Meet Paola Ruiz | Special Events Producer

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

Hi Paola, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have worked organizing events of different types for over 7 years, I originally started organizing community events at a young age when I was still in High School. I was very involved in my community and gained a lot of experience from teachers and community leaders. As the years have passed, I have had the honor to work under the supervision of and with different business owners. After each event, I always like to reflect back and see what worked for the event and what could be done different. I believe it is important to have an open mind to feedback and learn from the mistakes that are made to get better.

I am currently a middle school Spanish teacher, I have been in the education world for over 5 years, My two biggest passions are event planning and education. It had been a couple of years since I had been working hard to start my own events company, but if it wasn’t the fear to fail, it was one life situation, or another. In November of 2023, with the motivation of family, friends and my middle school students, I decided to start my own company, Paola Ruiz Productions.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Starting out my own company was challenging and scary at first. Although I was confident in my knowledge and skills it was challenging to earn the trust of vendors since different vendors have different experiences with other producers. There are a lot of scammers out there, and a couple of vendors have unfortunately been scammed by using my events. We have a website that vendors and shoppers can visit for more information, our phone number, e-mail and social media links are also posted for security purposes.

I would like to share that at Paola Ruiz Productions we are committed to creating a positive shopping experience for shoppers and a positive selling experience for our vendors. Every day I work very hard to establish the series of Shopping Days Vendor Markets around the DFW area. We currently have 3 events scheduled, and the 4th is currently in the works. 2 events are being hosted at the Cleburne Conference Center with more than 60 vendors, 1 at the Plano Event Center with over 100 vendors and the 4th one is still a secret!

All of our events are family friendly, indoors and best of all, free admission for all! We strongly believe in supporting all of our small businesses! By providing free parking and free admission for shoppers we give the opportunity for those fees to be spent inside the event with the vendors. Although they are small fees, they make a difference when we gather all the shopper fees together.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a close friend was in town, I would definitely check out what events where happening in the area. I am very open minded and would take her to any shopping or entertainment events that were happening. I can tell you that I love going to Chuy’s for lunch or any restaurant that sells cajun shrimp, my favorite! My favorite places in Texas are going to the beach in Seabrook, going to El Mercadito and the Riverwalk in San Antonio, going to the Stockyards in Forth Worth, TX and any botanical gardens.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a shoutout to my husband and my parents. They have always been there for me, they listen to all of my crazy ideas, they advise me and motivate me to follow my dreams and to reach my goals.

I also want to give a shoutout to my middle school students! They have been so supportive of my business, they ask me about it and take interest in the topic, they also share our video promos with their parents and friends!

Website: PaolaRuizProductions.com

Instagram: PaolaRuizProductions

Facebook: Paola Ruiz Productions

Image Credits
Jesse Nogales