Conversations with Jamie Rodriguez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie Rodriguez.

Hi Jamie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I think, in many ways, I was always doing this before I even knew it was a career.

I was always the friend who planned the gatherings, brought people together, and then somehow kept everyone connected afterward. As I got older, what I lovingly call my “charming OCD” started to develop too. I loved connecting A to B, figuring out how all the pieces fit together, and making something happen from beginning to end. Planning was just naturally how my brain worked.

I was also an incredibly involved kid. By high school, I was on student council and eventually became president of the school and I basically worked there. I planned every pep rally, homecoming, event, you name it. By then, I knew I wanted to own an event planning company one day. I had absolutely no idea what that would actually look like, but I knew I wanted it.

I went to the University of Florida and started in hospitality. Toward the end of my freshman year, they introduced a concentration in Special Event Management. I was in my guidance director’s office the next day asking to switch. She thought it was pretty funny that an 18-year-old freshman was so adamant about exactly what she wanted to do, but I was.

This business isn’t really something you can learn from a textbook. So while I got the degree, I really created my own education. Every internship and job I took had to teach me another side of events from catering, production, party promotion to hotels. If there was somewhere I could work that would give me another piece of the puzzle, I wanted in.

When I graduated, the plan was to move to California and work for a celebrity event planning company. I actually got the job, making what felt like about $11 a year but you got the prestige and experience of being in that world. Ultimately, I decided I wasn’t ready to leave South Florida. I remember thinking, “If I want that job again someday, I’ll get it again.”

So instead, I figured out what would give me the strongest foundation for the luxury event world here: a major luxury hotel or country club.

I fell in love with Turnberry Associates, who I considered royalty in the hospitality world, and they placed me at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club just as it was reopening from a $175 million renovation. Their intention was to move me throughout their South Florida properties so I could get as much exposure to the events market as possible.

And this was pre-recession, when luxury really meant something different. I was exposed to extraordinary resources, enormous events and a level of creativity where budgets often weren’t driving the conversation. It was about, “What can we create?” Starting my career in that environment gave me an incredible understanding of what was possible. I got to see everything, take what worked for me, learn what didn’t, and start developing my own point of view.

But I never got into this business because I wanted to stay in hotels. I needed to get my sea legs.

So when it was time to leave Turnberry, I intentionally went in the complete opposite direction. I put myself in the heart of South Beach at a historic boutique hotel where I was doing three or four weddings and events every single week. I was obsessed. I loved the pace, the people, the pressure, the creativity, all of it. And it cemented what I had known since high school: eventually, I was going to do this for myself.

No matter where I worked or who I worked for, I always believed I had something different to offer. But I was also adamant that I wasn’t going to start a company simply because I wanted my name on a company. I wanted to make sure that when I did it, I had the experience, the relationships and the foundation to make it successful.

Almost 17 years later, absolute has become so much bigger than the version I imagined when I was that kid planning pep rallies. I travel for events. I’m not limited to one city or one county. I’ve built relationships throughout the industry, and I’m constantly meeting people who become clients, collaborators, friends or, sometimes years later, the person who refers the next opportunity.

And I never wanted absolute to be put into one box. We do weddings, corporate events, social events, milestone celebrations, galas. If people are gathering for a reason, we want to be part of it.

We’re here for all of it, and we’re capable of all of it. And I think the thread from the very beginning until now has actually stayed exactly the same: I love bringing people together, I love figuring out how all the pieces connect, and I love creating something that people will remember long after it’s over.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t think any road in business is truly smooth. I’m a creative.I didn’t come into this with a business background. And owning a business in the events industry is really two completely separate occupations: you plan events, and you run a company. I knew how to do the first one. I’ve had to teach myself the second one along the way.

I’ve had to learn the financial side, how to manage people without ever being taught how to manage people, how to grow a company, how to delegate, when to trust my instincts and when to find people smarter than me in certain areas and actually listen to them. Finding the right people to guide you isn’t always easy either, but I’ve learned that knowing what you don’t know is a pretty important part of being a business owner.

For me, though, the bumpiest part of the road has probably been mental and emotional.

As a sole business owner, there is no one above me telling me I’m doing a good job or that we’re heading in the right direction. It’s me talking myself into, and sometimes out of, the good and bad of every single day. I have to keep myself motivated. I have to figure out where the next level of growth comes from. I have to create time when there is none. I’ve had to learn an entirely new level of patience. I’ve had to learn when to bite my tongue and when not to. And I’ve had to keep pushing myself forward on the days when doubt would be much easier.

I think one of the hardest things about doing this for a long time is having the confidence to remain steadfast even in those moments when you quietly wonder, “Am I still relevant? Am I still as good as I think I am? Am I evolving enough?” There is nobody else who can answer those questions for you. You have to get up the next day and prove it to yourself again.

Then motherhood added an entirely different layer.

