Valerie is a recovering attorney, Yale grad, pug lover, Springsteen fanatic and Florida native living in New Orleans, Louisiana. Calm, cool and collected is her mantra and she is a natural born leader that takes pride in motivating people, creating memorable milestones, and maintaining poise under pressure.

As a thought leader and industry expert in the event space, Valerie has made waves with her national speaking tour, The Sapphire Sessions, a specialized program for event planners and designers aimed at elevating event industry best practices for the benefit of the greater good. As the CEO and creative director of Sapphire Events, she leads her team of producers and designers through her streamlined, consistent and efficient design and planning process to execute highly complex and multi-layered events around the country. She also founded and manages a sister company to Sapphire Events, Ruby and Pearl Events, to serve those clients in need of planning, design and event management on a broader scale. As a mother, she balances running her business alongside raising her four young children, Ramona Veronica, Francesca and Wolfgang and she continually supports her husband in his pursuit of running a successful law practice from home.

Valerie is on a mission to improve the profitability of creatives working in the event world. Talk to her about pricing, contracts and perfecting the design process, strategic relationship building and leading a team. She is an open book happy to share what efforts continue to bring Sapphire Events great success.