Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Worley.
Hi Brian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I moved to Los Angeles as a film major and eventually fell into the event industry really by mistake. I had no idea that you could make a career out of throwing parties. I was working at Banana Republic and a customer that I was helping produced events. I always needed additional income and started working for him as well. I fell in love with the creativity of producing and designing events and realized that it was an extension of what I was hoping to do within the entertainment industry, we just worked with a different set of vendors. I got a great job working with a big production company and one of my first assignments was to help design the first Harry Potter movie premiere party in NYC. It was one of the coolest events I had worked on and I was hooked. Over the years, I worked my way up in the industry, became an expert of sorts, was asked to speak at conference and even hosted a few TV shows where I was the event/wedding expert. I moved to Atlanta a little over four years ago and still enjoying the process and creativity that comes with creating events that last only a few hours and then it is done.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Getting to where I am now has had its share of challenges for sure. I think that in general people think we have the best job; we throw parties for a living, but there are a lot of logistics and hurdles that make it very difficult. We deal with a lot of different personalities and you are not only having to work against budgets but also the happiness of your client. Forbes Magazine for years has listed event/wedding planner in the top 5 most stressful jobs along with generals and surgeons and there is merit for that acolyte. We are in the service industry and as close as we think we are with our clients and as friendly as we feel the relationship is, they are at the end of the day paying the bill and we are employed to make their dreams reality. We only have so much control over the elements, like weather or other vendors. You can plan and plan, but we do not have complete control and that is the most difficult hardship we deal with.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I produce and design events and weddings. While in LA, the majority of my events were entertainment industry-related. In Atlanta, as much as I enjoy corporate events, I find that most of the work we do is in the wedding space. I would say that some of the most proud events I have produced are a polo event in Santa Barbara for Prince William and Kate shortly after they were married, It was a huge undertaking and a lot of logistics, but we pulled it off flawlessly. The most difficult job I think we ever produced was a premiere on Alcatraz Island. We learned that if we can do an event on Alcatraz, we can produce an event anywhere. Designing the red carpet and media tents for the Emmy’s are also career highlights! I think what sets me apart from a lot of my colleagues is that I have been fortunate to have a great education in this industry that has allowed me to execute a very diverse and unique events. Sometimes if is to my detriment as I do not think that I have a particular style and having produced such a variety of events gives me the ability to work with lots of different clients.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think that being a perfectionist and having a strong ability to relate to my clients is key to my success. I deal with clients from all walks of life and feel that I have been fortunate enough to had a number of life experiences that help me to relate to them. I think that it is important to know how to work with people and always know that you are only as good as the last job you execute.
Contact Info:
- Email: brian@brianworley.com
- Website: www.brianworley.com
- Instagram: @BWorleyProductions
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BWorleyProductions
Image Credits
headshot – Carla Ten Eyck – C10 Studios Decor shots – Sean Twomey – 2ME Studios