Having my second child while already having a toddler, right in the heart of our event season, was probably one of the most challenging periods of my career. I was determined to be as present with my second daughter as I had been with my first, but this time we weren’t living in the COVID bubble anymore. The world was fully moving, events were happening, clients needed me, my team needed me and the business had to keep going.

I had to figure out how to be the kind of mother I wanted to be while also being the business owner I had spent years becoming. I’m still figuring it out. Events don’t operate during normal business hours, and neither does parenting. Both can need you at exactly the same time, and neither particularly cares what else is on your calendar.

But I also think those challenges have made me much better at what I do. I’m more decisive. I know myself better. I know what deserves my energy and what doesn’t. I’ve become a stronger leader, and motherhood has given me a completely different perspective on time and has just reaffirmed what actually matters.

So no, it hasn’t always been a smooth road but I don’t think I would want it to have been. How do you grow from that?!absolute wasn’t built because everything went according to plan. It was built because I kept figuring it out. Seventeen years later, I still am. And I think the fact that I still want to grow, evolve and get better is probably one of the biggest reasons we’re still here.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We specialize in events of all kinds, but weddings are certainly the heart of what we do.

I think what I’m known for personally is being calm. I’m the person you want next to you when there are a hundred moving parts because I don’t believe my client should ever feel the chaos behind the scenes. I’m also incredibly passionate about what I do, and I think after almost 17 years, that passion is a huge part of why I’m still standing and still excited about the next event.

I’m also known for getting very close to my clients and their families. I always say I’m a little bit like the best friend you get to plan with except I also know what needs to happen next. I’m there. I’m accessible. I become invested in the people, not just the event. Most of the relationships I’ve built through this business have lasted years beyond the wedding itself, and that means a tremendous amount to me.

Creatively, we are always looking for clients who bring a unique perspective and who are willing to think outside the box. I don’t want to regurgitate the same wedding over and over again in a different ballroom. I want people who challenge us to think differently because that’s when we’re at our best.

Our tagline at absolute is “Leave Them Talking,” and that really is the philosophy behind everything we do.

But “Leave Them Talking” doesn’t necessarily mean the biggest flowers, the most elaborate room or the most expensive thing someone has ever seen. Its the completely unexpected moment. Sometimes it’s how the room felt. Sometimes it’s something incredibly personal that could only have happened at that particular event for those particular people.

For me, luxury isn’t just about what something looks like. It’s about how thoughtfully it was considered and how it made people feel.

I want guests to leave saying, “I’ve never experienced that before.” I want there to be a moment they tell someone about the next day. Creating that kind of impact is probably what I’m most proud of creatively and what I think sets absolute apart.

But on a personal level, what I’m most proud of is much simpler: I kept going.

Nobody wakes me up and tells me to push harder. Nobody is setting the next goal for me. Nobody is responsible for making sure absolute continues to evolve except me. Almost 17 years later, I’m still pushing myself to be better, to stay curious, to take risks, to find the next opportunity and to make sure we’re not simply repeating what worked yesterday.This business is for my kids, if they want it. I will do everything to make sure I dont get burnt out.

I’m proud of the events we’ve created, of course. But I’m equally proud that after all this time, I still care this much about what the next one can become.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I’m such an open book that I always laugh at questions like this because I’m not sure how much people don’t know about me.

But I think what might surprise people is the degree to which I am simultaneously a full-time business owner and a fully present mom. I don’t really separate the two lives.I live them both, all day long.

I can go from a room parent meeting or lunchroom duty directly to a food tasting with clients, with three conference calls happening in the car in between. I literally change my shoes and often times clothes, in the car. I’m there for school pickup. I listen to every detail of my kids’ day on the drive to dance, and then I’m sitting at dance recording every move while simultaneously texting that evening’s wedding to-do list to an employee and reviewing the social media plan for the week.

And then we go home, and I’m Mom. And after bedtime, I’m back on my computer.

It never really stops. Any of it.

I think people sometimes assume that in order to operate a business at this level, something else has to give. For me, I’ve been pretty stubborn about not accepting that. It doesn’t mean I do everything perfectly. I absolutely don’t. It means I’ve decided what I want to be present for, and then I figure out how to make the rest fit around it.

There are certainly days when I wonder how I’m going to get it all done. But I grew up with a mom who always told me, “Even on your worst day, you’re better than most.”

I’ve carried that with me my entire life. I don’t interpret it as being better than other people. To me, it means that even when I’m tired, overwhelmed or doubting myself, my baseline is still strong. I know what I’m capable of.

So I change the shoes in the car, answer the call, show up for pickup, watch the dance class and keep moving.

Pricing:

• Pricing of an event is mainly dependent upon guest count for us.
• We do not offer packages. We customize based on where a client is at when they contact us. We are not the cheapest. We are not the most expensive but we are the best.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theabsoluteevent.com
• Instagram: @aboluteevent