Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Lopez
Hi Lauren, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Clink began with the inspiration to bring delicious and beautiful drinks to all age ranges to enjoy without limitations at social gatherings. Through an adventure of sobriety clink developed and solely marketed Mock-tails to encourage health, and wellness. Our mission was to display drinks that can still be spectacular to the eye and delicious to the taste without the need of alcohol. It was all just for fun until we seen the potential for a small business opportunity. As we developed and curated drinks at home for fun on the weekends, we realized pre-designed drink tables were very rarely seen at parties or social gatherings which then encouraged us to open up to creating these delightful beverages for larger crowds based on their event. Of course, not everyone is in for a non-alcoholic drink so we offer cocktails if requested. Today we are still a small business in the works of growing and sharing our curated beverages in the world of party planning and events.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Starting a small business is never easy. It takes lots of trial and error as well as continuous learning as you go. There were many times we had to re-evaluate the way we were transporting items and trying to avoid breakage of classes or leaks from our drink bases as well as keeping some items cold. Of course, we failed a few times and had to improvise along the way. Every aspect of party events needs to be as fluent as possible, we took many looks back on what our perfect packages, communication tactics, design development and from here made many revisions even down to the contract we now provide our clients. We’re still learning everyday and everyday we learn something new.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’n my personal life my career is in higher education as a data analyst for Human Resources. As you can imagine, I work a typical 9-5 with hopes of becoming a full time entrepreneur one day and escaping the cubicle. I have been with a state university system for years and started my journey as an undergrad where I developed into many roles over my time as a young adult and further on into my permanent professional positions in my late twenties. Although my career is far outside of the entrepreneur field in events and party planning it has transitioned me from a young fresh professional finding my way through corporate life into a fluent, and strong HR professional who is still growing day by day. Corporate culture can be a little dense at time, what sets me apart is maintaining a genuine character of being down and earth and just plain human in my role. Being a mentor for younger professionals and maintaining working relationships with others has been so beneficial in the way they translate over into my small business and my communication with clients and other vendors.
As an entrepreneur, we specialize in party planning and events such as weddings, Quinceañeras, baby showers, bachelorette parties, anniversaries, etc. Our mission is to provide a beautiful set of beverages that are first designed to fit the clients theme, then curated by taste and flavor request, lastly they are set on display for the event for guest to grab as they please or snap a pic, which we love. Not only do we provide the drink, but we work with the client on potential table styling to really bring to life the drink table. We have sort of given the desert table a run for their money.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
In my opinion, characteristics that are so important to success are creativity. Having a creative spirit can launch you far out now days with social media and the way people hop on trends. Not only that but being a humble, and determined Individual. When running a small business, you are often the owner, the management and the employee, if not more. Having the ability to be flexible on your role is extremely important. Being able to be a dreamer and manifest your thoughts Into reality plays a huge role into where success can lead you. Maintaining a positive attitude and mindset Is also very important because not everything is a success at first, failure happens and learning to stay positive through that is crucial. There were so many times for I felt I possibly wasn’t good enough to make my business happen but that’s nonsense – stay positive, think positive even in times of error. Lastly, staying clever. I often find myself trying to find the most clever designs and ideas to bring into my business.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Clink.la_
Image Credits
Clink Los Angeles _ Lauren Lopez
