Today we’d like to introduce you to Catina Farah and Kristin Kleinhans.
Catina and Kristin, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In 2011 after working as a social worker with two young children, and a newborn baby, I lost my dad to cancer. He was 64 years young and forced me to take a real hard look at my life and as much as I loved working with children in foster care, I wanted to spend more time with my family and do something I loved from home. I had always looked forward to planning all my families vacations and loved the research and planning process. I loved finding hidden gems and experiencing them with my family and friends.
I started researching home-based travel agents and found a host agency with training, signed up, and did the training in three months. I was so amped to start my own business. Epic Travel Concierge was born. It would allow me the opportunity to do what I loved on my time and terms. Fast Forward 6 years. I had a great book of business and met with a dear friend who was working in the event planning industry. She had a made amazing relationships throughout the south Florida area, and was sought after for weddings, corporate, and other social events. She too was having that “it has got to be better than this moment” and looking to branch out on her own.
During lunch and over margaritas, she decided to quit her job and go out on her own as my partner. There were no other companies that provided VIP travel concierge services and event planning at the same time… It is a one-stop shop. We then redid our site and started doing business as The Epic Event Group. Several destination weddings later and corporate programs in south Florida, we are both happy and very busy!
Great, 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?
When I started u had to explain that travel agents were actually still around and prove why using my services is so valuable. People have this misconception that it costs more to use an agent. I started to network and word of mouth was my best marketing. My family handed out my cards and then family and friends of my family and friends started to call.
I learned the hard way that being a one-person show, even it being my show, could be very stressful and time-consuming as the business grew. I also had to juggle a baby and work. People who think working from home is easy, guess again, try a conference call with a whole family about a trip to Europe while your two years old wants another video on. I have literally locked myself in my walk-in closet to have a conversation.
For Kristin, she had to hit the ground running and let people know she was now on her own. Wasn’t hard for her since her reputation was well known in the community and people immediately reached out for events.
Epic Event Group – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We specialize in planning trips and events that are not cookie cutter. If you can do it yourself on the internet, please, by all means, do so. We create experiences, behind the scene and off the beaten path tours and opportunities that you cannot find on your own. We have built strong relationships in south Florida and around the world so we can provide top-notch service that will wow our clients.
Kristin brings years of her expertise in design and décor and no one I know has the eye she does to make an event stand out. We take the stress out of planning so our clients can focus on the excitement and be in the moment. Every moment counts!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Being recognized as the top agent among 700 other agents in sales was really exciting. It really made me realize I am doing something right. We are competing with well known, large event companies for events and winning. the contracts. We make our client’s visions come to life and have yet to say we cannot make it happen!
Our last destination wedding in Mexico was amazing!! we keep getting feedback about how unique and amazing it was and it was also nominated for the wedding of the year by Del Sol Photography which is the leading company in Mexico for destination weddings in photography.
Contact Info:
- Address: 726 NW 42 Way Deerfield Beach, FL 33442
- Website: www.theepiceventgroup.com
- Phone: 754-333-1216
- Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
- Instagram: theepiceventchick
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/theepiceventgroup
Image Credit:
Del Sol Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA 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.
