Emily Brings the Class With a Little Bit of Sass

Summary

Emily, founder of Etcetera by Emily and 11 years into running event staffing, bartending, and concierge service across Arizona, walks Rachel through the rule that runs her team and her stories from inside the houses people don't get into. The standout stories: opening Chateau Luxe with a 500-person buffet that hit the line all at once and birthed her Bright Shiny Happy People tagline, cleaning out a famous football player's three-car garage of merch and bobbleheads during COVID, and assembling 300 military beds in the middle of nowhere between Vegas and California.

Key takeaways

1. If one person fails, the team fails — Emily's rule for her staff is that nobody is allowed to be merely fine. If somebody's not being great, the rest of the team owes it to her to flag it. The ones who don't talk are the ones she can't fix.
2. You tell the client when something works, not when it's broken — Emily's Bright Shiny Happy People tagline came from a 500-person wedding where the buffet line opened all at once and the team knew they were going down. Smile anyway. Don't break the surface for the guests.
3. You can tell a client by how they treat the staff — Multiple-business owners walk over and help unload. Inherited money lights up the server. Emily knows which is which by the time the truck is opened. The first interaction is the whole interaction.
4. The answer is always yes, then logistics — A weird phone call asked Emily to assemble 300 military beds on a base in the middle of nowhere between Vegas and California. They had popped up the tent. She booked the trip. Most weird requests are someone's last-resort phone call.
5. A perfect event is the one the client never knew was broken — A snake going by, a scorpion on the bar, a venue with no water. Most clients never see it. That's the job. If the client doesn't know what went wrong, the team did its work.

Transcript

00:00 With over 33 years in the mobile bartending and service industry, he is the guy who brings the party and the joy wherever he goes. She's a seasoned event planner and producer. Together we are Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters.

00:27 This is the Event Talk podcast with Dave and Rachel.

00:31 Hi everybody. Welcome to the Event Talk podcast. We are here today with Emily with Etcetera by Emily. I thought I was saying "Cetera" — like et cetera, miscellaneous stuff. It could be check-in people, bartenders, servers, cleanup people, dancers on boxes — not in boxing. Two male dancers, a Cinco de Mayo neon, where I learned. You came to the Event Talk in May, but you've been working with Dave for years now.

01:57 When you started we met. You asked for advice. I charged like zero an hour. You weren't charging enough. Most first-time business owners undercut. Today's mocktail — Steph made a raspberry lemonade with muddled raspberries. Etcetera by Emily — 11 years in. Just call Emily, we will show up.

04:20 How I got into it — by accident. No business plan. I was the catering manager for the Chicago Cubs and the Brewers, baseball spring training. The restaurant that the food came out of closed. I was left with not a lot going on. I'm 17 years sober. Sobriety is a big part of my life and my company. I started a little concierge service called Etcetera by Emily, which is why it's called that instead of staffing. One client asked for two people, then another four — the agency it became.

05:55 First two requests — Arcadia Farms in Scottsdale, still there. Then Chateau Luxe. We both opened it up. Story — they had their first wedding for 500 people, basically a week period of time. Door swung open, opened the buffet line for 500 people at one time at one buffet. We knew we were going down. That's where the Bright Shiny Happy People tagline came from — smile because people are going to be mad, all you can do is be lovely. Live and learn.

08:32 Crazy story — client says "you did an amazing job, everything was great," and in the back your manager is like, are you kidding me? Shrimp went in the pool. You get those phone calls — "slow down, I'll Uber." Does the client know? Take an order of oregano, it'll be fine. Uber drivers became a game changer.

09:51 Cool houses — a baseball player, hit a button in the wall, the living room turned. All of his awards, Cy Youngs, his wife said "if I get robbed you can take the furniture, this is this." The neatest project we ever did was during COVID. Phone call from an event planner asking if my team would be willing to clean out a very famous football player's garage. He had just had a breakup, all the stuff from all of his houses went into this new three-car garage. He was on a video game — bobbleheads, merch.

