At Baybala, we’re endlessly inspired by the entrepreneurial mothers in creative fields all around us. It’s not easy to run a business and be a present mom, and there are so many lessons we can learn from one another. In that spirit, this series will introduce women we admire and share a bit of their hard-earned wisdom.
Next up? Calder Clark. Calder is a decades-long veteran and icon of the high-end event design world in Charleston, South Carolina. She’s done it all…small parties, big soirees, celebrations for celebrities. And while it’s an exciting industry that allows her to let her imagination and ideas flow for clients, like all hospitality-based industries, it also claims many weekends and evenings. And those things are both fun and hard! So we wanted to know a little bit more about how she does it all. Read on to soak up Calder’s singular point-of-view and insight.
How she carved her niche in the market: “Our approach to event design is unique in that we are obsessed with layering a more residential and experiential approach,” she says.
Knowing her customer: “Typically, our clients are working in Manhattan, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, and swamped with their own professional and personal lives; that said, they know they want a beautiful, intimate, thoughtful parties with a ton of personal touches, and that they don’t want to do it alone! In terms of style and design, most of our clients lean toward an all-American, East Coast vibe.”
Biggest lesson learned: The pandemic profoundly upended the event design world, and Calder used that time to refocus. “I poured more into my children, and explored a lot of my creative gifts via the needle arts, which is how I discovered my deep love of needlepoint. I painted, crafted, stitched, drew, and dreamed my way through the quagmire until weddings exploded again onto the scene. It was super tough at times (especially mentally, and financially!) but I'm so glad I didn't throw in the towel while the world sorted itself out.”
What moves the business needle: “Instagram makes me feel like trash. I hate it,” Calder says. “TikTok makes me laugh, I love it. We throw ourselves out there on both, hoping to share in a natural, organic, and fresh way, and “the people” have responded.”
On the motherhood juggle: “Some days/weeks/months, it’s all about the kids and what they need from me,” she says. “But as soon as I feel like they are thriving, the business screams for more attention and I come sailing back into a mode where I pull down 100 hour weeks. Instead of trying to find this mythic homeostasis, I relish the weeble-wobble of it all.”
Next up: “In five years, we’ll be empty nesters. As tough as that will be, I also think it will leave a lot of wiggle room for the brand to soar,” Calder says. “I have pipe dreams of product lines, powerful collaborations, and shifting 75% percent of my business in Europe. In the meantime, I’ll be keeping my nose to the grindstone.”
