April 11, 2023
SHL Alumni Update - Jes Hudgins '14
My name is Jes Hudgins, and I graduated from East Carolina University School of Hospitality Leadership (SHL) in 2014 with a BS in Hospitality Management with a concentration in special event planning. Since 2014, I have planned events for private and nonprofit sectors in North Carolina and Denver, Colorado. During my time in Denver and before COVID, I was at a local agency where we managed 15 client accounts with around 30 events per year ranging from 100 people to 10,000 people per day. I held the position of director of events and creative services and managed a team of event planners and ensured all our event concepts were trendy and exciting.
During COVID (like others), I was severely impacted but was able to produce four successful large virtual events with more than 200+ in attendance per event. It wasn’t the same, but I was holding out hope for in-person. It wasn’t until I was approached to look at transferring my skills into technology as a project manager. This year, I started with a FinTech startup and now have the title of senior technical project manager and received a 120% increase in my salary.
While I do miss planning large events, I am so appreciative of the knowledge the industry and my ECU SHL degree provided to allow me to make this career shift. Event planning and hospitality management encompass so many admirable traits, which is why we are in high demand. I don’t know many people who have had to wear so many hats under extremely stressful situations and still manage to smile and have a positive attitude. Thank you, ECU, for setting me up for success! As always I am an event planner at heart and still take consulting and freelance clients on the side.
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