会展行业播客Eventualists对话Butterscotch Cloud创始人Gwendolyn Hood：入门级岗位为何要求经验，如何破解入行困局

Every industry says it wants fresh talent, but for many aspiring event professionals, breaking into meetings and events can feel like an impossible paradox. “Entry-level” job postings routinely ask for three to five years of experience, titles rarely match actual responsibilities and young professionals are often expected to already know how to navigate an industry they’ve barely had access to yet. So how is the next generation supposed to get started?

In this episode of Eventualists, co-hosts Taylor Smith and Hannah Elston speak with Gwendolyn Hood, founder of Butterscotch Cloud, a career development platform designed to help emerging professionals break into the events industry with confidence. Starting her own journey producing church events on a $50 budget, Gwendolyn went on to build a 25-year career spanning more than 400 events across 12 countries. Today, she helps entry-level candidates, career changers and aspiring planners better understand the realities of the industry, develop transferable skills and navigate the often confusing pathway into events careers.

[Find Resources Designed for Eventualists' Listeners on Gwendolyn's Website Now!]

Together, the Eventualists unpack the growing disconnect between hiring expectations and reality, why so many job descriptions unintentionally alienate qualified candidates and the mentorship, transparency and career resources young professionals actually need to thrive. The conversation also explores the confidence gap many early-career professionals face, the value of transferable skills and why the industry must rethink how it defines “qualified.”

This episode is for hiring managers and industry leaders looking to better support emerging talent, and for anyone trying to figure out how to get their foot in the door without already having years of experience.

Listen Now:

Meet Our Guest:

Gwendolyn Hood is the founder of Butterscotch Cloud, a career development resource for people breaking into the events industry. She started running events for her church on a $50 budget and refused to look back. Twenty-five years, 400-plus events and 12 countries later—with scars to prove it—she now helps entry-level candidates, career changers and anyone wondering if this industry is their vibe.

If this resonates, she'd love to hear from you. Or if you know someone trying to break in, send them her way. Visit butterscotchcloud.com/eventualists.

Transcript:

Editors note: The following transcription was exported from Microsoft Transcribe and proofed by our editors. Although it is very accurate, there inevitably will be some mistakes, so please consider that when reading. Thank you.

Taylor Smith

Welcome to Eventualists, Real Stories, Eventual Experiences, a new Meetings Today podcast for tomorrow's talent and today's leaders, co-hosted by me, Taylor Smith.

Hannah Elston

And me, Hannah Elston. The Eventualists sheds light on the unexpected realities of life as a business-events industry professional. And today, we are excited to welcome our next guest to the podcast. But before we do, Taylor, it has been so long since we had a proper catch up. How are you? How was your trip recently?

Taylor Smith

Oh my goodness, it has been too long. The trip that Hannah's talking about was actually a personal vacation. Put sparkles around that because I don't take many of those, but I went to Boston with my mom and absolutely fell in love with the city. It was so amazing. We were there for St. Anthony's Feast, which is the biggest Italian festival in the country and I'm a big Italian, so it was super cool to see that and just to have some bonding time with my mama. But what have you been up to, Miss Trendsetter of Tomorrow?

Hannah Elston

Yes, well, I've been celebrating. Hello. I was so, so, so, so, so honored when I opened up the e-mail and found out that I was going to be a Meetings Today Trendsetter of Tomorrow.

I did actually put this in my post as well; I can't wait to tell my younger siblings who think that I am so cringe and old that I'm actually a trendsetter. They can be jealous now, it's official. But yeah, that list is absolutely incredible. There is so much amazing talent on there and I'm so glad that people got behind it and nominated people.

It's honestly amazing, but Taylor, you know, you created these awards, and I think that makes you the biggest trendsetter of all, like seriously. I know you can't put yourself top of the awards list, but I wish that I could do that for you because you embody everything about what it means to be an eventualist, a trendsetter, next-gen professional giving everything you've got, you give so much to others—just giving people the recognition that they deserve and championing, sharing the voices of young professionals. You are phenomenal. So, thank you for getting me on that list for anyone that nominated and voted for me, but I want to share my win with you because I couldn't do it without you and you're amazing.

