Meet Greg Jenkins

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Greg Jenkins. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Greg below.

Hi Greg, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

Both of my parents were educators. My mom was a kindergarten teacher for more several decades prior to retiring and my dad a high school principal. When you see both of your parents never miss a day of work as you grow up, a work ethic is instilled in you. Other role models that reinforced a good work ethic included my grandmother who was a nurse at an emergency and trauma hospital, great uncles who also were educators, and my aunt who graduated from law school and worked diligently up until her retirement.

At an early age I was involved in after school extracurricular activities (student council, honor society, swimming team, etc) where your teammates and club members count on your presence. That created accountability, built trust that you are a reliable person, and taught me the importance of seeing task through to completion.

When I got my first summer job in high school (9th grade), I assisted with janitorial services. Going to work with a sense of purpose and earning money was a rewarding experience. Fast forward through many volunteer and work experiences — from lifeguard, groundskeeper at a KOA campground, doing an internship in retail, and working on Super Bowl as a gopher — to serving as a marketing manager at a Convention Bureau, PR director at a company that manufactured floats for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena — and now as Co-founder & Senior Event Planner with Bravo Productions, each of those experiences cultivated a sense of professionalism, dedication, need for punctuality, and respect for others and their time. And when you take on a leadership role, it’s important that you set a good example for others to follow — especially demonstrating a solid work ethic.

I also give lots of credit to role models and mentors — and to Thom Neighbors, who served as co-founder & partner of Bravo Productions since our company’s inception in 1987, prior to passing away in 2023. He also came from a family that instilled a sense of good work ethics, responsibility and integrity, which is one of the reasons we were great business partners and friends.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I serve as co-founder & senior event planner. The role involves planning different types of functions for corporations, municipalities, government agencies and non-profit organizations. Projects run the gamut — from planning an annual Earth Day event for Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts for 2,000 attendees, WaterFest for Upper San Gabriel Municipal Water District for 1,500, and launch/grand opening for Ben Bridge Jewelers to an awards program for Enterprise, and customer appreciation event for the largest distributor of residential and commercial plumbing products hosted in a warehouse (event space) the size of a football field.

It’s the diversity, challenges and problem-solving of each project that is most exciting about the work, along with the collaboration with so many others to make an event an overwhelming success. You have one opportunity to make the event work and that requires working with some of the best and most talented individuals and reliable companies in the events industry. That’s enjoyable bringing the problem solvers and creative thinkers together to work through every aspect of the event.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

That’s a great question. There are more than three qualities, skills and areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey, but narrowing it down, these are my three:

1) Develop good communication and listening skills. That’s both oral and written communication skills. From clearly communicating thoughts to others to the ability to respond to RFPs and proposals succinctly, excellent communication skills are needed. I love the saying, “There is a reason God gave you one mouth and two ears.” Good listening skills and understanding others viewpoints enhance communication by ensuring messages are understood accurately. This not only builds trust and respect for the relationship, it leads to better conflict resolution and problem solving.

2) Don’t be afraid to fail. While I have experienced many years of successes, to get to this point I also had to experience some failures. Like anyone you feel disappointed in yourself and may even want to throw in the towel, but you learn from that failure and allow it to make a correction that hopefully will move you forward. It builds character and resilience, offers valuable lessons that success alone cannot provide.

3) Practice good ethical standards. We all know the difference between right and wrong. You must define your core values, lead by example and create a clear code of conduct. We have seen some examples of those who have failed on this level and the incidents have gone viral on social media. An example of something unethical recently happened to me. A client we have worked with for many years asked a ‘less experienced worker of their team) for me to submit a quote for a project. No sooner than I sent the quote to the “less experienced worker,” instead of acknowledging receipt or coming to me with any questions, that individual immediately turned around and contacted my supplier and bypassed me. I felt it was a breach of trust with that individual and by industry practices, rather unethical. It was a lack of respect for the relationship our company had built with the client In addition, it’s a form of bid shopping, which is frowned upon in most industries. I do believe the lack of experience and proper training — perhaps some degree of not understanding the importance of practicing good ethical standards — resulted in that worker’s actions.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

Oh my gosh, there were so many.

I think some of the most impactful things my parents did for me was providing an opportunity to explore many interest. They enrolled me in after school athletic programs (little league softball, flag football, swimming classes), exposed me to the arts (museums, theater, art classes, music), provided opportunities to have fun (fishing derby competitions, attend summer and winter camp, YMCA), travel which I was able to see and experience life outside of my neighborhood, state and country; exposed me to different cultures, and instilled the importance of getting a good education. I was a B+ student in high school and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree, both from Michigan State University.

My parents also started the process on how you are able to earn money — and like most kids, it started at home. It was doing chores around the house. An allowance was not just an automatic weekly thing, an allowance was something to be earned. To this day I still acquaint this early learning lesson to financial responsibility and the value of hard work.

All of these things made me more well-rounded, helped me develop a sense of independence, have empathy and respect for others, and allowed me to find my own talents and gifts. I am forever grateful to both my mom and dad for providing me with these rewarding experiences and life lessons.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bravoevents-online.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100064810687685
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravo-productions—usa
• Twitter: https://x.com/brvprodevents
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bravo-productions-long-beach

Image Credits

Bravo Productions