April 6, 2025 • 39 mins
LaToya Mason’s journey from the entrepreneurial landscape of her childhood in Tulsa to becoming the powerhouse behind LMason Wedding and Event Planning is nothing short of inspiring. Raised amidst the bustling environment of her mother's hair salon and her father's ministry, LaToya's early life was steeped in business acumen and community service. Initially, her sights were set on a career in law, but the pull of event planning proved irresistible. With the launch of Nexus Creative, LaToya's vision is now soaring to new heights, crafting unforgettable experiences in the heart of Oklahoma City.
Throughout the episode, we navigate the balancing act of maintaining a thriving business while nurturing a family and personal well-being. Transparency and setting boundaries play pivotal roles in this journey, as LaToya shares candid stories of juggling her professional and personal lives. We reflect on the evolving vision for L Mason Events, inspired by the compassion and work ethic witnessed in her mother’s career. Whether orchestrating a joyful wedding or a solemn event like the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration, LaToya's commitment to care remains unwavering.
We also delve into the exciting world of Nexus Creative, a venue dedicated to crafting core memories without breaking the bank. Situated in downtown Oklahoma City, this space is quickly becoming the go-to destination for bespoke events. With an open catering policy and competitive rates, Nexus Creative is all about flexibility and personal touches. From government contracts to personal passions like dancing, LaToya's approach to business is one of resilience and enthusiasm, ensuring that every client leaves with cherished memories and a smile.
Thank you for listening! YouTube - @3KeysforYourJourney -Tune in for a new episode every Sunday. Connect with us at www.ocfo.info
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In this episode, let's discuss where passion
meets purpose in the world ofevent planning and creative
spaces.
Founder and CEO Latoya Masonbegan with organizing family
celebrations.
Would led her to launch ElmasonWedding and Event Planning in
2011, with a vision to createunforgettable experiences for a
(00:21):
wider audience.
Recently, she's introducedNexus Creative, a brand new
event space in Oklahoma City.
Latoya and her team can nowenhance the art of event
planning, offering a space wherecreativity and vision come to
life.
Join me today as we explore thekeys to crafting extraordinary
(00:41):
experiences and building alegacy through events.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Are you ready to unlock your potential?
Tune in to Three Keys for yourJourney podcast, where business
owners share invaluable insightsand empowering strategies to
guide you toward success.
Based in Oklahoma City, ourhost, Greg T Jones, will inspire
and motivate you every week.
Get ready to join ourconversation as we build
(01:19):
community together.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
All right, all right, we have Miss Isla Toya Mason in
the house how you doing thisday.
I'm fabulous See what listenerscan't see is you got this big
smile on your face.
You got that cute dimple.
See, we should talk about mydimple, but I didn't know.
Yes, you had one too rightthere on the right side I do.
I do Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's my signature.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
That's signature life .
Well, thank you for taking sometime out of your busy schedule,
latoya, to be with us on today.
I'm excited because we get tolearn a little bit more about
you.
We learn a little bit moreabout your business, your family
, your team, all of those goodthings, and so I usually start
out by saying you know numberone.
(02:01):
I say welcome to the podcastThree Keys for your Journey.
You know our role is really tohighlight business owners like
you.
We are excited about theopportunity to, number one learn
and understand how you've gotyour start, a little bit about
just what makes you move, yourmissions, your values, all those
(02:25):
kind of things.
So today I think it's going tobe fun because we get a chance
to kind of pick your brain alittle bit and have you really
kind of share with us some ofthe things that have been key to
your success since you startedyour business.
So, for most of Oklahoma Cityknows who you are, but not
everybody in the United Statesor the world knows who you are,
(02:47):
so Latoya introduce yourself.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Well, I am Latoya Mason.
Fun fact about me, I have manylast names, so the people who
know me best call me LatoyaArbertha Davis Mason.
But I was actually born inWichita, kansas.
We have a strong heritage andfamily legacy in Wichita Kansas.
(03:15):
Arbertha's and William's there,and then the Davis's.
And then I was raised in Tulsa,oklahoma, proud graduate of the
Booker T Washington High School, not Tulsa Washington.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
You got to say it right Booker T Washington,
booker T Washington, that'sright.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
The T.
So I'm Toya, from the town andI come from a lineage of
entrepreneurship.
I was introduced to it as ayoung girl.
I was introduced to it as ayoung girl.
My mother, demetra everybodyknows her as Michi in Tulsa she
(03:57):
is a hairdresser and for many,many years operated Michi's main
attraction and main M-A-N-Eattraction.
And we learned as little onesthe importance of giving back.
And we, we learned work ethicextremely early.
(04:18):
We were the ones folding towelsin the morning before school,
because we had to walk.
You know, my mother washed themthat night and we as a team had
to fold them and get them readyso that she could start the day
, and then after school we wouldnight and we as a team had to
fold them and get them ready sothat she could start the day,
and then after school we wouldgo and we were sweeping the
floors and and and washing uhbase boards and uh sanitizing
sinks.
And so we learned um number one, um entrepreneurship.
We learned community, um, andwe learned all hands on deck um.
(04:43):
And so it was.
I was born into it, right,obviously that young I didn't
know what I was going to bedoing, you know, but I knew the
importance of owning, operatingin excellence.
And if you know my mother inTulsa, she is excellent, her
(05:09):
specialty is in hair care, andso you want strong, healthy,
long locks, then you went to MeToo's main attraction.
So that's kind of my foundationin entrepreneurship, foundation
(05:29):
in entrepreneurship.
But what my family is mostknown for is impacting community
and in church.
I come from a long lineage ofministers, pastors, singers, etc
.
So my dad is Byron Mason.
Byron Mason is my son, byronDavis.
My son is named after him, andso on one side we were working
(05:50):
in the salon with my mom andthen on the other side with my
dad, we were fading music out.
When he was, you know, the songwas running a little bit too
long and he was like we're done,learning how to fade that music
down, carrying in thatequipment and cueing.
(06:10):
You know, if there was anoperator or an engineer in the
sound booth, we were the oneskind of giving them those cues,
and so we just learned so manydifferent aspects of
entrepreneurship as babies,right.
And so, you know, as we grew upand as I grew up and went to
college, it was just kind of anatural progression.
So I thought I wanted to be alawyer.
So when I went to LangstonUniversity, I majored in English
(06:33):
first and then I switched mymajor to sociology and joined a
sorority, started getting activein the ecosystem at Langston
and some of the things that Ilearned growing up and didn't
understand growing up aboutgiving just became natural to me
(06:54):
at Langston.
And then I'm a natural leaderand so all of the things that
was imparted to me in me that welearned as kids, you don't
really appreciate them untilthey start coming back and you
are naturally walking in thepurpose that you didn't even
(07:16):
really know was your purpose.
And so I just started planning.
You know we would want to haveevents, we would want to have
programs, and it just camenatural to me.
I'm an organizer, I am adelegator, I am a strong arm
sometimes, and it just camenatural.
(07:39):
And so then people just lookedto me to lead them in.
