IAM009 – Entrepreneur & Corporate Event Planner Showcases Her Creativity & Attention to Detail

Mary Neyhard is a former Award-Winning Hotel Conference & Catering Director who then pursued Corporate Event Planning with several large defense contracting corporations. Her creativity, attention to detail and negotiation skills resulted in savings of over $250k for one company. As an entrepreneur, one of Mary's most memorable events was planning the Nelson Mandela Statue Unveiling for the South African Embassy in Washington, DC. Afterward, South African Ambassador Rasool declared Mary an “Honorary South African” as a result of her planning efforts at that prestigious event.

• CEO Hack: Have a mentor
• CEO Nugget: Go to as many networking events as possible
• CEO Defined: Responsibility and opportunity to deliver what's promised and stay on the cutting edge.

Website: http://www.cuzevents.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-neyhard-cmp-17b16028/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CuzEvents/

Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:26

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today Mary Neyhard. Mary, it is awesome to have you on the show.

Mary Neyhard 0:37

Thank you. Thank you for the invite. I'm really thrilled to be here today.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Me too Mary. I'm super excited to have you on the show. And what I wanted to do was just to read a little bit more about Mary so that you can learn a little bit more about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Mary is a former award-winning hotel conference and catering director, who then pursued corporate event planning with several large defense contracting opera corporations. Her creativity, attention to detail, and negotiation skills resulted in saving of over $250,000 for one company.

As an entrepreneur, one of Mary's most memorable events was planning the Nelson Mandela statue unveiling for the South African Embassy in Washington DC. Afterward, South African Ambassador Rasul declared Mary an honorary South African as a result of her planning efforts at that prestigious event. So Mary, happy to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Mary Neyhard 1:33

I am so ready to talk to your community. Yes, thank you.

Gresham Harkless 1:37

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, what I wanted to do was just kind of give you the floor to see if there was anything kind of additional, you could tell us about your CEO story. And what kind led you to start your business?

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Mary Neyhard 1:46

Sure, absolutely. Well, what are so many people out there today, some of us are entrepreneurs by accident. That is we were working in corporate America, or we had jobs that we thought would last until possibly our retirement, and then the company we're working for is sold, or there's a takeover. And suddenly life as we once knew it is no longer there. And that happened to me. In fact, it happened to me three times in six years, where I felt that I was on a roller coaster of sorts, the companies I was working for were either sold to someone else, or they were downsized, they lost some contracts, which often happens here in the DC area.

So that's what prompted me to start my own business because I love what I do. And I love doing events. And I felt as if I had enough life experience that I could go out on my own and bring value to my customers. So that's what got me to this point of starting a company. In fact, I did it twice. When I had a company when I did the Nelson Mandela event, then I was hired by corporate America, then that company was bought out. And now I have the last year and a half, have had my own company once again, with a different name and a different outlook. And it's a very exciting time to be in business.

Gresham Harkless 3:10

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Yeah. It's funny how the universe kind of works. Well, I definitely always feel to our advantage. And sometimes we don't expect it because we're bouncing in here. And from here to there to back to here. And then it always leads us on the path that maybe we should have gone before. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about the company that you have now can you tell us the name of it and tell us a little bit more about what you guys do?

Mary Neyhard 3:32

Sure. This time when I went into business, I wanted something a little younger and a little more hip as far as the name is concerned. So I started thinking about the well-known companies, Google Yahoo, and I did some outsourcing and I was asking my friends and family members what they thought of the names and you really get a mixed reaction, especially when you're going a little bit creative. So my company this time around is called CuzEvents. That's CuzEvents, LLC. And the reason I chose it is because it leads itself to an easy elevator pitch exactly what I do because your meetings and events matter because we care about our customers because give back to our community. So you can start so many sentences off with the word because.

And people can relate to you and it kind of sounds fun, but also it gets to the heart of what we do. And that is we take care of the meeting details and make our clients look good because they have enough to worry about as far as meeting their guests. And perhaps they're running a company and they have a lot of other things on their mind. They want to know that they have a trusted resource and who they're working with. And that's what we deliver to the table.

Gresham Harkless 4:46

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Yeah, I love that name. And I love the reason behind it. And one of the next things we usually ask is just something unique about your organization or what makes Cuz unique, unique in and of itself and I wanted to hear a little bit more about the story of the Nelson Mandela unveiling and hear how you were able to execute that.

