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Omaha Magazine

Lesley Brandt and Renee Black

May 04, 2017 07:00AM ● By Sean Robinson
This sponsored content appears in the Winter 2017 edition of B2B. To view, click here: https://issuu.com/omahapublications/docs/b2b_0217_125/56

"Whatever it takes” is a personal motto for both Renee Black and Lesley Brandt. As the founders and principal producers of Omaha’s premier event planning agency, planitomaha, this power female duo knows that “having it all” comes from a lot of hustle. No client request is too lofty and no event too grandiose.

“On any given day, our team is coming and going, event supplies are shipping in and out, and face-to-face meetings with clients and vendors are constant,” Brandt says.

Just because these ladies have headquartered their firm in the Midwest doesn’t make their agency small potatoes. For more than 18 years, planitomaha has worked from New York to Los Angeles and everywhere in between to provide their clients with highly specialized and highly strategic corporate meeting and event management services.

“Like most entrepreneurs, we started with a vision, a box of business cards, and the drive to make it succeed,” Black says.

Years before that first box of business cards, the two actually met each other in high school and stayed in touch through college. After both developed careers in nonprofits, marketing, business, and—of course—event planning, they came back together 18 years ago to form planitomaha when they realized their strengths and backgrounds were complementary.

This special combination of skills has led to a legacy of delivering wow moments. Whether they are planning an event for six people or 6,000, planitomaha works as an extension of their clients’ teams to produce work that is on time, on-budget, and on-point.

From Hollywood backlot parties to political national conventions, there’s practically nothing Black and Brandt haven’t touched as they’ve developed their small firm into a multimillion-dollar company.

“We always relate to our clients as people and will always get the job done accurately,” Brandt says. “In a fast-paced and successful company, it’s important for our women-owned business to invest in relationships and empower those around us to do great things.”

True to their word, Black and Brandt have devoted much of their careers to empowering women—especially young women. The entirety of planitomaha’s full-time staff is comprised of women, with the firm’s internship program regularly following suit.

“Our employees fit the brand by being smart, professional, and Type A personalities,” Black says. For interns who fill this niche, many have been hired on full-time.

Beyond the unique makeup of the company, Black and Brandt say their firm’s event technology puts them ahead of competitors. One of the only event agencies in the country that has its own innovative technology program, planitomaha’s AttendeeXP is a custom attendee management system that also provides meeting and event elements in a virtual environment.

It’s this progressive mindset and atmosphere that has led to planitomaha’s success in creating award-winning events on a local and national scale.

“It’s important people remember how smart and efficient we are,” Brandt says. “Our work ethic and problem solving skills are what our clients thrive on while our wide reach and experience keeps them coming back.”

10832 Old Mill Rd., Suite 5 Omaha, NE 68154 402.333.3062 planitomaha.com

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