May 15, 2017

Meet Danielle Dolen-Thieret of We Crush Events in West Hollywood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Dolen-Thieret.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m originally from Florida and was relocated to California 6 years ago by a former company. I live with my husband and French bulldog in West Hollywood and love my amazing city!

My background is primarily in sales and business development and working in start-ups. I have worked in online media and advertising and have years of experience working with venues. I’ve lead multiple sales teams and launched markets for Restaurant.com, AOL & The Hollywood Reporter. I have years of experience in sales, operations, recruiting, training & development and have always had a passion for helping new companies flourish.

However, After 3 layoffs in 5 years, I was ready for a big change. I was encouraged by my husband, friends and my current business partner Jessica to take a leap of faith and start something of my own. I knew with my expertise in sales and operations coupled with my partner’s knowledge and experience in event execution, we had something really special. So, with an incredible partner by my side we launched our company together to create special experiences for our corporate clients and work with LA’s incredible venues. I also managed to get married last year in the midst of it all!

Since we launched, our business has grown at a rapid speed and we now have an amazing team that helps drive our mission forward every day. I’m very excited for what the future holds for our company as we continue to “crush” LA and open new markets.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Since launching the company, I have learned more than I ever could have imagined at my past corporate jobs combined. Starting a business certainly has its challenges but I can’t ever see myself going back to work for someone else and their vision. We Crush Events is my proudest accomplishment to date and I’m so proud to be building something from the ground up. Creating something that is yours provides an amazing feeling of achievement and strength, even when times are tough and you feel like there’s a new surprise around every corner. However, when you do conquer those challenges you become a better leader and business owner.

I think the biggest challenge we faced initially was trying to get it all done without any help- my partner and I wore a lot of hats and knew early on finding the right team was imperative. Now that we have a team of sales professionals and events managers, we are servicing our clients efficiently and are able to scale the business. We’ve been very blessed thus far to work with some of LA’s top corporate clients and watch our events come to life seamlessly. Not to mention, without our relationships with our awesome venues and vendors we wouldn’t be where we are today. The journey has come with blood, sweat and tears but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about We Crush Events – what should we know?
We are a full service corporate event planning company. We are a well-oiled machine and can do it all! Our team creates the vision for our clients’ events and makes that vision a reality. By handling all the planning and execution of each event, we take the weight off our client’s shoulders and give them much needed time back in their day. From summer and holiday parties, to offsides, team outings and wrap parties, our team thrives on the thrill of making our clients events a memorable experience. Jessica and I are so proud that we are female owned and operated. I hope the leap of faith we took together will encourage other women to do the same.

We are unique in the event industry because we provide our full-scale services and planning expertise at no cost to our corporate clients. We are able to leverage our relationships with the venues and vendors so that our clients don’t have to allocate additional funds toward planning fees.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I’m a firm believer that relationships are the driving force behind any business. Whatever I may lack in skill, I know I can make up for in my ability to create real relationships with our venues, clients and team. I believe the relationships we’ve built along with our extreme work ethic have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today. We haven’t done any advertising or marketing since we opened- we’ve solely relied on a grassroots style of growing our business: simple outreach, attention to detail, and a high-quality level of service.

It may not be easy to pick up the phone and cold call a stranger, but you never know what special relationship can come from a simple phone call or outreach. The only way to build a new relationship is to start somewhere, be authentic and truly listen.

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