Taylor Smith

Thank you so much. I'm literally tearing up right now. Maddie, don't put this one in the video because people will see me cry. Oh, Hannah, that was so, so sweet and amazing. That's exactly why you are the perfect fit for this list, because not only do you constantly better yourself, but you do it to better those around you. And so, I think that's the definition of a trendsetter. So, we could just keep going back and forth here and just keep loving each other.

Hannah Elston

But let's talk about quickly a win that we have together, Taylor, because we have some big news to share, don't we? Do you want to share with everyone?

Taylor Smith

The eventualists are officially moderating the IMEX Future Leaders Forum. This has been something that I honestly, I think it was you, Hannah, that you were like, ‘what if we can make this happen?’ And Thanks to Hannah Lee on the IMEX team, it has come to fruition and I'm so excited, especially because our guest today will also be there joining us. So it's kind of the perfect segue, I think, Hannah, to get started and officially introduce our next guest as none other than Gwendolyn the GOAT. At least that is what her Gen Z audience is calling her on Reddit, and it's what I have personally come to find out is entirely true. She really is the greatest of all time.

Hannah Elston

She really is, and Gwendolyn the GOAT is also known as Gwendolyn Hood, who is founder of Butterscotch Cloud. She helps entry level candidates, career changes and aspiring planners better understand the realities of the industry, developing transferable skills and navigating the often-confusing pathway into event careers.

Taylor Smith

In this episode, Gwendolyn joins the eventualists to unpack the growing disconnect between hiring expectations and reality and outlines career resources young professionals actually need to thrive. Gwendolyn the GOAT, thank you for joining us.

Gwendolyn Hood

It is my pleasure. I'm so glad to be here. But before we say anything, first of all, congratulations, Hannah. That's amazing. I 100% know it's so deserving, and I think you are perfect for that award. So, congrats to you. And she too made me tear up when she was talking about you, Taylor, but she hit it spot on. Not a single word she said was untrue. I 100% back that and am a product of exactly what she explained.

And then lastly, Boston is amazing. I lived there for four years. I'm a little jealous. So, your last trip sounds awesome. Super, super duper awesome. You chose a beautiful time to go. Fall, late summer is an amazing time to visit Boston. So how cool is that?

Taylor Smith

I loved every second of it and I'm going to have to get more tips from you because I will be going back.

Gwendolyn Hood

Yeah, good. You'll have to go to the Cape and do some of the water festivities down there. Boston is great. The food is amazing. If you like seafood, of course, but yeah, it's a really cool culture to immerse yourself in. So that's amazing. Yeah.

Hannah Elston

Gwendolyn way to give me FOMO. I've not been to Boston. I really want to go. This sounds amazing.

Gwendolyn Hood

You must go. There's a lot of culture. It's a lot of history. It's really cool, totally different experience from anywhere else in the U.S., in my opinion. I moved there sight unseen, of course, chasing an event career, and I don't have a single regret. The only reason I left is because the winters are just entirely too long. Like, 10 months out of the year, it's just, why is it snowing in May? Make it make sense. Like, I can't.

Taylor Smith

I'm used to that up here in Chicago. I think I could do it.

Gwendolyn Hood

Well, yeah, there you go. Then you're already prepped and ready for that. This is a Texas girl coming straight from Texas into Boston. I mean, ease me into it. I could do maybe eight, nine months, but 10, uh.

Taylor Smith

Gwendolyn, we want to give our audience a chance to get to know that meetings and events industry dream that you were chasing in Boston, right? And how you ended up where you are today. So, before we really get into your backstory with Butterscotch Cloud and everything that you do, we want to know first. This is a question we ask all of our guests. How have you identified with being an eventualist?

Gwendolyn Hood

That's a great first question. When I think about that, I think we all were eventualists at some point. I know personally, I started having absolutely no idea what I really wanted to do, and I kind of wound up in events as a career just naturally. I shifted, you know, took the crooked pathway because there's never a straight line, and here I am.

That was then, and now at this point in my life, eventualists, I help them day-to-day. As you mentioned in the intro, navigating and trying to figure out how to break into events is such an elusive thing. Everyone's interested in it, but no one can figure out how to crack the code. So, I am here to do that. So, I'm giving a voice to eventualists. I'm helping them figure out the next step, how to make themselves sound good, read well on their resumes and just get started in the industry and close off that gap of mystery. How do we do this?

