Your Name: Kimberly Burk
Business Name: Plan Ahead Events – Denver South, an event planning and designing service
Type of Business: Event Planning
Business Location: Denver, Colorado, United States
Reason for starting
I have worked as an IT project manager in aviation, telecom, healthcare and many other industries for more than 20 years. For me, it was time to use my right brain as well as my left-brain, and I launched my own business to combine process and creativity in planning events for corporate customers.
How do you define success?
I define my personal success as being able to balance my personal and work life while maintaining the highest quality of work product and exceeding the expectations of my clients.
Biggest Success
I was brought on to rescue a multi-million dollar project that was failing to produce the desired results and had a high potential of a lawsuit. After ramping up on the project and taking over the management, I was able to transform it from a near-failure to a successful project. The project finished on time, and the client was so happy they purchased additional services resulting in over $15 million in additional revenue.
What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it?
Starting my own business has by far been by biggest challenge. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to start and build a business. I believe the key to my success is being surrounded with smart people who support me and can provide me with the advice, feedback and support I need.
Who is your most important role model?
My mother has been my most important role model. She was an entrepreneur herself and when I was young, I watched her successfully launch her own business. She led by example and showed me what it meant to work hard, treat your customers with respect and kindness and balance it all while raising a family.