Meet Adrienne Y. Murphy, CMP, VEMM, DES | CEO & Founder | Meeting & Events Manager | On-site/Virtual Support Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adrienne Y. Murphy, CMP, VEMM, DES and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adrienne Y., we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The pandemic. That’s what actually prompted me to re-start my business. Back in 2003, I started my business as, I had a strong passion for planning events and meetings. Raising my young family at that time caused me to put my dream on hold until a future time when it would better align with my family’s needs. Then the pandemic happens and my position as a Meetings Manager (I had just been promoted to this role) with the American Cancer Society, Inc. was eliminated. No one knew when it would be safe to have in-person meetings and the leadership dissolved and laid off our entire department. I took that as a sign to reset and re-start my dream of having my own business. The good thing was that 17 years later, I was wiser, older and I knew the direction that I wanted my business to grow in. I knew that I did not want to actually be the planner but the right hand to many planners. I knew that I did not want to be responsible for contracts and soliciting clients in a traditional sense. I decided that other planners would be my clients and I would create my own niche focused on helping them to execute the meetings and events that they were contracted to plan. This allowed me to have the work/life balance that I envisioned for myself.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I loved my role as a Meetings Manager at the American Cancer Society. What I discovered after leaving that role was that I did not have to stop doing this type of work, I could take my knowledge and experience and utilize it to help other independent planners. Many independent planners have small teams of people that work for them. Many are independent contractors and this area is where I felt my talents would be needed most. It would allow me to accept the projects that I wanted to take, travel if I wanted to ( I always want to) and still be committed to my family at the time. I feel like my biggest challenge was navigating the world as an independent planner. Because most of my career I had worked at large corporations and non-profits where we had processes that were in place and standard operating procedures, so I typically followed those guidelines for planning their meetings. In the independent contractor space or as a small business owner, those same guidelines are not automatically created for you. You have to spend hours on top of hours learning and figuring out what works best and most efficient. There were times when I questioned my own abilities and many times would overthink things. I feel like now almost four years since restarting my business, I am more at ease and finding my own way is becoming a bit more seamless.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Sooo, one of the things that my late husband and I enjoyed more than anything is going out and having raw oysters! Sadly, one of our favorite spots (Watchman’s at Krog Street Market) closed as the pandemic was subsiding. However, there are still some great spots in the area to grab some, The Optimist, Fontaine’s Oyster Bar, WH Stiles Fish Camp and C&S Oyster Bar, to name a few. We also enjoyed a day of riding our bikes and spent many days on the Beltline. We loved that we could ride a few miles, stop grab a drink and a small bite at a restaurant that sits on the Beltline and be in the city that we loved to live in. It is never a dull moment to hang out on the Beltline, we could sit for hours just people watching!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are several people that deserve a shoutout in my story, first my late husband, Carlie Murphy, Jr. He was the strongest pillar of support both times that I started my business. He encouraged me to do what I loved and he challenged me to just go for it! Secondly, my children and family, they have all been great cheerleaders and a wonderful support system. I know that I can talk to them, my sisters and or my mom and receive wise counsel. Professionally, I have had an abundance of awesome leadership that I could turn to for advice and support. Specifically, in the industry that I love, a dear friend and classmate, Tess Vismale (iSocialExecution, Inc.) who has spent a great majority of her career in the event space as an independent planner, provided guidance and advice when I first left the American Cancer Society. She introduced me to another wonderful and super smart woman, Mahoganey Jones (Event Specialists, Inc., Toronto, CA) and between the two of them, I was off into the world of learning how to work virtual events! The two of them have become mentors to me in the event space and more than that they are friends I consider family. During the pandemic, while studying for my CMP certification, I met Patricia Stinson of SEEvents, LLC in Atlanta. She had left corporate America to begin her own event planning company and I have learned a lot from her as it relates to on-site events and galas. Outside the event world, I have had the good fortune to have supervisors through my career that were also supportive, great mentors that have become great friends: Dr. Alpa Patel, Sybil Hadley and Melanie Pensinger. I’m super grateful for the experiences that I have had with all of these extremely smart and inspirational women!

Website: www.xclusively4u.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/xclusively4u