Meet Victoria Brown | Owner of The Space City Party, Procurement Analyst by day & most importantly – Momma to 2

I would say there’s two factors that we hold very close to us – our integrity and our authenticity. When our clients book with us, we are going to provide them not only the best customer service, but we’re going to be blunt and honest. If we know an idea isn’t going to pan out to give the client their dream result, we’re going to tell them so we can pivot and figure something out. If we know it’s not the safest idea, we’re going to tell them. We even go as far as to look at weather and wind predictions for the day and strategize a plan b should anything arise. The Space City Party was created to inspire exceptional moments and provide a magical place of perfection for your celebration with friends and family. Not just to make a buck off of a bounce house rental. That also slides into our next factor- authenticity. Every client, no matter how extravagant their event or how big their invoice is, is going to get the same personality, integrity and spirit. We really try to stay true to our initial vibe- which made the beginning process slower than if we just went with the cookie cutter trend, but now it’s really paid off. Doing this has helped us cultivate relationships with clients and vendors with similar vibes and has made this business such a dream to be in.

Aside from The Space City Party- I’m a Procurement Analyst for the global leader in Facilities Management. I deal with a lot of Excel spreadsheets and numbers to say the least. I find that now a days a lot of people gripe on climbing a corporate ladder- it’s all about being an entrepreneur, being apart of a start-up company, etc., however, I believe working in a male dominated industry in the corporate world has been pivotal to my success in starting my own company. One, I knew a heck of a lot more when it came to supply chain which surprisingly was a much bigger issue for other similar companies to ours. Second, I had customer relations and vendor relations down pat. I was able to take my foundation, build my aesthetic on top of that and thrive quickly. One of the biggest issues I’ve heard from similar companies to ours- they have the aesthetic, the customer service, but didn’t have an idea when it came to business or legal and unfortunately, it caused them a ton of costly problems.

While it was surprisingly very smooth sailing for us since we launched in November- it didn’t come without cost. Prior we worked our tails off, learned a lot of hard life lessons, and had a lot of late nights. Balancing two small children, a full-time job and any side hustle I could do- I definitely had a lot of 2AM nights with 6AM mornings to save up money. I couldn’t just dive in head first into this company, I have 2 small children that have to be provided for. I couldn’t do the entrepreneur eats ramen and dedicates life to their new company cliché. I had to put food on the table and have a company that could offer me insurance and benefits. Two- we made a vow that we would pay for everything for this company up front, we didn’t want to owe any money to a bank, credit card company or person. So even when we gained insane traction, we had to lose out on quite a few customers because we simply needed to save up more money for inventory, new delivery drivers and adding on extra services.

Lessons I’ve learned along the way? Prioritize. You don’t have to say yes to everything. In fact, Warren Buffet had a quote on how the most successful people barely have anything scheduled on their calendar. They say “no” more than they say “yes”.
You don’t have to say yes to every collaboration request, photoshoot invite or even event for that matter. For example, I closed out the possibility for any bookings to be held on my son’s birthday weekend. I wanted to be able to be fully present and not have to worry about a possible delivery mishap, still being present for a client, and worrying about everything that entails with a rental. Time management is key when having a healthy work life balance. I love a planner but my biggest asset to this is time blocking. This way I don’t sit down at the end of the day and go “oh my gosh, I literally didn’t do a single thing for The Space City Party”, “I didn’t even touch my regular work”, “Great, I forgot to do literally all the stuff I needed to for the kids”. It can be difficult- sometimes my timer will go off and I tell myself “ugh if I just have 15 more minutes I could create like a few more pieces of content” and I have to pry myself away from the computer because no, I set this timeframe for my kids, my mental clarity, etc. and I need to honor that.

The Space City Party was created to inspire exceptional moments and provide a magical place of perfection for your celebration with friends and family. Honestly, the BEST feeling ever is seeing that smile that clients have when they see their vision pieced together for their event. Seeing the collaboration with different vendors pieced together to create this experience they envisioned is SO gratifying. When I can, I try to go to as most deliveries as possible just to see this look.

In Houston?! Where do I even begin. Ok, this is going to be lengthy. Depending on the season- Houston Rodeo is a given of course. If you’re a Houstonian and have never been- that’s simply a crime. Same with an Astros game. Houstonians are ride or die for their teams and you can just feel that whenever you’re in Minute Maid stadium.

I feel like Houston’s art scene is so underrated. We have some incredibly talented artists here as well as some incredible exhibits that come through. I always suggest The Menil Collection, The Rothko Chapel, The Museum of Fine Arts and Sawyer Yards. Every weekend there is always some sort of art market going on and I try to check out as many as possible. For kids, even though this isn’t Houston exclusive, The Color Factory is so fun.

Houston is SO underrated when it comes to food. Whenever I traveled around the US for work…I was always SO disappointed in the food. Houston’s Chinatown is spectacular, I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal in the area. There’s quite a few restaurants there that will have themes come through or will just have an insane aesthetic. Not to mention, any karaoke bar in the area is guaranteed for a fun night. Tiny Champions, Coltivare, The Blind Goat, Nancy’s Hustle are some of my favorites here. For a visitor- I feel like you have to go to The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation as well as attempt a food truck tour.

For drinks? At Christmas time, Johnny’s Gold Brick is my FAVORITE. It’s quaint, good drinks, and it looks like Christmas threw up in there- what more could I want? Unicorn Disco- a cool, fun vibe with bowling there as well is perfect for a group of friends looking for a night out that involves more than just drinking. Wooster’s Garden, the first time I went, one of the owners was an Alabama fan (Roll Tide) and wouldn’t allow me to order a Jack and Coke (which I ordered because I didn’t know of any other whiskeys at the time!). It was definitely the first none college/dive bar I had been to and really helped refine my whiskey palate- so I gotta pay my respects to them. While it’s not exclusive to Houston, I love Cidercade right now for a fun, casual night out with drinking and arcade games. Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge remains one of my favorite vibe lounges, especially in the winter. The balcony has a great view of downtown and is kind of separated from the madness of the other bars.

For hanging out, Railway Heights Market is one of my favorite Sunday places to go to. There’s different local vendors, food for literally anyone, and everything is just so chilled out. Menil Park is also my favorite place to chill and read a good book.