That Didn't really understandyet that that was what I was
going to be, still thinking Iwas going to be a lawyer,
applied to many law schools, gotinto three, decided that I was
(08:00):
going to take some time off andstarted working in luxury retail
.
Okay, so I worked for EddieBauer, I worked for Saks Fifth
Avenue, I worked for Dillard'sand I met a woman and her name
is Tracy Robinson.
Over the span of my life therehave been some people that have
(08:23):
come in that have, like, changedmy life my mom, my dad, tracy
Robinson.
Tracy taught me to doeverything in your power for
people before you have to tellthem no.
Almost was a gift and a curse,because I have a problem telling
people no now, but what thatmeant in the retail world was
(08:56):
that you're going to get peoplethat's going to ask you to do
things for them that you reallyshouldn't.
They're going to pull you andpush you to go beyond policy and
go beyond what naturally seemsto be the right thing to do,
because a lot of times peopleare going to be in desperate
(09:16):
situations.
Right, they came in, theyshopped, they spent too much
money, it's 30 days past theirexpiration date.
They need to bring it backright.
So you have to look beyondpolicy sometimes.
You have to look beyond whatyour mood is that day and you
have to take care of people.
(09:37):
So she taught me at 18, 19, 20years old take care of them.
Well, that's not the policy.
Take care of them.
Is it going to hurt us that wetook back a hundred dollar pair
of pants when we're going tohave a $600 sale in 20 minutes,
it's not going to hurt us.
Take care of people, right?
And so I just began to takecare of people.
(09:59):
And so when I was at Saks FifthAvenue, we closed our store.
And so when I was at Sex FifthAvenue, we closed our store, and
at that point I had alreadystarted El Mason Events 2011,.
My daughter got married and youknow, I just said we're going to
do it, I'm going to do it.
(10:20):
I have impeccable taste.
She knew that, her fiance knewthat and we just did it.
I have impeccable taste.
She knew that, her fiance knewthat, and we just did it.
And it was fun, it wasincredible.
I got to stretch, I got to grow, I got to learn how to
collaborate, and that justlaunched Elmacy Events.
(10:41):
And so when we closed our storehere in Oklahoma City, launched
Elmason Events.
And so when we closed our storehere in Oklahoma City, I could.
I had a couple options to stayin that world, and then I just
talked to my husband and I saidit's time to leap.
And he was like, let's leap.
And we just started full timeand it has been incredible, it
(11:06):
has been awful, it has been ablessing, it has been long
nights of tears and it has beena journey that I would choose
any and every day.
I would choose it again, overand over again.
So that's like the shortversion, ish, if you can call
(11:27):
that short, wow.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Wow that that right there is.
I was going to say part A.
The interesting thing aboutthis is that I actually have a
long history also with Latoya'sfamily, particularly her father.
Her father actually sang at ourwedding 27 years ago.
It's wild and um in Tulsa.
(11:53):
My wife also is sings and sothat's how she knew your dad and
uh.
And then I knew Bob, which isyour uncle, which is your
brother, your dad's brother,been knowing him for a number of
years and so you're absolutelyright, it's just, it's
impeccable to even hear you asyou talk about that and then
talk about the reputation thatyour mom has there in Tulsa Also
(12:15):
, you know, for those that don'tknow, tulsa and Oklahoma City,
the state of Oklahoma, are thekind of two big cities and both
of them have very richAfrican-American history.
There's a lot of deep roots andthere's a lot of
entrepreneurship, so it isawesome to kind of hear part of
that story.
Okay, so that's a greatintroduction.
(12:36):
A little bit about who you are.
I mean, obviously, part of ourpodcast is really to drill down
into, over the time that youhave been in business, in life
in general, raising a familywhat are some things that you
would say, three keys that youfound have been very
instrumental in your life.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Gosh, three keys transparency, work, ethic,
vision.
Okay, so transparency, I have.
I'm married.
I'm married to a wonderful,wonderful gentleman.
(13:20):
A lot of people say that he's aghost, he, he kind of stands in
the background, he's further inthe background than me, and
then I have we have.
We have a blended family.
So we have two older children,kristen and Caitlin, and then we
have two children together,byron and Harlem.
(13:47):
And I have to work a lot, and inthe beginning I had to miss a
lot, and so it was important tome to be transparent with my
family, with what I was doing,what I needed from them, and
where I was doing what I neededfrom them and where I was
(14:11):
struggling, right and so like.
For an example, when my son wassmaller, my son did everything.
He played every sport you canimagine, and there were
Saturdays where I just couldn'tgo, you know, and a lot of times
it was because I was working,but sometimes it was because I
needed to rest and he didn'tunderstand that, and so I had to
be extremely transparent.
(14:32):
With your mama's legs literallydon't work.
Today, we didn't get home until3 am from tearing downa
thousand person event.
I literally cannot walk.
I want to be there.
I cannot be there today and Ineed you to understand that
right.
So, being transparent with likejust what, with what I had the
(14:56):
capacity for, right and and Ithink that's that's key with
with my staff that I have now,you know, I went from me and my
daughters doing all of thesethings, and sister-in-laws and
things like that, and now I havestaff and I have to do the same
thing with them Doesn't alwayswork because I think I'm
(15:18):
superwoman, but I think it's keyto say I'm tired, we just can't
take anymore, we can't doanything else.
This is not a client that wecan accept.
I'm being transparent with thisis the vibe that I'm getting.
(15:38):
We can't accept this client andso sometimes, if you don't know
me well, it can come across asvery harsh.
I am not harsh, I am direct anda lot of people can't handle it
, but I'm always transparent andthe vision right.
(16:04):
When I started in 2011, thevision was different than what
it was in 2015.
And it's different than what itwas in 2020 with COVID, and it
is extremely different now, butthe goal is to always take care
(16:27):
of people.
Okay, we've done incredibleevents.
We've done everything from awedding with a $2,000 budget to
an event with $120,000 budget.
With a $120,000 budget, We'vedone events in Oklahoma City.
We've done events in Alaska.
(16:49):
We have the vision to take LMason events global, but the
core is always to take care ofpeople, and so I have to explain
that.
I have to make that clear and Ihave to.
(17:09):
It has to be explaineddifferently with different
events, right?
So we got into governmentcontracting last year and we got
an event.
It's called the Yellow RibbonReintegration Event and it was
completely different fromanything we've ever done.
We typically our tagline is weparty because that's our
(17:30):
business.
So we usually are doingcelebrations for people baby
showers, bridal showers,weddings, etc and it's usually
the most exciting days, and soit's easy to take care of people
when we're having fun, and it'susually the most exciting days,
and so it's easy to take careof people when we're having fun.
(17:50):
But with that event, we had totake care of people differently.
These were families who werewelcoming their soldiers back
home.
These are families whosesoldiers had seen some things
that we should never see, and sothe atmosphere was a little
different.
You know, there wasn't a DJ,there wasn't, and so when we sat
(18:10):
down we were like how do wetake care of these people?
You know what's going to be ourpivot here, right, and
essentially it's understandingwhat their needs are,
anticipating additional needs,taking care of them, having a
(18:31):
plan to tackle anything that'santicipated and being able to
pivot Right so it's always inthe forefront.