Taylor Smith

You're the class I wish I had in college.

Hannah Elston

Right.

Gwendolyn Hood

We're working on that.

Hannah Elston

Gwen, I mean, I'm sure that everything you just said comes into play here, but we really want to know what was it that inspired you to create Butterscotch Cloud?

Gwendolyn Hood

Well, let's back it up. I mentioned my early days, and I started at church, many people start early childhood somewhere random, and I started at church. I literally, they gave me 50 bucks. I had a little bit of lint in my pocket and I had to rub it all together and create something magical. So, from there, the itch and the desire, the bug, the passion for events. That's the root. That's where it started, and then from there, I kind of worked my way into corporate roles and into global positions.

Now at this point in my life, after having worked in the industry for over two decades, for more than 25 years, I'm aging myself. I know I am. But after being in the industry for that long, I now have pivoted to helping people, as I stated before, figure it all out. And that's where Butterscotch Cloud came. Because I too, like you mentioned, Taylor, I had no idea, how do we do this? Is this something that's real? I see it, but you know, is that something I can possibly do? And if I can, then how do I do it?

So that's how Butterscotch Cloud came to be–just wanting to help people and seeing a gap over and over with the same questions and some of the groups that I'm in on Reddit and Google Groups, I could see the same questions being asked and the interesting part, there were comments, people were giving advice, but it was random. It was sporadic and a lot of it was like that's not necessarily the case. Let me clean this up and straighten it up for you, and after you see the same thing so many times, that's when the light bulb went off. Hey, this is a gap I can step into using my own experiences and how I navigated this the system and the industry rather. And like you said, Taylor, not having someone or a masterclass or a course telling you this is what you do, that this is how you do it and so forth. And that's how Butterscotch Cloud became.

Taylor Smith

Can you maybe elaborate Gwendolyn on some of those gaps that you were seeing that existing resources just weren't addressing? And I mean, just thinking back to my career search in my job search, I was different, right? I wasn't looking for jobs in the event industry. I was still struggling though, and still didn't really know where to start. But from where you're sitting, what are some of those gaps or some of those questions that you're seeing on platforms like Reddit that you really are hoping the industry, or we can even address and maybe talk about a little today?

Gwendolyn Hood

That's a great question because you would think that would be an exception and not the rule, and I'm starting to lean towards it being the rule of the chaos trying to figure it out. And you would think, oh, it's not that difficult, but it kind of is. Some of the gaps that I see right off top, people are like, I think I want to build a career in events. How do I do it? Entry level position job postings are asking for three years of experience. How do I get three years of experience? When I need the job to get the experience like it's just a circle that people cannot figure out how to get out of that drain spin over and over. And so, there's a lot of confusion there.

Another thing I see is a lot of people wanting to pivot out of their current industries and roles into events, and they can't figure out how to bridge the gap, how to show how their transferable skills relate to events. I also see people with experience, maybe they're new to the industry. They've done some events on the side, maybe some school events, some volunteer events, planning for friends or family that they could position on their resumes, and they just don't know how to do it. They put it on there. They list all of the things they did, the execution, the logistics, all of the things that were just tasks. But where the gap is, making the connection to the purpose of the business. What was the impact of you being there? What changed and what happened because you were a part of supporting that event? And that's the gap that a lot of people struggle with closing, but that's what I'm here for. That's what I help people figure out how to do.

If you're just starting out and you need that experience, I have guides on that. If you're looking to take the experience you have and translate that into a resume that will stop hiring manager’s scroll. I have solutions for that, and then once you get the call back for the interview, I also have solutions to help you verbally translate that enough to stand out from your competitors, your other candidates, so that you can land the job. So yeah, it's quite a few gaps, but I try to stay strategic and focusing solely on getting in rather than once you're in, because once you're in, there's MPI, there's PCMA, like there's so many events and associations and organizations that are there to support and guide you to help you promote and steer your career. But no one had, well, I haven't found myself was specifically talking to bridging the gap from being an outsider to becoming an insider.

