Community Highlights: Meet Dasia McCrimmon of D.D.C.T Event Planning

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dasia McCrimmon.

Dasia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I graduated from East Carolina University, with my bachelor’s in hospitality management, with a minor in business administration and a concentration in conventions & special events in May of 2017. When I first graduated from college I was applying to jobs everywhere, resorts, hotels, independently owned event planning companies all the way from Raleigh, NC to Miami, FL. I didn’t really care where I worked as long as it was nowhere near the cold I absolutely hate cold weather, and I was able to do what I loved to do; event planning.

The majority of the jobs I applied to, all gave me a call back for an interview however they always asked the same question “What type of experience do you have”, “What have you done so far?” It was as if me having a four-year degree wasn’t enough, every job wanted 2-3 years of experience, which I didn’t have. After about 8 months of still not landing a job in my dream field, I started to feel depressed wondering did I waste time and money getting a four-year degree just to be told, the experience outweighed the education.

So, finally, I decided I would start gaining experience on my own, by building a portfolio all from me starting my own event planning company: DDCT Event Planning. DDCT stands for Dreams Do Come True, I intend to turn my small business into a large business and expand all over if possible, by being a mobile event planner, turning my dreams into reality, and turning my client’s dream events into reality as well. The start of my event planning career was hit with Covid-19, so during the first year, I worked on branding, social media accounts, websites, logos for the whole nine.

2021 was incredible for me, I was booked 70% of the year, which was a great deal to me I became known as a trusted event planner, and I finally felt great about my accomplishment of obtaining my degree. No, I didn’t land my dream job working for someone else, I am building my dream company still doing what I love. Today, I can say that I have been booked for my first out-of-state event with only being in business for 1 year, I have continuously added new inventory to my company, and I make sure I focus on it every day one day at a time.

I am in no race or in any competition with anyone, to be honest, things have folded out how they have for me and my business because I focus on how I can always become better. I always tell myself “Make sure this one is better than the last one ” and that quality will always be the answer.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, I can’t say it has been a completely smooth road thus far, Covid has caused a tremendous amount of challenges, a lot of people are still terrified of Covid and are in fear of catching it.

But I can’t really blame them I get it health comes first over celebrations or special dates, however, I am a millennial and I feel we are all about taking risks and making memories, living in the moment more like I guess I should say. The demand for products and inventory has increased, the value of most things has doubled, all of this has caused an increase in the cost of living a great deal.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
DDCT is an event planning company, based in the Eastern part of North Carolina. However, I am a traveling event planner, meaning I am willing to travel outside of North Carolina if my services are needed. We currently specialize in birthday parties, networking & promotional events, party boxes, throne chair rentals, and lots more. My goal is to be able to expand into multiple cities, accommodate up to 200 guests per event, as well as owning an event space to host a wide range of events.

Currently, I am a full-time Branch Banker MLO during the weekday, and an event planner by the evening every day. Once I was just working on my business a few days out of the week, now it is an everyday full-time job, I put just as much love & dedication as I can into it. I don’t plan on narrowing down my target market for which type of category of event planning I prefer to do more of, I always felt being able to do a wide range of events would separate me apart from other planners, and just keep that excitement going for me.

Only being able to specialize in one category of events makes me feel closed in one box whereas I have tons of ideas, and styles to try. Event planning is like fashion; something new comes out every week, and I want to try each outfit on if possible.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Yes, an important tip is to always book ahead if possible, supplies, products, delivery time is delayed. The availability of venues is limited making my job pretty challenging at times.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.ddctevents.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ddctevents_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ddctevents/

Image Credits
Digital Trial Media