Meet Barlyssa Lopez

We were lucky to catch up with Barlyssa Lopez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Barlyssa , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

Over the last 4 years in business, we’ve learned the importance of scheduling creative projects, outside of our client workload, solely for the sake of expression and curiosity,

Our most recent endeavor was participating in this year’s Tablescapes for Hope annual fundraiser hosted in Rochester, NY by Home Start Hope, a local organization whose mission is to provided brand new, essential household items to women and their children transitioning to independent living from emergency shelters. Every year designers are provided a theme and gather at this amazing event to raise money for the organization.

This year’s theme was Children’s Storybook and being Disney loyalists, we instantly chose Beauty & the Beast. Two months of planning, obsessing and sourcing unique items brought us to an 8ft tablescape that left us in awe of ourselves. We found ourselves being inspired exploring new ways to present this timeless classic. We challenged the boundaries of any of our previous work, pushed ourselves to think out of the box and arrived at becoming our most creative selves. By connecting with a local organization we feel passionate about supporting & giving ourselves the time, space and freedom to be authentic, we keep our creativity alive.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Hola, we’re Barbara & Alyssa but you can call us Barlyssa! Margarita aficionados with touches of latin spice, people-pleasing & perfectionism rolled into one awesome duo. We are the event magicians behind Homemade Events. We plan, curate and collaborate on love-fueled weddings, events & luxury picnics throughout the Rochester community & now beyond!

Soulmates for 27 years, business partners for 4, our main goal is to build a life that we are obsessed with living. Spoiler alert, we built it! As we celebrate our 4th year in business, we’ve welcomed a new title as the in-house venue coordinators for Slate on South, a micro event venue perfect for hosting your intimate gathering!

And because we love this little life of ours so much, we started a podcast to share how we got here and how we keep going. TBH, we couldn’t help ourselves! We saw a massive shift in our lives and mental health and knew we couldn’t be alone in this experience. That was when we decided to hop on a mic to find and build a community of likeminded people thru raw convos, laughs and tasty margaritas. You can listen to us every Wednesday on your favorite podcasting platform!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

#1 PASSION

We love what we do! There is nothing else that brings us more joy than to curate core memories for our clients while getting to spend our days together. The opportunities to be creative & intentional with people’s life moments is our passion and we never want to stop doing it. Some may say we are obsessed! We use that obsession to drive our business forward while having all the fun along the way.

#2 TRUST

We’ve learned to trust ourselves. As Event Magicians, we have learned that we can plan all the details as meticulously as possible AND something unplanned will still arise! We had to look back and take evidence from past experiences to remind ourselves that we always found a solution. There was never a problem that we didn’t solve and that gives us the confidence to walk into future events knowing no matter what may arise, we have the skills to persevere.

#3 CURIOSITY

We stay curious. Our business has seen tremendous growth since starting back in 2021. Every year has had its share of lessons, which we laid as the foundation for where we are today. We schedule check-ins with ourselves and ask what else do we want out of entrepreneurship? What new dreams do we have? What’s one step we can take to get closer to our dreams? We have no doubts we can attribute that our curiosity to try new things, work with new people and dream new dreams has lead to our growth and success

To new and experienced entrepreneurs, we invite you to breathe… you are doing a good job! Remember you are not meant to have all the answers right now. Give yourself grace and the space to learn and grow, knowing that the goal isn’t perfection –> it’s happiness. Have fun with the life you are creating!

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

The Integrated Entrepreneur by Raeanne Lacatena has played an integral role in leveling up our business. We met Raeanne, a Holistic Business, Life, Success Coach, and Author by happenstance at a women’s business retreat, during a round of business speed dating. She shared she had written a book and as two suckers for personal development, we ordered her book right there! At that time, we thought were simply supporting a fellow women entrepreneur. Little did we know her book would change us forever.

Raeanne leads you through the discovery that entrepreneurship is a personal development plan, brilliantly disguised as a financial opportunity. She shares her own real-life stories and it was there that we truly connected with Raeanne. We felt like we were reading our own story. Raeanne put words to feelings and thoughts that we had been carrying with us for our few years in business and even longer personally. The book is beautiful written with nuggets on knowledge on every page. But it is the book as a whole, that holds the largest impact to our lives. We are forever grateful to Raeanne for providing the framework on how to live our lives and run our business holistically. Since reading and practicing becoming an integrated entrepreneur, we have a seen a massive shift in how we show up for ourselves, our clients and our families.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://homemadeeventsroc.com
• Instagram: @homemadeeventsroc / @margsandmindsetpodcast / @slate_on_south
• Facebook: @homemadeeventsroc
• Youtube: Margs & Mindset Podcast
• Other: Margs & Mindset Podcast – streaming on all podcast platforms
  Slate on South – slateonsouth.com

Image Credits

Susan Elizabeth Photography
Emilia Callahan Photography
Abigail Elizabeth Photography
Roc Focus Photography