Today we’d like to introduce you to Makenzie Stokel.
Hi Makenzie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi! I have always been passionate about music, so I attended Belmont University, in Nashville, TN to study music business. There I met my current co-founder, Channing Moreland. We were roommates at orientation and we lived on the same floor our freshman year. We were both interested in live music and promoting up-and-coming artists.
Because Nashville is so competitive for aspiring artists, oftentimes they get paid very little, nothing, or sometimes even have to pay to perform. We began booking our musician friends around town because we wanted to see them get paid. We would book music at non traditional venues and sell tickets, get sponsors, and promote the events so every act that we booked could be paid. We booked 150+ events in college before really considering this to be a viable business. During this time we began thinking about how technology could improve the process of booking, because it was so cumbersome.
People began asking us for music recommendations for their own events. We would connect artists to weddings, college parties, and eventually corporate events. Private events proved to be very lucrative for up-and-coming artists.
After manually connecting artists and event planners for so many events, Channing and I realized how technology could make this process easier. So in 2016, we created EVA, an online marketplace that connects entertainers with private event opportunities. Since then we have expanded our entertainment offerings outside of music, we have hired 10 people, and expanded outside of Nashville.
I moved to Austin in January of 2021 to launch EVA in the Texas market. We had a few clients in Austin and I always loved visiting. The amount of companies headquartered here, hundreds of talented entertainers, and friendly, helpful business culture has made Austin a great place to launch. I look forward to seeing Austin as a huge market for EVA and can’t wait to see where else we will grow.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No! Haha not at all.
Covid, as you can imagine, is not great for an events company. We really had to scale back our growth and quickly shift to virtual events. Fortunately, we were a small enough team to pivot fast.
Other challenges I’ve faced include: learning how to manage a team, prioritizing what gets done with limited resources, figuring out how to convert clients to use software instead of a process they’re already used to, hiring & firing, learning to market for a very specific need, and making our website feel trustworthy enough for people to spend thousands of dollars without talking to a human.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
EVA is an online marketplace that automates the process of booking entertainment. We specialize in corporate and private events. We vet all of the entertainers we book. We offer all kinds of entertainment including: live music, public speakers, comedians, dancers, chefs, wellness instructors, mixologists, magicians, photo booths, and impersonators.
How our platform works: an event coordinator will sign into EVA, upload their event details (date, time, location, budget, and what type of entertainment they’re looking for), and qualified acts will submit quotes on their event. They can chat about details and when the event coordinator is ready to book they can contract and pay on our site. We make everything easy for both entertainers and event planners by giving them access to one another and handling the details.
The name Eva was meant to humanize an automated process. We wanted to keep the human touch to the brand since booking has always been done manually. Since both founders are women we knew we wanted a female name. EVA also stands for events, venues, and artists.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I think everyone who knows me would be surprised to know how analytical, introspective, and quiet I can be. I am definitely an extrovert. I love talking to people, meeting new people, and having meetings all day. I am confident and have no issues in a room full of strangers. But when it comes to big decisions, I really take my time. I enjoy creating processes and thinking thoroughly about how to solve problems in our business. I spend a lot of time questioning, observing, and processing. I don’t mind being alone. I think my clients, colleagues and friends would consider me outgoing and light-hearted. I am those things but I do have a quiet side as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bookwitheva.com
- Instagram: @kenzstokel