The vision is to take care, totake, take care to do everything
we can in our power to do rightby people so it sounds like
this is a flashback from thingsthat you learned when you were
(18:53):
18, 19, 20 years old do you hearme?
Speaker 1 (18:56):
how you observed your mom and your dad, and all these
things are now starting to comeback.
It is full circle absolutely.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
And so I would see my mom.
Um, there's a thing thathairdressers do when you sit
down, you take whatever wrappingthey have, because you know
African-American women, we loveour wraps.
And so my mom would take it offand she would run her fingers
through their hair and I can seeher brain like the wheels
(19:23):
turning, like how am I going totake care of her?
Right, and I've seen clientssit in her chair and would be
bawling from, you know, heat,damage or just something that
happened to them, stress thathas caused them to lose their
hair, et cetera.
And I can see my mom taking herhands and rubbing through their
(19:44):
hair, trying to figure out howshe was going to take care of
them.
And so my team and I do that.
It's the same concept.
It looks different.
It looks like us sitting aroundthis table.
You see these chairs here, thisis where we sit.
Well, they can't, but you can,and sometimes we just sit back
and we're like what are we goingto do?
How are we going to do this?
And we sit here until we canfigure out how we're going to do
(20:12):
it.
And so again, full circle, allof those things that I learned.
And then work ethic.
We work.
We work really hard.
Some days we are exceptionallyefficient.
Some days it's two o'clock inthe morning.
We're like, what did we dotoday?
Um, but it is important to methat we give our very best to
(20:38):
every single person that comesacross our desk.
Um, and we do that, and we doit well.
Um, do it well.
We lean on a lot of resources.
We have been blessed to be inan ecosystem where we can call
on people for resources when weneed them.
One sitting right in front ofme, greg Jones.
(20:59):
I want to share a story, kindof, about how we've had some
recent successes.
I wrote a curriculum for eventplanning.
I, you know, I'm alwaysthinking about like different
revenue streams, right, that'sthe part of entrepreneurship
where you're like I can't leanon just one, thinking about what
I could do to you know,generate some additional revenue
(21:23):
.
And we get asked all the timecan I shadow you, are you taking
interns, et cetera?
And I just simply don't havethe capacity for it.
But there's a need.
And so I wrote a curriculum andI came to Greg, came to you and
I said I wrote this curriculum,how do I pitch it?
What do I do with it?
(21:43):
How do I get it curriculum?
How do I pitch it?
What do I do with it?
How do I get it in vocationalschools?
And he said I got a program foryou.
Text me a link, filled out theapplication and when I tell you
(22:07):
it was like overnight was in.
This program was connected tocompliance consulting.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Oh gosh, ccc.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Anyway, it's a long name, that's how I know CCC, ccc
, jennifer, jennifer Size andRhonda Galloway and Brie Pierce,
and it was just like anabundance of knowledge and
(22:32):
resources to get me to where Ineeded to be Right now.
That turned into like agovernment contract.
It was like a whole thing Right.
But it also gave me theresources, the steps to be able
to pitch that, to be able topitch that.
I pitched it to Metro Tech andMetro Tech said send it to me,
when can you start?
(22:53):
And so it's just one of thosethings to where that work ethic
is introduced me to people, andthose people introduced me to
resources and those resourcesintroduced me to growth and
(23:15):
scaling.
And then it all just kind ofcomes back full circle to me
taking care of people and mebeing taken care of.
It's incredible.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I absolutely love how you walked us through that
story and to be a testament ofthat, to be a fly on the wall,
all of that stuff.
So here's a question what doyou do for fun?
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Oh boy.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
I dance.
Okay, you dance at your ownparties.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
I dance at my own parties.
So, okay, like I said, ourtagline is you said this is my
happy place.
Our tagline is we party becausethat's our business.
Um, uh, I have kind of alwaysbeen the life of the party.
Um, I am, I just love to have agood time and I don't have a
(24:09):
whole lot of time outside ofwork to do other things.
Right, like I'm a crafter, Ilove to do things like that, but
I love to dance.
So when there's music going, Idon't care if it's just me by
myself and I'm sure you've seenthat before I'm like the only
one out on the dance floortrying to get people to come out
, but I love that.
(24:32):
But outside of that, I love tojust be with my, my family, my
kids.
We just we have a good time.
We sit around and we laugh andjoke, we roast each other like
no other, and my kids areathletes and so I love to watch
(24:52):
them do what they love.
My son he's football.
Don't Byron Mason, rememberthat name?
He plays football in Norman forNorman North.
He's a basketball player also,but his passion is football and
my son is a direct reflection ofme.
It's the coolest thing to see,also sometimes the worst,
(25:21):
because he really is me and Ican see.
Oh, I'm like, oh, I see whypeople want to fight me.
I get it now.
He's got my personality, buthis work ethic is second to none
.
I don't have to tell that boyto do anything when it comes to
like what his passions are right.
That boy gets up at the crackof dawn, comes in my room he
doesn't need anything from me,but he comes in my room to make
(25:42):
sure that I know that he's upand he leaves the house six
o'clock in the morning and hegoes and works out before his
workout After school.
He goes and works out after hisworkout Saturday mornings.
He gets up and he goes andworks out when he could be
sleeping.
He has a vision, he has a goaland he works for it, and so it
(26:04):
is my pleasure to support him inthat.
That is fun to me.
My daughter now she's mysquirrely one, that's my girl,
but what she likes to do is sitthere and tell me basketball
acumen, football acumen.
That girl can tell you that yougive her an athlete, she run
(26:27):
down their stats and it is justlike you're, like a savant.
Why can't you clean that room?
But why do you know all ofthese things?
And it's just so interesting tosee.
And so my spare time is spentpouring into them and what they
love, because that's what bringsme joy.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
And I'm glad you said that, because as you started,
we started our conversation youtalked about in the initial
beginning there was so manytimes that you couldn't be with
them or spending time with themor attending games or events or
whatever.
And now I know you, I thinkyou're a super mom or whatever.
And now I know you, you I thinkyou're a super mom.
So I mean, it's like now youhave, while you have more on
(27:10):
your plate, but that has becomean integral part of what you do.
Absolutely and that's part ofyour life and it's become
important to you, and so I meanI really appreciate you kind of
bringing that also full circle,because I think that's important
.
You know, all of us don't haveto be laid up on a vacation or
on a beach, although that couldbe nice.
I'm not saying it isn't, butthinking about family and, as I
think, about your business, oneof the things that keeps
(27:31):
standing out to me is it's notonly that.
Are you trying to makememorable events for the people
that you serve and serving themwell?
There's something in thereabout leaving a lasting legacy.
People remember things that arespecial to them, and it's cool
to see or hear how you have beenable to do that for so many
(27:54):
others, but also you're able todo that within your own family
as well.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Yeah, yeah, we call it core memories.
We create core memories.
I'm a fancy girl.
I like bespoke experiences.
That's my favorite word.
I love bespoke experiences.
I love to create bespokeexperiences for people.
But it's not lost on me thatthat can be expensive, and so
(28:21):
we've structured our business onproviding those experiences at
an affordable rate, right.
