Today we’d like to introduce you to Chanel Patel and Zahra Ali.
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?
Chanel came from a long line of family members being in the hospitality industry including her father and eldest sister. She knew she always wanted to be in the event industry but didn’t quite know in what capacity. I (Zahra) have always been the planner amongst my peers, the go-to for a party hack, and always had a love for design and customization.
We go way back to 2011 when we met while working in the behavioral therapy world! We worked on internal events and annual fundraising events as well as always being the go-to folks for our friends and family when it came to planning. When working together, we were able to bounce ideas off of one another and execute things concisely after many lists of tasks and responsibilities.
Opportunities arose for us to join the planning industry a few years later with a South Asian wedding planning company. After a few years of working together in this capacity, we had a different vision of what could be for event planning across the board, more than just weddings & ideas of our own that we wanted to come to life. Fast forward to 2020 when Palino Events was born!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
First and foremost, Starting a business in 2020 was an obstacle and challenge in and of itself. Little did we know that the next 2 years to come were going to turn the industry upside down! Learning how to run a business overall has had its ups and downs. Sure, we have friends and family who have their own business but, when it’s your first time it’s always different. There’s a learning curve & you never stop absorbing knowledge, tips & tricks! We have many mentors in the industry guiding us along the way, for which we’re very thankful for! Having the trust of clients and other industry colleagues is important to us. Building trust is hard and keeping it is even harder. To some of our first Palino clients and vendors, we thank you for believing in us to execute your visions!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Palino Events is an event planning company offering full-service planning for weddings & corporate events. We are your one-step solution to your event experience. Our expertise in weddings, corporate and micro-events gives us vast knowledge for curating events of any kind or caliber. When you come to Palino Events, we make it our “mission” to bring your ‘vision’ to life. What sets us apart? Our attention to detail, result-oriented efforts, and ability to fully grasp concepts and implement them in the best possible way. We take pride in working with our clients to deliver one-of-a-kind, curated approaches to life’s most treasured celebrations.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
As more of our clients are looking to have their events be more unique and differentiated it gives us an opportunity to have more customization but requires more collaboration amongst vendors. I think that this is the direction the industry is headed, which is more collaboration and teamwork than was needed before. While it used to seem superfluous to hire planners for more elaborate private events and weddings, it’s becoming more of a necessity due to the lack of stress that falls on the clients and families planning the event.
We are hopeful that the ‘endemic’ is upon us, and that we can all bounce back and start creating dreams for clients out there! We’re excited for what’s to come, sky’s the limit!
Contact Info:
- Email: info@palinoevents.com
- Website: palinoevents.com
- Instagram: @palinoevents
- Facebook: Palino Events
Image Credits
Julia Sharapova
Jaqueline Medrano
Alan Moreno Photography
