EventStagers is an event design champion

MEET Abla Doku:   Abla Doku is a remarkable creative talent. She gets a kick out of planning and producing unique design concepts. For her, orchestrating memorable business, social and community events is fun, full of endless rewards. In addition to managing EventStagers, a company she founded in 2012, Abla is an avid reader. She also enjoys hiking, gardening and playing tennis. She dreams of owning a motorcycle one day, if her husband and kids allow.event planners

WMI:   When and how did you become Director of Operations at EventStagers?

AD:      EventStagers was launched in October 2012. It is our mission to ensure that our customers feel like guests at their own parties and events. Producing this winning feeling is all in the details. As director of operations at EventStagers, I oversee the process of orchestrating memorable events, ensuring that every event we manage is top caliber, exceeding our customers’ dreams. Contract negotiations, hiring of staff and vendors we partner with are essential duties of the director of operations

WMI:   Are you a professional designer? 

AD:      I’ve always had a great sense of design and style. Some things come naturally to people, like a math whiz or an athlete. I look at event design through the lens of fashion. For me, it’s like finding the right outfit for a body type, accessing the right colors to suit the skin tone, highlighting assets and adding statement pieces to complete the look.

WMI:   How big is the event planning business (i.e. revenues, sales)?

AD:      The event planning business is a multi-billion dollar industry. Think about the number of weddings, birthday parties, bar/bat mitzvah, graduations, concerts, corporate events, etc. that are held each year. Each of these events is planned by someone. Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics  reports that not only is the event planning industry among the fastest growing industries, it’s expected to grow by 20% by 2016.

WMI:   Tell us about the specific events Event Stagers specializes in planning and designing.

AD:      We are an event design, production and staffing company in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, specializing in proposals, weddings and milestone celebrations: anniversaries, bar/bat mitzvah, birthdays, cocktail, end-of-year parties. We’ve also been approached by local businesses, non-profits and civic groups to stage Launch Parties, Anniversary Celebrations and Promotional Events.

WMI:   Are you open to helping home owners stage their houses for open house, so they can shorten the time it takes them to sell their house? Why or why not?

AD:      Absolutely! We transform homes as part of our design concept for clients who want to entertain and do an event at home.  A staged home is known to sell faster than a home that hasn’t been staged. Our service, “Staged At Home,” is about folks hosting an event at home vs. at a venue. At EventStagers, we de-clutter houses. We design better traffic flow throughout one or more rooms of a home. As part of our open house efforts, we also organize entertainment for homeowners, giving them another way to attract buyers.

WMI:   What is the inspiration behind the founding of EventStagers?

AD:      My desire to be there to make warm breakfast for my kids before they head out to school and be home to listen to my kids when they got home from school played a major role in founding Event Stagers. I have always been the person who organized parties, night-outs, couples dates and cultural events. EventStagers was a natural progression. Now I get paid to do something I love.  My desire has always been to follow my own pathway to freedom.


WMI:   Is this your first time operating and/or managing a business? If not, please share with us a bit of history about another business you operated or owned.

AD:      Growing up, I always saw my mom own and manage a business. From custom-clothier undertakings to a grocery/eatery operation. On more than a few occasions, I worked as her assistant. It came with the territory as the eldest of six children. During these experiences, I watched my mom’s business model change to align with industry or market changes. Watching my mom handle those changes has been an invaluable lesson to me. Before starting Event Stagers, I owned and operated an image business. What I learned while managing the image business, has helped me succeed at Event Stagers. My growing knowledge has also proved beneficial to the brides we work with at Event Stagers.

event planningWMI:   A lot has been said about start-up funding. Where did you find the funding to get EventStagers off the ground?

AD:      I am a huge proponent of bartering. It should be treated as any business transaction and have the necessary documents and contracts. Whatever service or product you offer, chances are there is an individual or a business that you can trade with. For example, I was able to trade planning services for web design. I also formed a mastermind group of business owners. We meet once a month to brainstorm and give possible solutions to business dilemmas we may encounter. We support each other. This saves members the money they would have spent had they had no other recourse except to hire a business coach to teach them the things we, as members, teach each other. To fund EventStagers, I’ve also tapped into family savings.

WMI:   What has been the toughest thing to learn about owning a business?

AD:      Having to clock 60-80 hours a week on some occasions. Some marketing expenditure are like pouring cash down the drain.

WMI:   What has been the most rewarding part of owning a business?

AD:       The kids are on summer break right now. I feel blessed that I am able to share this time with them. Being able to set my own hours is truly more than I could have asked for.

WMI:   Share three to four specific online and offline marketing strategies/action steps you have found to be most effective at getting you exposure for your products.

AD:      First and foremost, business is built on relationships. Trust must be earned and that takes time. Without trust, it’s much difficult for people to refer you.

Networking: I read somewhere that networking is like a fisherman casting a net in a body of water. For example, you can’t expect immediate results unless you are a plumber and someone you met at a networking event needed plumping services the day after you met them.  To be successful at networking, you must be patient.  Doing face-to-face meetings with the people I connect with has been great.

Strategic partnerships have been important: Finding businesses with which you have shared clients, synergies your marketing efforts. For example, a shared business EventStagers could develop a strategic partnership with would be a cake artist.

Furthermore, I started dabbling with social media recently – specifically Twitter. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the number of valuable connections I’ve been able to make in a very short period of time.

WMI:   To keep your business going, you have to generate cash inflow. Tell us about two to three effective cash inflow generating strategies you’ve found effective.

AD:      Diversification. Event Stagers is primarily an event design, planning and production company. However, we also provide event staffing and rentals.

Again, bartering services whenever possible means the outflow of cash is minimal. This has been a very important part of our cash inflow strategy.

WMI:   Have you ever had to come in and rescue an event another planner was working on ineffectively? If so, please share what you did to win the client over and turn the event into a success.

AD:       Our mission is that clients feel like pampered guests at their own events. We work with individuals regardless of where they are in the process of planning. For example, we received a call from a bride to-be two and half months before her wedding. She was in dire need of almost every moving part to make her wedding happen. We came through for her.

WMI:   Who inspired you to go after your dreams when you were a child? How is this person still positively impacting your life today?

AD:  My 4th grade teacher. She was caring and had a positive energy.  Her patience in getting students where they needed to be taught me that I could do anything I put my mind to.  I still think of her fondly.

WMI:   What’s next for Abla Doku? Where do you see yourself and EventStagers three to five years from now?

AD:      Strategic marketing is going to be key in taking Event Stagers to the next level. Potential customers finding us instead of us trying to find them is a model for growth we plan to pursue. We are also going to continue delivering top tier services to our client, letting our work speak for itself.

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