Jenny Chang

Jenny Chang is the event planning mogul that the world of celebrations has long been waiting for. Recognized as one of the country’s ‘Top 50 Event Planners’ by PartySlate, and ‘Top 10’ in Los Angeles by Junebug Weddings, Jenny brings her distinctive and ever-evolving business strategies to break the boundaries of the experiential event sphere. As the founder of national events agency ROCKNEVENTS, she serves some of the area’s most exclusive clientele, planning celebrations to remember ever. Jenny is also the founder of ROCKNUNIVERSITY, the only online learning program dedicated exclusively to aspiring event special producers. Through a series of courses also known as “tours”, students have the chance to learn directly from Jenny through her years of expertise and experience. Additionally, Jenny is continuing to revolutionize the event planning industry through the tech world as well with the creation of Vowlá, an intelligent app matching clients with their very own virtual wedding planner.

Jenny’s positive and uplifting attitude and outlook on life have also made her an influencer, beloved by millions on social media as she speaks out on hot topic issues most important to her. From life’s most significant moments to a night of social fun, Jenny Chang’s vivacious personality, coupled with her daring and creative intuition, acts as a beacon of light even in the darkest of situations. With her unmatched ability to make dreams come true, Jenny Chang is, without a doubt, the event mogul that the world has long been waiting for.

Where did the idea for ROCKNEVENTS come from?

I launched my first startup firm, ROCKNEVENTS, at the age of 19-years-old with no higher education than an associate’s degree from The Fashion Institute of Design Merchandising (FIDM) and no previous event planning experience, However, I wanted to set up my company’s mission with a simple intention— to create a force of event directors that will elevate the frequency of this world, one celebration at a time. My vision and passion manifested ROCKEVENTS into an elevated modern and timeless experiential event planning firm. Our group of legendary producers whom we recognize as “TEAM RNE” guides couples and corporate partners through the start-to-finish process of celebration planning.

Additionally, as my highest motivation has always been to keep inspiring tomorrow’s leaders, in 2018, I created ROCKNUNIVERSITY which is the only online learning program dedicated exclusively to aspiring event special producers. Students learn through “tours” as they become filled with purpose and growth on their journeys.

I also am the founder of Vowlá, an intelligent smartphone app which matches our clients with their very own virtual wedding planner. Vowlá finds the perfect wedding destination and partner vendors based on the party’s details and expectations. I created the app to be able to offer my services to all couples, no matter what their budget is, so that everyone can have a wedding that they deserve and dream of.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

Every morning, I wake up at 5:30am, turn off my alarm and turn on my sink. I wash my face, teeth and down a glass of water to hydrate. I’ll put on my pre-set exercise clothes, plug my earphones and hop on my cycle bike to get a 45-minute workout in. After I cycle for 45 minutes, I’ll meditate and receive reiki tones for about 10 minutes, turn on the shower and start to get ready for my day. By 7am, I have already tidied my bed, lightly journaled and started the day with the personal habits that help me stay in alignment. By 7:30am, I’m ready to coach my first client of the day and welcome my production team by 9am.

I’m very ‘present’ in my days and can take on MORE than I was able to when I was just an impulsive entrepreneur. I pride myself in being more conscious and mindful of how I plan the day to be so that I can set my team up for success. On most days, I’ve achieved my many personal and professional goals before 12pm, and it allows me to set more creative projects, milestones and/or personal achievements to create within that day. At night, I tend to find myself performing my evening habits so that I’m concluding my day as conscious as I’ve started it, and it makes me feel that much more rewarded.

How do you bring ideas to life?

No dream is too big and your mindset has the power to make your greatest visions become reality. I live by blueprinting the life that I want to create, and then bringing it to actual life and likewise, I want to inspire entrepreneurs to cultivate their ideas and live the lives they were meant to.