Mary Neyhard 5:06

Absolutely. Well, the first thing that makes us unique is I have a background, not just in event planning. But also on the other side. I'm a former hotel director of conferences and catering conventions. So I actually understand how things are executed. Therefore, when I help my customers plan their meetings and events, I know what can and cannot be done. So a lot of times when I go on the property with my clients, I can work with the staff at that property with the management and basically partner with them. Because that's the most important thing. If you can get the venue that you're at to take ownership of your event, then you're all working together, and you're working together for the same cause. Now, what led up to the Nelson Mandela event was that also I got a phone call, I had just gotten laid off from a company, and a friend of mine knew about my capabilities.

And I was in North Carolina visiting my sister, the phone rang, and she said, Mary, I know some folks from the South African Embassy, they're looking for a third bidder for the Nelson Mandela statue unveiling, would you be interested? And I said, Absolutely. I hung up the phone. And I thought, am I good enough? Can I do this, and then I had to talk myself out of having any kind of doubts? And I went in, I got some business cards made. And I went up to DC and attended a meeting. And at this meeting, were some very skilled planners. And it's easy to feel a little bit intimidated in those settings. But I was also very confident at the same time, I knew that this was something I could do. And also, it's something that I really wanted to do. So we actually had a series of pre-planning meetings, probably three or four of them to discuss what the needs were of the embassy, and they didn't really know all their needs, they wanted someone to handhold them and guide them and help them create this amazing event.

So I was part of that I had to redo my proposal multiple times, as did everyone that was bidding on it. And they finally announced a winner on September 5, and the event was 16 days later, on September 21. So 16 days to pull off an event with over 1000 people in attendance, including 15 legislators that were going to be there some very high-ranking folks from within the White House, and a lot of world leaders. Not to mention the media, which was coming in from around the world, some celebrities were going to be there. And if that wasn't enough, there was major construction going on in front of the embassy. So all of the grounds were torn up, which meant I had to work very closely with the construction manager, because every day the train changed, which meant my plans had to change for how I was going to provide artificial flooring, where I was going to put the staging, how we were going to fit everything in there.

So I would say on so many levels. It was the most challenging event I've ever done. But it was also the most rewarding event I've ever done. And I was working 16-hour days. And every time someone from the embassy said, I'm going over there to check out the setup I would go because I wanted to hear exactly what the clients wanted. I wanted to see their vision. And I wanted to be able to give them exactly what they wanted. I'm one of those people I underpromise and over-deliver. And that's what I was able to do for the South Africans. And also because I was working such long days, I got to know them on a personal basis, which was lovely. Here's one of the most special things we did for them. Because it was all about the statue unveiling, right? This wasn't just about an event with some chairs and a stage and letting the people in and having a few words to say this was a once-in-a-lifetime event for them. They were only going to unveil the statue one time.

So I brought in one of the vendors that I work closely with in the past, and we were brainstorming and I have to say he came up with this brilliant idea. He said, Why don't we take the seven colors that are in the South African flag? What he did was he stapled silk fabric together in the seven colors that are in the flag and we put it over the statue draped it over the statue and the ambassador wanted to have the entire apartheid folks that were coming in surround the statue. And as they pulled on the fabric, it broke apart over the statue. And this was a very elegant way to unveil this statue as opposed to just pulling a cloth off of it. Or you could also do a kabuki drop which meant I would have had to put trust around it and it would not have looked as nice in the photos. So having the colors of their flag represent their country pull apart over the statue when it was time was very extraordinary. And the ambassador was extremely pleased with the way the event turned out.

Gresham Harkless 10:07

Awesome, awesome, awesome. But yeah, definitely sounds like that was a great event, and it an awesome for you to be able to execute that on short notice. And one of the kinds of the next questions that I have is we have everybody on the show provide what is a CEO hack. So this might be a resource, a book, or an app that you use on a regular everyday basis or something that you do, could you give us a CEO hack that makes you more efficient and effective as a CEO?

