December sees the final article in our ‘Women In Business’ series, focusing on Nicola Harris and Elisa Drummond. They are the founders of Pinnacle Event Staff, an event staffing agency that offers event staffing solutions for any aspect of delivering an event.
Both Elisa and Nicola really didn’t know that they wanted to do as a career and fell into working in events and went from there. “We both had dads that had their own business’s and I think we were inspired by how hard they worked and how much they achieved.”
Elisa and Nicola set up Pinnacle Event Staff and provide event staffing solutions. They do a lot of onsite support work, meaning they provide large teams of people that help to run an event. The onsite roles include; registration, scanning, directing delegates where they need to go, managing the speaker green room, managing the conference sessions themselves and generally being on hand to ensure an event runs smoothly supporting the events team.
Pinnacle Event Staff also have an excellent team of freelancers who help with the pre-event planning side of things when their clients need additional resource in the office to deliver an event. They provide freelancers such as project managers, operational and logistics specialists and also staff to help within the delegate registration and customer service teams on a temporary basis. Pinnacle’s client list includes Microsoft, Ascential PLC, UBS, Wilmington Healthcare and Informa to name but a few.
Facing Challenges
It has become apparent after speaking with a selection of Women In Business, that it is so important to believe in yourself and be determined to succeed. Talking with Elisa and Nicola, they explained that they have felt extremely lucky to work in the events industry and that there has always been a very large female presence in the industry. They feel that there is great support among the female community.
“We certainly have developed very strong relationships with similar sized companies to us with strong women at the helm and have mutual admiration for the work that we do and the success that we have. You just have to keep going, keep the vision in mind and keep working hard, that is what we have done.”
Nicola Harris.
COVID was a very tough period for Pinnacle Event Staff, which resulted in them closing the business for 18 months in total. “It was a tough time however, we took the time to plan for post-COVID and cherish the time we were able to spend with our families. The event industry is now booming again and we seem to have weathered the storm.”
Women in Business
Both Elisa and Nicola are mothers and find it tough to get the work/life balance right. They explained that they both really try to put family first and really lean on each other and work together to support the other person when they each need time out to be with the family.
Elisa and Nicola’s key piece of advice…
Our advice would be to do what you say you are going to do, meet deadlines, be resilient and keep your goals in mind. “We have always worked exceptionally hard and there have been some real knocks and disappointments along the way. Ultimately, all of those have been a learning for us that we take forward and we always try to not make the same mistake twice!”
“Hard work, professionalism and reliability are rewarded in the long term, it’s important to be kind to everyone that you work with. It feels very much like the landscape is changing for women in business and talent is being rewarded regardless of gender, we hope that is a true reflection of what is really going on.”
Elisa Drummond.
What does the future look like for Elisa and Nicola?
Elisa and Nicola both feel very happy with their success so far and want to continue doing what they are doing. “The business seems to be growing organically year-on-year, so long may that last!” says Elisa.
If you are interested in finding out more about Pinnacle Event Staff, please visit her website.
Read our other Women in Business interviews here: Cat Archer Underwood, Suzanne Bungard, Lizzie Smith, Dipalee Jukes, Terrie Hounsome, Sue Dilworth, Sophie Oliver.