Houston Entrepreneur Hires White Staff To Maneuver Racism

Kristina Cox began her event planning business amidst the Great Recession in 2009.?For years, she met clients at coffee shops and hotels in the Houston area to plan their events at other venues.?Those experiences brought about her desire to build a destination venue of her own, thus initiating the birth of The Morgan Falls Event Center in Alvin,Texas.?We caught up with Kristina to talk more about the trials and tribulations faced on her entrepreneurial journey.

What training/experiences did you have prior to starting this business that helped make you successful?

I have a degree in communications that taught me how to create websites, flyers and marketing promotions.?Not to mention, I have planned many corporate and private events, as well as shadowed professional planners.?I’m always conducting research and studying the game to perfect my craft.

Tell me about a time you faced a difficult hardship or challenge in your business?

The most difficult challenge I’ve faced was racism.?Many people that came to our venue for events thought my husband and I were the help.?To adjust, we have to hire white event staff to avoid complications.??

A lot of Black-owned businesses had to shut down during COVID. How did you stay alive during the pandemic and how are you keeping the doors open?

By the grace of God! We are so grateful to be in business despite the pandemic. Our faith in God has sustained us, we know we could not do it on our own.?There were times we hoped the lights stayed on during events because we had not been able to pay the bill.?Building meaningful connections also helped us.?Our advertising campaign called, There's A Celebration In Your Future was very successful.?We have encouraged couples who had to cancel their weddings due to COVID-19 with personalized gifts and a phone call on what should've been their wedding day.?This stems from our experience of giving a couple who lost everything from Hurricane Harvey their dream wedding for free, and it is featured on Good Morning America.?Google 'Harvey Wedding for Free'.

What’s next for your business? What does the future hold for you and your company?

Expansion! We currently have six acres, outdoor waterfalls, indoor/outdoor upscale amenities, and we also host corporate events.?Our goal is to double the size of our current ballroom. COVID-19 made that difficult in many ways so we ended up just doing renovations and the expansions should be completed by Summer 2023.?We are also building a Bed & Breakfast on the property!??

For more information on Morgan Falls Event Center you can go to https://themorganfalls.com.

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