Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Henderson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ashley. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I graduated from Howard University with a degree in Public Relations but while at Howard I interned at Interscope Records and WHUR Radio in the Promotions Department. That’s where my love for events started and I knew after those internships I wanted to make a career out of it. Once I graduated, I moved back to LA and started working immediately. To be honest, it was challenging to land a full-time gig in the entertainment world.
I started at Hollywood & Highland as a temp and eventually got hired full time as the Asst. Director of Special Events and worked my way up to the Director of Special Events working directly with major brands, experiential agencies and film studios to execute brand activations and red carpet premieres. Some of those brands included Nike, Samsung, MAC, Nintendo, Disney, Warner Bros. and REVOLT. I maintained and cultivated relationships with many of those brands, landing a Regional Event role at MAC Cosmetics (Estee Lauder Companies) producing their experiential events for the West Coast and later on North America, relocating to their headquarters office in New York.
During my full-time roles, I was always coordinating events for my friends in the NFL and Girls With Gifts Charity. It was important to me to get as much experience in the event world as possible. In 2016, League 22 LLC was officially birthed and in 2018 I decided to leave MAC and run League 22 full time.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not at all. Entrepreneurship is very challenging. When you run a business, its 24/7 non-stop. I would say the most challenging part is employing the proper staff, who share the same vision and work ethic as you. And also scaling the business to manage growth properly.
Also, in the beginning, the financial aspect can be very tricky when you invest in your dreams, it’s very expensive, so saving and setting aside funds for your business is the key to preparation and truly giving your business a fair chance. It takes money to make money.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the League Twenty Two story. Tell us more about your work.
League 22 is a boutique black-owned events agency specializing in experiential event production and execution, brand activations and talent relations, with a focus on Music, Beauty, Sports, Retail and Philanthropy. We execute small and large scale events with clients including H&M, MTN Dew, Beautycon and 300ent.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Well, the experiential industry has become SUPER popular recently. A lot of brands started realizing how important it was to target their consumers and introduce their products in cool new way. Companies started shifting their dollars from ads or magazines to event marketing. It’s the new wave of advertising and it’ll only continue to grow, at a very rapid rate.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.leaguetwentytwo.com
- Phone: 310. 564.6267
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
@_jshotit
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