Female Founder Feature: Hillary Isaksen of Company 421

What is a Pop Up Wedding? Hillary Isaksen, event expert and founder of Company 421 will explain...

As the founder of Founding Females®, I connect with female entrepreneurs daily, but it's rare that I hear about a business model so unique.

When Hillary told me she offers Pop Up style weddings at her event venue, Company 421, in Mahomet, Illinois, I had to know more.

Watch the interview as Hillary explains how she's helping couples create a memorable wedding day with all the cornerstone elements of a traditional wedding for a fraction of the cost.

In this interview, Hillary and I talk about the following:

• What is a Pop Up Wedding?

• Where did the idea originate?

• How much is a Pop Up Wedding?

• What's included for the price?

• Dates can you book a 2024 Pop Up Wedding at Company 421. Currently Company 421 has few slots available for Spring 2024 and Fall 2024.

In addition, the interview transcript has been provided below.

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Read the Interview Transcript

Female Entrepreneur Interview Introduction

00:02 Hi, I'm Francie Hinrichsen, founder of Founding Females®, and you probably know when I come across a female entrepreneur with a really incredible business concept, something out of the blue that I haven't heard of before, I want to bring attention and I want to open up this idea.

00:22 At Founding Females®, we love love supporting females in entrepreneurship, and so I am chatting today with Hillary Isaksen of Company 421, and we are going to be talking about a really interesting unique business concept that she has.

Meet Hillary from Hillary Rae Events and Company 421

00:42 So, Hillary, let's get started. Thanks for your time. Yeah, it me. Yes, we're so excited to be here, and really decided to share what Francie's stumbled upon on our website, and then after we disconnected kind of go deeper into the of weddings we have here at Company 421.

01:01 But let's start with just a little bit about myself. So as you mentioned, my name is Hillary Isaksen. So I started out in the event world.

01:10 I have event and wedding planning business called Hillary Rae Events that I started seven years ago, which is crazy. But yeah, so we've got a really strong background in the event world.

01:22 And it really ties in perfectly with our space here at Company 421, And just knowing that you're going to be in good hands if you book our space, we've got a really strong knowledge space on vendors in our community.

01:35 And then also just knowing the flow of an event and making sure that everyone is in good hands if they decide to move forward with looking our space here and downtown Mahomet.

01:45 In this space is beautiful because we actually originally got connected through Heidi Esther, our mutual connection. And she connected us because you are helping host one of our Meet Ups.

02:00 So one of our Meet Ups are Champaign, Champaign, and at area, it's in the home at your space which you're in right now with a beautiful exposed brick that she and the layer that you, I learned, yes, I thought, I thought you bought it from restoration hardware.

02:16 And it turns out you've made it. Yeah, it's all beautiful in that space. And so we got connected through Meet Ups and your space is just so beautiful.

02:26 So fun to be in there every month for Meet Ups. Yeah, we, it's super, we wanted to, we created this space to be like, your home away from home.

Credit: Lisa Sheffler Photography

02:33 So, thank really cozy, intimate. We wanted all like the coziness of your home to be brought into our space. So that, it felt as if you were like welcoming your gas into your house versus like, conference rooms are great for what they're intended for, but this is just a more intimate, homey, intentional

02:52 space we create, for sure, so much character to it, so much character, which is fun for events. I mean, events have expanded beyond just networking and coming together, events are an experience.

03:06 And I think that's how they should have always been. But it entrepreneurs like you who are bringing in that aesthetic and that vision, which is really cool.

What is a Pop Up Wedding?

03:15 Yeah, thank you. Yeah, okay. So tell us about pop-up weddings. Yeah, so we kind of saw that the coast we're doing this, the coast they're always trendier than us.

03:30 So we were like, hey, why? Shouldn't we recreate these pop-up weddings here in Central Illinois? So what we like to call them is basically an elevated for house experience.

03:40 You get all the formalities that you would in formal traditional wedding just in a two-hour time slot, right? So each day we have three pop up weddings.

03:52 So a 10 a.m. a 2 p.m. in a 6 p.m. So we have three weddings a day which helps kind of counterbalance costs for both, like the clients who are renting the space because we're able to utilize higher-end flowers, like Julie, with JBlu Design is one of the florists.

Collaborating with Other Female Founders

04:09 We work with a lot and I know you know Julie, she's one of the Um, but a lot of times people can't hit her minimum.

