Meet Dee Lee

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

Dee, thank you so much for joining us today. Let’s jump right into something we’re really interested in hearing about from you – being the only one in the room. So many of us find ourselves as the only woman in the room, the only immigrant or the only artist in the room, etc. Can you talk to us about how you have learned to be effective and successful in situations where you are the only one in the room like you?
There weren’t too many AAPI vendors in the industry when I started. I did not see any AAPI vendors in leadership in WIPA or ABC. I remember someone referring to me and some of my peers, the Asian vendors as “Oriental.” I was very taken back by this.

Being female owned and and AAPI, I wanted to create a space for my peers to thrive, even when they were not being seen, recognized, or featured in magazines. We are definitely not from the Orient and we wanted a platform too. It wasn’t until COVID did things change, but again change needs to be consistent and not seasonal. I am so grateful for the inclusion movement because there has been a lot of forward movement.

I have learned that to be affective in my industry, building community and commodore amongst peers is so important. I call it “blessing it forward” to one another. Mention peoples name in a room that they would normally not have an opportunity. When I first started, I transitioned from being a middle school teacher to an event planner and there was so much to learn. Networking helped me build the community around me. It took a lot of hard work and partnership building. It is because of these partnerships we are all thriving!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I was a middle school teacher for 13 years in LAUSD. I retired from teaching to build Dee Lee Designs from the ground up. Now I am the founder of an award-winning event production company. My story is not that inspires us all to pursue our passion.

Despite facing various challenges and setbacks along the way, I persevered and learned from my mistakes, which ultimately led to her success. As in any entrepreneur’s journey, it was a road that was filled with ups and downs, but we never gave up. We survived COVID which shut down the gig industry and left 12 million without work for almost 2 years.

I am a first-generation Teo-Chew in the United States. My parents escaped from the Cambodian genocide and I am the oldest of three siblings. As a daughter of immigrants, I love to use my platform to educate, inspire, and bless it forward to my AAPI community. I take pride in elevating female entrepeneurs and AAPI vendors.

I dabbled in photography and event planning while I was a teacher. In the 5 years I went full time, I worked really hard to learn and grow in my industry. We were featured on TV with Good Day LA, met Oprah Winfrey, got featured in wedding magazines such as California Wedding Day, Grace Ormonde, etc. 2023 was our biggest year. I won 2023 West Coast Rising Star Woman of Achievement Award and went to New York to win the Smart Women in Meetings Entrepreneur Award.

Dee Lee Designs is an award winning, event design, and production company based out of Los Angeles, California. We have been curating weddings that embody modern sophistication and romance throughout Southern California, Hawaii and destinations beyond. Our team of event planners and designers are recognized for the unparalleled, lavish designs we create, that uniquely tell your love story.

Captivating audiences through our passion for storytelling, we take pride in our artistry at Dee Lee Designs. We have produced luxurious events with the finest quality and professionalism in the industry. Our mission is to curate an elegantly seamless full planning experience with memories that will last a lifetime.

Through her love of weddings and finding a solution to the age-old problem of finding a wedding planner who can create a stunning and memorable wedding day, Dee Lee founded Dee Lee Designs in 2023. Exquisitely curated weddings to embody sophistication and romance throughout Southern California and beyond are the signature miracle of design from Dee Lee Designs.

Her innovative design and approach have made Dee Lee Designs the leader in the wedding planning industry. Through her continued dedication and budding foresight, Dee has managed to build a team of passionate precision planners that not only understand the brand but execute the Dee Lee experience flawlessly. Now, Dee’s elegant everlasting creations have blossomed into a wedding planning phenomenon.

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?
I made a lot of entrepreneurial mistakes in the beginning of my journey. It was a new learning curve for me. I quickly learned why liability insurance was so important to have as a business owner. Do your market research before you dive into anything. It can help guide your pricing structure. Sometimes you may have to adjust as well. Be flexible.

I also learned how important networking was. I learned the value of connecting with others in my industry and receiving valuable advice from them. Every piece of advice was like a gold nugget for me and a learning moment. To be successful you must have to be a lifelong learner mentality.

I had to be realistic with my expectations of growth and give myself grace as an entrepreneur. Taking care of your health is so important. Without your health how can you continue doing what you are doing.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
Several years ago I met my coach and mentor Terrica Skaggs at Wedding MBA, a wedding professional convention in Las Vegas. I instantly connected with her because she presented everything so matter of fact. She was the dose of reality I needed. She made us think about the decisions we were making, good or bad in our growth.

We had an opportunity to chat at an industry event afterwards and I began taking her classes in 2019. She made amazing videos that taught us everything from stream lining our business, to templates that reformatted our structure for doing business, to attracting the right clients for us. She was a real one and checked in on us often. During Covid, she was the only coach that reached out to all her mentees because our industry was closed. There were 12 million people in our industry without work and she made it a point to get on group calls to brainstorm potential scenarios. She connected us with other mentees so we had each other to lean on as it was a scary time in our community. I will never forget this because I had other coaches who didn’t even bother to reach out.

I implanted all the new processes I learned through her coaching and truly elevated my brand. She was my biggest cheerleader through it all. She coached from the heart and taught us so much more than processes. She lead by example. She taught us the importance of networking and building community. I can say confidently, a lot of my successes was because of this beautiful soul. When I felt lost, she lead in love and light.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Alyssa Lizarraga Photography BYC Photography Duke Images Lauren Dinh Photography Love is Wedding My One Love Steven Nguyen Photography Tin Photography

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