Meet Amy Simon | Event Planner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amy Simon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The title on my business cards say Owner/Planner/ New Bestie. It was really important to me as I was building my brand and my business that I had a personal connection with my clients. Once we have built a strong relationship, it is so much easier to predict what they will like and what personal elements we can bring into their event. Often times event planners get a bad reputation for being “short fused” or “difficult to work with” so it has always been my goal to change that narrative. Therefore, my team and I have really focused on building trusting working relationships with vendors and venues so that we are going into events on the same page and willing to go above and beyond for each other. At the end of the day the success of the Amy Simon Events brand is the motto we go by “work hard and be nice.”

What should our readers know about your business?
I was like any other 20 something graduating with a degree that specialized in event planning and wanted to do weddings. However, I happened to get hired by a company that specialized in Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. I had never really even considered this as a path for myself and ended up falling in love with them. Don’t get me wrong, weddings are wonderful and pretty but Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are just FUN. I love getting to know the teens I work with and making all their ideas come to life (Bonus, they keep me young and up to date on all the cool things). Occasionally I plan weddings, corporate or other social events just to keep things interesting. But by specializing in Mitzvahs I get to see the trends and changes earlier than most, giving me time to help guide clients in the right direction before their event.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I feel like there are so many fun things to do in Arizona! I live in Gilbert so we would ride bikes to Downtown Gilbert. While there we would peruse the farmers market and get breakfast at Liberty Market. Next, we would have to do some shopping and would go to Scottsdale Mall and Scottsdale Quarter. Finally, I would want to show off our weather and natural beauty by hiking at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which is one of my happy places.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost my husband deserves the biggest shout out! He has always been supportive in me pursuing my business by making sure to have a stable job with a set schedule so that I could work in the unpredictable field of event planning. He is simply the best!

I can’t forget my two mentors Toby Benton and David Twigger. Toby took me in right out of college and really made sure she taught me the in’s and out’s of structuring an event. David hired me two months after my son was born and was amazingly supportive to this new mom. He helped me focus my creativity and never told me ‘no, that’s not possible’ but instead would say ‘let’s see if we can make this work’. David is still my first call whenever I need to talk thru an event problem or issue.

Website: www.amysimonevents.com

Instagram: @amysimonevents

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amysimonevents/

Image Credits
Stephanie Heymann Photography Neil Mei Photography