Meet Dera Lee, the Brooklyn-based founder of her namesake event design and production company, Dera Lee Productions. The award-winning event pro worked for some of the top event planning companies in NYC before starting her own shop six years ago. Since then, Dera has mastered the art of both IRL and pandemic-era digital events, always fusing her passion for storytelling with an engaging approach designed with consumers in mind. Read on to hear what she's been up to, including a timely mentorship offering for women.
What attracted you to the events industry and how did you get your start?
After attending NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, I performed on many stages across the country (yep, I performed musical theater – jazz hands and all) and discovered that the magic was actually behind the scenes. My passion for planning and storytelling led me to work with many top event planning companies in NYC, eventually opening my own firm in 2015 creating events for some of my favorite brands such as Adidas, Brooks Running, Covergirl, and in 2019, Secret Deodorant, promoting the US Women's Soccer team at the World Cup in Paris, France.
What does your role as your company’s leader entail?
My role as Founder and CEO at Dera Lee Productions is to provide inspired leadership company-wide. My role especially during COVID has been to create an environment that promotes great performance and positive morale.
Please share a few career highlights with us.
Personally I would say that creating Secret Deodorant's event in Paris for the World Cup and meeting the US Women's Soccer Team was definitely a dream come true! :)
For Dera Lee Productions, this past year has been very special because we won three awards for our 2019 Secret Deodorant with Essential Oils launch event in Beverly Hills:
2020 Event Marketer Ex Award for Best Event on a Budget ($500,000 or less)
2020 Bizbash Style Award for Best Influencer Event
2020 Bizbash Style Award for Best Influencer Event of the Decade
During this unprecedented time, I was so pleased to see the company as well as the team members and vendors who made it happen be recognized for their amazing creativity and hard work.
What are a couple of current projects you’re excited about?
I am super excited to share our newest virtual experience for SkinCeuticals. For the launch of SkinCeuticals newest antioxidant, Silymarin CF, Dera Lee Productions created a one of a kind virtual event experience for 120 beauty influencers and editors. An immersive, three dimensional SkinCeuticals environment, live streaming, and custom mailers were all developed to captivate and promote engagement sharing the brand's story on why they are the antioxidant authority and their latest innovation – six years in the making.
Any future goals and/or plans you’re working towards?
Dera Lee Productions is presently planning with our clients best practices for live and hybrid events that we expect to take place in Q3 and Q4 of this year. Even though the vaccine may be available for all by this summer, some attendees may still be uncomfortable to go to live events so ideating around hybrid and safety for live events is a big focus presently.
On a personal note, when I learned last month that more than 2.3 million women have now left the labor force since February 2020, I started mentoring women who are looking to get back into the workforce after being laid off to starting a new business. I plan within this year to launch an online program empowering women by giving them access to skills needed for leadership development.