Hannah Elston

Gwendolyn, I love that explanation. I mean, you are doing phenomenal work, by the way. I mean, I'm so happy that we've got you on for eventualists because I think you're going to help so many people at the beginning of their journeys. Now, I think it's important to understand sort of both sides of the coin here as well, because we're talking about entry-level jobs that are requiring three to five years of experience. And obviously that's painful because what do you mean? But I think it's good to understand how did we get here? Why do you think that these people are putting out hiring applications and then adding on that experience piece? Why is this happening in the first place?

Gwendolyn Hood

That's a great question, Hannah. I saw an amazing post on LinkedIn not too long ago that received thousands of comments, likes and reposts all around that like is this really entry level? I understand the hiring managers to a certain extent. I think they're looking at requiring three years of experience for an entry level position as kind of a weed out point. You know, is this person really serious about this position? Is this person really serious about being in events as a career? Because a lot of people, you hear, oh my God, I plan my wedding. I think I love events. This is for me. I want to do it. That's cute. That's great. Congratulations on planning your own event, but it's totally different when you're planning your own event, your own budget, your own vision, your own goal versus planning someone else's vision, goal, budget. It looks totally different and those are two totally different sets of skill sets. So, I think hiring managers are requiring the three years experience to eliminate those people who are testing the waters, trying to see if events, you know, is it my thing? Because no one wants to hire, go through the whole process, posting the job, filtering through hundreds, if not thousands of resumes. You know, you're interviewing candidates, you make the selection, you negotiate the offer, you bring the person in, and then within 30 days they're like, ‘well, maybe this isn't my thing.’

So, I understand the requirement of asking for the three years because by that point, three years under your belt, you've done enough events to figure out, yeah, this is for me or no, maybe not. Because honestly speaking, events is more than a career, and in my opinion, it's literally a lifestyle. You're not solely nine to five, you're a nine to whenever, or a whenever to five. Like, you're all over the place on weekends and evenings. You really have to love this for it to be a viable career for you.

I understand hiring managers wanting to make sure they hire the right person who's not going to be looking to change their mind or opt out within the first 30, 60, 90 days. Now they're back at the starting line all over again when they could try and weed this out by requiring three years of experience. So, I understand how we got here, but I think maybe. There are some improvements that hiring managers could consider. I think they're reducing quality candidates by having some of those requirements that are a little bit unrealistic because the candidates, my tribe that I'm trying to give a voice to, they see that requirement and they scroll past. Even though they could be an amazing team member, bringing in a very unique and diverse perspective to your team, but you're missing them by having some of those requirements. And then we're not going to talk about the two-page scope of the job these days. It says entry level, but the more you dig into it, you're like, wait a minute, this is middle management or upper management, things that they're asking for, what is going on here, make it make sense.

So, I think hiring managers should just be cognizant of what they're asking for and what they're looking for in a candidate to make sure they're not weeding out really good people by some of what they're asking for and requiring.

Taylor Smith

Make it make sense. I say that all the time. I love it. That's what we're trying to do, right? And I think one thing, a couple of things that you mentioned, we see all those requirements, right? And I think with entry level, requirements and experience. What I've started to notice is that even if you don't necessarily have what you think is one to two years of experience already, you likely do and just don't know how to transfer those skills, which is what we're going to talk about.

But I do want to touch on another thing you said, which is you open that job description for entry level role, and it's literally a novel and you're like, I don't know. How does this make sense? In a conversation we had before, you mentioned job titles rarely match responsibilities. How do you think this impacts or turns those early career professionals away? And in addition to that, if you could redesign the typical event coordinator entry level job posting, what would you change?

Gwendolyn Hood

That's something to think about. Let's start with the, the last part of the question, I would give a more realistic picture of the role. I would appropriately label what I need them to do, what they can learn. I would even include something about growing into maybe the next step because no one wants, most people, I won't say no one. Most people don't want to just stay in one position. They're looking to grow, especially as a newbie, whether you're transferring in or brand new to the job field altogether.

I would make sure that I position that as an opportunity for you to advance and do more. But I would be extremely cognizant of making sure that I don't expect too much from this person because coming in new to the role, most of the time the hiring manager, they've partnered with HR if it's a larger company to put that together. But being an experienced and seasoned event professional, you know what it takes to get into that position and what you need from it. And if it needs to be two roles, break it up, make it two positions. If it needs to be an entry level with heavy support from middle management, make that clear. Because what's happening when you don't and you do have these two pages of scope, you're running off the great people and you're not giving them any type of supportive feeling that they can succeed in this role.

