This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Vivienne Errington-Barnes, the 38-year-old CEO of an event planning agency in the UK. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Before becoming the CEO and founder of a global luxury event planning agency, I worked in program management in the investment banking industry for six years.
The pay was great, but the day-to-day work wasn’t fun — it was a bit boring.
One day, I thought, You know what? I’m going to pivot to a completely new life. I quit my job and started my first event company.
I started running events for the queer lesbian scene in London
I’d always had an interest in planning events. Growing up, I was the one planning my birthdays, holiday celebrations, and get-togethers with friends.
One summer day in 2016, I was walking around Whitechapel, London, looking for an indoor soccer court to host a lesbian soccer tournament — soccer is huge in the lesbian community — when I stumbled across a basement with a BB gun range.
It was super intricate — set up like a fake village, almost like a Wild West movie set. I remember thinking, This place feels like the size of an airport.
I asked a guy who was mopping the floor, “Hey, can I throw an event here? How much would it cost me per night?”
He said I could for £500. When I heard that, I thought, “I’m quitting my job immediately.” That was the catalyst for starting my first event company, Django Bango, with my then-girlfriend and my ex-girlfriend.
We ran events for the queer lesbian scene in London, and they got popular quickly. We had multiple restaurants inside, several bars, live immersive actors, and a band. It was an amazing, incredible time.
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It was very cool, and thousands of people came.
My first event business failed
It taught me a lot because it was the first time I charged for event tickets. We were generating a lot of revenue, but the profit margin was so low.
Our biggest expenses were paying staff — our security, actors, greeters, DJs, band performers, and cleanup crew. The second biggest cost was alcohol and food.
We were so green and inexperienced, and we didn’t really have a budget. We didn’t know what we’d made until three months after the events had finished. We barely made anything — just a few thousand dollars after over a dozen events.
It’s a hard business. It was stressful and ended up destroying my relationship with my girlfriend. We were constantly monitoring who was doing what and figuring out which tasks were more important.
I learned that I don’t ever want a cofounder again; when someone else has veto power over your business, it’ll never be 100% equal.
I pivoted back into the corporate world
Within six months, I chose to return to a career working for someone else — this time in tech. I held C-level roles at several startups, and my last role was Chief of Staff at a meditation app called Calm in 2019.
It felt good going back to corporate. I felt as if I had gone after my dream of event planning; although it didn’t work out, I tried, and I no longer needed to do it full-time.
While working in tech, I continued throwing events on the side. Some of the people I met in the industry — affluent individuals — asked if I could plan an event for them and offered to pay me.
That was the first time this new business model entered my mind.
Before, we produced events and got paid by selling tickets. With my business model now, a client approaches us saying, “Hey, I want to throw an event. Here’s the budget, and here’s your fee.” There’s no financial risk to us.
When I ran my first event business, I couldn’t comprehend the idea that people would pay us to throw an event with a budget of anywhere between $20,000 and $7 million.
In 2020, I left the corporate world to do events again full-time, but now with a new, working model.
Now I run a luxury event planning company
I have a very clear process that’s been shaped by every lesson I’ve learned over the years. When I plan events today, nothing slips through the cracks.
There are things that can happen that you can’t control, like bad weather. But out of the things you can control, our formula has been built from those lessons.
We’re a luxury event planning company because we deliver high-quality events. I’m planning an event for a wedding anniversary party, and the couple wants it to be themed as a corporate conference, so there’s going to be swag about their relationship and a fireside chat. I just love that for them — it’s so brave and original.
There will be people who try to negotiate our pricing down, but I’ve learned we really only want to work on things that are worth our time. If people try to nickel and dime you down to the point where you won’t be able to deliver the level of quality that you’re known for, it’s not worth it.
Do you have a story to share about leaving a solid career for your own venture and failing? Contact this editor, Jane Zhang, at [email protected].