Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurie Sprouse.
Their story begins in the Fall of 1987 when Laurie and Val Lenington met as college students aboard Semester at Sea, a global study abroad program. For 101 days, Val and Laurie took university courses as they traveled around the world aboard a converted container ship. It was a trip of a lifetime that literally changed the course of their lives. Little did they know how this extraordinary experience would shape their views on travel, change their perceptions of the world, and be the inspiration for their future company.
In 1993, after both women had graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and worked a few years in their first post-college jobs, they decided to pursue their passion for travel and go into business together. The initial plan was to start an outbound tour company taking groups from North Texas all over the world. However, as fate would have it, they instead started Wild West Adventures, an inbound receptive operator that catered primarily to international groups coming to Dallas-Fort Worth in search of uniquely Texas experiences.
Over the past 24 years, the company has evolved and grown into Ultimate Ventures, a full-service event and destination management company (DMC) that employees 20 office staff and over 80 field staff. The company has received more industry awards and professional certifications than any other Texas DMC, was recently named as Texas’ Best Meeting/Event Planning Company (by Texas Meetings and Events magazine) and was named one of the Top DMCs in the world by Special Events magazine in 2016.
Even more than their business success, Val and Laurie are most grateful for the lives they’ve created with their husbands and children here in Dallas. Having their own company provided them the unique opportunity to have a nursery at the office as soon as babies began to come on the scene. With their first children born only 3 months apart, they learned together how to navigate the challenges of balancing motherhood and business.
Their children never seemed to have a problem with the arrangement, however. By the age of two, Val’s daughter begged to hop up on her mom’s lap and type on the “puter” to help with proposals. Laurie’s two sons had a knack of sneaking into her office and surprising her during the most important of client calls, providing some much needed comic relief. Today, now that their children are in middle school, the nursery has transformed into a place of zen as the company’s yoga room.
Laurie and Val continue to be best of friends, inspiring and supporting one another in attaining their dreams and goals, and especially in celebrating their 25th year in business together.
Has it been a smooth road?
No, does any entrepreneur have a smooth road? We have had our fair share of struggles over the years. Events that particularly stand out include:
- Post 9/11 when business travel was severely curtailed
• The great recession when meetings had a bad name due to optics such as the “AIG Effect”
• Five days of paralyzing snow and ice immediately preceding Dallas-Fort Worth’s hosting of the Super Bowl in 2011
• Ebola striking Dallas in the fall of 2014, causing many companies to cancel or postpone meetings in our area.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Ultimate Ventures, a DMC Network Company – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Ultimate Ventures is a full-service event and destination management company that specializes in providing corporate groups and associations a host of local meeting & event services including transportation, tours, team-building, and special events.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I like the most about the city is the growth and investment in the city’s parks, bridges, the arts, venues, airports and infrastructure. It’s an exciting time for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and we are thrilled to be able to show it off to local and incoming groups.
What I like least about the city are the problems with the Dallas police and fire pension fund.
Contact Info:
- Address: Ultimate Ventures, 4400 Beltway, Addison, TX 75001
- Website: www.uvdmc.com
- Phone: 972-732-8433
- Email: val@uvdmc.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/ultimateventures/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UltimateVentures/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/UVDMC
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ultimate-ventures
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
