Iana Crane providing quality event planning services to community with SBH Event Agency

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – There are times when your calling in life “just happens,” which was the case for Iana Crane, the owner of SBH Event Agency.

Crane sits down with WJBF to discuss how doing something for her family and friends turned into a career opportunity to provide quality event planning services for the community.

Thank you for joining us on Celebrating Black Excellence. How did you get started with event planning?

So, it kind of was just something I fell into. I always do like big birthday celebrations for my kids, and with that, I just started doing other things for friends and family. I started doing a lot of hosting at my house putting on little events for all of my friends. Then, last year was when I kind of got the idea, like, “I think this is what I’m meant to do.”

So, the name of your event agency is SBH Event Agency. So, where does the name come from?

SBH stands for social, business, and hospitality, and those are the three areas of events that we focus on. So, social is going to be your weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries; business is anything business-related, galas, luncheons; and then, hospitality is going to be hotel room décor, home décor, as well as Airbnbs, and real estate homes, too.

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So, when someone hires you, what are the steps? What is the process that they have to go through?

So, if someone is interested in getting some help with planning an event, the first step would be to visit the website, and they can put some information in there. We’ll have a consultation. We’ll go over some of their must haves for the event, the date, and then, we’ll kind of start from there. Once they hire me, then, we start collaborating on the theme, any type of decor that they want, and then, we’ll work on what’s called a digital mockup. That’ll have like a visual representation of what they’re going to get on the day of their event. Once they approve that, then, we go forth with booking vendors and making sure that we allocate their budget correctly. Then, we pretty much do everything. We manage to budget. We manage the vendors. We are the point of contact on the day of the event. We’re there for set up and breakdown, and then, we pretty much handle everything from beginning to end.

What is the most elaborate event that you’ve put together?

It was an event that I did in home. I hosted an event for some close friends. It was a theme called Blooming Baddies. So, it was like sunflowers and flowers everywhere. So, that one was really nice. I did a full backdrop. I did full table décor, tablescape, and everything. I did have a caterer come in and do a full-service catering. It was a brunch menu. We also did that with a paint-and-sip. So, I also had an area where we did some painting. That was really nice, and it was intimate. It was small. It wasn’t a lot of ladies, but it allowed me to kind of do over the top because it was such a small gathering. So, that turned out pretty nice.

What’s your favorite type of event to plan?

I would say I like intimate gatherings, and it really just kind of depends on the theme, but intimate gatherings usually tend to leave more room in the budget. Then, I’m able to go over the top and more things with the event. So, not specifically whether it’s like a social or business event, but I like intimate events.

What kind of feedback have you received from people who have used your services?

Some of the feedback that I’ve received is that I’m a over the top person, like just in general. People always expect the most from me – and I hate to say like that – but I always try to show up and show out. I always try to deliver beyond the expectations of what people have. That’s really the feedback that I’ve gotten for the most part, which is that I’m going to go above and beyond and make sure that the event is everything that they expected. Everything that they wanted. I’m going to do my best to deliver for them.

Now, how has the Greater Augusta Black Chamber of Commerce benefited you and your business?

So the resources, truthfully, that they have offered to me and show me things that I didn’t really know, like the Step Up program that they have, has been super helpful. Just getting information from those, even if it’s not like every class that I’ve attended, there have been some classes that have really stuck with me that have pointed out some more intricate parts of business that I did pay attention to, like as far as taxes that’s always like a major thing of businesses. I attended their Step Up class, and it really taught me a lot. Then, also just the networking has been something that’s been really beneficial to me; meeting other entrepreneurs in the community, being able to talk with them, get advice, share our stories, and just really knowing that in this journey of entrepreneurship that you’re not alone. Having that support has really been amazing for me.

Now, what advice do you give someone who wants to become an entrepreneur?

So, my advice as far as becoming an entrepreneur is you have to really be determined. It’s a solo road. You know, when you just decide to become an entrepreneur, it’s not something that you have a crowd of people on that journey with you. It’s just you for the most part. So, just staying focused, be determined, and believe in yourself, honestly, because you will hit a lot of bumps. You will get a lot of no’s, and you might not know a lot, but I would always say, check your resources and get involved in the community. Find ways that you can get in touch with people who might know more than you. Networking has been really beneficial to me. Just keep building your knowledge base because you never can know too much when it comes to entrepreneurship. So, that would be my best piece of advice.

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If people want more information about you or your agency, how can they get that information?

If people want to reach out, they can send an email at contact@sbheventagency.com. We also have a telephone number that you can text or call, and that’s going to be at (706) 744-1044. They can visit the website that is sbheventagency.com. They can fill out the questionnaire on there. Those emails will come directly to me as well. We’re on Facebook as well, and we do respond to the DMs on Facebook. So, if someone decides to reach out through Facebook, they can reach us through all of those ways.

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