I just would say let's be more self-aware, be realistic about what you're asking for. If you're asking for too much, fall back and let's readjust, recalibrate and get that job listed the proper way to get the person in the role. And if you really need a junior person and you're trying to get away with hiring an entry level person, come on. Let's keep it real and just respect the industry, the role, the candidates and what you need as the hiring manager. I think if you let that steer the posting, I think it'll be more realistic and people will respond better and your pool of candidates should improve as well.

Hannah Elston

I love that, Gwendolyn. And you know, I really want to touch on there. We're talking a lot about the hiring managers, obviously, of course, but actually, I wonder if you've got any words of encouragement for the candidates, because I remember learning early on that actually sometimes you'll see a job description or you'll see a job posting and you might say three to five years experience or, you know, might say some other responsibilities, but actually, there is negotiation that can happen there.

I remember when I saw the ELX job posting, I saw it, and I was like, this is bold. If I get this, this is a bold move. They are probably looking for someone that has 10 times more experience than I do based on what I was reading. But I was like, that would be a dream. It would just be a dream come true. This is the job that I've been wanting. I shoved that in the back of my brain. and I was like, no, let's just go for it. Let's be bold. Let's do this. And then obviously, it happened; you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, as they say.

Do you have any words of encouragement for our candidates, our new people that are looking and might be turned off by some of what they're seeing in the job descriptions?

Gwendolyn Hood

Hannah, you're talking my language now. These are my people. That's my tribe, 100%. I am strategically staying in that lane. I've been offered so many other speaking engagements, but I turn them down when I'm not talking about my tribe and giving them a voice. So, 100% I have tons of advice for them.

As you mentioned, do not walk away from that. Do not let that keep you from applying for the job. Again, it's there, in my opinion, as a weed out tool. But if you tick off all the boxes and you have experience, because again, as I mentioned before, experience in this industry carries so much more weight than the education and the certification. But if you have some 100% apply if you have skills, you know, transfer in.

For instance, I had a client coming in from the medical field. Right, doctor, and they had to understand you know their parents were not necessarily super excited about the move, but they were very passionate about it. Another client was coming in from finance, and I'm like, ‘my God, that's amazing. I tend to be. An anomaly in this situation because I'm creative and I'm a numbers person. Usually you don't get the mix. Either you're one or the other, but I'm both and rarely do you find that.’

But bringing someone in from a finance background, imagine they want to be creative. They understand macro, microeconomics, how an event can impact a business and an audience and a market and a brand and all the things that corporations are looking for as events being a function under. So yes, newbies, do not let the three years experience deter you from applying. And if you don't have any experience, again, there are ways to get it. There are ways to volunteer. You can partner with existing planners. I actually had a client at the end of the school year this year, grabbed my free guide, put it in motion. After she read it, she actually went out and put it into action. She landed a volunteer gig, and at the volunteer gig, she met the main event manager who booked her for the rest of the summer. Most people running events love support. As we know, you cannot get enough help. So, if you're reaching out, volunteering, looking to partner with people.

So no, don't let the lack of three years experience deter you. It's positioning the experience you do have, whether it be direct event experience or experience your transferring over, you can work that to make sure that the hiring manager understands that you know what you're doing when it comes to events. And I mentioned before, understanding the impact of events on the business. That is such a unique stand. I think that's what started our whole relationship, Taylor, because my advice, I offered two new graduates coming out this year, was when you do interview and prepare your resume goals to not sound like everyone else, you must explain how what you're doing in supporting and leading events, how it impacts the business and the business purposes.

Everyone knows events are expensive. It takes a lot of resources. It takes a lot of money. It takes a lot of time to put together an event, and everyone wants to understand ‘what am I getting out of this? What are we getting back from this?’ And if you can show an increase in revenue, an increase in the return rate, you know, people returning for following years or improvements and efficiency or, you know, sustainability, that's a big thing now, you know, sustainability, climate control, emissions, all of that. If you can show that impact on your resume and in the interview, you're a rock star. You are like the Mecca of events right there because you don't sound like everybody else. You understand how events fit into the bigger picture, the pie and see your unique perspective on what you're bringing to the company. That job is yours.

