Meet Sabrina Lee

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sabrina Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sabrina, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
The most important habit that’s helped me succeed has to be constantly reminding myself that I CAN. Starting and growing a business on your own is so uniquely stressful – constant pressure to succeed, no matter what that means to you. I feel the imposter syndrome hit at least once a week (usually more often than that), so I have to remind myself on a daily basis that I can do this, I can figure this out, solve this problem, get over this hurdle – I can do it, even when it feels like I’ve reached the end of my rope.

The other habit, which is probably equally important is, is being a student and a learner for life. To me, that encompasses so many habits in one: reading articles on current events and new technologies on a weekly basis; listening to workshops and seminars by industry experts in the entrepreneur world, events space, marketing, business development or any aspect of the business world where I may learn even one new tip or perspective; taking focused courses for business, new tech or software, or other transferable skills from places like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, or other resources; and even forcing myself to network online and in-person (which I naturally want to avoid as a secret introvert) and have at least one meaningful, productive conversation a month. When I was working on my MBA in the middle of two of the busiest years Lillie Jane Designs has ever had, everyone kept asking me “Why did you go back to school? Why did you decide to get an MBA? You already have your own business…”, and my first response was always “I want to!” I have such a craving to keep learning and gaining more and more knowledge and expertise. I don’t ever want to feel boxed in or stuck when the world is forcing me to pivot.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Lillie Jane Designs is a Houston event planning and design firm that helps modern, busy professionals turn chaos into timeless, stress-free weddings and events with purpose. Led by Sabrina Lee (yours truly) and a team with over ten years of project and event management expertise, we aim to provide a professional, streamlined planning experience tailored to each client’s needs and an elevated event that provides your guests with an unforgettable experience. We specialize in intentional designs, fusion or multicultural weddings and events, and corporate and branding events with a strategic goal in mind.

I’m incredibly proud of how far this business has come in the past seven years since starting as a one-woman show. First off, any creative, social business that survived COVID and all its shutdowns and cancellations is a true SURVIVOR, and I’m grateful to be one of them. Even five years later, we still see the leftover effects of how COVID reshaped luxury and virtual services and just the way people view and treat people in the service industry. In many people’s eyes, event planners are not a necessity (they’re completely ignorant to believe that, but to each their own…). And even those who know how impactful having a professional event manager or wedding planner is to hosting a successful wedding or event, the economic climate does not always agree. As a small business owner, it’s been a constant battle of survival and pivoting to keep a healthy cash flow, understanding changing market needs and trends, and protecting my heart and spirit through it all. But we’re still here!

All the struggles are made worthwhile by so many aspects I’m grateful for, like continuing to be a preferred planner at many of Houston’s most renowned venues – including The Houstonian Hotel, The Astorian, McGovern Centennial Gardens, and Chateau Nouvelle, to name a few. I’ve also built such amazing connections across this city and the country with people I never would have had the chance to meet (and celebrate with), like our clients from all over the world and our vendor colleagues and partners who make up the dream teams we curate for each successful event.

Most recently, I’m very excited to have launched our new corporate and non-wedding event planning division this year, LJD Concepts! We’ve previously focused on weddings, with corporate and nonprofit events being sprinkled in throughout the year. With this new division, we aim to shift more into the corporate, nonprofit, and branding event industry to meet the growing need for professional event management for high-touch, strategic events. In my early years of event planning, mixed with my aerospace days, I gained a lot of experience in professional meeting support and understanding the different events needed based on various business or organizational objectives. Fast-forward eight years, and LJD Concepts is here to help organizations meet those objectives with strategically curated events designed with purpose (and KPIs) in mind. We’re excited to add more galas, fundraisers, seminars and panels, retreats, and marketing events to our portfolio in the coming years and look forward to working with a larger portion of Houston’s business and nonprofit communities!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is a tough one! Houston is so big with sooo many great places, events, and activities to do, truly depending on what you like. I’m a NASA baby turned inner-city lover, so if I wanted to give my friend the full H-town experience (mixed with some of my regular faves), my itinerary would include:

Mon – coffee & brunch at Barnaby’s Café, then a full day of shopping at the Galleria or Cypress outlets, ending with endless chips & salsa, dinner, and mangonada margs (+ complimentary ice cream cone) at Gringo’s

Tue – a kayak tour through Buffalo Bayou, then an early dinner picnic in the park with the gorgeous Houston skyline + a walk down the bayou to see the bat sunset at Waugh bridge

Wed – brunch of champs at The Breakfast Klub, then head down to Clear Lake for a Space Center Houston visit (with must-have train and shuttle tours), ending with dinner and a movie at Star Cinema at Baybrook Mall and late-night drinks at Bar Louie or Gloria’s

Thur – an early morning start (before the sun gets too crazy) at the Houston Zoo, then take advantage of free museum Thursdays at the Museum of Fine Arts. Next, slipping across 288 to This Is It for the best soul food dinner, then ending the night with whoever is playing at Miller Outdoor Theater

Fri – lunch at the Truck Yard in EaDo, then walking to Daikin Park early to get whatever Astros freebie and buying way too much at the team store before enjoying a game, then roaming downtown for post-game drinks or a late-night treat

Sat – continuing the game-day fun at a Texans game, starting with early-bird tailgating and snacking on Trill Burgers throughout the game

Sun – taking a drive to Galveston for Grand Galvez’s brunch and a spa day at the beach for a relaxing end to a fun week

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d dedicate my shoutout to my mom first. She’s always been a very self-motivated, incredibly hardworking person and she passed those traits down to me. She’s also the person who will drop what she’s doing if I really need help – from helping me pay for advertising and styled shoots when I first started my business to being my first event assistant (even before she was being paid). She’s my ride or die, and I love her forever for that.

I’d also dedicate helping me step outside of my comfort zone and expand my sales and business skills and perspectives to my MBA sales management and business development professor, Dr. Richard Conde, at the University of Houston-Downtown. I remember halfway through my first course with him, Sales Enablement, I was thinking, what the hell have I gotten myself into? I thought he was so direct and intimidating, and everything about him and that first course just felt…unexpected and so hard. But by the last week of the course, I became such a Conde fan! I kid you not, I cried when the portion of my degree plan that he taught was over because I learned so much so fast and felt so supported by him, his corporate fellows, and the friends and colleagues I met in his classes. He also invited me back after I graduated to have Lillie Jane Designs as one of his project subjects for his marketing strategy courses, giving me the opportunity to get fresh ideas and perspectives from his students. I don’t know if he knows it, but I have so much respect and admiration for him. Conde Cohort for life *heart*

Website: https://lilliejanedesigns.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilliejanedesigns

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lilliejanedesigns

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lilliejanedesigns

Other: LJD Concepts pages:

https://lilliejanedesigns.com/concepts
https://www.instagram.com/ljd.concepts
https://www.facebook.com/ljdconcepts

Image Credits
First 3 photos + main Sabrina photo: XO Golden Photography
Next 2 photos (tables with no people): Ashley Arden Photography
Last photo (night photo): Tricia Bailey Co. Photography