Meet Darian James | Event Expert & Director of Catering & Events

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

Hi Darian, what are you inspired by?
I’m inspired by change and opportunity. It’s rear that anyone come across an opportunity that can be life changing. So when a change in my life or career occurs, I’m thrilled to welcome it. I love watching America’s Got Talent or Britain’s Got Talent for example because these people go on this show and share their talents and it’s a huge opportunity for them to be discovered and possibly change their entire life. Anytime I’m given an opportunity for anything it fuels me to want do it the best way possible. I’m also inspired by my family., especially my mom who had me at a very young age and had to sacrifice a lot to make sure I never needed anything. My family has always been a pillar of strength growing up and has inspired me to want to be my best at everything in life to one day repay them for everything they have done for me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m the Director of Catering and Conference Services at the Sofitel Los Angeles Hotel where I oversee the sales and operations of the catering and events for the hotel. I’ve been in this field for over 20 years as I started as a busboys in my family’s restaurant in the US Virgin Islands. Over the years I worked my way up in the business to gain experience in every aspect of the business to be able to properly direct it today. After leaving for college I was working at a hotel as the director of banquets while studying to be a pilot and due to 9/11 my school was closed so I switched to hospitality management given I was already working at the hotel. I went from the operations side of executing the events with my team to the sales side where I sell the event to the clients. After working in hotels for 10 years in the Midwest. I moved to NY and continued my career in catering sales at the Eventi Kimpton Hotel for 5 years before transitioning to the Sofitel New York Hotel for 5 years as the Director of Catering. Since NY became a ghost town during the Pandemic, I was forced to move to LA at the Sofitel Los Angeles where I am the current Director of Catering and Conference Services. It was not an easy road to get here but I’m so happy I didn’t give up when things got hard, I wasn’t discouraged when others were doubting me and I kept my hustler mindset to do whatever I needed to do to keep growing. I’ve always surrounded myself with positive people, people I can learn from, people that inspire me and people that will not let me settle. A wise mentor once told me. Try to learn something new everyday and try to teach someone else something new everyday. It could be anything. This would allow you to always be learning and always be sharing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I moved here from NY but I LOVE LA! If I had friends visiting for a week there are so many things we could do depending on which set of friends lol. Any of my closest friends know I love to entertain and have a good time. For a week itinerary Sunday through Saturday we would start with a hike to Runyon then followed by brunch at The Butcher, The Baker, The Cappuccino Maker the walk it off on Venice Beach Boardwalk. Since I have to work Monday through Friday I will give them an itinerary of things to do while I’m working like Checking out the Grove, exploring downtown, walk the streets of Hollywood, hit all the beach towns south on the PCH, get a spa day at Vendome Clinique. Every evening we would do Happy Hour and Dinner at some of my favorite places like Sur, Beaches in WeHo, Botegga, The Henry, Dante’s for Martini Hour and Rocco’s. We would do a combination of those HH and dinner spots and for their last night we have to go to The Abbey and The Chapel to dance the night away and end at Heart if we feel like dancing to 4am

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to Shoutout my mom Denise James for always pushing me to being the best, her constant prayers over my life and calling me every day even though I am 42 years old to make sure I’m ok. I’ll also like to shoutout my Husband Guillaume Jean Lefebvre for always supporting me with all my ideas and helping me bring my creative thoughts to life. My job is crazy and unpredictable but his support to allow me to do what I need to succeed is very important to my success today. I came out at the age of 30 which is very late for a lot of people but I lived in a country where being gay was frowned upon. Now that I’m an adult I love supporting, giving back and being an activist for the LGBTQIA community. There are a lot of young people who didn’t make it this far because they didn’t have the support and love to be themselves so I want to do anything I can to break this stigma and mindset in our LGBTQIA youth.

Instagram: @noturaverage28

Linkedin: www.LinkedIn.com/in darian-james-32407636

Twitter: @James11Darian

Facebook: Darian James

Image Credits
Photographer: Guillaume Jean Lefebvre
Photographer: Marvin Neucklaus