Holly Moore, CEO of the female founded, Manchester based full-service events agency, Make Events, launched a brand new podcast with an impressive line-up of familiar industry faces this summer.
After recovering from a 5-year battle with OCD - a battle she was told she would never recover from - Holly’s mantra became Anything is Possible. Now she aims to empower, motivate, and inspire people of all backgrounds and ages that anything truly is possible. Having this mindset helped Holly guide the business through the pandemic, with Make Events not only surviving one of the most challenging times to face the event industry but doubling in size.
To learn more about the podcast and the women behind it, we caught up with Holly this week to get to know her the Creativepool way.
Tell us a bit about your role! Is there a “typical” day?
In this industry there’s really no typical day as events can take place on any day of the week. This means that no day, week or month are ever the same! Generally I try to work two days a week at Make Events, my corporate events agency, one day at HM Events, my private party company and then two days a week for Anything is Possible, my new brand.
I work in the office or on the road. I hate working from home.
I try to make every Monday office based which will consist of team meetings and client zooms for Make Events, then Tuesday might be client meetings which we like to do face to face where possible.. Wednesday is strategy and marketing for Anything is Possible and then possibly on location the following day meeting brands or recording a podcast. Friday tends to be for HM Events where I will be doing creative event design, food tastings or site visits with my assistant Dolly for our private clients.
What was the biggest challenge in getting to your current position?
Self-belief, particularly with Anything is Possible as it was a real dream and passion project of mine but I didn't know if anyone would be interested in my story or my outlook on life.
I mentioned to my coach one day that I "need to do it soon or else I'll be too old" and he replied "That's ridiculous, two of your heroes are Oprah and Tony Robbins and they’re both in their 60s". That conversation really sparked my interest, passion and belief that anything can be possible at any age. We now have a Tony Robbins and Oprah Winfrey Board Room at the office.
What is your personal background and what role did it play in your career?
I got into events because ever since I was little I just loved creating experiences and magical moments for people. You can never just come for a coffee at my house - there’s always a themed biscuit, a new tea to try!
I wasn't academic but I loved talking to people and loved customer service and so I joined the dots and arrived at events and hospitality as my chosen industry. On a personal level my battle and recovery from OCD was the catalyst for me to set up my own events company (which I never thought I would be able to) because I thought if I can beat that I can do anything.
Once the business got started thenI started to live by the mantra of ‘Anything is Possible’. It was so true to me, it got me thinking that if I could overcome severe mental health and set up a business from scratch then how could I use my story to inspire others.
What is your biggest career-related win? What is your biggest loss?
Well they are one in the same. We went for a big pitch in 2018 for a well known brand. We put our heart and soul in it as a team and we loved our own ideas - we didn't win. We were quite bruised because we had fallen in love with the brand. Fast forward four years and they asked us to pitch again, I said no, because we didn't want to put so much in again and end up disappointed once again.
When we said no, one of the directors personally phoned me and asked if we would reconsider (this has never happened before) and so we did reconsider and entered the pitch against nine other UK based agencies. We cancelled a holiday to be able to meet their pitch deadline, worked 21 days straight and were pretty broken at the end of it - but we won.
We then found out they had loved us back in 2018, it just wasn't the right time. The lesson is - don't always see a loss as a loss, there could be more to it and things might unfold in the future. What's meant for you won't pass you by.
Which individuals and/or agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
In the events space - Wife of the Party in LA, Banana Split, Engage Summit, Biz Bashl, Gifts for the Good Life, David Stark, Peter Callahan.
In the personal development events space - Girl Boss rally, Create and Cultivate, Goop Live, Rachel Hollis.
If you could go back to your teenage years, would you have done things differently? Do you have any regrets?
No regrets, I was confident with low self-esteem, loud, skinny, bossy, a joker...not much different now except I'm strong not skinny!
I was living with a low level of anxiety and OCD during my teenage years but didn't know. I didn't really like being a kid or teenager. I was born to be an independent adult.
If you weren’t in your current industry, what would you be doing?
I'd have the best coffee shop in the world with healthy versions and classic versions of everything - chocolate fudge cake and chocolate protein balls; the best flavours of Mr Whippy and frozen yoghurt with all the toppings; Kylie Minogue Prosecco and Noughty Sparkling Wine.
It would have a small PT gym, pilates and meditation studio, mediation zone, a stretch lab (like the one in London) and event space for Anything is Possible courses. If anyone wants to invest I've got the business plan ready to go!
What’s your one big dream for the future of the industry?
That the pitch process is chargeable and comes off the job if you win. Agencies spend tens of thousands of pounds on pitches only to find out they were part of a procurement process or their ideas are repurposed. It's a rollercoaster and a huge source of stress to finances and to minds.
When you think about your team, what is the thing that matters to you the most?
My answer is not what I am supposed to say... I like to be liked and I find it hard that it is often not the case. I'd like to say that anyone that works for me takes away something...whether that's a friendship, something that inspired them to do better or motivated them to set up their own business. I know this has happened many times.
Not all these people will like me but the business has in some way changed their life. I had a boss that I loved who inspired me and I had a boss that I didn't like but they changed me for the better. It matters to me that I made a positive difference to their life and I just have to get past whether I’m liked or not.
Do you have any websites, books or resources you would recommend?
About a million....
Books - Awaken the Giant Within, Tony Robbins; Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway, Susan Jeffers; Onward, Howard Shultz; How Starbucks saved my Life, Michael Gates Gill; Rise Sister Rise, Rebecca Campbell; What I know for sure, Oprah Winfrey.
Above all I can't recommend journaling enough - I journal in the Oprah Winfrey Wisdom Journal - blank pages but I love the paper; Brendon Bruchard High Performance planner is a daily highlight of my life and I get so excited to reflect on the week on a Sunday. I also love the Rachel Hollis Start Today journal.