And so one of the newestbusinesses that we, that I
started, is Nexus Creative, andit's an event space and it's we
call it Nexus because it isgoing to be the epicenter of
(28:43):
core memories.
We are going to create those athome, right?
So we're all over the place.
We've done events in California,alaska, like I said, savannah,
georgia, you name it.
You know we can do it right.
All it takes is research.
It's not hard to do thesethings, guys.
Just jump right and right here.
(29:03):
You know we get inquiries allthe time, um, in oklahoma city
for event spaces or events ingeneral, and they're like listen
, my budget is two thousanddollars.
What can I do?
Um, and uh, love my city, butmy city can be expensive.
(29:25):
You know, these event spaces towalk in them start at a
thousand dollars.
Well, if you have a $2,000budget for your entire event,
you can't spend half of it onthe venue.
And so kind of how we fell intothis was we were really looking
for office space.
And then I said you know what,if we're going to do this and
(29:48):
we're going to sign a lease, itneeds, number one be a space
that can generate revenue, butit can also fill in a gap, and
the gap is an affordable spacewith minimal restrictions and
using our resources, using ourecosystem.
Talked to a friend and said thisis what I'm looking for.
(30:11):
He said funny, I have a friendwho has a space just like what
you're explaining, that'slooking for an operator.
And then here we are, and weweren't even really officially
open before we had our firstbooking.
You actually were our firstbooking.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Come on, that's a Greg Jones one right there.
Yeah, Greg.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Jones effect.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
I wanted to be first too.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
So Greg was actually our first booking, not our first
event.
So he booked and we signed ourlease in July.
He booked for an event inSeptember.
We had our first event August3rd, so we hadn't even built our
lease.
In July he booked for an eventin September.
We had our first event August3rd, so we hadn't even built our
kitchenette yet.
We hadn't really bought anyfurniture.
We, you know, I had all of thethings that I just have for
(30:57):
event planning.
I was in a storage unit and inmy garage but we weren't ready
yet and we got that inquiry andshe was like I don't care, I
love it here.
And that's when we knew we'vewe got something here.
And they just start rolling inand rolling in.
And when we tell people thatthis space in downtown Oklahoma
(31:21):
City, where the back of thebuilding is on Main Street and
the front of the building is onSheridan which if you know
Oklahoma City, that is the coreof downtown Oklahoma City and
it's $200 an hour, they aretripping over themselves.
What do I sign?
We have an open catering policy.
We have an open vendor.
(31:41):
We do have a preferred listbecause we have worked with some
incredible vendors.
We do have a preferred listbecause we have worked with some
incredible vendors.
But if your grandma want tocook your stew and your chili
bar and your baked potato barand you want to bring that in,
we're going to let grandma dothat, because that's what you
need to create, to have thisevent that will create a core
(32:01):
memory for you, and if that'swhat you need from us, that's
what you're going to get.
And so it has just beenincredible to really recreate,
reimagine what creating a corememory for somebody looks like.
And so everybody deserves thatspecial moment.
(32:24):
Everybody deserves to feelimportant.
Everybody deserves to celebratesomething that's happened to
them whether it's graduating,having a baby, getting married
and they deserve to look back onthat day, 20, 30 years from now
and immediately smile Like.
When I think about mydaughter's wedding, I
(32:47):
immediately smile because Iremember like watching her do
her first dance.
I remember me and my sororitysister strolling at her wedding.
I remember watching my son andmy granddaughter, who were three
at the time, having dance feveron that dance floor, because
(33:08):
those are now core memories forme and core memories for her and
core memories for everyone whowas there, because even to this
day, people see me and they werelike girl.
I remember Kristen's wedding.
That was the best wedding I'veever been to, you know, and so
that just we're doing what we'resupposed to be doing.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Wow.
So I mean saying that.
I mean, I don't know if you'relistening out there, but you
probably need to figure out away to sign up, absolutely.
So how can people get incontact with you, with your team
?
Where is that information at?
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Absolutely so.
We are on socials, so oursocial media is lmasonevents
underscore for Instagramlmasonevents.
On Facebook we do have a TikTokit's lmasonevents, but we also
have a website.
Our website is actuallynexuscreativespacecom.
(34:07):
That is our event space and onthere we have tabs for all of
the things for Elmase Cityevents.
We have a tab for our newsignature event, which is the
Little Black Chapel, where thatis a pop-up wedding chapel.
Here at Nexus Creative Rightnow we're doing that three times
(34:27):
a year Valentine's weekend orValentine's day, 4th of July and
New Year's, and so right nowthat is what we're offering, but
as demand picks up, we'll thinkabout expanding those weekends
again capacity.
But yeah, that is how you reachus.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
And you just have to say, I mean, this wedding chapel
idea is just phenomenal and Ilove your vision behind it.
I mean, part of your vision wasyou really wanted people to go
into their marriage in a veryaffordable way?
Absolutely, this event plannerthat can do big things,
(35:12):
including big weddings andexpensive weddings, but also
thinking about folks that needsomething more affordable so
that they spend less on that andactually spend more on their
marriage.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's important tolisten to what the people are
telling you.
You know, if, everywhere we go,we hear.
You know if, if everywhere wego, we hear gosh, I really want
to have a wedding.
I just do not want to spend 20K, I don't want to do that, but I
want a nice wedding.
They're telling you exactlywhat they need.
(35:44):
Give them what they need andthat's the little black chapel.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
And it's back to taking care of people.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Latoya, this has been wonderful to connect with you
today.
I just you know.
I ask this one favor for youand your team.
I mean, y'all are already blownup.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
But now when?
Speaker 1 (36:01):
y'all get to be international traveling all over
the world, you know come backto the little three keys for
your journey and just give us anupdate on how things are going.
Absolutely I would appreciatethat very much.
Absolutely Anything else,before we wrap up, that you'd
like to express?
Speaker 3 (36:17):
Well, just speaking of the team, right, I cannot do
any of the things that I dowithout the people who help me,
right?
And so you know, it startedwith my girls.
They were the ones you knowschlepping tablecloths and
putting up tables and chairs andstuff with me at two, three
o'clock in the morning, when itwas just the three of us, and
(36:50):
then, as we began to grow, weadded Monica.
I think Monica has been herethe longest three years, as an
actual l mason team member, um,and then deja, um, and stephanie
and toby um, but also my sister, my sister, uh, uh, this is a
family business, right.
My sister brianna does mysocial media, um, my mom has
come and put tablecloths on thetable before my aunts, my
sister-in-laws.
(37:12):
I am who I am.
I'm as only as strong as thepeople who are behind me, and if
you know L Mason events, we arestrong, which means I have some
extremely strong people with me, extremely strong women with me
, Um, and we knock it out, uh,and so I just uh.
(37:34):
If I can just encourage onething for people who are looking
to get into any industry, um,and start their own business, um
, it's to jump.
Um, I probably should be 20years in the game.
Um, but fear kept me fromjumping for a long time.
So I'm like I've got to have apaycheck.
I've got these kids.
(37:54):
They're going to eventually goto college.
I've got to know where thismoney is coming from every
single week, and so I wasfearful to jump out on my own.
