Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristi Dance-Kinkead and Amanda Colin
Hi Kristi and Amanda, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
It all started in a shopping mall parking lot one warm & humid afternoon at a local boot camp class when Kristi told Amanda that Amanda’s lunge sucked and she was going to hurt herself if she kept doing it the wrong way. We’ve been excellent friends pretty much ever since. LOL especially since Amanda marched her happy self up to Kristi several weeks later and showed her the perfect forward lunge!
We currently own three small businesses together:
Wellmind Health Coaching – holistic wellness & life coaching services, online personal training and nutritional counseling (We are licensed and certified personal trainers, nutritionists, and exercise therapists)
Fresh Fix Nutritional Services – a highly customized healthy food delivery service
Kinkead Performance and Events, LLC – our wedding management business in which we currently are investing our efforts and time. We started out ‘accidentally’ DJ-ing for friends and now we are officiants, DJs, and coordinators & planners. We also have an Audio guestbook, customizable floral rentals, and offer digital design services.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our biggest obstacle was start up money. We are not wealthy women–at least not yet–and had to start this business on credit. We also had some help with the loan of DJ equipment (while we built our own set up) from my mentor Larry Brooks, who owns Sound Revue Johnson City. It’s practically all his fault that we do what we do now.
We also have progressively taken over my father’s old garage and are transforming it into our decor shop/workshop. That has been an undertaking, as it has fallen into disrepair since his death several years ago. With the constant help of my husband, we are continually working to turn it into a space where our couples can visit to choose their decor, table scapes, & even faux florals. But it is most definitely its own job to do this.
Currently, we have 2200 sq feet of decor in a 4200 sq foot space. Our current projects are getting everything more organized and getting our bathroom remodeled with a working toilet as soon as possible.
The biggest obstacle we’ve faced is learning the ins and outs of the wedding business while operating a wedding business…all about the legalities of owning an LLC & a business in general. Thankfully, we have had some smart ladies helping us navigate this whole learning process along the way.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a woman-owned and operated event business. We offer event and wedding design, planning & coordination, DJ and emcee services, customized faux floral rentals, officiating, security, digital design, and an audio guestbook. The only things we don’t do pretty much are feed folks, ‘drink’ folks and photograph them.
We are known for our creativity & energy, as well as, I hope, our genuine caring about the experiences our clientele have at their events in every way possible. We try to donate time & services to our local & extended communities as much as possible. We work a great deal with Wish Upon a Wedding in Texas to help provide couples, one of whom is a terminally ill patient, with the wedding of their dreams as much as we possibly can. We are currently working with a couple from Morristown who are getting married at The Grand Victorian in Knoxville in November–the owners, Michelle & Brad Gayer, along with several local wedding professionals, have donated the use of their venue for the site of the wedding & reception.
We also are known for our lack of competitive natures. We feel that there are enough folks getting married that we can all be successful. We are huge believers in networking & helping others grow their businesses, even those who offer similar services that we do. Essentially, we want all our “competitors” to feel comfortable referring clients to us if they are not available for that particular service, just as we do for them. Our biggest thing is that they be good humans & good at their jobs because if we refer them, we know they will take care of folks the right way.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
There is not a great deal of things folks don’t know about us. We are very transparent in how we do things in business and pretty much any other part of our lives. We have little to no filter saw well, so what you see and hear is what you get every time you see or talk with us.
I think a lot of folks might not know that Amanda has a degree in Psychology and I have a couple of degrees–Cellular & Molecular Biology among them–from UTK.
We also are both certified personal trainers, nutritionists. and Exercise Therapists.
Pricing:
- DJ – $900+
- Full Custom Wedding Design & Management – $2200+
- Month of Coordination – $1250+
- Day of Coordination – $800+
- Virtual Coordination – $500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kinkeadperformanceandevents.com
- Instagram: @kinkead_performance
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KinkeadPerformanceandEvents/
