Kathryn Garcia is the Founder of Sydney Events Things To Do. She’s also an event organiser and a promoter. She ended up working in the events industry due to not finding a job in the media industry when she graduated from university. Since she only had experience in events whilst at university, she continued working in this industry. She has completed a Bachelor of Arts Communications degree with a major in Media from the University of Western Sydney in 2005. She’s passionate about organising events and working with brands. She’s been working in the events industry since 2003 and she has evolved from working on the front line as customer service to handling the management side of events. She has оvеr ten уеаrѕ оf еxреrіеnсе іn product рrоmоtіоnѕ аnd еvеntѕ.
Kathryn has organised numеrоuѕ еvеntѕ іn vеnuеѕ of аll tуреѕ аnd ѕіzеѕ. She was the evеnt cоrdіnаtоr fоr Mumѕ In Buѕіnеѕѕ Aѕѕосіаtіоn held in Blacktown, she was an evеnt cо-оrgаnіѕеr fоr Okѕаnа Rоmа Trаіnіng and Cоасhіng, she was also the co-organiser for the Lаdіеѕ Sосіаl Nеtwоrkіng Brunсh – Lеt’ѕ Brunсh Wіth Purроѕе as well as thе cо-оrgаnіѕеr fоr myTIA Women. Othеr еvеntѕ she has also оrgаnіsеd іnсludе – Thе Zеn оf Entrерrеnеurѕhір fоr Y Squаrе Eduсаtіоn, Buѕіnеѕѕ аnd Entrepreneurial Nеtwоrkіng еvеnt fоr the Sуdnеу Buѕіnеѕѕ Nеtwоrk and the International Women’s Day High Tea for Afghan Women On The Move.
Her website – Sydney Events Things To Do is an extension of her Facebook group called Sydney Events Things To Do. She started the group in February 2018 and now has 2,000 members in the Facebook group. The group continues to grow organically, and event organisers can post their events there. She wanted to provide another platform for event organisers who are not members of the group to advertise their events on the website so she launched the website in November 2020.
We recently caught up with Kathryn to discuss her journey in the industry and here’s what went down:
What are you currently doing to maintain/grow your business?
I am continuously promoting my business across various platforms on social media to get more brand exposure and customer reach.
What form of marketing has worked well for your business throughout the years?
Social media marketing has been effective to help grow my business.
What social media platforms do you usually use to increase your brand’s awareness?
Sydney Events Things To Do has its own profile on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
What is the toughest decision you had to make in the last few months?
Finding a way to implement an event supplier directory. I was initially having a website custom made and then changed my mind to just having a directory website. But these plans fell through. So, I figured out a way to embed a directory into my current website instead. That’s where I found the website called Community Box. It had everything that I needed and saved me a lot of money.
How has your business been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?
It has affected my business greatly. My face-to-face events were cancelled last year and during the lockdown this year. I had to pivot my business to online and last year I organised webinars.
How have you adapted your business operations in response to COVID-19 and its associated impacts?
I had to be strategic and find a way where I could give more value to my customers online. I redesigned my website this year and implemented an event supplier directory for business owners in the event industry to get more exposure. Also, event organisers who advertise on my Facebook group and on the website have pivoted their events to online.
What have been some of the most important lessons you have learned because of this pandemic?
That things in business can change their course and you need to adapt and pivot to accommodate these changes.
What do you hope to see happen in the near future for small businesses all over the world?
Once this pandemic has cleared up, small businesses will go back to their normal operations. However, online businesses and working from home will still be an option giving flexibility to its workers.
What advice would you give to a newbie Entrepreneur setting up a new business in this pandemic?
Start before you’re ready and everything is figureoutable. Quote from Marie Forleo. You don’t need to have everything figured out at the start. You can learn and make mistakes during your business journey. Don’t give up. Find a way where you can generate revenue and offer something unique to your customers. Never would I have thought when I was first started working in the event industry in 2003 that I would become an event organiser and have my own business in the event industry.