But when I did, even when Ilooked down, I was like, oh,
there's not a safety net there.
It's fine, I'm going to be finebecause I'm going to bet on me.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
So if I can encourage you to bet on yourself and jump
, Wow, I'm taking notes as she'stalking and this has been
wonderful, so thank you so muchfor just spending some time with
us.
I mean all those nuggets, allof them.
I mean please.
And also, as you're listeningto this podcast, if something
that's been said through ourconversation today, we ask that
(38:38):
you please share that withothers.
Spread the love, and weappreciate you joining us on
Three Keys for your Journey andwe're going to see you next time
and hopefully that you willtune in for all of our episodes.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Thanks for joining Three Keys for your Journey.
Tune in next time for anotherepisode.
In this episode, let's discuss where passion
meets purpose in the world ofevent planning and creative
spaces.
Founder and CEO Latoya Masonbegan with organizing family
celebrations.
Would led her to launch ElmasonWedding and Event Planning in
2011, with a vision to createunforgettable experiences for a
(00:21):
wider audience.
Recently, she's introducedNexus Creative, a brand new
event space in Oklahoma City.
Latoya and her team can nowenhance the art of event
planning, offering a space wherecreativity and vision come to
life.
Join me today as we explore thekeys to crafting extraordinary
(00:41):
experiences and building alegacy through events.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Are you ready to unlock your potential?
Tune in to Three Keys for yourJourney podcast, where business
owners share invaluable insightsand empowering strategies to
guide you toward success.
Based in Oklahoma City, ourhost, Greg T Jones, will inspire
and motivate you every week.
Get ready to join ourconversation as we build
(01:19):
community together.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
All right, all right, we have Miss Isla Toya Mason in
the house how you doing thisday.
I'm fabulous See what listenerscan't see is you got this big
smile on your face.
You got that cute dimple.
See, we should talk about mydimple, but I didn't know.
Yes, you had one too rightthere on the right side I do.
I do Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's my signature.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
That's signature life .
Well, thank you for taking sometime out of your busy schedule,
latoya, to be with us on today.
I'm excited because we get tolearn a little bit more about
you.
We learn a little bit moreabout your business, your family
, your team, all of those goodthings, and so I usually start
out by saying you know numberone.
(02:01):
I say welcome to the podcastThree Keys for your Journey.
You know our role is really tohighlight business owners like
you.
We are excited about theopportunity to, number one learn
and understand how you've gotyour start, a little bit about
just what makes you move, yourmissions, your values, all those
(02:25):
kind of things.
So today I think it's going tobe fun because we get a chance
to kind of pick your brain alittle bit and have you really
kind of share with us some ofthe things that have been key to
your success since you startedyour business.
So, for most of Oklahoma Cityknows who you are, but not
everybody in the United Statesor the world knows who you are,
(02:47):
so Latoya introduce yourself.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Well, I am Latoya Mason.
Fun fact about me, I have manylast names, so the people who
know me best call me LatoyaArbertha Davis Mason.
But I was actually born inWichita, kansas.
We have a strong heritage andfamily legacy in Wichita Kansas.
(03:15):
Arbertha's and William's there,and then the Davis's.
And then I was raised in Tulsa,oklahoma, proud graduate of the
Booker T Washington High School, not Tulsa Washington.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
You got to say it right Booker T Washington,
booker T Washington, that'sright.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
The T.
So I'm Toya, from the town andI come from a lineage of
entrepreneurship.
I was introduced to it as ayoung girl.
I was introduced to it as ayoung girl.
My mother, demetra everybodyknows her as Michi in Tulsa she
(03:57):
is a hairdresser and for many,many years operated Michi's main
attraction and main M-A-N-Eattraction.
And we learned as little onesthe importance of giving back.
And we, we learned work ethicextremely early.
(04:18):
We were the ones folding towelsin the morning before school,
because we had to walk.
You know, my mother washed themthat night and we as a team had
to fold them and get them readyso that she could start the day
, and then after school we wouldnight and we as a team had to
fold them and get them ready sothat she could start the day,
and then after school we wouldgo and we were sweeping the
floors and and and washing uhbase boards and uh sanitizing
sinks.
And so we learned um number one, um entrepreneurship.
We learned community, um, andwe learned all hands on deck um.
(04:43):
And so it was.
I was born into it, right,obviously that young I didn't
know what I was going to bedoing, you know, but I knew the
importance of owning, operatingin excellence.
And if you know my mother inTulsa, she is excellent, her
(05:09):
specialty is in hair care, andso you want strong, healthy,
long locks, then you went to MeToo's main attraction.
So that's kind of my foundationin entrepreneurship, foundation
(05:29):
in entrepreneurship.
But what my family is mostknown for is impacting community
and in church.
I come from a long lineage ofministers, pastors, singers, etc
.
So my dad is Byron Mason.
Byron Mason is my son, byronDavis.
My son is named after him, andso on one side we were working
(05:50):
in the salon with my mom andthen on the other side with my
dad, we were fading music out.
When he was, you know, the songwas running a little bit too
long and he was like we're done,learning how to fade that music
down, carrying in thatequipment and cueing.
(06:10):
You know, if there was anoperator or an engineer in the
sound booth, we were the oneskind of giving them those cues,
and so we just learned so manydifferent aspects of
entrepreneurship as babies,right.
And so, you know, as we grew upand as I grew up and went to
college, it was just kind of anatural progression.
So I thought I wanted to be alawyer.
So when I went to LangstonUniversity, I majored in English
(06:33):
first and then I switched mymajor to sociology and joined a
sorority, started getting activein the ecosystem at Langston
and some of the things that Ilearned growing up and didn't
understand growing up aboutgiving just became natural to me
(06:54):
at Langston.
And then I'm a natural leaderand so all of the things that
was imparted to me in me that welearned as kids, you don't
really appreciate them untilthey start coming back and you
are naturally walking in thepurpose that you didn't even
(07:16):
really know was your purpose.
And so I just started planning.
You know we would want to haveevents, we would want to have
programs, and it just camenatural to me.
I'm an organizer, I am adelegator, I am a strong arm
sometimes, and it just camenatural.
(07:39):
And so then people just lookedto me to lead them in.
That Didn't really understandyet that that was what I was
going to be, still thinking Iwas going to be a lawyer,
applied to many law schools, gotinto three, decided that I was
(08:00):
going to take some time off andstarted working in luxury retail
.
Okay, so I worked for EddieBauer, I worked for Saks Fifth
Avenue, I worked for Dillard'sand I met a woman and her name
is Tracy Robinson.
Over the span of my life therehave been some people that have
(08:23):
come in that have, like, changedmy life my mom, my dad, tracy
Robinson.
Tracy taught me to doeverything in your power for
people before you have to tellthem no.
Almost was a gift and a curse,because I have a problem telling
people no now, but what thatmeant in the retail world was
(08:56):
that you're going to get peoplethat's going to ask you to do
things for them that you reallyshouldn't.
They're going to pull you andpush you to go beyond policy and
go beyond what naturally seemsto be the right thing to do,
because a lot of times peopleare going to be in desperate
(09:16):
situations.
