Today we’d like to introduce you to Ivette Torres and Brandi Fry .
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Let me first start by introducing myself, my name is Ivette Torres and I am part owner of Falo & Scotty’s & Events. I was in a pivotal moment in my life when I lost my job because of Covid and a few months later I also endured the loss of my father due to Alzheimers. My father Falo was an entrepreneur who ran his own landscaping business on the side and was passionate about trees, landscaping and bringing visions to life. After my loss, I took time for myself to self-reflect and knew I wanted a change. I was finally at a point in my life where I could peruse my dreams of having my own business doing what I was passionate about which was event planning and decorating. So I started researching how to get started and wanted to honor my father by doing something I am passionate about just like he taught me.
My dad would tell me that to make it in this world you need to run your own business and have an education. I also was inspired by my best friend, who is an entrepreneur, whom I could go to for advice on my new journey.
I grew up celebrating parties for any occasion and helping my mother, who was crafty, decorate and create centerpieces for parties. I also had a keen eye for details and decorating came naturally to me. In addition, I worked helping the florist in the nursery when I was little. I wanted to offer a party experience outdoors or indoors. My talent is being able to use my creativity, attention to detail, and craftiness to create things. I am the go-to person to help friends and families with their party planning and always have been told I should be a party planner and decorator because it came so easy for me the ability to plan, improvise and decorate. So, after researching ideas I found an article about Luxury Picnics & I fell in love with this idea and concept. I also followed a young single mother on YouTube who was an inspiration to me in how she realized her dreams during Covid and switched how she operated her business.
I knew I wanted to use my talents to create beautiful events with nature as the backdrop like how my father created beauty by doing what he loved and taking a blank canvas and bringing it to life.
Brandy Fri, also the owner of Falo & Scott’s Events, was currently doing events for friends and family. She also shares the same passion and talents that I have and is also the go-to person for events and planning. She is also an experienced florist, is crafty and able to create anything out of wood. One of her passions is that she loves creating crafts during her spare time, party planning, event design and has a keen eye for decor. Little did I know that we shared the same ambition of opening up our own business. I had mentioned to my daughter, who herself is a business owner, how Brandi and I would make a great team. This was when Brandi and I decided on partnering up together and that is how Falo Scotty’s Picnics Events came into existence. Together with our combined talents, great things can happen.
The name of our business is a personal meaning, just like we love to add some personalization to our events. Falo is to honor my father who was nicknamed Falo at the nursery. Scott is Brandi’s husband, children, and grandchildren’s middle name. It is also her uncle’s first name who was a father figure to her.
We are excited to do what we love as we get ready to officially launch our business in Spring 2023.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The support of our families and friends have been great. We have had such positive feedback.
I think like any great idea you see more upcoming businesses in your area so coming into the market flooded with more later on vs when there was less a year ago after you have done all your researched and built an inventory could be challenging but with keeping the mindset that there is enough clientele for everyone, and everyone has something to offer and focusing on your goal at the end of the day and not be easily discouraged because you are doing what you love to do and in life, you have to take action for things to happen.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I Ivette, currently work part-time as a Credit Dispute Research Specialist and Brandi works part-time as a kindergarten teacher. During our spare time, we have been working on our luxury picnic & events business.
We specialize in creating crafty items that we like to incorporate in our luxury picnic business for decor as part of our set-up and we specialize in setting up tablescapes and all the decor to create the aesthetics of a luxury picnic party or causal gathering experience in an outdoor or indoor setting. We love planning and creating a picturesque event for clients to relax and enjoy by allowing us to use our talents to transform a space into their desired event.
We are most proud of is when we can transform a space that needed some TLC into a welcoming luxurious dining experience that bring vision boards into life. Those transformations that people are wowed when they come into a space giving them a feel-good feeling and we also are especially proud of is being able to accommodate clients who can’t sit bohemian floor style due to a disability or medical condition by providing a high-top table option because we believe everyone should be able to enjoy a luxurious picnic dining experience.
We are known to add simple touches but with a little extra touch on our tablescapes to us it is all about the small details that bring the beauty in what we create. What sets us apart is that we love personal touches such as a wooden personalized sign for the event and wooden personalized nameplates for each guest. We partnered with a local make-up artist so our clients could look picture-perfect for that special occasion because we recognized clients want to look photo perfect for pictures that they post on social media platforms. We also offer children’s picnic slumber parties as part of our luxury picnic offering.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Research your market and take notes on everything you learn and come up with a business plan of your target audience and what services you would like to offer. Focus on what you do best and on your goal and don’t get easily discouraged by what others are doing in your journey but allow it to be a tool to help you for self-improvement and stick to what makes you unique and happy. When you focus on doing something you love people will see it in the work you do and there is enough business for everyone. Every day you put an effort on your business is one step closer to realizing your end goal. Listen to mentors along the way and others who have taken the same path to help inspire you and motivate you.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: Falo Scotty’s Picnic & Events