I had someone who actually downloaded my interview prep pack, which literally gives you frameworks and structures on how to answer interview questions specific to events, and the person sent me two lines. I got the job. I start Monday.

Taylor Smith

Wow. That's amazing. Yeah, it was.

Hannah Elston

I think as well, like something you're saying there about making sure that we stand out, that's harder than ever to do right now when actually people aren't even reviewing a lot of the resumes. They're running them through these AI bots that are probably seeing other AI generated content on these resumes, and you just get churned up and spat out basically. And it is not what we need people to do. So, I think now is more important than ever to make sure that we do stand out. I'm curious because I think that you actually know more about this than I do. You're like queen of Reddit to me at this point. I love a little bit of Reddit. I love what's that thread, AITA, that kind of stuff. I'm all here for that. I'm wondering, are you seeing anything on Reddit about how AI is affecting this recruitment process for people?

Gwendolyn Hood

Of course, AI is everywhere. Even though everyone complains about it, we can't get away from it. It's the gift that keeps on giving and it's not gonna go away. So, either you embrace it now or you embrace it later. But yes, I do see that a lot. And unfortunately, I do see a lot of people frowning on it. They don't want to see it overly AI written. They want it to have some authenticity, a human behind it. Because otherwise it can come across very cold and just you know there are a lot of inaccuracies.

To me personally, I think AI is only as good as a user. I mean, you have to know what you're doing. You have to know how to prompt to generate the results you're looking for. Otherwise, garbage in, garbage out. Like there's a right way and a wrong way to go about doing it. However, I do think it's a useful tool. In my experience and in my opinion, I look at AI as being a solution to keep you from looking at a blank screen. At least it can get you started. Sometimes you're just like, I don't even know where to go with this. AI can help you at least get started, but that's not the end all be all that you need to go further. You need to put your human touch to it. It needs to be personal. It needs to be authentic. It needs to be real. And there is a strategy to putting it all together specifically for resumes.

You mentioned there, Hannah resumes. There's an order to it like most people sit down, they write their summary, and it's generic. It's a boilerplate. It sounds like everybody else's. They do their skills. They list everything they did. But again, they're not saying what changed because they were there. You're not highlighting the business impact. They're not showing results. So, you just look like everyone else. And like you said, hiring managers are feeding these through the machine hundreds at a time, and nothing is really standing out and being impressive. And in order to do that, you have to be a little bit more intentional and strategic about it. And I always teach, if anything, list your skills, show your impact, show the changes and then go back and write your summary, which you think you should write first, write it last, because everything you've listed there will impact what you say in your summary.

If you don't impress the hiring manager within those first six seconds, guess what? They scrolled off. They're gone to the next person. So yeah, you need to say it, say it fast, say it real. Be impressive. Don't just, you know, say, ‘oh, well, I'll just take my three years of experience.’ No, we need to make that scream off the page because you're competing with candidates around the world. Now, the globe is the pool. It's very rare to compete with just local people. So, you 100% need to approach your resume and use AI to assist with that in a very intentional way, as I mentioned, knowing that it needs a human factor.

And again, I offer that service as well. My resume and positioning service helps with that if that's something that I can help with because I've been there, done that. I've been on both sides of the table. I've been hired. I have hired. I've been the candidate, and I've also been the hiring manager. So, I know what it looks like. I know what they're looking for. And if you want to be different, you have to take some risks and really put yourself out there like that.

Taylor Smith

What you're talking about reminds me a lot of ROI, which is a thing we hear a lot in the industry, and we always think about the ROI of our events. But what about the ROI of the person planning those events and how that ROI translates to the company that they work for?

I think when we think with that mindset, maybe at least me considering it, I'm like, ‘oh, my resume is not necessarily about what I've done, but it's about the ROI that I've brought to the company.’

Another big question happening across the workplace right now is that diversity isn't just about who gets hired. It's about who gets developed, promoted and supported once they get that role. For emerging professionals entering the events industry, I guess from your perspective, Gwendolyn, what does it mean to truly feel like you belong and what do companies need to do beyond recruitment to make sure diverse talent can build those long-term careers and see that ROI come to fruition on their end too?