04:16 Yeah, she's so talented. Um, but a lot of times people can't necessarily hit her minimums just because she does have a higher minimum with her being like a high level event florist. So we get to kind of utilize that and Let our clients here use a high in experience that they might not have got with

04:33 a 200 person wedding just because budgets don't typically allow for that with a 40 person wedding. But yeah, so you get everything you can imagine like we've got light appetizers provided.

04:47 You get all of your decor, all of those little logistics and things like that are coming. So you show up with your husband or wife, your 40 closest family members, your parents' license, which you'll get here locally in Champaign County.

05:03 And then we do allow you guys to do your own officiant. We used to provide an efficient, but it was just such a personal connection to the day that we decided that we were going to opt out of that and allow them to bring their own person in to actually conduct the marriage itself.

Credit: Lisa Sheffler Photography

05:21 That is so special. And really, that is one of the glue pieces on the day, right, that really adds the depth of the meaning for the wedding.

What’s the difference between a Pop Up Wedding and a Courthouse Wedding?

05:33 And I feel like that is probably the differentiating piece one of them between a courthouse wedding. If you're choosing between the two, a pop-up wedding and a courthouse wedding, you know, there's so much more character.

05:47 And what I love from a business perspective, because I'm always thinking through these business models is that you are serving people, you are serving your ideal clients in different ways.

05:58 You're serving the people who want whole experience. They want the budget. They want this space in the whole day with event planning.

06:10 And you are serving the people who want a different experience. And I from a really assessing the business side of it, like a nerd, that you are heading both at that's right.

How much does a Pop Up Wedding cost?

06:25 And really, it's super cost-efficient. Like, for these packages, it's $4,000. And you get all of these things, which is a fraction of a cost of, like, going and doing this big wedding, and you can still go to dinner afterwards and all the things or buy a house, or do whatever you want with that extra

06:44 money that you've saved, but still get, like, it includes your photographer as well, which I didn't mention. So you're still getting, like, beautiful pictures that are captured at your wedding.

What comes with a Pop Up Wedding?

06:55 And again, 40 people is enough people to be able to actually spend an intimate time with and actually get to chat with all of your guests and experience those things as well.

07:08 And the flowers, they get their own flowers, right? Yes, so everyone gets their own, so you get your own bouquet that you get to keep and take home and then a boutonnière.

07:19 The flowers that are before we do repurposed through out the whole entire day. So those things stay with us, but you do get an option to add on if you have like additional bridesmaids or anything like that.

07:30 We would just ask how many you need and then we would get an estimate and then just let you know how much that additional price point would be as well.

07:39 So it still have bridesmaids and all the things. Yeah, all the things is that's so neat. Okay, so then do you personally help kind of facilitate the day?

07:51 We help them, coordinate with the florist. Is that the role you step into for the day? Exactly. It's almost as if you're getting a full service planner as well.

08:00 Since we're executing all of the logistics, right? We're booking the vendor. You're just paying us as Company 421, and we're handling like distributing all payments and things like that.

08:12 So it's really just showing us. You know when you're in good hands as far as like decor, we're keeping things very seasonally not super trendy, but still like on trend with what's going on in the season.

What is the color palette?

08:24 We're not going to go like, ooh, we saw this really fun like blue, cozy color palette that we want to try.

08:31 We're going to keep things very neutral and like pleasing to anybody, which we've finalized our summer and fall color palettes, which are really beautiful that we'll share with you guys as well.

08:43 So I picked up so many more details in this conversation than previously when we talked through this. In my mind, when we talked to the rent before, too, so let me get this straight, $4,000.

08:55 You get a full service coordinator, you get your photographer, you get appetizers for your guests up to 40 guests, you get this space, and you get two hours.

09:08 Yes, exactly. And we also do, you know, it's included a champagne toast and then also a small petting cake for just the bright and green.

09:20 Really a steal. Yeah, it is awesome. You know because I think right now, it is hard. There is a lot of people who are acting themselves do we buy a house or do we have a wedding?

09:30 And that's a, that's a really hard decision to make. And I feel like you're creating this experience where people can do both.

09:37 They can do the wedding. and they can have an excellent experience, and they can also save their budget for other things, as well, that are so important when you're starting a life with someone.

09:48 Right, and not going in debt, right? We're pro no debt. So, yeah, you get all the things and a really, really beautiful backdrop for the day as well.

10:00 So, there's so many. Okay, so you said that you've to analyze your color palette, do you have a date for pop-up weddings?

