Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Pelayo, Co-Founder of Rose Gold Heart Events.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Nancy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Let’s rewind back to our wedding, June 2017. My husband, Fabian and I attempted to plan a wedding for ourselves, we had no idea what the outcome would be. After all of our hard work, we were surprised to find that the outcome exceeded past our own expectations.
We were over the moon when we received praise and positive feedback from our guests who shared how much they admired our labor of love. Needless to say “We had a beautiful wedding day”.
Later on, as our lives together progressed, we decided to take on another project by planning a baby shower for our baby girl Mila. As a team, we paid attention to every detail and planned a beautiful event for our baby. Once again, we received positive feedback from our loved ones.
For our shower, Fabian built our first backdrop which later resulted in being one of our most popular backdrop rentals. As inquiries came in, we decided to list it on Offer Up at that time. Fabian handled the organizing of a few of the rentals as I was near giving birth. This was all new to us and at this time, we were not offering any décor or stylings, and had no idea what we were doing.
After our baby girl Mila was born, and trying to recover from an unexpected C-section and severe PPD, I desperately wanted to start a hobby to take my mind off of my woes. With this desire, I decided to start a separate Instagram page and posted photos from our wedding, our baby shower, and past family events that we’d been involved in.
What was once a way to creatively express myself and take my mind off of difficult road bumps, that later bloomed into something bigger than I had ever imagined. Seemingly overnight, we started getting inquiries from potential clients, asking to rent some of our décor items such as signs and our donut wall, which Fabian had built. At this point, we only had two backdrops and a few items from our wedding and baby shower, so this inspired us to include decor along with our backdrops.
We then decided to take the leap of faith and see where this new path would take us to, not really knowing how this business would play out. As a family, we continued in this path and began to fall in love with the idea that it was time to start believing in ourselves and follow all the signs that were given.
We came up with the name “Rose Gold Heart Events” which was inspired by our wedding, and then filed for a DBA, registered our business, and obtained liability insurance because we wanted RGHE to be legit, not something that was going to be just a hobby, we were in it for the long run.
I began taking a variety of courses and attending workshops to inform myself, meet new people, and help grow and improve my skills as a creator. I began reaching out to vendors whose work I’d been admiring on Instagram that perhaps we could collaborate with. I slowly started stepping out of my comfort zone, reaching out to strangers, making new friends in the industry to learn more about what I was doing.
Slowly, our inventory started growing; we incorporated desert table décor which is one of my favorites, and later offering dessert table styling and design. We began to work with a variety of cake and dessert artists. Here we are, a year later, working on our website and still striving to improve our brand and our work.
To give you some background on myself, I’d like to take you back to my childhood. I went through an experience that shook me to the core. It made me question my worth, and to say the least … turned my whole world dark at the age of nine years old.
In the summer of 1989, I was sexually abused by a close family member. After that experience, my whole world turned dark and sadly, I don’t have any recollection of what was left of my childhood after that. I truly struggled with self-love and low self-esteem.
As I matured into a young woman, I still felt worthless and began getting involved in abusive relationships, later resulting in one failed marriage and two small children. I was told over and over that I was worthless. Up until recently, I still struggled with self-love and felt that I wasn’t good enough, had any purpose in life or gifted like the many others around me.
When Fabian, my husband came into my life on NYE in 2013, my life began to take a turn for the better. He helped me see the value in myself and that I was worthy to be loved. When our baby girl Mila was born, I felt that her purpose was to help me heal from my past trauma.
Fast forward to today, for once in my life, I feel inspired and passionate about something that I’m doing for myself and for others. This business has helped me heal further and has given me the confidence I never felt I had. The irony is that not only is this helping me, but more importantly, I also have the ability to bring joy to our clients lives. I’m committed to help our clients to create unforgettable memories with their friends and family.
In the near future, I would like to further my education and take on graphic design which I believe will benefit our business. It’s always been one of my dreams to become a professional graphic designer and I finally feel one step closer to that achievement.
