Meet Ashley Caballero | Event Planner & Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley Caballero and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk was an action that made my stomach drop. Knowing that risk could cause the chance of unfortunate outcome made it harder to imagine the potential gain. In fact we take risks every day in our decision making process, but it was much harder to take risks for my business. When it was my turn to take a risk it didn’t come with a 100% guarantee, but I took the risk anyways. And ever since I’ve been taking more risks, because the potential gain is greater than the loss. The risks haven’t been easy but it has come to show as an essential part of growth.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I started Mara Events at the beginning of 2019 as a part time hustle, as I was working full-time in the construction industry. Once I had my first daughter I quickly realized that being a new mom, full-time employee and running a new business was too much to handle. After much consideration, I decided to quit my day-job and pursue my business full-time, and not to mention during the peak of a global pandemic! The event industry basically wasn’t allowed to work, but I faithfully went into it not knowing if had just taken the biggest risk of jeopardizing my new business. Since then it’s been uphill with so many things to be proud and excited for Mara Events. We consistently celebrate each new step whether it’s big or small, we celebrate every growth for our team. Within the first year I took another risk hiring a sales coach then hiring my very first employee. Moving forward we were able to get our first storage unit, then adding new members to our team, achieving our goals and most recently moving in to our first office.

We often see others accomplishments as such an attractive thing, but tend to forget the hard work behind it all. It certainly wasn’t easy going into my business full-time during a pandemic, during postpartum, it was really discouraging. It wasn’t easy saying yes to sales coaching and investing money we didn’t have. Or how about the anxiety that rose up every payday? But that’s why they call it growing pains, right? Growing isn’t easy, but I knew I had to stay consistent (or at least my husband kept reminded me). Staying consistent during the accomplishments as well as the failures is what made the difference. To keep saying yes, even during the times I wanted to quit the most.

Mara Events is a company I am truly grateful and proud of. We take every lesson learned very seriously which has taught us to take every detail into consideration. We are just as focused on the planning process as much as the outcome, because with a lack in planning there will be a lack in the outcome. We specialize in wedding coordination, event designing and corporate event management. We love the creative and the tedious aspects of event planning! Mara Events is constantly finding new ways to add convivence and organization for our clients. Having experience in the construction field has given added value to Mara Events in administration, organization, as well as being familiar with materials and labor for our design processes.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Being in central New Jersey we have access to so many places to visit, all less than an hour away. If you were hanging out with me we would start off everyday at a different coffee shop that is full of aesthetics and good coffee! I’d make you try “something different” because it’s all about the experience. Of course we would have to eat Brazilian food because I love to share my culture! Some of my favorite Brazilian restaurants would include “Recanto Do Xiru”, one of the cute coffee shops we would visit, and “Delicia De Minas” where you can listen to some awesome live samba and eat great food! If you’re in Jersey you most likely are visiting the city, NYC of course. Going to the shore is a must, my favorite would be Long Branch Beach, and for the hikers I would be open to hiking even though I’m not very active.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people that I owe my gratitude towards! When you have a dream your biggest supports and believers will be right there with you, dreaming along with you. It feels scary to dream big but the right people will encourage you to keep on going. I’m truly blessed to have a tremendously supportive husband, to be my co-dreamer and biggest supporter. He continuously pushes me to go beyond my limits, encouraging me that I can do hard things, and shows love and support through it all. My family, sale’s coach, and vendors have also made a big impact!

Website: https://www.maraeventsllc.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_maraevents/?hl=en

Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MaraEventsLLCusa/_saved/

Image Credits
Natan Pena, Gifted Vision Photography