10:07 Yeah, so that's a good question. So we have the remainder of this year already out. So the next one is going to be August 17th.

10:17 August 17th we only have one times that left. So just the 10 a.m. Which is super exciting. And then for November 16th of this year we have the two o'clock and six o'clock open.

10:30 So we've just got three more timeframes left for the 2024 pop-up season. So we usually just do one a quarter unless they're gonna start kind of getting more popular, right?

Credit: Lisa Sheffler Photography

10:42 So we think like seasonally in terms of when we're having them, so like a summer spring fall winter is what we've been doing.

10:50 Unless they kept on and then we can add more dates on to the calendar. So I feel like that's the one downfall is people like to pick their date sometimes, but these are things that we're like kind of strategically putting on our calendar that we know we don't have in sync or like a slower time frame

True entrepreneur at heart

11:06 so that we can fill in. States that might not have been booked originally. That's amazing. Yeah, and I love connecting with you because you are a true entrepreneur at heart.

11:16 And what I talk to you about here is, you see opportunity everywhere you look. And you channel that into the niche of, events, not just weddings, but corporate events and things like that, and then also pop-up weddings.

11:32 It's so fun to talk onto a partnership and business with you. Yes, yes. Super exciting. It's definitely, I don't know if I could go back to the normal.

11:40 I always like, I'm like, I don't have a normal job. I don't know if I could do it. I got it.

11:44 Not a chance. Really great to be able to kind of come up with these ideas and see if they work and sometimes some of them don't work and that's okay.

11:52 So we're excited to grow the pop-up weddings. So I think the biggest thing is getting it out there to people.

11:57 I think it's a, if you're reading it on our website, it might be kind of confusing. But I feel like there's so many people who do still want to save money, have a lower cost wedding.

12:08 And originally, they might think, oh, maybe of perhaps wedding is their only way to go. But that's just not a great experience if you're still wanting photos and all of the personal like a speech, a first-hand.

12:21 So you do get to do all those formal things. just in a smaller window of time. Okay, you didn't realize they get the speech and the first dance.

12:31 Yeah, so I created like basically a timeline to fit everything formal into that two-hour window and it still doesn't feel rushed, right?

12:43 So it's ceremony, you'll like come, have your ceremony, after the ceremony's over, it's like just a small cocktail hour, not a full hour, right?

12:52 It's like, I think 20 minutes where you're getting a drink mingling and then we go into, like, your first toast, if you have anyone who wants toast and things like that.

13:03 And then really just mingling is the main focus up at day. So still doing all things formal like we mentioned just in that shorter window of time.

13:14 And really it doesn't feel rushed, especially with 40 people. It's still plenty of time to actually hang out and enjoy the time.

13:22 Be most people probably would like more. But the great thing is about the six o'clock one, you can add on additional hours, since it's the final event of the day.

13:31 So if you're like, hey, I love the concept, but would like a longer period of time. Definitely that six o'clock time frame is going to be your way to go.

13:39 I can see people getting engaged and just planning on this. like have this in mind for the wedding even before diving into the more traditional longer day options.

13:56 I can see I love and I cannot wait to watch this idea gain traction here in Central Illinois. Yeah we're super excited to share and happy that you reached out to help share and spread more.

14:09 Yeah yeah well all this is how we do We love it. We love to bring awareness and connection to people because women have incredible value to give and you do.

14:21 And so I want people to know about it. Yeah. So how can we connect with you? Yeah, so as far as connecting those, I feel like definitely sending us an inquiry on our website just filling out that you're interested in in pop-ups, maybe even letting us know which date.

How do I connect with Hillary at Company 421?

14:39 I have a feeling that these next few thoughts should fill up quickly, so the sooner the better in terms of kind of getting locked into the calendar for our upcoming events as well.

14:53 What's your website? Yeah, it's just company421.com. Okay. Well, thanks for spending time with me and I look forward to cheering you on.

15:03 Yes. Thank you for answering. You're welcome. Bye, Hillary.

Conclusion to Hillary’s Female Founder Feature

Hillary Isaksen, founder of Hillary Rae Events and Company 421 is a true entrepreneur. She sees opportunity in her field of expertise - events - and serves her clientele in unique ways. Pop Up Weddings are such a transformational way to deliver all the traditional elements of weddings at a fraction of the cost.

Widen your circle of female entrepreneurs by visiting the Company 421 and Hillary Rae Events websites and connecting with Hillary on socials.

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