Part VI: The Set of the Sail

It wasn’t long after that huge holiday party that I became restless and felt the increasing desire to be on my own. I had freedom representing Bolla, but it wasn’t MY business, MY company. The need for independence was growing in me and I had a strong drive to make my own statement in the world. A feature newspaper article later stated that I had moved here from New York 10 years earlier, where I had worked in a series of what I called inconsequential jobs, determined to “become another L.A. entrepreneur. I want to be my own woman.” They got that right.

I didn’t know yet that the Universe was preparing me to have a baby – a “business” baby - and to give birth to a new creative concept that was uniquely my own.

I had been exposed to a new industry and the various vendors that comprised that industry. My continuing prosperity work was developing my faith in the laws and the courage to risk. I had learned to thrive on challenge and the unknown. I decided to become an independent event coordinator. The prosperity work had taught me well to listen and trust my intuition.

I don’t recall the duration of time I spent coordinating parties after leaving my association with Bolla, during what we will call my “transition” period, but I don’t think it was very long. This is a city filled with party and event professionals and top notch ones at that and it wasn’t that easy to find clients and parties to coordinate. I did attract some clients (I highlight a couple below), but to be honest, that transition time becomes a bit of a blur in light of the striking events that were soon to follow.

During that period, there was something brewing beneath my conscious awareness that had not yet worked its way to the surface.

There was a common thread among the events that I had been exposed to and was now coordinating. The large corporate party I booked for Bolla – do you recall where it was held? We booked a Beverly Hills mansion for the event.

The common thread was becoming more obvious to me now. I became increasingly aware of clients’ requests for unique and unusual locations for their parties and events. They wanted creative alternatives to the standard hotel and restaurant settings. Excitement instead of the norm. Catering companies and other event coordinators sought out these special venues as well, as they could lose parties to hotels (or their competition) if they didn’t present desirable locations.

Some business receptions were held in the client’s own venue – such as a bank lobby or a retail store. But there were many types of client requests: the corporation that didn’t want to have that same holiday party in a hotel (as you have already seen); the production company that wanted a private location for their wrap party; the bride whose fantasy was to marry in a mansion; the bar mitzvah that had to be unlike any other.

So clients and event professionals began asking me if I knew of unique locations they could book. The Universe was placing signposts directly on my path.

I recall a few notable events around this time. Dr. Howard Murad is a renowned Beverly Hills dermatologist (his television infomercials have been airing for years). His wife called me in desperation to find a place for their daughter’s bat mitzvah party with only a week to plan (I don’t remember why). And they wanted something wonderful.

Why settle for wonderful? How about spectacular? What about a bat mitzvah party amid Ice Age fossils and the skeletal remains of extinct mammals, including giant mammoths, ancient bison and saber-toothed cats that roamed the Los Angeles Basin 40,000 years ago? The bat mitzvah girl became the main attraction in the hauntingly beautiful Page Museum.

Then there was Orion Pictures. They also waited ‘til the last minute to find a location for the company’s Christmas party. What you must realize is that holiday parties are usually booked very early in the year. There are only so many days in a month and the best locations are gone well in advance. What could possibly be available at the last minute to accommodate 300 celebrating film industry employees? Why, a National Guard armory, of course, where Orion’s set decorators transformed the drill floor into a desert scene and a Western theme. Hooray for Hollywood – and Marilyn :-)

I had assembled an ever-growing portfolio of mansions, castles, ranches, museums, film studios, Art Deco theatre lobbies, gardens, galleries and jail cells. Yep, jail cells, too (actually these are movie sets with replicas of prison cells, courtrooms and police stations that are used for films and TV shows).

Now, Universe, what am I supposed to do with all of this? And where will I find the clients? I’m ready to “make it”. I’m ready to be that L.A. entrepreneur. I’m ready to be my own woman. Tell me what to do.

It was time for some no nonsense prosperity work…

You don't have to be a seasoned seaman to understand a fundamental law of a successful voyage: It's the set of the sail, not the force of the gale that determines the way you go.

~ Unknown

To be continued…

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