The most powerful room in any building is the one designed for impact.
I did not follow a traditional event path.
My career began in investment management - tracking trends, analyzing portfolios, and making recommendations. It was precise, analytical work. I studied to become a financial analyst. I met clients, sat through strategy discussions, and scheduled deal-making dinners. At the time, I had no idea another path would emerge.
The pivot was not planned. I suppose it rarely ever is.
I went from monitoring performance of multi-million dollar investment portfolios to managing multi-million dollar event budgets, curating program content, and executing end-to-end event experiences.
Over 20 years in, I’ve learned the two were not islands and created a bridge to connect them. Both disciplines require reading a room, creative design, managing risk, and delivering an outcome.
Today, I am director of conference programming for a large professional association, leading a portfolio generating over $20M in annual revenue. I manage a team that creates several hundred conference sessions and working with hundreds of speakers and subject matter experts annually across twelve conferences.
I’m also founder and principal of KĀK & Co., LLC, a boutique experiential marketing company. I advised a dozen or so nonprofit organizations on engagement strategy, curated bespoke events, and increased audiences. A few initiatives “baked” by KĀK were a podcast, a community for financially curious, and coming soon a retreat.
I contribute to the profession as a member of PCMA, immediate past president of the PCMA Southeast Chapter, and course facilitator at Rollins College Edyth Bush Institute for Nonprofit Leadership.
For fun, I became an associate bourbon steward and serve as a branch ambassador for Bourbon Women Florida - because the best conversations happen over a good pour.
Twenty years in, my conviction hasn't changed: hospitality is a strategy.
When an organization convenes well - the content is sharp, the experience is intentional, and the logistics are invisible — it builds something money can't manufacture: trust, community, and momentum.
That's what I design for. Every time.