10:46 We had a bunch of underground clients during COVID — "screw this, I need a bartender at their homes." Was interesting time. The weirdest thing — usually either I can do it or I know someone who does. Stories — employees, one I can't find, "where's Bobby?" He left.

12:58 Our rule is if one person fails, you all fail. When they tell on each other I'm like, "you guys all need to be great, and if someone's not being great, be greater. Let me know about it." The ones that don't tell us — how do we fix it? We did have a client where my team drove the van for them. I went with them one day. The van door swung open while driving. They're like, "yeah, it happens sometimes." Pull the van over right now. First of all, liability and insurance. Second, tell me things. They were just casual about it.

14:41 Majority of the people on my team are reestablishing their life in some way. We meet at the coffee shop every Wednesday — they pick up their paychecks in person. Most of the time they tell on each other. If I fire them — "did you know what they were doing this whole time?" Back in the day I had a hidden survey on the website you could tattle on your team.

15:50 Clients ever get too toasty? I had a client so hard to deal with. I said, "this one's yours" — to my best person. The next day, "we're never going to do that again." We did it like twice. I went on the property and he was just upset because of his idea. Looked him in the eye — "there's a problem, my server has permission to walk off property." He treated my mind just the same way.

17:14 You can tell who made their money and who was given their money by the way they treat the help. Multiple businesses owner came out and helped me unload. Cleaning out the garage — there are other weird requests of jobs. Just got one — put together 300 military beds in the middle of nowhere, on a base between Las Vegas and California. There's some movement going on in the government. Weird phone call — "can you put together 300 beds?" The bed frames, they had popped up a tent. We had to assemble them. The answer is yes, we certainly can.

19:02 Have you become numb about celebrities? I am numb. I wish I could rather send my friends or send the staff. When they're at home they prefer to be at home. When they're out, they understand that's their job. The best thing to ask a celebrity is, "what do you do when you're not working?" Then they're like, "oh I paint, I love that."

21:02 I got a phone call once from a venue — "we're doing a play." That's our thing, to orchestrate. Two days out he calls — "this is very important, this is VIP. Career changing." I need the guest list. He rattles off names — Jamie Lee Curtis, Holly. I was like, holy. Grace, it's been a while. Scrapped the entire list. Called my A-team. He wasn't kidding.

22:55 Once a month party with Dave at his office. Cool Off in Style. I got to talk to one person first. So cool. I usually plan Cool Off the week of. Months out. Most events come back so it's really your caterers and your favorite vendors. Cool Off in Style is the event for people in the event space — to connect and enjoy time off in the summer. 24 years off. It's our party.

25:14 Last story — craziest location? Garage. Foothills, an off-the-beaten-path barn. We've really gone off the beaten path — middle of nowhere desert where they pop up a full wedding. Snake going by, scorpions on your bar. Luxury high-end wedding. Load-ins on Camelback Mountain. Castle that doesn't have water. Each vendor's got to do their thing.

26:59 All the houses in PV where you can't go into the neighborhood — park at the church, McDonald's, they send a bus. Lots of logistics. Catering side — you learn by making mistakes. One event I didn't think to ask if it had a water source — of course it didn't. "Use your bottled water for the chafing dishes." Now I kept a bucket and soap. Not enough clean dishes or forks or stuff.

28:34 Dish pits are a thing too. Without a dish pit, you can't get the next course. Dish pits, people — very important. Things change all the time. Whether it's environment, people, flat tires. Most clients never see it — that means we're doing our job. Does the client know? If the answer's no, they don't know — it was a perfect event.

30:39 Cool Off — let me know what you need. Trying to figure out if we can do dancers. The one gentleman I have to talk to first. I got a little bit of time to plan. First time you've ever had somebody play that event super far in advance. Usually months out. Six months out is when planning starts. Cool Off in Style is the party for people in the event space.

32:17 Thanks Emily — known for a long time. Yeah, I check now. But thank you everybody for joining. Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters.

32:37 Thanks for tuning in to the Event Talk podcast — Hot Mics, Cold Drinks and Untold Disasters where every event has a story. Until next time.