Fashion, Food and the Secrets of Building Personal Connections

Sofia Crokos is an event planner in New York, founder and creative director of Sofia Crokos Events & Lifestyle, and also a restaurant owner. However, her journey into events began with the fashion industry. Whilst she originally went to university to pursue business, her dad’s idea, Sofia’s true passion lay in a more creative industry and led her to the Fashion Institute of Technology to study fashion, with a focus on sales and marketing. After a seven year career within the industry she transitioned into event planning, with her own ah-ha moment arriving during the planning stages of her own wedding. She has now been working in the events industry for the last 25 years. 

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Crokos notes that it can take time for a small business owner to feel like they’ve ‘made it’, with Sofia having that realization after 10 years. She notes that it was her belief in the industry, her business and the connections she was making that convinced her to continue pursuing her goals. Crokos notes that the development of authentic connections is important. As much as we move through life as individuals, the connections we make with others, whether personal or professional, can contribute to our own journey. Mentoring and networking are both two areas that Crokos believes strongly in and notes how they have benefited her own career and led to where she is today.

Crokos believes that to take an event from good to great you need to have the right people. Why? Because the energy of the people is what elevates your event to great, and if you have this then the results will follow. Crokos also notes that having an alignment with your client, where you both fully understand each other will also allow you to deliver an event that exceeds expectations. However, flexibility must play a role because how we envisage an event and the event space can change once we arrive and start the build process, therefore having the flexibility and confidence to adjust the plan is necessary. 

Whilst Crokos is someone that prefers to take things day by day as opposed to looking too far into the future, she believes that some of the upcoming event trends include immersive acts. After years of being locked down in various ways due to the pandemic, people no longer want ‘just’ a band or a DJ, they are hungry to experience something that will give them the opportunity to immerse themselves in a crowd, they want to be able to ‘feel’, with Crokos noting that aerialists, dancers music ensembles are just some acts she is expecting to see increase in popularity. 

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