Gwendolyn Hood

Yeah, I think first of all, this is a question that is very personal to me. I’m a woman of color. I'm a Black woman and so diversity is extremely important. Having some representation, I personally have experienced not having much representation for the events, and the functions and all of my travel around the world. I very rarely step in and see anyone who looks like me. I worked for a company who has over 180,000 employees around the world and I would work with the global team. I was on the local U.S. team and very, very rarely did I ever come into the events we planned, and anyone looked like me.

After a while you're like, what's going on? What's going on here? 180,000 people and we can't find anyone else who looks like me? So that was something that I actually brought up on a call. A friend of mine, a colleague, invited me to, I forgot the label, the acronym they use, but it's for the group of minorities within the company together, and you talk about what's going on in the company and challenges and a big thing they emphasized was recruitment of more minorities in the company. And I was like, okay, this is great. Are they eventually going to talk about the ones that are already here and how we can grow them and what we can do internally right now? And unfortunately, we never got to that point. And I asked my colleague, I asked on the call actually, ‘hey, this is fine and dandy to recruit and get all these minorities in here. I love it, I'm here for it, but what are we doing for the people who are here?’ And they were not interested in entertaining that part of the conversation, unfortunately. And I left the call quite disappointed, and I decided at that moment I was like, ‘yeah, this is not the group for me. I want to see someone who is helping people who are already in the industry.’

Then my second example, I was going to make a LinkedIn post when I was a little bit more active on LinkedIn during some of the Black Lives Matte part of our history a few years ago. I always run everything by my sister. She's my voice of reason. And I said, ‘hey, tell me if this post is good. Do I have any grammatical errors or what's going on here?’ She read it. She said, ‘it's a great post, but you do know you're choosing sides, and if you make the post, you're definitely seeing where you stand.’ So, it made me second guess making the post and I opted out. The post was basically saying all of these corporations and groups are jumping on the DEI bandwagon. They're implementing programs, building out full departments, new initiatives all around diversity, equity and inclusion. And my post was going to say, but is this real? I've seen performative versions of this my entire life, my entire career. But if it's really authentic, is it gonna stick?

And now here we are in 2026 and some of those same companies, same corporations have rolled back DEI, have eliminated, dropped departments, fired people, let them go, because come to find out, no, obviously it was not authentic, it was not real, it was performative, it was something in the moment, it was a trend. And I think in the event industry, in order for it to be more real, you have to encourage the hiring managers to look beyond just what's in front of you and what you're expecting, because people can bring in amazing perspectives and opportunities that maybe you didn't even consider because of the history and the backstory that they're bringing in as well.

I've seen a lot of ads with brands lately that were quite offensive and I'm just thinking in my head like ‘no one at the table picked that up.’ Nope, no one at the table because no one at the table was representing that group that they offended. That's why you need voices at the table being present and events are no different because sometimes we get in our own way and we have our methodologies on how we want to do it. And then all of a sudden, it's like, oops, that didn't work. Well, if you brought in a different voice and everyone didn't look cookie cutter, then this would be an opportunity to be able to improve it and not make those same missteps as you have before.

Now I will say that same large company. They did something great. One year, this was during the pandemic, we were all pivoting, as we know, to online everything, which was questionable. I think we all realized back then, ‘oh my God, we're not ready for this.’ No, we're not. We need to invest in technology a little bit more. I saw so many events crash and burn within the first two hours, like so much bad happened. But any case, we were preparing for our own proprietary event. It was going to be virtual and we were recording in front of a green screen. We had scripts written by the subject matter experts. We were ready to go and my boss literally sent out a message and said, ‘hey, send someone down to represent you and speak through the script. But I do not want everyone to look the same. It is a requirement that we have people who look different from each other.’ It was so inviting to me, and it warmed my heart to see someone intentionally making sure that everyone was represented. So yeah, events, we're getting better. I'm single-handedly trying to improve that. I do have a lot of friends who look like me in the industry. But we're so scattered out that it's not very often you see more than one or two of us in one space, and that's very disappointing because I've been around the world. I've been to more than 12 countries.

One more last story for you. One of my first event jobs after I had been there a little bit, maybe a month or two. A colleague of mine went to lunch and at lunch she said, ‘wow, I was so shocked when you walked through the door.’ I said, ‘Well, why?’ She's like, ‘I never thought they would put a Black woman in that position.’ I was like, ‘oh my God. Really?’ They were like, ‘no, it's too public facing. I just never thought that they would.’