Mary Neyhard 10:29

I have to tell you if I was going to give someone advice, a hack, if you want to call it would be to have a mentor, have a mentor in business because you can read a book you can, you can learn online, but to have another human being there that you can bounce ideas off of that has already been extremely successful in business. That to me is building your team and having someone to lean on especially if you're a solopreneur like I am, I don't have just one mentor, I have three from three different businesses. And they all bring something different and unique to the table. And they all have helped me in different ways. And I'm very, very grateful for having that opportunity to work with them.

Gresham Harkless 11:11

Awesome. Yeah, that's an amazing CEO hack. And definitely can take your success to another level if you're able to get the right mentors in place. So that brings me to my next thing, which is a CEO nugget, which is kind of like your word of wisdom. So if you can kind of mentor us what kind of golden nugget or word of advice would you give to us being CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners?

Mary Neyhard 11:31

I would say don't underestimate the power of networking, go to as many networking events as you can, because people work with people. And if they see your honesty, if you can show them examples of your hard work, and really get to know them, don't push your business initially get to know the other person and find out how you can help them and how you can be a service to others. And then the business will come to you I will tell you that every client that I've worked with has grown organically, either through someone I know directly, a friend of a friend, or someone I met at a networking event. So networking to me is the key to success.

Gresham Harkless 12:07

Yes, I would definitely agree that your network is your net worth, so to speak, right?

Mary Neyhard 12:11

Yes.

Gresham Harkless 12:11

And one of the awesome things that I get to do is you get to have a mix of different types of CEOs on this show, in hoping to kind of redefine what being a CEO means. So you being a solopreneur, as you said, what does being a CEO actually mean to you?

Mary Neyhard 12:26

I take it seriously in the sense that it's my brand, it's who I am. And I have this sense of responsibility toward my clients, that whatever I say I'm going to deliver, I want to deliver that and more. And I want to put them at ease. And I want to build that trust. So to meet a CEO means having that sense of responsibility, and the ability to deliver what you promise and to keep your promises, and also stay on top of all the latest innovations that could be at our fingertips because the world is changing so rapidly today that it's very helpful to stay on the cutting edge of that technology. So again, you can deliver those resources to your clients.

Gresham Harkless 13:11

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Yeah, that's a great definition and words of wisdom as well. So Mary, I just wanted to thank you so much for taking some time out of your schedule to kind of speak with us. What I wanted to do was just kind of give you the mic so to speak, to see if you had any additional words of wisdom or pieces of advice or pieces about your business that you didn't already speak about.

Mary Neyhard 13:29

Oh, sure. So I'm capable of delivering meetings and events from the beginning stages being part of the strategic planning, which I love to do, because to me, the more you engage the folks in your group, whether it's in your company, or its customers that you have out there, the more engaged they are, the better time that they have. So I love to be part of this strategic planning and making the event full circle from beginning to end. But if you think that you can't afford an event planner, let me just say this, those of us in the industry that know it well, we can literally save you money by making sure that you get the best rates, you get the best service and that your clients or your employees are going to leave and they're going to talk about it for a long time. It truly has a lasting effect when it's done right on everyone the impact overall. Another thing that my company is able to provide and this is just recently, I partnered with a national actually an international company.

So I can now do sourcing for overnight rooms for free for clients. That is if they're looking for room blocks for 10 or more rooms at any hotel anywhere in the world. They can contact me I'll find the hotels, and I'll negotiate the rates for them. And I'll do this at no charge. So I'm really proud to be able to offer that service to clients, which is relatively new for someone as small as me because I've partnered with a major player out there in that industry, which gives me that pricing value that I could pass on to my customers.

Gresham Harkless 15:06

Is super awesome. Yeah, being able to partner with corporations and other businesses and other entrepreneurs and CEOs is definitely the key to being successful as well. So, Mary, I want to thank you so much. And the last question I had, is if somebody's listening to this, and they want to get a hold of you, what's the best way for them to do that?

Mary Neyhard 15:22

The quickest way is to call or text me on my cell phone, which is 484-919-5900. Or they could email me and my email is maryn222@msn.com. That's maryn222@msn.com.

Gresham Harkless 15:47

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And we'll have that down in the show notes just in case anybody wants, to follow up with you. But Mary, again, thank you so much for all the awesome things that you're doing. And thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to be on the show.

Mary Neyhard 15:58

Thank you and thank your audience for listening. I really appreciate it.

Outro 16:02

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co IAMCEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Thank you for listening

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