Sandra De Ovando: Beauty and the Bottom Line

CHIEF TALK

CEOS TELL HOW TECHNOLOGY is TRANSFORMING THEIR BUSINESSES

INTERVIEW BY LEE LUSARDI CONNOR

OVANDO: BEAUTY AND THE BOTTOM LINE

A HIGH-END EVENT PRODUCTION COMPANY COMBINES HEART WITH THE STATE OF THE ART.

Ovando, founded in 2003 by Sandra de Ovando, started life as a luxury floral boutique and has evolved into a floral design and event production firm. Its client list includes the US Tennis Association, the Museum of Modern Art, Saks Fifth Avenue, Coach, Hermès and many other globally recognized brands. With nearly 50 employees and legions of independent contractors, Ovando is a sizable company in an industry largely populated by small shops. De Ovando herself, born in Mexico City to Spanish and Russian parents, credits her inspiration to her upbringing and extensive travels, and her company’s success to its culture and high standards. In a high-touch field, de Ovando is actively exploring ways in which hightech can keep her business on top.

Technology Enables Creativity

Nature, for us, is really very inspiring as a source of ideas. So too are art, dance, architecture, sculpture, music, photography—all kinds of mediums spark ideas. Of course, with the Internet and globalization, the range of inspiration available for event production is greater than ever. We can get materials from China, from India; you can be on Skype with someone in a little village in Peru who makes amazing things.

Clients are always looking for the next new thing. The niche in which we compete continues to get more competitive and sophisticated. We are constantly seeking innovation, setting the bar higher and higher. Technology helps us do that.

For one of our events, we created “hammocks” out of pressed Lucite, suspended them from the ceiling and filled them with gorgeous flowers.

For another event, we had a “jungle sunset” theme and used engineered MDF [medium-density fiberboard] wood to create very precise laser-cut images of trees, pineapples, all kinds of images.

For the Hospitality Room at the US Open, our team created an 18-foot tennis racket-shaped light box, finished with a gradient of hanging tennis balls. An LED light rope hidden behind stretch fabric created the illusion that the tennis balls and racket were floating. The installation also provided a light fixture to guide the players to the lounge area.

Let Software Help Make the Sale— and Save Money

When we create a concept for a client event, we use CAD [computer assisted design] renderings in our presentation. We use 3D modeling software called SketchUp to create what we call a “flythrough.” The client will get the feeling of what entering the event will look like, the cocktail bar arrangement, the furniture, the linens, and so on. The client gets to “experience” the event before signing on.

Recently, we invested in custom software. Typically, our industry does not have technology beyond point-ofsale programs. There is a lot of manual work—entering orders, calculating materials needed, the staff, the props, creating a market list and often having to enter the same data in several different places, then hand-tallying the expenses and revenue. With our custom software, we are able to cut the time spent on these tasks by 30 percent. That gives our people a lot more time to work on non-redundant tasks, and helps us keep even closer track of our profitability. The software will also be invaluable to us as our company grows.

We are constantly setting the bar higher. Technology helps us do that.

—SANDRA DE OVANDO

Brand and Culture Are Everything.

We have employees from very diverse backgrounds and points of view. We are open to all ideas; however, we Ovando-ize them. The brand is very, very important to us. We work very closely to make sure our projects are identifiable as Ovando—that they are beautiful, clean, modern, purposeful. That you can see there is a design hand and craftsmanship behind what was done. Nothing is there because it just happened to end up there. We train the designers and the salespeople and everyone in the company to have that mentality—to dress that way, to think that way.

I spend a lot of time talking to the team, one on one and in meetings, about what our brand stands for. I ask our employees to read Whale Done: The Power of Positive Relationships by Ken Blanchard, and Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service [by Ken Blanchard et al]. I’m a big admirer of Seth Godin and will sometimes show my staff clips of his work.

We have a culture document that outlines our company’s purpose—to create beautiful moments and spaces, to thrill people’s senses and make them happy. Our focus is to “wow” everyone we touch with everything we do. One of our beliefs is “Having fun at work is everyone’s job.”

When I hire, I am definitely looking for someone who fits our company’s culture. That’s because I spend so much time and dedicate so much to this business that it’s very important to me to spend my energy the right way. And I’m nothing without people.