I also operate with the mindset to “live unapologetically” and it’s the way that I aim to perform each day from the minute that I first wake up in the morning to when I lay my head down at night. If you are true to your own self, you will attract the people and things into your life that you are meant to.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I’m very attracted to trends that bring people to interact with one another. Interactive trends have a way of naturally bringing out each individual’s unique personality and quirks to present themselves. I’m attracted to ‘challenges’ that compel people to step out of their comfort zone and approach an experience in their own unique ways.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Waking up at 5:30am has proven to be the most advantageous habit that I’ve created as an entrepreneur. Beginning my days in ‘receiving’ energy as opposed to ‘survival’ energy is evident in the outcome of my every productive move. I find that the work that I produce is more conscious-based as opposed to impulse-based. In other words, I feel most in control over the problems I am able to solve in my days/weeks and months when I start each day to be of service to ‘self’, as opposed to starting it by being of service to others.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Celebrate your milestones! Reflecting back on my younger self exposes the many dreams that I’ve set forth for myself and the many achievements that have then followed those dreams. I’m grateful for them all. However, what’s an accomplishment without a celebration? I previously found myself in this perpetual cycle of setting goals, then higher goals; all to achieve them without pausing to realize my own success which ultimately led to a lonesome journey.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Not everyone is going to make it. In a room of a thousand people with that ‘spark’ in their eye, if lucky, there will be ‘one’ that actually makes it. Everyone ‘wants’ to create their dreams, and everyone is capable of being hypnotized to the vision of their ‘ideal’ life, but it takes a unicorn to grow a dreamer into a ‘creator.’\

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Each morning, I begin my day by doing all the little-to-large things that serve ‘me’ before I exude my energy towards my employees, clients, and audience. As an intuitive entrepreneur, I tend to exhaust my energy to deliver to those in need before my own.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

My expansion strategy was (and still is) to master the service in which I offer, build out a blueprint, standard operating procedures and then produce e-books on the steps to success. I then train other creators to deliver the same service to the world using different tiers. In other words, create your greatest ‘creators’ and trust them to expand your vision/mission to expand.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I always say that the ‘one’ of many things that business schools fail to teach people is that starting a business is no different than starting a family – at least, for every great entrepreneur. Think about it: in essence, entrepreneurs that reach success have to inspire, motivate, feed, teach, scold, and be great cheerleaders of our employees. It’s our purpose as founders to be responsible for the team’s success while motivating them to work hard for the vision that we aim to build. I hired my first employee when I was 20-years-old, and no one had taught me this value and therefore, my journey failed as quickly as it succeeded. When starting, I felt excited that my dreams were coming to fruition, and in retrospect; I can say that my ego was what drove my desire to hire in the first place. Eventually, I felt motivated to mold these individuals to think bigger, aim higher and to dream endlessly towards their personal and professional passions. The challenge that I’ve solved in the entrepreneur/executive journey was to remove the fantasy of being ‘liked’ by my employees, and to inspire their freewill to respect the innovation that we’ve built together.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Let’s start the ‘Yelp’ in favor of business owners. Up to date, there’s no platform that allows hardworking business owners to leave a review of their former employees. I believe this will solve a major challenge and bring balance between entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. It will conserve time for business owners when attracting their success to build a strong team, while incentivizing an average employee to be accountable for their reputation. Paper resumes will lose their value, but shared experiences will never die.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

My best $100 spent was on my first-ever event invitations. When I hosted my first event marketing experience to launch my startup, ROCKNEVENTS, I spent about $100 on the invitations to invite the many guests that became the reason that my brand/firms have evolved into what they are today. Without the paper invitations designed with details, I wouldn’t have been able to invite the very people that helped me market my business.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

I’m an advocate of Asana. This project management system has allowed me to build timelines, milestone trackers and can even operate as a credit card holder (depending on the way you design the pages), and I love the flexibility/creativity in the ways in which I’m able to manage, delegate, communicate, and create my success through the platform. The aesthetic is also very neat and minimalistic, and easy to use.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

I recommend the book, “The Magic”. This gratitude-filled book is one of the greatest contributions behind why my “glass half full” perception and spiritual language is what it is today. Starting an event production firm when I was 19-years-old was the most rewarding risk I’ve ever taken, and on the contrary, was one of the most reflective decades of my life regarding my relationship-to-self. I learned rather quickly that being an artist of experiential dreams doesn’t come without a consistent set of problems to solve and a self-sabotaging conscious. This book has unveiled my relationship to ‘abundance,’ and decoded the spiritual tongue. Today, I’m proud to inspire my tribe to experience their lives through the simple pleasures of inhaling and exhaling gratitude. Personally, this book helped me create a religious habit of starting and ending my day with the magic of gratitude that helps me perpetuate a cycle of abundance in my every day, week, and month to come.

What is your favorite quote?

“Make a speech when you’re upset and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret”.

Key Learnings:

• Magic is born through a collective effort, so allow others to help you. Attract the right people, build a loyal team/following and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you and your mission need it.
• Celebrate every manifested milestone – remember that behind each and every success was hard work done by YOU. Celebrate the big and the small, it’s what makes your journey unique.
• “Starting a business” is no different than creating a family in the sense that there is a desire to grow a great business with great people. However, despite the challenges along the way, learn from your experiences, both the good and bad.