Right, they came in, theyshopped, they spent too much
money, it's 30 days past theirexpiration date.
They need to bring it backright.
So you have to look beyondpolicy sometimes.
You have to look beyond whatyour mood is that day and you
have to take care of people.
(09:37):
So she taught me at 18, 19, 20years old take care of them.
Well, that's not the policy.
Take care of them.
Is it going to hurt us that wetook back a hundred dollar pair
of pants when we're going tohave a $600 sale in 20 minutes,
it's not going to hurt us.
Take care of people, right?
And so I just began to takecare of people.
(09:59):
And so when I was at Saks FifthAvenue, we closed our store.
And so when I was at Sex FifthAvenue, we closed our store, and
at that point I had alreadystarted El Mason Events 2011,.
My daughter got married and youknow, I just said we're going to
do it, I'm going to do it.
(10:20):
I have impeccable taste.
She knew that, her fiance knewthat and we just did it.
I have impeccable taste.
She knew that, her fiance knewthat, and we just did it.
And it was fun, it wasincredible.
I got to stretch, I got to grow, I got to learn how to
collaborate, and that justlaunched Elmacy Events.
(10:41):
And so when we closed our storehere in Oklahoma City, launched
Elmason Events.
And so when we closed our storehere in Oklahoma City, I could.
I had a couple options to stayin that world, and then I just
talked to my husband and I saidit's time to leap.
And he was like, let's leap.
And we just started full timeand it has been incredible, it
(11:06):
has been awful, it has been ablessing, it has been long
nights of tears and it has beena journey that I would choose
any and every day.
I would choose it again, overand over again.
So that's like the shortversion, ish, if you can call
(11:27):
that short, wow.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Wow that that right there is.
I was going to say part A.
The interesting thing aboutthis is that I actually have a
long history also with Latoya'sfamily, particularly her father.
Her father actually sang at ourwedding 27 years ago.
It's wild and um in Tulsa.
(11:53):
My wife also is sings and sothat's how she knew your dad and
uh.
And then I knew Bob, which isyour uncle, which is your
brother, your dad's brother,been knowing him for a number of
years and so you're absolutelyright, it's just, it's
impeccable to even hear you asyou talk about that and then
talk about the reputation thatyour mom has there in Tulsa Also
(12:15):
, you know, for those that don'tknow, tulsa and Oklahoma City,
the state of Oklahoma, are thekind of two big cities and both
of them have very richAfrican-American history.
There's a lot of deep roots andthere's a lot of
entrepreneurship, so it isawesome to kind of hear part of
that story.
Okay, so that's a greatintroduction.
(12:36):
A little bit about who you are.
I mean, obviously, part of ourpodcast is really to drill down
into, over the time that youhave been in business, in life
in general, raising a familywhat are some things that you
would say, three keys that youfound have been very
instrumental in your life.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Gosh, three keys transparency, work, ethic,
vision.
Okay, so transparency, I have.
I'm married.
I'm married to a wonderful,wonderful gentleman.
(13:20):
A lot of people say that he's aghost, he, he kind of stands in
the background, he's further inthe background than me, and
then I have we have.
We have a blended family.
So we have two older children,kristen and Caitlin, and then we
have two children together,byron and Harlem.
(13:47):
And I have to work a lot, and inthe beginning I had to miss a
lot, and so it was important tome to be transparent with my
family, with what I was doing,what I needed from them, and
where I was doing what I neededfrom them and where I was
(14:11):
struggling, right and so like.
For an example, when my son wassmaller, my son did everything.
He played every sport you canimagine, and there were
Saturdays where I just couldn'tgo, you know, and a lot of times
it was because I was working,but sometimes it was because I
needed to rest and he didn'tunderstand that, and so I had to
be extremely transparent.
(14:32):
With your mama's legs literallydon't work.
Today, we didn't get home until3 am from tearing downa
thousand person event.
I literally cannot walk.
I want to be there.
I cannot be there today and Ineed you to understand that
right.
So, being transparent with likejust what, with what I had the
(14:56):
capacity for, right and and Ithink that's that's key with
with my staff that I have now,you know, I went from me and my
daughters doing all of thesethings, and sister-in-laws and
things like that, and now I havestaff and I have to do the same
thing with them Doesn't alwayswork because I think I'm
(15:18):
superwoman, but I think it's keyto say I'm tired, we just can't
take anymore, we can't doanything else.
This is not a client that wecan accept.
I'm being transparent with thisis the vibe that I'm getting.
(15:38):
We can't accept this client andso sometimes, if you don't know
me well, it can come across asvery harsh.
I am not harsh, I am direct anda lot of people can't handle it
, but I'm always transparent andthe vision right.
(16:04):
When I started in 2011, thevision was different than what
it was in 2015.
And it's different than what itwas in 2020 with COVID, and it
is extremely different now, butthe goal is to always take care
(16:27):
of people.
Okay, we've done incredibleevents.
We've done everything from awedding with a $2,000 budget to
an event with $120,000 budget.
With a $120,000 budget, We'vedone events in Oklahoma City.
We've done events in Alaska.
(16:49):
We have the vision to take LMason events global, but the
core is always to take care ofpeople, and so I have to explain
that.
I have to make that clear and Ihave to.
(17:09):
It has to be explaineddifferently with different
events, right?
So we got into governmentcontracting last year and we got
an event.
It's called the Yellow RibbonReintegration Event and it was
completely different fromanything we've ever done.
We typically our tagline is weparty because that's our
(17:30):
business.
So we usually are doingcelebrations for people baby
showers, bridal showers,weddings, etc and it's usually
the most exciting days, and soit's easy to take care of people
when we're having fun, and it'susually the most exciting days,
and so it's easy to take careof people when we're having fun.
(17:50):
But with that event, we had totake care of people differently.
These were families who werewelcoming their soldiers back
home.
These are families whosesoldiers had seen some things
that we should never see, and sothe atmosphere was a little
different.
You know, there wasn't a DJ,there wasn't, and so when we sat
(18:10):
down we were like how do wetake care of these people?
You know what's going to be ourpivot here, right, and
essentially it's understandingwhat their needs are,
anticipating additional needs,taking care of them, having a
(18:31):
plan to tackle anything that'santicipated and being able to
pivot Right so it's always inthe forefront.
The vision is to take care, totake, take care to do everything
we can in our power to do rightby people so it sounds like
this is a flashback from thingsthat you learned when you were
(18:53):
18, 19, 20 years old do you hearme?
Speaker 1 (18:56):
how you observed your mom and your dad, and all these
things are now starting to comeback.
It is full circle absolutely.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
And so I would see my mom.
Um, there's a thing thathairdressers do when you sit
down, you take whatever wrappingthey have, because you know
African-American women, we loveour wraps.
And so my mom would take it offand she would run her fingers
through their hair and I can seeher brain like the wheels
(19:23):
turning, like how am I going totake care of her?
Right, and I've seen clientssit in her chair and would be
bawling from, you know, heat,damage or just something that
happened to them, stress thathas caused them to lose their
hair, et cetera.
