Today we’d like to introduce you to Arin Segall.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Arin. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Before my sophomore year of college, I finally decided to pursue this burning interest I had been having for events, so I made the decision to transfer to the University of Houston, enrolling in the Conrad N. Hilton College for Hotel & Restaurant Management. They had an Event Management track and I immediately engulfed myself in all thing’s hospitality and events – never looking back.
Though I already had a strong foundation for hospitality and customer service prior to school, as I had worked in restaurants and retail from the age of 14, it was important to me that I learn as many facets of the event industry, as I could. From working for vendors, coordinating with event planners and taking on event internships throughout college, I really developed a strong understanding of the grit you need to have in order to make it in this field. My level of customer service and passion for helping others only strengthened as time went on, especially after my internship at Walt Disney World. Ultimately, I really loved that I was able to combine my passion for helping people with my natural sales ability, knack for marketing and more importantly, my eye for design.
After graduating Magna Cum Laude, I dived right into what would be a rollercoaster of a career, which continued in weddings and social, then found my way into the corporate sector. With each position I held, I gained valuable knowledge, which has made me more well-rounded, learning the different intricacies of the industry and navigating poor leadership. Throughout the years, I started uncovering the poor business practices that seem to plague the hardworking people of this industry, usually ending up not only at the detriment of the business, but also creating treacherous relationships with clients.
With my last role as a Senior Event Manager for a Destination Management Company (DMC) before I branched out on my own, I was responsible for the sales, design and execution of small to large-scale events associated with conventions/conferences coming into the city. Additionally, I snagged Houston’s first-ever preferred DMC/hotel partnership with the Marriott Marquis and serviced them as their main point of contact – an extremely difficult position to be in, but very rewarding. Though DMC’s are a widely used entity for corporate programs, I quickly learned that the structure is not one that supports employee success – it actually sets them up for failure with the amount of workload vs. pay, unrealistic expectations and typically poor processes that they are having to deal with. More importantly, the weak DMC structure has much more of a negative effect on the working dynamic with the clients than they may actually realize. All in all, it became clearer to me that DMCs magnify what I believe are the issues plaguing our industry as a whole and I felt it could be done differently.
I finally found myself at a crossroads like so many other people – I was at a high point in my career where I learned everything I could, there were not really any other jobs that truly interested me and I knew the knowledge I gained was better suited helping to change the industry and make people’s lives better – so here we are. My story and the story of Event Sociétal is obviously still being written, but it’s very exciting!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Has the road been smooth? Definitely not and it still isn’t – especially with this pandemic! But honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Maybe it comes with maturity, but I’ve realized that when you work harder for something, you appreciate it that much more when you finally get it.
Something else I have had to endure over the last few years, in addition to the extreme career pressures I have faced, is that I was diagnosed with a chronic illness after a long search for answers. The toll that the demands of this industry had on my body, mixed with an insane amount of stress and the physical conditions I was enduring became too much. I knew I had to finally accept this as my new “norm” but I still found myself trying to cover it up, putting a smile on my face and acting tough, but it was absolutely exhausting.
I have to push myself harder than most people to do even the most basic of tasks but I have amazed myself at everything that I have been able to accomplish in spite of it. In fact, not many people know about my struggles, even to this day. I refuse to let it get in the way of my dreams and use it as a driving factor in the business – valuing determination, empathy and having a solid understanding of the devastating effects that stress has on our lives. This whole experience is something that tested my strength, but has really taught me just how important is to celebrate your efforts and not take anything for granted.
I wouldn’t ever say my professional struggles are unique though – I think we all have navigated rough waters with bosses, been sold ideas that don’t pan out or learned tough lessons in who you can actually trust. This pandemic, however, has been new to us all – really throwing everyone for a loop – especially the hospitality/events industry.
It’s devastating to have everyone you know be furloughed, laid off and scared that they may not find another job in the industry for quite some time. And even though, as event people we are always eager to fix things or make them right, this was a situation that was beyond our control.
Being new to entrepreneurship, my challenges now are quite different than they were two years ago. You know it’s going to be difficult, but you never really know until your knee-deep. I had to quickly learn that you really have to be flexible with change, open to feedback and letting things organically fall into place, especially as a new company. From finding quality people with a real drive to join our team, to make sure we are getting in front of and properly educating potential clients on our business structure, dealing with curveballs (like COVID) head on and everything in between, I don’t ever expect it to be a fully smooth road all the time – and that’s okay.
Event Sociétal – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We focus on the design of intentional and unique brand experiences, for corporate events and other high-end social events. We stand out in the corporate event sector because we have chosen to excel in one area, instead of only being good in many. Unlike Destination Management Companies, we let our partners take ownership of their expertise in transportation, tours and team building, while we solely focus on design and vendor/décor sourcing.
Event Sociétal is changing up the look of the middleman and ensuring things are not lost in translation or expectations are not met. We strongly believe it’s not fair to up-charge a client 30-70% more for doing half the work, when you’re only putting out half of your energy because your plate is already full. It may be a different train of thought, but by compartmentalizing our skills, we’re able to put money back in the pockets of clients, while ensuring communication is more seamless, simply by bringing individually dedicated professionals back in as an integral part of the event process.
Additionally, our other main focus is bringing authenticity back into our relationships with clients. A lot of our interactions in this industry have become stale and disingenuous – only focusing on the sale or saying what we think clients want to hear vs. what they actually need to hear. The status quo in the event industry has, in fact, created unrealistic working conditions and has done a poor job of promoting healthy boundaries, which we haven’t even realized, directly affects our clients. If we aren’t on the top of our game, we are not providing the level of service that our clients deserve.
But really, the core of our business is not events, but rather the group of people we are working on building. We know this a completely different way of thinking, but we understand that they are ones that will be servicing the clients and ultimately making the events happen, so it’s imperative that they are taken good care of just as much as our clients. We want to foster a culture that empowers and is truly fulfilling, so that when our team is on-site, the smiles you are seeing on their faces are completely natural, NOT forced or fake.
That being said, we are proud to have our offer our clients a more transparent, organized and authentic event process, with our main goal being that we continuously show our value throughout. We live by the “under promise and over deliver” rule and believe life is too short to not enjoy the people you work with. As a client, you should never feel like just another number. All in all, every event company/professional can offer the same peace of mind or give the client more time to focus on other important tasks, but in regards to the real differentiators between companies, it comes down to the people, process(es) and performance (the 3 P’s), which we feel is something we are striving to perfect.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
That’s a tough one. I would have to say it’s a cumulation of a few qualities that symbiotically work together. Three of them would be: Resiliency. I am a product of my experiences, but these experiences have given me the grit to get through anything that has come my way and continues to. Dedication to excellence. I have been a “perfectionist” my entire life and even though it can be quite a nuisance, I am absolutely certain that it is one of the main reasons I’m where I am today. However, I’ve also learned to give myself enough grace and remember that I’m only human.
Ability to read people. This is something that has come with time and working with all different types of people, but is constantly being fine-tuned. I pride myself on being able to hone in on the little details and I think this definitely goes hand-in-hand.
These are all in addition to my creative capacity, knack for business and my ability to look at things from all angles instead of only what’s in front of me. I do find it interesting that event planners/designers all have similar personalities and/or qualities, which I think is very telling of someone who chooses this career.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eventsocietal.com
- Phone: 1.800.674.3514
- Email: hello@eventsocietal.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/eventsocietal
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/eventsocietal
Image Credit:
Ama by Aisha
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