Before the Bee
I am not entirely sure if our story starts with a rabbit, or a closet, but either way it is a good one. You see, back in 2021, in the PC (Post Covid) world, we now live in, we were in uncharted waters. I had at this juncture spent the better part of my career working in the hospitality industry in one capacity or another. I had seen a LOT, and experienced a LOT, it did not take much to rock my boat these days. My career began working at Caesars Palace, shortly after graduating from UNLV with a Hospitality Degree. I have planned and helped to execute pretty much every type of event from Gender Reveal Parties, to Celebrations of life, heck I even put on a few epic divorce parties. I have helped with these events all over the country, from Vegas, to Chicago, and everywhere in between, and eventually Atlanta, where I refuse to move from. It had been almost a year of a complete pause on all events, and things were finally looking up, but we were also in the middle of a major labor crisis. We had several events booked, but not enough people (including yours truly) to work all of them. When all of my tried and true recruiting tactics no longer worked, it was time for drastic measures! In my effort to find temporary help, I stumbled across a site called TaskRabbit. I started scrolling through all of the pages, and was in disbelief at the amount of categories they offered, and a thought occurred, I could do this!
I paid for my $25 background check, found my friendliest looking photo, and posted my profile. I can not recall all of the categories that I signed up for, but among them was Organization. One of my very first “tasks” was to assist in organizing and hanging clothing. When I arrived at the home, it was a bit disorganized, and clearly clothing clutter was a concern. I more than anything was excited to dig in and help. I had met the son of the homeowner, and found out that his dad had passed away a few years ago, and with all of the kids off at college thier mom was downsizing. The loss of her husband had been difficult for her, and really she had struggled to keep things in order. I spent a few hours sorting through piles of clothing, and was able to sort them by category and color. When the mom of the client arrived home, she was literally in tears, hugged me and said “you have no idea how much you have helped me”. I was hooked. It was not a shock that I loved organizing, as I have been Roy G Biven’ since the 90s, and used to spend my allowance on containers to keep my closet tidy. What I was not prepared for was that my ability to do this, not only could help other people, but could truly change their lives.
I spent the next year doing these sorts of tasks on the side, in addition to working my full time job. It became more and more clear to me that this was the direction that I wanted to go in. I knew that if I was going to grow my hive, that it needed more of my time, energy, and focus. And so somewhere in between a rabbit and closet, an idea was born.
