Today we’d like to introduce you to Krista Long.
Krista D. Long is the CEO & Lead Event Planner & Designer of Krista’s Event Koncepts LLC. Krista has planned and designed hundreds of events throughout her career. In 2008, she held a position as an intern for Empire Entertainment. She helped plan various events ranging from the client birthdays, recording sessions, and made all VIP travel arrangements for out of town shows and appearances for the celebrity client. This was her first time getting a taste of what later became her passion. Upon graduation, she began working at a bar called, “The Ultimate Bar & Grill”. Her occupation was restaurant/nightclub Hostess. A few months in, she was promoted to Head Hostess where she was placed in charge of the entire hostess team and the flow of the restaurant turned night club. At the time, this became one of the hottest spots on the south side of Atlanta, a celebrity attraction and the best VIP partying deals in town. She was appointed as the lead “go-to” for VIP party scheduling and execution.
In 2010, she worked as a Leasing Consultant in an apartment community. Through her diligence and savvy skills, she soon held another title as Resident Event Specialist. With the dual position, Krista was again able to tap into her event planning skills, this time, on another level. She planned themed events for the residents in the apartment community every few months. The residents looked forward to these events and began to ask for more. She was able to get increased budgets on Holiday Events to make sure the residents had a feast and take home favors during Resident Appreciation season. By now, Krista developed a love for Event Planning! Her co-worker advised her to get certified in the field, recommending Correlations LLC. By January 2012, she obtained her National Certification in Event Planning through Correlations LLC. At this point, she was ready to begin her quest in entrepreneurship to own her own business. She changed companies and found a position paying a higher salary as Marketing/Resident Event Specialist and Leasing Consultant. Instead of a dual position, she took on a triple position where she was required to lease apartments, be involved with intense corporate gorilla Marketing and plan new resident events. These themed events were every week; ranging from movie night madness, ladies night, fitness classes, breakfast on the go, coffee and crumpets, pool parties, and more. On a property with 714 apartments, she stayed very busy!
By 2013 she enrolled in a Master’s Degree program in Public Relations and Communications meanwhile refocusing her energy on growing her business. During her period, she grew the business at a rapid pace from the ground up. Within the first year, she grossed 30k in revenue. By the time she graduated, Krista’s Event Koncepts LLC was awarded and recognized by the CEO of Thumbtack as Atlanta’s Best of 2015 Birthday Party Planners. She continued to work independently for a while until things got slow. Today, Krista holds position as Senior Property Administrator over 34 buildings in the state of Georgia with a few buildings at the state line in Alabama. She manages these buildings out of her office in Midtown Atlanta where she handles accounting/budgeting/vendor contracts and all Event Planning for each of the buildings. This position is ideal for her expertise and background. She is able to budget for events, design and execute them as they come. These memorable occasions for the tenants in her buildings are great! Doctor’s Day, Nurse’s Week, and the Holiday Season are all so much fun with the creative ideas she brings to the occasions.
She continues to nurture her business. In 2017, she found her niche. Krista realized she had planned more birthdays than any other event in her portfolio. On her 30th birthday, she created a subsidiary to her company: Krista’s Birthday Koncepts specializing in Milestone Birthday Celebrations. In 2018, she went on to roll out her mentorship/internship program with her Alma Mater, Clark Atlanta University. She was excited and jumped at the opportunity to give back by helping others to achieve their dreams of working in the Event Planning industry. Krista has single-handedly created programs that has mentees and interns challenged, having fun, and best of all assisting in the execution of events from the “Planner’s” perspective. To date, she just launched her Annual Valentine Holiday Event open to the public under the alias KeK Presents. This event took place on Valentine’s Day: February 14, 2019. She continues to plan events, make appearances, attend networking events, act as Event Assistant, and collaborate with other successful Event Planners in the industry. As of January 2019, she became a member of The Planner’s Corner in order to expand her network nationally. There is so much to come from Krista’s Event Koncepts LLC., Krista’s Birthday Koncepts, and KeK Presents! Stay tuned to be a part of this Event Planner’s movement.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has definitely been a rocky road. In my field, so many are doing what I do. So continuing to set myself apart has always been very important to the brand. I ‘d rather stop and start over in my career in order to assess the situation versus compromise my brand. My highest priority has always been my clients so I give top notch customer service. I have stayed up until 4 am in an effort to exceed each one of my client’s expectations.
Obtaining my Master’s Degree in Communications and Public Relations while building my business was very hard. I quit my day job in order to focus my attention on school and my business. It was probably one of the most challenging things that I have done in my life!
Other struggles are financial hardships. In school, it’s tough anyway, but to try to invest in your financial growth without tw0 pennies to rub together was just hard! At times I wanted to give up especially when clients were not coming in at the pace that was preferable. There were also those times when the clients that inquired were just not “my” client. When you are new to developing your business, you don’t realize how important it is to define your target market until you become more seasoned in your field.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Krista’s Event Koncepts LLC. story. Tell us more about the business.
Krista’s Event Koncepts LLC. is a privately owned social gathering Event Planning company that encourages clients to party on a budget. We have been in business since March 2013. Nationally Certified in Event Planning January 2012 and Nationally Certified in Event Design in 2014, we have successfully planned & designed baby showers, birthday parties, weddings, retirement celebrations, and various corporate events. We executed our first two weddings in 2015 where we created custom wedding designed props such as favors, flower baskets, handcrafted designs, etc. better known as Krista’s Wedding Koncepts. During this time we perfected our Day of Wedding Coordination package which became the only wedding service we specialize in presently.
Throughout our journey, we realized how much we loved social gatherings and we grew to plan several types of events, but Milestone Birthday Celebrations took on their own life within our company. Doing this, encouraged us to focus our branding niche. BIRTHDAYS! We developed a subsidiary to our company called Krista’s Birthday Koncepts launched in 2017. We have planned, 29th, 30th, 50th, 60th, 75th, 80th, 90th, and 95th Birthday Extravaganzas for clients with guest lists ranging from 50-250 people. To date, we are most proud of being awarded and recognized by the CEO of Thumbtack as Atlanta’s Best of 2015 Birthday Party Planners. Essentially, I am the Milestone Birthday Event Planner!
What sets me apart is my commitment to my clients first. I am never too busy to make them each feel that they are my only client. I stay glued to my electronic devices so that they always feel that I am within reach.
I remember Mrs. Clayton, a client of mine, asking me when do you sleep? When I have an event, sleep is a luxury and as event ideas flow, I will stay awake to complete the execution of my ideas until my body crashes. Otherwise, my commitment goes well beyond a regular 8 hour or even 12 hour day. There are 24 hours in a full day. I will use 23 of those hours if it means my client’s event exceeds their expectations…and would do it every time!
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t really like to use the word “luck”. I truly believe that everything that has happened in my life is by the grace of God. As I put out a certain energy, it is emitted back to me with the same force good/bad. Everything that has happened in my life, I believe has been because of the journey God has placed me on since birth. I used to have regrets but maturity has shown me that these are lessons and wisdom has encouraged me to learn from each one. God gives me distinctive signs and impressions that I take with me daily. I try my best in everything that I do to block out all the noise and listen to my heart which God holds as he orders my steps. Luck has nothing to do with it. He gave me these gifts and talents and at any moment if I am not humble, he will take them away.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kristaseventkoncepts.wixsite.com/kristaseventkoncepts
- Phone: 7703374603
- Email: kristaseventkoncepts@gmail.com
- Instagram: @kristaseventkoncepts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristaseventkoncepts
- Twitter: @keventkoncepts
Image Credit:
Bryant Andrews Jr.
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