Just barely a year old, Keynotes by Lisa Taylor-Stone is already making a name for itself in the event management arena, planning and executing some of the largest and well-coordinated functions locally and globally.

The company, which emerged as a passion of Taylor-Stone, prides itself on “top-notch event management services”. Started out of a need for change, the founder and CEO, after making a bold decision to leave her corporate job two years ago, incorporated the company a year later, with an aim to organise impactful events — ones designed to inspire, connect and empower.

“I started Keynotes by LTS out of my passion for using events to help organisations achieve their strategic business imperatives. I’ve been in corporate for over 20 years and one of the key strategies I’ve always used to grow revenues for the departments of which I’m in charge was always events. In one of my past jobs I raised the department’s income from $600,000 to approximately $60 million for the year. In having a background in the area makes it so much easier for me to operate the company which basically allows me to turn my passion into profits,” she told the Jamaica Observer of her reason for starting the business.

Specialising in the planning and executing of all size events, Keynotes by LTS organises corporate events, conferences, seminars and just about any other event. The company’s main focus, its founder said, is targeted towards delivering customised experiences, strategic planning and high-quality execution. Currently, its services include event conceptualisation, project, logistics and speaker management, sponsorship acquisition as well as marketing support.

Taylor-Stone, in having some 14 year of expertise in the space, said the aim is to further hone her craft as she moves to take Keynotes to higher heights.

“At present 95 per cent of my clients are based outside of Jamaica; however, my first official local event [the Accountability Summit] set for next week is expected to be the start of many more to be managed locally. The plan is to continue with expanding my client base by delivering the high-quality services which has so far helped to snowball the popularity of my business. Within the last year, most of the events I’ve done are mainly secured from word of mouth and this has seen me landing large projects for a number of prestigious organisations, some of which are now repeat customers,” Taylor-Stone said, noting among the clients for which her company manages events, a number of international and regional development organisations such as Caribbean Export, UN Women, USAID and CDEMA.

“We do have a comparative advantage in that we do complete event architecture, planning from beginning to end. This means we mobilise and work with all partners from décor to production and all other aspects of event execution. At Keynotes we view all our stakeholders as allies and not competitors so it is customary for us to bring together all players in an event’s life cycle. Additionally, we also design the agenda to achieve the objectives of an event. My strategy is therefore not just about hosting an event for people to come, but it’s also very deliberate in terms of the attendees, programme design and overall execution, ” she added.

Working with a number of partners across the various countries in which she has been called to manage events, the budding entrepreneur relies on a network of support partners, much of which are specially chosen and hand-picked to fulfil the needs of a particular event.

“The only permanent member of staff at Keynotes is myself as I normally put a support team together based on where the event is happening and according to the type of skill sets I will need. I’ve worked in about 8-10 countries over the past 24 months and in each I have a database of people I can connect with for different aspects of an event,” she said.

The CEO, in admitting that there is, however, scope for growth further, said there is lots more left to come for the company which has already started to carve out a presence in the market as it make waves in the industry.

“The future of the company is sure looking very good, but despite that, I continue to reinvent in order to maintain that level of relevance in the market. In creating a niche concerning the type of clients the business seeks to attract and onboard, Keynotes by LTS remains committed to proving seamless event management solutions while creating memorable moments,” Taylor-Stone said.