Today we’d like to introduce you to Chantel Daley-Grant, Tamara Humphries and Boniele Parr.
One day, two friends from college decided that they each had the talents and drive needed to open and operate a business of their own. When you share the same interests and goals, things often manifest. Through much conversation and commitment to one another and this goal, Tamara & Chantel decided to partner up and work towards an event planning business. Over the years they had separately planned events for family and friends. They found joy in it and was often told, they could own an event planning company. Fast forward to 2016 and here they are! They took online courses and did heavy research to get started as a professional team.
The acronym of T.A.J business represents Trinidad & Jamaica. After the launch, they recruited Boniele to complete the Ladies Trio – as they often call themselves. Boniele brings the marketing skill set among many other attributes that assist in moving a successful business forward. The love of creating, love of having fun and love of celebrating has pushed these women to launch an event planning business of their own.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nothing worth having comes easy. With any new business, there are challenges. The Ladies Trio found early on that it is tough to get family and friends to support us, even the ones that encouraged us to start. Although it is known that we are running an event planning business, family and friends often go elsewhere. We soon figured out that it cannot solely be about the money because T.A.J prices are in line with the Boston market. Research was done to ensure prices were compatible and comparable to what other planners were charging in Boston and surrounding states. Although this is will always be a challenge, T.A.J will prevail. Identifying who we want to market to and setting goals in place to branch out, will prove to be the best approach to this challenge. An obstacle we face is getting out there and finding mass events where we can be a vendor and promote in person.
Please tell us about T.A.J Event Works.
T.A.J Event Works is a jack of all trades type of event planning company. We assist with everything from invitations to treats! If we are not fully planning an event, we might be providing treat bag tags, cake pops or centerpieces. We are known for thinking outside of the box and finding ways to reinvent themes. We are also known for our creative stationary. The Ladies Trio are most proud of the dynamic that we have as women of color. We enjoy working together, planning and creating. Everything we do is with love and laughter!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If we had to start over, we would have solidified all of our social media platforms early on to connect with more people outside of our personal social media pages. Social media presence when starting a business is an important part of sharing your personal brand and values. We have learned that personal brand is what causes you to stand out among the rest in the event planning field. Personal brand is behind how you are remembered and spoken about.
When you are starting a business, it is also important to know the value of your work and that you have to know how to price your services accordingly. When beginning you often want to have promotions and sales to generate business, but in the long term you are hurting your overhead and not gaining much. In order to have a successful business you need people on your team who have similar drive, passion and creativity. We cannot afford to have anyone on the team that isn’t about bringing T.A.J to life!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://tajeventrequests.wixsite.com/mysite
- Phone: 617-372-7499
- Email: tajeventrequests@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/t.a.j_eventworks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tajevent/
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