Has it been a smooth road?
This journey has not always been as smooth as it sounds; there have definitely been some challenges along our way. One of the things that was a wake up call for me was losing friends along the way. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that not all your friends are going to be supportive or root for you. I felt lost, lonely and confused. I was hurt to the point that I even considered to give up on this dream of mine. I think that sometimes, certain type of people get used to seeing you struggle, and when they see you achieving goals of your own, and growing as an individual, perhaps it makes them feel uncomfortable. That was me trying to make sense of the whole situation. That experience was one of the most painful things I went through last year.
The second thing has to be learning to balance our time in between life. Last year, we tried to take everything on that came our way, that resulted in us missing out on many special occasions, and many times feeling burnt out, but we got through it and we’re learning to say “no” to things that aren’t fitting for us at the moment.
I do have to say that the third and biggest challenge we have is that my husband, Fabian and I both have full-time jobs, and have three kids ages 16, 13 and 18 months old. We juggle, God, marriage, family, work, and this awesome business. It’s called teamwork, without the teamwork that we all put in; none of this would be possible.
My advice to everyone today is that if you aren’t going after what you want, it’s not because of time or life situations, because let’s be real, we all have them. I’m a woman who suffers with PTS, I’m a wife, mother, with a full-time job, plus a side hustle that I am very passionate about. I definitely hope that this encourages and inspires others to evaluate any excuses that they may be going back and forth with.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Rose Gold Heart Events, LLC story. Tell us more about the business.
Rose Gold Heart Events was founded in 2019. Our Company creates Instagram worthy memories for you and your loved ones. We’re all about the trendy décor, elegant vibes for special events which include: Planning, Coordination, Styling, including a variety of rentals such as customized backdrops, dessert tables and dessert stands. We work with a variety of vendors who we trust and love to give them the opportunity of more work and more exposure with our brand. All of our work takes time to plan for, and is done with love for each one of our clients.
The growth in a year took off right before our eyes. We started off doing styling – custom backdrops and decor for special events and then expanded to balloon garlands. We later incorporated dessert table styling, and as of this year, we have incorporated planning and event coordination.
We have a growing inventory of dessert stands, props, custom signage, and florals, so we get pretty creative. But what I’m the proudest of all are our backdrops and dessert tables that are genuinely built with love as my husband Fabian built each piece himself. He is a self-taught woodworker now. This business has not only brought out both of our creative sides out, but has also brought us closer together as a couple and a family.
What sets us apart from others in the industry is that each design that we set up for is custom-made and tailored to our clients’ needs through handmade woodwork designs. With my husband’s unmatched skills and abilities, my creativity and attention to detail, we are able to create unique setups for every occasion. Therefore, we always strive to step it up from our last one. If you look at our page, our setup and coordination continue to improve.
We’ve also been a part of non-profit events such as sponsors for MS, Cancer, The Children’s Hospital, Paleta’s Please (poverty in Mexico) fundraiser events. We’ve volunteered our valued resources and time to bring our gift to these worthy causes as our own collaborative contributions. We do this wholeheartedly with love and will continue to do so when we can.
I am the creator who connects directly with our clients and brings the vision to life. My husband builds most of our rental pieces and does most of the manual labor. Our oldest daughter, Savannah, does the photography and oversees the quality control aspect of our work. We are a family-based business and everything we do is with love. We are extremely passionate about what we do, we’re excited about the growth, God’s will, and where the future will take us.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think this industry is going to continue to grow and boom. There are so many creators and passionate people out there, and styled events are in high demand right now. I think if we all try to work together and collaborate as a community, the stars are the limit for this Industry.
Contact Info:
- Address: 15520 Foothill Blvd. Sylmar, CA
- Website: https://www.rosegoldheartevents.com
- Phone: 818.668.7461
- Email: hello@rosegoldheartevents.com
Image Credit:
Dear Heart Moments; Savannah Lynn Everett; Evelyn Lemus; Priscilla Sandoval
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