And I can see my mom taking herhands and rubbing through their
(19:44):
hair, trying to figure out howshe was going to take care of
them.
And so my team and I do that.
It's the same concept.
It looks different.
It looks like us sitting aroundthis table.
You see these chairs here, thisis where we sit.
Well, they can't, but you can,and sometimes we just sit back
and we're like what are we goingto do?
How are we going to do this?
And we sit here until we canfigure out how we're going to do
(20:12):
it.
And so again, full circle, allof those things that I learned.
And then work ethic.
We work.
We work really hard.
Some days we are exceptionallyefficient.
Some days it's two o'clock inthe morning.
We're like, what did we dotoday?
Um, but it is important to methat we give our very best to
(20:38):
every single person that comesacross our desk.
Um, and we do that, and we doit well.
Um, do it well.
We lean on a lot of resources.
We have been blessed to be inan ecosystem where we can call
on people for resources when weneed them.
One sitting right in front ofme, greg Jones.
(20:59):
I want to share a story, kindof, about how we've had some
recent successes.
I wrote a curriculum for eventplanning.
I, you know, I'm alwaysthinking about like different
revenue streams, right, that'sthe part of entrepreneurship
where you're like I can't leanon just one, thinking about what
I could do to you know,generate some additional revenue
(21:23):
.
And we get asked all the timecan I shadow you, are you taking
interns, et cetera?
And I just simply don't havethe capacity for it.
But there's a need.
And so I wrote a curriculum andI came to Greg, came to you and
I said I wrote this curriculum,how do I pitch it?
What do I do with it?
(21:43):
How do I get it curriculum?
How do I pitch it?
What do I do with it?
How do I get it in vocationalschools?
And he said I got a program foryou.
Text me a link, filled out theapplication and when I tell you
(22:07):
it was like overnight was in.
This program was connected tocompliance consulting.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Oh gosh, ccc.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Anyway, it's a long name, that's how I know CCC, ccc
, jennifer, jennifer Size andRhonda Galloway and Brie Pierce,
and it was just like anabundance of knowledge and
(22:32):
resources to get me to where Ineeded to be Right now.
That turned into like agovernment contract.
It was like a whole thing Right.
But it also gave me theresources, the steps to be able
to pitch that, to be able topitch that.
I pitched it to Metro Tech andMetro Tech said send it to me,
when can you start?
(22:53):
And so it's just one of thosethings to where that work ethic
is introduced me to people, andthose people introduced me to
resources and those resourcesintroduced me to growth and
(23:15):
scaling.
And then it all just kind ofcomes back full circle to me
taking care of people and mebeing taken care of.
It's incredible.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
I absolutely love how you walked us through that
story and to be a testament ofthat, to be a fly on the wall,
all of that stuff.
So here's a question what doyou do for fun?
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Oh boy.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
I dance.
Okay, you dance at your ownparties.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
I dance at my own parties.
So, okay, like I said, ourtagline is you said this is my
happy place.
Our tagline is we party becausethat's our business.
Um, uh, I have kind of alwaysbeen the life of the party.
Um, I am, I just love to have agood time and I don't have a
(24:09):
whole lot of time outside ofwork to do other things.
Right, like I'm a crafter, Ilove to do things like that, but
I love to dance.
So when there's music going, Idon't care if it's just me by
myself and I'm sure you've seenthat before I'm like the only
one out on the dance floortrying to get people to come out
, but I love that.
(24:32):
But outside of that, I love tojust be with my, my family, my
kids.
We just we have a good time.
We sit around and we laugh andjoke, we roast each other like
no other, and my kids areathletes and so I love to watch
(24:52):
them do what they love.
My son he's football.
Don't Byron Mason, rememberthat name?
He plays football in Norman forNorman North.
He's a basketball player also,but his passion is football and
my son is a direct reflection ofme.
It's the coolest thing to see,also sometimes the worst,
(25:21):
because he really is me and Ican see.
Oh, I'm like, oh, I see whypeople want to fight me.
I get it now.
He's got my personality, buthis work ethic is second to none
.
I don't have to tell that boyto do anything when it comes to
like what his passions are right.
That boy gets up at the crackof dawn, comes in my room he
doesn't need anything from me,but he comes in my room to make
(25:42):
sure that I know that he's upand he leaves the house six
o'clock in the morning and hegoes and works out before his
workout After school.
He goes and works out after hisworkout Saturday mornings.
He gets up and he goes andworks out when he could be
sleeping.
He has a vision, he has a goaland he works for it, and so it
(26:04):
is my pleasure to support him inthat.
That is fun to me.
My daughter now she's mysquirrely one, that's my girl,
but what she likes to do is sitthere and tell me basketball
acumen, football acumen.
That girl can tell you that yougive her an athlete, she run
(26:27):
down their stats and it is justlike you're, like a savant.
Why can't you clean that room?
But why do you know all ofthese things?
And it's just so interesting tosee.
And so my spare time is spentpouring into them and what they
love, because that's what bringsme joy.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
And I'm glad you said that, because as you started,
we started our conversation youtalked about in the initial
beginning there was so manytimes that you couldn't be with
them or spending time with themor attending games or events or
whatever.
And now I know you, I thinkyou're a super mom or whatever.
And now I know you, you I thinkyou're a super mom.
So I mean, it's like now youhave, while you have more on
(27:10):
your plate, but that has becomean integral part of what you do.
Absolutely and that's part ofyour life and it's become
important to you, and so I meanI really appreciate you kind of
bringing that also full circle,because I think that's important
.
You know, all of us don't haveto be laid up on a vacation or
on a beach, although that couldbe nice.
I'm not saying it isn't, butthinking about family and, as I
think, about your business, oneof the things that keeps
(27:31):
standing out to me is it's notonly that.
Are you trying to makememorable events for the people
that you serve and serving themwell?
There's something in thereabout leaving a lasting legacy.
People remember things that arespecial to them, and it's cool
to see or hear how you have beenable to do that for so many
(27:54):
others, but also you're able todo that within your own family
as well.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Yeah, yeah, we call it core memories.
We create core memories.
I'm a fancy girl.
I like bespoke experiences.
That's my favorite word.
I love bespoke experiences.
I love to create bespokeexperiences for people.
But it's not lost on me thatthat can be expensive, and so
(28:21):
we've structured our business onproviding those experiences at
an affordable rate, right.
And so one of the newestbusinesses that we, that I
started, is Nexus Creative, andit's an event space and it's we
call it Nexus because it isgoing to be the epicenter of
(28:43):
core memories.
We are going to create those athome, right?
So we're all over the place.
We've done events in California,alaska, like I said, savannah,
georgia, you name it.
You know we can do it right.
All it takes is research.
It's not hard to do thesethings, guys.
Just jump right and right here.
(29:03):
You know we get inquiries allthe time, um, in oklahoma city
for event spaces or events ingeneral, and they're like listen
, my budget is two thousanddollars.
What can I do?
Um, and uh, love my city, butmy city can be expensive.
(29:25):
You know, these event spaces towalk in them start at a
thousand dollars.
Well, if you have a $2,000budget for your entire event,
you can't spend half of it onthe venue.
