Ame's Journey to Event Planning

Heeey, party people! Put on your best dress and suit, you are invited to come Celebrate with AME!

Welcome to my first blog post (along with my podcast if you’re listening too). I’m Ame Hernandez and I am a lover of all types of events, experiences, celebrations and most importantly, connections. Professionally, I plan and manage events in San Francisco Bay Area, and I am currently the VP of Communications and the incoming President-Elect of ILEA Northern California Chapter.

I wanted to give you a little background of who I am and how I ended up in event planning. I didn’t even know event planning was a career and once I stepped into it, I learned so much about the industry and all the possibilities.

I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications, Public Relations and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Marketing. I was so interested in social media marketing, guerilla marketing, and the science of how to make people feel a certain way based on your content.

Once I graduated, I started my Marketing career for a Bay Area non-profit. I really enjoyed it and started dabbling into planning fundraising events and sold out tickets. Over 2 years later, I realized that social media marketing didn’t make me as happy as event planning did. I kept searching for event planning jobs but wasn’t seeing much out there. What I did see was “Development Events” positions – I didn’t even know what that meant, but I saw the word "events" and went for it. Hahaha

So there I was in an entry-level Events position for another Bay Area non-profit and I can’t even explain what the job and my boss did for me. It opened me up to the world of events and experiences I didn’t even know existed. As a minority woman, this world of philanthropy, development, and events was so different for me compared to where I grew up. The fancy dinners, the galas, the etiquette – it was crazy but I wanted to immense myself in it. My passion and hard work helped me grow into promotions and experience in planning insane events.

Planning and executing events challenges me and excites me at the same time. Like any job, there’s a love and hate relationship with events, but for me, it’s mostly love. I found something I’m passionate about. I realize that I can create connections at the events I plan, and impact at least one person’s life through building a memory with laughter and happiness.

I have moved to a different full-time event management job since then, and I am now opening my own event planning business. It’s been a dream of mine to own something and I know in my heart this is what I am meant to do.

I can go on and on about my history and experience with events, but that’s why my blog and podcast exist. I want to share my experiences and ideas with you – and I’m so excited to have these platforms to do so. As you keep reading or listening, you’ll learn more about me, events and experiences I personally and professionally plan, and this unbelievable industry I’m a part of as I chat with friendors you'll get to know too. Most importantly, I’m excited to get to know you and what you want to learn so make sure to subscribe to my newsletter and podcast, and provide me feedback! I want to hear from you and celebrate with you. 😉

With that said, put on your dancing shoes, grab a glass and let’s cheers! Cheers to celebrations, happiness, and starting something you’ve always wanted to do. *CLINK*

With all the love and confetti,

Ame