From high-tech corporate road warrior to one of Austin’s most successful event planners, Cindy Lo started Red Velvet Events with the mission to out-plan, out-play and out-party the competition.

The daughter of an Asian American family, Texas-born Cindy Lo was expected to be a doctor, lawyer or accountant. Lo even started the professional program in accounting at UT. But after a stint as a road warrior for a software company, she gave up a successful career with a steady paycheck and created the initial business plan for a high end party and wedding planning company. She launched the business with her savings and a few events she had lined up. Six years later, Red Velvet Events has evolved into a full-service events management and consulting company that has produced hundreds of major events for clients such as Dell, Silicon Labs, McCombs School of Business and the Make-A-Wish Foundation and has received national and international acclaim. Pulling off flawless events has been her driving passion since she founded the company. Her schedule would exhaust the Energizer bunny.

4:30 AM - It’s quiet. Here in my pj’s with no makeup. No one is awake yet so I can start my day, read email from clients and review strategy for events in the pipeline. My biggest challenge remains coming up with new creative angles and unusual ways to improve operations and really wow our clients. Pulling off the flawless event has to be a sickness.

7:00 AM - My 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter Sofia is awake and her questions start. “Are you already working in your ‘little office?’ Are you signing contracts?” To juggle everything, including motherhood, I rely on what I learned in my software life. My BlackBerry is always with me. I live in Outlook and Google Calendars. I’m an Excel junkie. I love the analysis of each event and definitely think like a programmer or engineer using my project management skills from high tech.

8:30 AM - Sofia and I head off for the UT Lab School via the drive-through at Starbucks. I love, love coffee! It keeps me going. The barista knows mine’s an Iced Caramel Macchiato – nonfat. Now that I’m pregnant, it’s decaf. Back to caffeine after the new baby comes in February.
As I keep an eye on Sofia for the next three hours, I’m putting out fires and fielding calls from nervous clients wanting to cancel their outdoor events because of an ominous weather forecast, or responding to a new client that wants a fully-detailed proposal with a complete budget for an event in Orlando – before lunch!

12:00 PM - Eating lunch, I am preparing for meetings at the “big office” on MoPac. This is when our team really works on strategy and the myriad details for upcoming events. It’s a big change from my early days. It was me, myself and I working from home until I got pregnant with Sofia. As I began to land big events, I had to hire people to help. I’m learning to delegate more and trust my team. They are lifesavers.

When I started the business, I also learned to stretch a dollar. I was scared but had a good support network that included my husband, friends and family.

2:00 PM - Off to meet with a vendor to discuss setup, layout and logistics for an upcoming festival to make sure everyone plays well together and that we have covered all the bases.

3:30 PM - A client wants to review the latest status report for a trade show in person. So I drive over to their offices, revisit the timeline, budget and the registration numbers. The meeting finally ends an hour-and-a-half later as I leave with an even longer to-do list. I’m thinking – time to delegate to my team.

7:00 PM - Most Tuesday and Thursday evenings I have networking events. This is how I’ve grown my business. My parents taught me to give back so I’ve been involved with Make-a-Wish and the advisory board of Texas Meetings and Events as well as an advisory board at UT for the MIS degree. But I don’t sit on as many boards any more. With the new baby on the way, I’ve had to adjust and try not to overcommit, but it’s hard – I love what I do, and I can’t stand seeing something not get done right.

8:00 PM - Pig out at home! I am a foodie at heart. At last, a few minutes to myself. A 10-minute power nap reenergizes me. I text message my husband, Scott, who’s still a road warrior. Once we get caught up, I’ll respond to email, working until midnight. Tomorrow, I’ll be up at 4 a.m. My days are never the same.