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The ultimate party girl

Erin Bowen

Shannon Meter is as memorable as her parties.

Soft-spoken yet armed with sarcasm, she is the queen of details. The Miami University sophomore's planner is highly organized. Events are coordinated by color. The books on her desk are organized by height. She is always impeccably dressed and never fails to greet a stranger with a warm hello.

Yet, beneath the carefully groomed exterior is the mind of an entrepreneur. Meter is the co-founder of an event planning business called Party Perfectors. Formed the summer before her sophomore year of high school in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Meter and friends Lizzy Schofding and Carolyn Adamo, both of who attend Michigan State University, came up with the idea on a whim.

Asked to help at a pig roast thrown by a family for whom Schofding babysat, the girls caught on quickly and began to formulate their own ideas to plan more parties.

"Some representatives from Better Homes & Gardens were actually there and told us to keep going with our party planning," Meter said.

The idea snowballed.

The girls created monogrammed polo shirts, business cards and advertised in their local church paper, forming contact after contact until now, four and a half years later, the threesome has planned more than 300 parties.

Before each event, Meter and her co-workers meet with the host or hostess to discuss details.

"We assess what they need in terms of food, silverware and such," Meter said.

On the day of the event, Meter arrives two to three hours early to set up, work with the caterer or finish food preparation. Once the event is underway Meter is constantly on the go, serving, cleaning, handling the needs of guests, even running to the store if supplies become low. Afterward, the Party Perfectors have the dirty job of cleanup.

"We make the house look like the party never even happened," Meter said.

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This past summer, Meter and her co-workers were hired to assist with a wedding.

"It was a second wedding, so the woman wanted something simple but classy," Meter said. "We talked with her and threw out ideas and thoughts to hopefully create something that was her ideal vision."

A business built on perfection

From the business end of the spectrum, Party Perfectors charges $15 an hour per person working. With long hours, the money really adds up.

"On the average night, we work from about 4 p.m. until 2 a.m.," Meter said.

The money, however, is not Meter's motive.

"I love meeting people and being able to see how at each party different problems arise," Meter explained. "By being fully prepared, nothing should ever stop the party. The party should always go on."

Schofding said Party Perfectors helps bridge the distance when its founders are away at school.

"One of the perks of Party Perfectors is that it gives the three of us a chance to see each other," Schofding said. "It is a fun way to keep in touch considering we are all in college now. At the parties, whether we are washing dishes or serving appetizers we never stop laughing and when we finish, there is always a story to tell."

Meter, a native of Beverly Hills, Mich., a northern suburb of Detroit, is a strategic communication major with a marketing minor. Creating her own business at a young age is just one of the many things that set Meter apart from the rest.

Her parents said from an early age, Meter showed extraordinary characteristics.

"Shannon has always been a perfectionist, even as a little girl," said Shannon's mother Betsy. "Shannon also demonstrates a silent leadership style. She is efficient and not afraid to take control in a situation, particularly when something needs to get done."

Her father, Terry Meter, agreed, saying Shannon has always displayed "focus and discipline to stay at task to bring it to a desired conclusion."

"She was like this in her schoolwork too," Terry Meter said. "She did not let minor setbacks deter her from continuing to work towards a successful result."

According to Betsy Meter, this attitude helped attract more clients.

"Once she and her friends decided to move forward with Party Perfectors, they quickly concluded the only way they would receive referrals to other clients and grow the business was if they performed well every time," she said. "They took this on as their mission and executed in an efficient manner each time they were engaged by a client. The name Party Perfectors essentially reflects their commitment to perfect performance on the job."

Keeping the party going

The three girls all hope to incorporate event planning in their futures. Adamo, a marketing major specializing in advertising, said she is strongly considering a career similar to Party Perfectors.

"I can definitely see myself working in a similar atmosphere," Adamo said. "I like organization and I feel I have the creative zeal to continue on that path."

Schofding, who is working toward a degree in public relations, said the experience of Party Perfectors has helped narrow her career focus.

"Party Perfectors has really provided me with an opportunity to find and excel in something that I love," Schofding said. "It allows me to be creative and work with people. There is never a dull moment."

Like her co-workers, Meter hopes to venture into event planning in the corporate world.

"I would like to plan events for companies but work more on planning and background work than serving the party," Meter said.

At Miami, Meter is a member of Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and helps organize events for her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. She hopes to get involved with the celebratory events for the upcoming university's Bicentennial Celebration in 2009.

With the experience of creating her own business behind her, Meter and her co-workers see a bright future.

"Creating our own business has really been a phenomenal learning experience and a great confidence booster," Schofding said. "We are our own bosses so we have to be in tune with ever single aspect of Party Perfectors."

The girls behind Party Perfectors started from scratch, designing their own logo, creating business cards, developing a slogan and setting their hourly rate.

"We never thought that what we were doing would gain the respect that all our employers, professors, high school teachers and parents have given us through the years," Adamo said. "Party Perfectors has given us a glimpse of the cruel business world, yet also an insight into managerial concepts and the importance of teamwork, trust and good friendships."

To Meter, Party Perfectors is no longer just a "job."

"When you find something you love to do, it no longer becomes work," Meter said. "It's enjoyable, Party Perfectors is what I love to do."

An invitation to leadership

Students who are interested in leadership and achieving their goals, like Meter, can find help from the Miami Leadership Commitment, a student leadership program to enhance and foster leadership opportunities for students. It promotes various workshops and conferences across campus, one example being LeaderShape, the popular six-day program teaching adults to lead with integrity.

Dennis Roberts, former director of the program and current associate vice president for student affairs, described the vision of the program as to "develop potential in all students for global and interdependent world of the future."

"This concept was one of the first examples in the U.S.A. where a university determined to communicate that all students have leadership potential and that a program, or set of programs, was to be available to foster this potential," Roberts said.

Gary Manka, director of student activities and leadership at Miami, said leadership is essential in the lives of students.

"We are all trying to holistically develop our students' leadership capacity or engagement through our various initiatives within the Miami Leadership Comm itment framework," Manka said. "We're not there yet, but we have made definite progress."

Roberts said Miami leadership is stronger than average.

"For the most part, Miami students don't see leadership as the responsibility of an elite few but as a shared responsibility among many," Roberts said. "In fact, I would suggest that Miami cannot achieve its goals of deepening student learning unless it takes seriously a commitment to broadly inclusive and shared leadership."

The office for the Miami Leadership Commitment is 111 Warfield Hall.

Shannon Meter's tips for starting your own business

•Find something you love. "If you love doing it, you'll work harder."

•Never give up. "We could have stopped after the second party, said this was fun, and given up, but we knew we had a good thing and continued to better our work."

•Use your contacts. "Make contacts and use the ones you have to put yourself out there."

SCORE, a non-profit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and formation of small business, which has helped launch companies such as Very Bradley Designs and Jelly Belly Candy, developed this list of the most fundamental qualities for entrepreneurs:

•Perseverance•Desire and willingness to take initiative•Competitiveness•Self-reliance•Strong need to achieve•Self-confidence•Good physical health


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