Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Adair.
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?
Just two weeks after finding out I was pregnant with my first child, the global pandemic hit and the entire world shut down. I got let go from my event coordinator job and was unemployed for the first time since I was nine-years-old. After multiple meltdowns and a few panic attacks, my husband looked me in the eyes and gave me a boost that would change the trajectory of my future. In so many words, he told me that I was one of the hardest workers he’s ever known and that it was time to follow my dream of becoming my own boss. From that moment on, I took a dream that once seemed unattainable and turned into a reality by starting my own event company.
Grey Pine Events & Design (named after my son Grey!) started as an event company that mostly dabbled in wedding coordination and design. But after uprooting our lives from the Dallas area and moving to the Hill Country to be closer to family, it snowballed into what it is today… A luxury event design company that specializes in custom backdrops! Just two weeks after planting our roots in New Braunfels, I landed my first event which was a high school prom that wanted to rent out the light-up marquee letters, and although we didn’t have them at the time — I was determined to make this a part of the business. The next day we found ourselves in my brothers garage with a table saw and a prayer, and taught ourselves the basics of woodwork. This hands down became one of the main turning points for the overall vision of the company, because the options of different size and style backdrops were endless. My husband didn’t know it at the time, but he would soon become a professional woodworker who took on a second (third if you count parenting) full time job to help me grow. A few months later, we got pregnant with my little girl and our family was complete!
The first three years were spent scraping pennies together just to make ends meet. I put every dollar I made back into the company, worked a few other miscellaneous jobs just to help keep a roof over our head and food in our bellies… and I almost gave up on the dream time and time again. Towards the end of year three, bookings took off and my clientele roster grew. Our schedules quickly escalated from around two bookings a month, to anywhere from six to seven a weekend! We are now 3.5 years into the business and are in the process of expanding our team and hiring our first employee!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My journey of transforming Grey Pine into what it is today was the furthest thing from a smooth road! When we moved across the state of Texas, we knew this new chapter would set us back financially. Especially after we went from a two-income family of three, to a one-income family of four. After welcoming our beautiful little girl into this world, postpartum depression crept in and the balancing act of being a stay-at-home mom who was trying to run a startup company while maintaining a social life and being a good wife made me feel like I was drowning. After draining our savings account and selling one of our cars, I had doubts about the leap of faith I took in starting the business and contemplated throwing in the towel day after day. But a voice in my head told me that all the blood (and a few splinters…. beginners woodworking isn’t for the weak), sweat and waterfall of tears that could fill an ocean would soon pay off.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always found joy in creating pretty things. Whether it was making my own Halloween costumes as a kid, working on school projects, making a homecoming mum or decorating my room, I saw the potential of what something could be and did what it took to bring my vision to life. I wanted to be different and stand out with my own style and flare, and soon learned that I am the epitome of the word “extra”. And EXTRA is what we are known for!
I always knew that in order to get the clientele that I wanted. I needed to show the world exactly what I could do, even if it meant making less money. This meant including extra things that the client may have wanted but didn’t have the budget for. Instead of just doing a simple backdrop with balloons, I soon began creating my own vinyl designs. Which then turned into adding florals to give texture, furniture pieces to bring depth and rugs/props to add dimension! This soon had locals deeming us the “Detail Queen” and I completely ran with it coining the slogan “We understand that it’s the small details which make the BIG picture!”
By adding all the extra flare, we became a one-stop-party-shop that turns blank spaces into pretty places with the goal in mind to leave each client with a backdrop that is Instagram worthy! There are so many people out there that are unable to envision my design ideas from a verbal description alone, and I found myself losing business because of this. After a lot of research and practice, trial and error, I began creating one-of-a-kind designs in Canva to show my clients exactly what their money is going towards, with the option of enhancing it further or scaling it back if need be. This helped set us apart from other vendors who offered similar services because I finally was able to give examples of how much I could truly elevate their special events.
Having people reach out after seeing my previous setups and giving me complete creative freedom with their backdrop designs gave me the confidence boost to know my worth and raise my prices to match not only the cost of materials but the time it takes from start to finish to bring each design to life!
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
First and foremost, my children are what matter the most to me. If in 20 years when they are adults, they choose to call me just because, come home for the holidays because they actually want to and not because they are expected to, trust me for guidance and want me there for the good times and bad, I will have obtained my biggest flex in life. But for now, what is most important to me is showing my children just how possible it is to turn their dreams into realities while also knowing that they are loved, safe and taken care of.
I believe is our job to raise tiny humans who become healthy adults that are productive members of society and leave the world a better place than it was when they got here. For myself, that means going to to therapy, breaking generational cycles, listening, learning and always looking to grow.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grey.pine.events
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greypineevents
- Other: TikTok @grey.pine.events, Email – greypineevents@gmail.com
