Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Karina Perez.
Hi Ana Karina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hello everybody, My name is Ana Karina and I am the proud owner of Dream Events by Karina! We are an event planning and decorating business located in central Austin and proudly extending our services to neighboring county’s and cities. My business journey began in 2020 following my choice to quit my job once reaching 40 years old. Although Covid 19 was definitely a factor in this decision, I had been realizing that I didn’t want to reach a pivotal age and still be working for someone else. I wanted to work towards building my own foundation instead of stabilizing someone else’s. Looking back on how I got to where I am today, I definitely think my previous job has some influences in the success of my current business. I used to work at an establishment that centered on hospitality and getting to chat with customers and greet my regulars quickly became my favorite thing. I used to see this as something that held me back and a reason not to quit. But I came to realize that I didn’t have to sacrifice that aspect of my business pursuit as I decided to leave a corporate life behind. Building community through my services and getting to see the dreams of my clients come into fruition is a reward that I value and is what continues to fuel me moving forward.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In terms of my road to success and its smoothness, I would describe it as a cobblestone path. My main struggle was funding. Being a startup business, there wasn’t a second job to lean on when times were tough or any secondary funds I could dip into for support besides standard family savings. Given that I began my business in 2020, workers were being let go left and right, but I had already decided to leave that world behind. Ahead of the curve in a sense, I realized I would have to persist forward and accept my newfound self-reliance finance wise. Another roadblock of mine was technology. Although we were in the 2020’s, a completely digital age, I was nowhere near tech savvy. I had to learn not just how to craft my presence in a physical community setting, but how to curate a digital presence as well.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Dream Events by Karina?
Dream Events by Karina is a minority women owned business that is passionate about creating dreams and memories for our clients through the art of decor. We specialize in event decorating, planning, and coordinating. Because of the wide array of services that are included in what our clients choose for us to incorporate into their events, we are most known for the weddings and quinceañeras we help craft. I believe something that sets us apart besides hiring bilingual workers and having the privilege to work with a vast demographic is our belief that a significant amount of personal dedication should take part in every step of the process. We work incredibly close with our clients to ensure they know that we do not see them as a number. When working with multiple clients, I am sure many business owners may discover a need to become very hyper aware of the need to be able to distinguish and differentiate your individual and unique clients. This comes easy to me because I enjoy getting to know my clients and hearing about their story and the factors they feel are influencing their events. Being able to stay in touch with my clients after their event is something I am very proud of achieving and this relationship I build with my clients is what I believe to set this business apart from others. In regards to something I am most proud of brand-wise, I am proud to have gotten the chance to build many connections through persistent networking. Through networking, I have been able to become introduced to a community of like-minded vendors that I have grown personal connections with. Being able to use my brand and my business to recommend vendors and other small business is something I am immensely proud of. I would love the readers to know that although we may be somewhat new to the market, we can confidently state that we have built connections with Austin’s best providers and vendors that align with our ethical values and commitment to excellence and we welcome any new or potential clients who will allow us to help them create dreams and memories!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I wouldn’t consider myself a consistent risk taker, but the biggest risk I’ve taken so far is making the choice to invest a part of our family savings into my business not knowing if it was going to work out or not. I think about risk as something that markets itself as achievable to some, but I am well aware that risk is never 100% sure to be accompanied by a feeling of success. This idea of uncertainty is intimidating at times, but the feeling of success definitely champs over the feeling of dwelling over the “what if’s”. Taking everything into consideration, I would rather take the risk and learn from the mistake that may accompany it rather than continue my career playing it safe. Although I do value stability, being comfortable in the entirety of my career in some ways prevents me from possible growth.
Pricing:
- We offer free consultations to discuss pricing since it is very subjective and tailored to our client’s visions and requests.
- Most of our decor is custom-made, so pricing varies.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreameventsbykarina
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EEtKDRv6y/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-karina-p