And so kind of how we fell intothis was we were really looking
for office space.
And then I said you know what,if we're going to do this and
(29:48):
we're going to sign a lease, itneeds, number one be a space
that can generate revenue, butit can also fill in a gap, and
the gap is an affordable spacewith minimal restrictions and
using our resources, using ourecosystem.
Talked to a friend and said thisis what I'm looking for.
(30:11):
He said funny, I have a friendwho has a space just like what
you're explaining, that'slooking for an operator.
And then here we are, and weweren't even really officially
open before we had our firstbooking.
You actually were our firstbooking.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Come on, that's a Greg Jones one right there.
Yeah, Greg.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Jones effect.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
I wanted to be first too.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
So Greg was actually our first booking, not our first
event.
So he booked and we signed ourlease in July.
He booked for an event inSeptember.
We had our first event August3rd, so we hadn't even built our
lease.
In July he booked for an eventin September.
We had our first event August3rd, so we hadn't even built our
kitchenette yet.
We hadn't really bought anyfurniture.
We, you know, I had all of thethings that I just have for
(30:57):
event planning.
I was in a storage unit and inmy garage but we weren't ready
yet and we got that inquiry andshe was like I don't care, I
love it here.
And that's when we knew we'vewe got something here.
And they just start rolling inand rolling in.
And when we tell people thatthis space in downtown Oklahoma
(31:21):
City, where the back of thebuilding is on Main Street and
the front of the building is onSheridan which if you know
Oklahoma City, that is the coreof downtown Oklahoma City and
it's $200 an hour, they aretripping over themselves.
What do I sign?
We have an open catering policy.
We have an open vendor.
(31:41):
We do have a preferred listbecause we have worked with some
incredible vendors.
We do have a preferred listbecause we have worked with some
incredible vendors.
But if your grandma want tocook your stew and your chili
bar and your baked potato barand you want to bring that in,
we're going to let grandma dothat, because that's what you
need to create, to have thisevent that will create a core
(32:01):
memory for you, and if that'swhat you need from us, that's
what you're going to get.
And so it has just beenincredible to really recreate,
reimagine what creating a corememory for somebody looks like.
And so everybody deserves thatspecial moment.
(32:24):
Everybody deserves to feelimportant.
Everybody deserves to celebratesomething that's happened to
them whether it's graduating,having a baby, getting married
and they deserve to look back onthat day, 20, 30 years from now
and immediately smile Like.
When I think about mydaughter's wedding, I
(32:47):
immediately smile because Iremember like watching her do
her first dance.
I remember me and my sororitysister strolling at her wedding.
I remember watching my son andmy granddaughter, who were three
at the time, having dance feveron that dance floor, because
(33:08):
those are now core memories forme and core memories for her and
core memories for everyone whowas there, because even to this
day, people see me and they werelike girl.
I remember Kristen's wedding.
That was the best wedding I'veever been to, you know, and so
that just we're doing what we'resupposed to be doing.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Wow.
So I mean saying that.
I mean, I don't know if you'relistening out there, but you
probably need to figure out away to sign up, absolutely.
So how can people get incontact with you, with your team
?
Where is that information at?
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Absolutely so.
We are on socials, so oursocial media is lmasonevents
underscore for Instagramlmasonevents.
On Facebook we do have a TikTokit's lmasonevents, but we also
have a website.
Our website is actuallynexuscreativespacecom.
(34:07):
That is our event space and onthere we have tabs for all of
the things for Elmase Cityevents.
We have a tab for our newsignature event, which is the
Little Black Chapel, where thatis a pop-up wedding chapel.
Here at Nexus Creative Rightnow we're doing that three times
(34:27):
a year Valentine's weekend orValentine's day, 4th of July and
New Year's, and so right nowthat is what we're offering, but
as demand picks up, we'll thinkabout expanding those weekends
again capacity.
But yeah, that is how you reachus.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
And you just have to say, I mean, this wedding chapel
idea is just phenomenal and Ilove your vision behind it.
I mean, part of your vision wasyou really wanted people to go
into their marriage in a veryaffordable way?
Absolutely, this event plannerthat can do big things,
(35:12):
including big weddings andexpensive weddings, but also
thinking about folks that needsomething more affordable so
that they spend less on that andactually spend more on their
marriage.
Speaker 3 (35:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's important tolisten to what the people are
telling you.
You know, if, everywhere we go,we hear.
You know if, if everywhere wego, we hear gosh, I really want
to have a wedding.
I just do not want to spend 20K, I don't want to do that, but I
want a nice wedding.
They're telling you exactlywhat they need.
(35:44):
Give them what they need andthat's the little black chapel.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
And it's back to taking care of people.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Latoya, this has been wonderful to connect with you
today.
I just you know.
I ask this one favor for youand your team.
I mean, y'all are already blownup.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
But now when?
Speaker 1 (36:01):
y'all get to be international traveling all over
the world, you know come backto the little three keys for
your journey and just give us anupdate on how things are going.
Absolutely I would appreciatethat very much.
Absolutely Anything else,before we wrap up, that you'd
like to express?
Speaker 3 (36:17):
Well, just speaking of the team, right, I cannot do
any of the things that I dowithout the people who help me,
right?
And so you know, it startedwith my girls.
They were the ones you knowschlepping tablecloths and
putting up tables and chairs andstuff with me at two, three
o'clock in the morning, when itwas just the three of us, and
(36:50):
then, as we began to grow, weadded Monica.
I think Monica has been herethe longest three years, as an
actual l mason team member, um,and then deja, um, and stephanie
and toby um, but also my sister, my sister, uh, uh, this is a
family business, right.
My sister brianna does mysocial media, um, my mom has
come and put tablecloths on thetable before my aunts, my
sister-in-laws.
(37:12):
I am who I am.
I'm as only as strong as thepeople who are behind me, and if
you know L Mason events, we arestrong, which means I have some
extremely strong people with me, extremely strong women with me
, Um, and we knock it out, uh,and so I just uh.
(37:34):
If I can just encourage onething for people who are looking
to get into any industry, um,and start their own business, um
, it's to jump.
Um, I probably should be 20years in the game.
Um, but fear kept me fromjumping for a long time.
So I'm like I've got to have apaycheck.
I've got these kids.
(37:54):
They're going to eventually goto college.
I've got to know where thismoney is coming from every
single week, and so I wasfearful to jump out on my own.
But when I did, even when Ilooked down, I was like, oh,
there's not a safety net there.
It's fine, I'm going to be finebecause I'm going to bet on me.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
So if I can encourage you to bet on yourself and jump
, Wow, I'm taking notes as she'stalking and this has been
wonderful, so thank you so muchfor just spending some time with
us.
I mean all those nuggets, allof them.
I mean please.
And also, as you're listeningto this podcast, if something
that's been said through ourconversation today, we ask that
(38:38):
you please share that withothers.
Spread the love, and weappreciate you joining us on
Three Keys for your Journey andwe're going to see you next time
and hopefully that you willtune in for all of our episodes.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Thanks for joining Three Keys for your Journey.
Tune in next time for anotherepisode.
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