Yeah.

Taylor Smith

The audience can't see right now, but Hannah and I's eyes just expanded by five sizes.

Gwendolyn Hood

Like what? So, you know, you look at something like that and you're like, that's really sad and disappointing, but at the same time, you're like, but I was chosen, even though that's what they were looking for. They saw that in me. And that gives you some hope. And I take it seriously. And I do my darndest to make sure that I represent and represent well. Yeah. So, this is part of that. Thank you, ladies, for this platform to do just that.

Taylor Smith

That is exactly why we started this too, intentional representation and giving everyone a voice at the table. We all deserve it there. And I mean, eventualists is for Next Gen, whether you're doing it for those entry-level professionals or to see more diversity in the industry, it's all about making everyone feel like there's a place here for them.

Gwendolyn Hood

100%. 100% and that is so, so true what you just said because the newbies or the ones transferring over, I get that a lot. I saw a post maybe two days ago and I'm still talking to that person. They were in their 40s and they wanted to pivot into events and were wondering, am I too old to do this? So yeah, I think there's enough room. There are enough events in one city alone. I live in Houston. Oh my God, it's enough events here to keep people occupied. There's enough space to share and spread around. There's enough opportunity for people to find their place in all of this. And I think, like I mentioned before, being open to, you know, hey, everyone may not be cookie cutter. Everyone may not have the same path, but there's enough room for everybody. Like you said, I love that, Taylor. Well said.

Taylor Smith

I think that's like the perfect note to wrap this up on almost.

Hannah Elston

100%. Gwendolyn, that made me emotional actually. It was so beautifully bad. And just to touch quickly on what you said as well, you represent so damn well, so well. You are phenomenal. Thank you for sharing so much insight with us today. You say you're speaking to your people, you are definitely speaking to your people. You are the perfect person to have on here. I'm just, I'm honored that you've given us this time today. So, thank you so, so much. You are truly wonderful and I can't wait to have more conversations at the Future Leaders Forum soon.

Gwendolyn Hood

Oh, likewise. You guys, you guys are amazing. I love what you're doing here. It's much needed. I'm seeing more progression and emphasis put on people who are wanting to come into the industry because I think we do have a big enough tent to welcome them, and I'm seeing that.

I think this podcast is a perfect starting point for a lot of people. Like I said before, events, you might dip a toe, and you're like, ‘yeah, it's not for me.’ This is a great place to start doing that. Listen to what some of the seasoned professionals or even new professionals have to say and listen and say, ‘yeah, maybe we push further. Maybe no, we fall back right here.’ And that's okay because it may not be for you. So, I love what you guys are doing. I'm excited to be a part of it. And I really appreciate the invitation. I hope your audience found something useful in a couple of words that I said.

Taylor Smith

Oh, I know that they will. And we will make sure for all those listening that we link to some of those resources you mentioned that Butterscotch Cloud offers that you offered so that anyone listening can find those on your website easily.

Gwendolyn Hood

Awesome. I love that. That's what I'm here for, to help. Thanks, Taylor. And thank you, Hannah.

Taylor Smith

Gwendolyn, the GOAT. Thank you so much for joining us.

Gwendolyn Hood

All right. Thank you guys. Take care.

Hannah Elston

Thanks, Gwendolyn. And thank you all for listening to this episode of Eventualists and diving into real questions and experiences shared by us and our listeners. For more eventualists content, follow Meetings Today's social media platforms and @eventualists.podcast on Instagram.

Taylor Smith

Whether it's a bold question, an anonymous confession, or a candid conversation with a courageous podcast guest, the eventualists are here to unpack it openly, honestly, and without judgment, to help teach emerging leaders lessons they will find useful in their careers eventually. We're your co-hosts, Taylor Smith.

Hannah Elston

Hannah Elstpn. This episode was produced by Meetings Today's Maddie Willis. If you like this conversation, add to it, email Maddie at [email protected].

Taylor Smith

New episodes of eventualists will air every third Thursday of the month. Thanks for tuning in. We look forward to sharing more experiences and conversations with you eventually.

Listen to more episodes of the Eventualists podcast