Meet Katy Burk | Small Business Owner and Performer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katy Burk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katy, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
It’s always been the only option to me, I’ve always loved and excelled at music, art, crafts and more. I grew up singing and dancing and training to be a performer, and I still sing in a couple of bands, dance when my body will allow and when I have time to go to a class. I pushed myself a lot as a dancer because I wasn’t super skinny, so I had to make sure I was in the top of my classes and ended up with some injuries that never quite healed because I did things like dance in pointe shoes on a fractured ankle, so while that makes dancing now difficult and not something I can do all the time, I still do it when I can because I love it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think what sets me apart from others is the range of services I have available, and I’m adding more all the time. I have bartenders, food servers, setup/cleanup, wedding officiants, bands and other performers and artists, decor, balloon art(arches, backdrops, etc.), hair and makeup services, just about everything you could need to make an event happen and if I don’t have it, I’ll find someone to provide it. I perform many of these services myself and contract out what I need to.

Getting to where I am professionally was not easy, but I take my challenges head on and do what I can to overcome them. I moved back here to LA to help out my Grandma after my Uncle Mike passed in 2020 and so taking the leap to start this business again was a bit of a risk, but it ended paying off! I’m sure it has a lot to do with the pandemic, but the amount of bookings I’ve had and how much my business has grown since I started it here on April 18, 2022 has been phenomenal! I originally started this business Feb 2017 in Seattle, and had many bookings, but it was never like this!

The biggest challenge I’ve had is staffing. People calling off last minute, not showing up, etc., but I have yet to have an event that I wasn’t able to get covered. I reach out to other staff and see if they know someone, put rush call ads on Craigslist, whatever I need to do to get it taken care of. I appreciate when people are able to help out last minute, but even more I appreciate having a reliable team where I don’t need to have people come in last minute, and I’m working on building that and looking for more reliable people who are experienced and willing and able to travel throughout SoCal to join my team.

I’d like the world to know that you don’t have to have a college education to be successful or to run a business. I never quite finished my degree, life kept pushing me down a different path every time I tried to finish it. You DO need to have a passion for learning new skills, be adaptable, have a great work ethic and be personable and kind, but if you have a fire in your soul for what you do and have experience doing that work, then nothing can stand in your way.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Monday – Bat Cave, Lunch at Snow White Cafe in Hollywood and walk the walk of fame, dinner at Ernie’s Mexican restaurant in North Hollywood

Tuesday – California Science Center, lots to choose from for meals, so that would depend on mood

Wednesday – Laguna Beach with lunch and dinner at one of the local spots near there, there’s so many good places to eat I can’t pick where exactly I would take her, we’d have to decide there

Thursday – La Brea Tar Pits, Museum of Natural History, lots to choose from for meals, so that would depend on mood

Friday – Drive to Victorville Route 66 museum and Victor Valley Museum via Peachblossom Rd to get the beautiful view through the mountains

Saturday – Lake Hollywood for a nice walk with the dog, lunch at home and dinner at Kahuna Tiki in North Hollywood

Sunday – Universal Studios/Citywalk with food at Antojitos

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My dad, for teaching me good work ethic and how to hustle. He was a cab driver where I grew up in Seattle and he was one of the only cab drivers that had people pre-booking rides with him for their next trip or that would regularly call for him for a pickup. He worked hard and was good at adapting to different situations to succeed. He’s also the reason I have such a good sense of direction and can read a map! On the weekends he’d have me be his “co-pilot” for the day in the cab and I’d map out his route and give him directions even though he knew exactly where he was going.

My Uncle Mike for teaching me to work around obstacles and challenges instead of letting them get in the way of your success. He was physically handicapped and legally blind from being hit by a car when he was a child, but that never got in the way of what he wanted to do it when he set his mind to it. He also fueled a lot of my love of music, being open-minded about new things and never judging a book by its cover. He was an amazing man, who sadly passed away in March 2020, which is what brought me back to LA from Seattle, and was posthumously raised from 2nd to 3rd degree black belt in Judo, he also co-taught Judo classes at LACC.

My Grandma Susan for always encouraging me and helping me look at things with a different perspective. Whenever I feel discouraged she reminds me I’m doing well and how quickly my business has grown in the month or so I’ve had it operating again, not only post-pandemic, but in a different state.

Website: www.fairytaleweddingsevents.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fairytaleweddingsandevents/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fairytaleweddingsandevents17/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fairytale-weddings-and-events-north-hollywood

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOAqz2qZ8kggi8PjLfNpbkg

Other: https://www.thumbtack.com/ca/north-hollywood/waitstaff/fairytale-weddings-events/service/451283385312485377