, but the lessons were invaluable: precision, adaptability, and the confidence to lead under pressure. I got to see it all – starting my career in a venue setting gave me the background and exposure another niche agency couldn’t.
Over the years, I shifted between wedding planning, corporate activations, large-scale brand events, developing world-renowned polo events, and curating luxury hospitality. Every pivot expanded my skill set — and every role reinforced that relationships, problem-solving, and a willingness to do the work matter more than titles.
Never did I plan or imagine my career would have such dramatic pivots – and frankly, if you showed it to me on paper 15 years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s quite a stretch or jump between titles and roles. But with a bit of blind determination, I said yes to every step. And it showed me something that made each chapter easier to adapt to and lead in.
I found a method and formula that translated to everything I did. I walked into chaos time and time again – going from their ideation to execution became second nature.
The events industry is vast. You don’t need to spend years buried in theory or follow a single rigid path. You don’t need to climb the creative (our version of corporate –) ladder to have your own practice in events and weddings.
What will set you apart is:
These principles are at the heart of our Event Operating System (EOS), taught in our EOS Production Essentials Course. And this is why I created the EOS — it’s exactly what we wish I had when we were starting out – in fact, I dreamt of it, but nothing like this existed!
It’s built from the real-world formula, processes, and mindset that can help you plan, execute, and adapt for any type of event. Plus, it’s filled with FREEDOM and EXPRESSION – and that just makes me tick!
Don’t you want a career and life where you literally make magic – not just for your client but for yourself too?!
When COVID forced me to pivot again, I stepped into art gallery operations and built an annual program from scratch. And this is where I get super excited in this story!! – These are exactly the soft skills I developed from my years in events and using the eOS formula — communication, organization, resilience — now in another world and industry when I needed it most!
That’s what we need more of: skills that are portable and applicable to our real lives. Tools that work when we need them to – doing the heavy lifting, creating opportunity and freedom. These are the things that will carry you into new opportunities, in my case, outside the events and wedding industry for a while. Never could I have imagined this formula would take me on this journey – and forever grateful it did.
It’s given me the ability to take on any new challenge or invitation with absolute certainty that somehow I will be able to figure it out! Because I have the foundation that will create the solutions needed. And that’s the real gift — knowing that no matter how the industry changes or what life throws my way, I have a repeatable, adaptable system that lets me keep building, growing, and saying yes to opportunities that excite me.
If you’re starting out, stuck in a rut, or ready to level up, the pathway is yours to create. With the right framework, you can:
I’ve been where you are. I know the long hours, the rejections, the exhilaration when an idea becomes reality. And I’m here to give you the toolkit to make it happen.
Whether you’re a student eager to study or intern and get your first taste of real-world experience, a professional in another field ready to pivot and launch your own event business, or an industry insider aiming to step into a senior role or take on bigger projects. This course meets you where you are: it gives beginners the orientation and hands-on formula the classroom never did, helps career changers build a clear business pathway, and supports seasoned planners in finding their magic again with the structure, mentorship, and freedom they’ve been craving.
Ready to start building your own career in events? Get the Event Planner Starter Kit here and start applying the same strategies that transformed my career.
PS: For those wondering — after my post-COVID art gallery chapter, I found my way back into the world of events… but on my own terms. These days, I work as a consultant to event production companies, choosing only the projects that truly light me up. It’s the perfect balance of creativity, strategy, and freedom — and proof that you really can design a career you love. (You can read more about my current work over at elsj.co)
