Sarah Zaun is Founder and CEO of All About Events in Philadelphia, PA.
Sarah Zaun is Founder and CEO of All About Events in Philadelphia, PA.
Jesse Dameron: When the Founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, was asked about how he became so successful, he credited his ability to build a team. How do you spot top tier talent in event planning? Are there any indicators that give you an “Aha!” moment that someone will likely be good at event planning?
Sarah Zaun: This is a great question! Before Covid hit, my team was up to 13 people and about half of those employees were recruited after I worked with them on an event somewhere along the lines as I was growing the business. For example, my current Director of Operations was someone I worked with years ago when we were both employed at a catering company. Once my business expanded to the point of needing to grow the team, we connected and she came to work for my company. Similar situation with our Director of Special Events. We worked a wedding together years before, I was the wedding planner and she was the venue manager at the location the wedding was held at. When we had hit a growth spurt, she and I connected and she joined the team. Our current Event Producer I promoted and gave a full-time position to after he worked for us as waitstaff for a little over a year. Ultimately, I have had great success in hiring and promoting individuals that I have had an opportunity to work with previously. However, I have hired other long time employees off of the attention to detail they showed on their resume and in the interview process.
Jesse Dameron: If you were starting out again, what would you do differently to grow your business faster?
Sarah Zaun: I was lucky to be able to rely on the early years of social media to grow my business before it became saturated with ads and tons of competitors. However, the one tried and true way that helped grow my business was the power of networking. So I would say that increased and consistent networking from an early start would be my response. As we got busier over the years, I would let the networking fall off my radar but then would start seeing a decline in business if I stopped attending networking events for long periods of time. It is something I still feel strongly about to this day!
Jesse Dameron: If someone donated $10,000 with the stipulation that it must be invested into “All About Events” within one year, where would you allocate the funds to facilitate growth? Can you break down the reason(s) why you would allocate the funds in those areas?
Sarah Zaun: Leadership training! I have been fortunate to invest in myself over the years by attending in-person programming for leadership training and coaching. It has made a tremendous difference in my day to day mindset and how I lead my team through challenging scenarios as well as times that we need to reinvent ourselves, especially now with the pandemic. My goal someday is to invest in my team in the same way by providing them the experience of dedicated leadership training and one on one coaching. The expense is enormous, in the thousands per person so an allotted amount of money would need to be saved up for an opportunity like this. Ultimately, I have always felt that if I invest back in my team, we will grow stronger as individuals as well as together as a unit.
Jesse Dameron: It’s often stated that being a good listener, being honest, and staying in front of past clients are all part of building relationships. Do you have any creative or outside-of-the-box ideas (not often found elsewhere) for building relationships?
Sarah Zaun: Yes! There is no better way to show someone that you care than by remembering the little things. Their name for instance. How often do you find yourself seeing someone you met weeks or months ago and you are struggling as they are approaching you because their name escapes your memory. I started paying close attention when someone gave me their name (including repeating it back to them at the initial introduction) so that when I see them again, my greeting is “Hello Michael, it is so great to see you again”. That level of personalization leaves that person feeling that they made an impression on you, especially since you remembered their name and used it to greet them. I usually find that a greeting like that often created a desire for the person and I to engage and connect even further. Along the same lines, showing someone that you remembered a past conversation or a small detail that someone may have said in passing…goes a long way for building relationships.
Jesse Dameron: What are some unique ideas that can make an event more interesting?
Sarah Zaun: Large Scale Event Signage – this is a newer trend that we are All About! Bar signage, puns on bathroom signs, welcome signs — are all the rage! I am talking large scale in the sense of 6ft-10 foot signs in acrylic, mirror, wood, etc. This signage is usually adorned in flowers on the corners or even balloons to make them even more of a statement piece or even a photo op! For smaller, more intimate events, we are recommending spicing up the bar by bringing in a bartender that can mix up cocktails by the roll of a dice. For example, a specialty manhattan bar is fun for Fall or Winter and guests can roll a small handful of dice which will then make up the ingredients or flavors that will go into their cocktail. Just to name a few of our fun ideas…
Jesse Dameron: What do you think it is about an entrepreneur that makes them cut out for success in the long-run?
Sarah Zaun: Gosh… it’s a matter of having all of the components of the secret sauce. Self-motivation. passion, Determination, willingness to grow, willingness to be outside of your comfort zone, focus, not giving up, not giving in. In my case, I started my business in college. That meant many weekends of missing out on the parties and college events because I had to work on my business and/or work events on the weekends. As I grew into my 20’s, I was missing family gatherings and friends’ weddings because I was committed to my clients and their events that often fell on the same day as events I was invited to. In the beginning, I couldn’t afford to hire a team so I did each and every event on my own. Needless to say, the passion I have for what I do helped me quickly forget about the parties and gatherings I was missing. To me, it was rewarding to know that I was making a couple’s wedding day the best day of their lives. My clients are always so thankful for my help and for what I do for them so it outweighed the feeling of missing out. Nowadays I have a very supportive team behind me therefore I have the ability to attend weddings and family gatherings without losing the business or giving up the clients!
Jesse Dameron: What is something an event planner could do that would impress you?
Sarah Zaun: The event planning industry is hard. It is stressful! It is also hard to grow financially. Those planners who have been able to build a business in this industry for many years while staying mentally sane – that impresses me!
Jesse Dameron: Where did the company name “All About Events” come from?
Sarah Zaun: Honestly, I started my business back when the Yellow Pages and phone books were a thing. I’ll never forget standing in my parents’ kitchen talking about names and my dad said to me that my business name should start with the letter A so that it would appear first in my category in the phone book! So the name “All About Weddings” was born! 3 years later I realized that I wanted to do all types of events, not just weddings. So I changed the name to “All About Events”.
Jesse Dameron: Do you have any recruiting or hiring tips you are willing to share? [If you would rather skip this question to avoid divulging a trade secret, I’ll understand and omit it.]
Sarah Zaun: A solid resume, strong personalized cover letter, and lots of diverse experience in event planning or catering. That is what I look for when hiring! Also, I tend to avoid interviewing individuals that often change jobs or companies every year or two. I look for longevity in hiring so I always scan a resume to look for how long they have stayed with previous employers.
Jesse Dameron: As an open-ended question, what advice would you give to an event planner who wants to be successful, get promoted (if they work for someone else), or increase profit (if they are an entrepreneur)?
Sarah Zaun: Know your value and be indispensable! I sometimes have to ask members of my company to complete tasks or fulfill responsibilities that are outside of their job role. Over the years, I would get push back from employees because they were unwilling to take on tasks that are not within their job description. The event planners and managers that I have on my team currently, are all individuals that are happy to take on any new challenge/task/responsibility and do what they need to in order to see it through to completion. These individuals have made All About Events the successful business that it is today, and are the ones I will continue to promote and support. Business needs change. Now more than ever we are pivoting, exploring new ways to do events and create new business. Showing diversity with strengths and talent will always set you apart! Know your value, especially when it comes to pricing!
To learn more about Sarah Zaun’s company and event planning services, visit her website at allaboutevents.com. If you want to enhance your events with unique entertainment, watch the following video.
For a free consultation about the entertainment shown in the video above, call 267-261-9930.