We've experienced an eclectic bunch of events over the past few months at The Collective Old Oak in London. The woman behind it all is Jade Coles. As our Head of Events and Experiential Marketing, she works with different people to bring us a monthly programme of fun things to do. One of her go-to collaborators is Keziah Wildsmith, director of Heaps + Stacks, an agency running creative workshops and event production for hotels, members clubs and brands.
In the past year, cultural programming has become one of the most important ways brands interact with their audiences, and Keziah is using her experience to carve a niche in the booming field. We had a quick chat to find out how she got here.
What sparked your big idea?
Keziah: The idea was quite simple, I had been working as an Event Producer constantly being asked to programme interesting bits of entertainment or workshops for events, to get people taking photos and sharing online. So I decided to create an agency that specialised in just that.
This simple idea has now evolved into full scale event production and programming for some of the worlds best hotels, members clubs and brands, which I am constantly amazed by.
I made an Instagram page and posted religiously, two times a day, until one day whilst sat at work (at my full time job), someone got in touch who was planning a summer party for Google... and that was our first job!
What advice would you give aspiring business owners in getting out there and turning their idea into a reality?
For the first year I was still working full time which meant working before and after work on Heaps + Stacks. This meant when I finally quit my full time job we had loads of work coming in which made life a lot easier.
What has been the biggest learning curve for you in the journey of starting your own business?
It's a never ending curve! But I'd say probably not being so emotionally attached to everything we do... which is hard sometimes.
For more on Heaps + Stacks head to Keziah's website.