Erin Kerner Built Eventio to Remove the Stress From Event Planning

Please share a brief introduction and your business:

My name is Erin Kerner, and I’m the Co-Founder and CEO of Eventio, an AI-powered event planning platform built to make planning feel more accessible, efficient, and actually enjoyable.

Eventio helps people go from an idea to a fully executed event by generating smart timelines, budgets, task lists, vendor recommendations, proposal comparison, and product suggestions in minutes. We’re building technology that removes overwhelm from planning while empowering both everyday hosts and professionals to execute incredible experiences with confidence.

Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

I’ve always known I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but for a long time, I hadn’t found the right concept that felt truly worth taking the risk for. I built a successful career in the corporate world, and walking away from the stability, resources, and credibility that came with it wasn’t easy. At the same time, I knew I didn’t want to start a business just to start one—I wanted to solve a real problem in a space I deeply understood. Eventio was the first idea that made it feel irresponsible not to try. Once the concept clicked, it gave me the clarity and conviction to leave the comfort of corporate life and bet on myself.

Do you have a co-founder?

I started the company with a technical co-founder, and while we ultimately parted ways, I’m grateful for the role he played in helping get the product off the ground. Those transitions are more common in startups than people talk about. My biggest partnership takeaway is to be clear early on about roles, expectations, and how decisions are made, and to revisit those conversations as the business evolves.

Are you a mamaprenista?

I'm not, but hopefully someday!

Take us back to when you launched? What was your marketing strategy?

In the first year, the primary focus was getting the product to a place where it was truly ready to enter the market. Most of our energy went into building the foundation, developing the technology, testing assumptions, learning from early users, and making sure the platform actually solved real problems before amplifying it publicly. Because of that, marketing took a back seat to product and execution.

Now, that’s shifting in a big way. As the product matures, we’re intentionally starting to tell the story behind Eventio and how we’re building, what we believe about the future of event planning, and the partnerships we’re forging along the way. This year will be much more outward-facing, and people will see a lot more of Eventio as we share the journey, grow our community, and expand our reach.

What accomplishments are you most proud of to date in your business?

I’m most proud of getting Eventio from concept to a live, functioning platform while staying aligned with our mission. Building something tangible that real people are using, and hearing that it genuinely makes planning less stressful, is incredibly meaningful. Doing that while learning the technical side of the business from the ground up has been a defining accomplishment.

What is one thing you wish you had known when you started your Entreprenista journey?

I wish I had known how nonlinear the journey really is. Progress rarely looks the way you expect it to, and setbacks don’t mean failure; they’re often just part of the learning curve. Understanding that earlier would have saved me a lot of unnecessary self-doubt and helped me trust the process sooner.

When hiring, what is your go-to interview question?

I always ask candidates to tell me about a time they had to figure something out without clear direction or resources. Early-stage environments require comfort with ambiguity, ownership, and problem-solving, and that question reveals far more than a resume ever could. My biggest hiring tip is to optimize for curiosity, communication, and adaptability, which are skills that add up quickly in a startup.

What did you do before starting your own business?

Before founding Eventio, I spent over a decade in luxury fashion and global retail, working with brands like Versace, Valentino, MCM, and Louis Vuitton, where I led client events and strategic partnerships across the Americas. That experience gave me deep exposure to large-scale event production, brand storytelling, and operational complexity. Earlier in my career, I was also a Division I collegiate athlete, which shaped how I approach leadership, resilience, and performance under pressure.

What made you take the leap to start your own business?

What ultimately made me take the leap was seeing two things converge at the same time. On one hand, through my career in luxury events, I had firsthand experience with how outdated, fragmented, and inefficient the event planning industry really was, despite how much time, money, and emotion people invest in events. On the other hand, I could clearly see how transformative AI was about to be, not as a novelty, but as a fundamentally new way to remove friction, automate complexity, and empower people to do things that previously required teams or specialized expertise. It felt like a rare window where technology finally caught up to a massive, overlooked problem. I realized that if someone with deep event experience didn’t step in to apply AI thoughtfully to this space, the industry would continue to lag behind, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to help build what comes next.

Do you have any recent wins?

Over the past year, we successfully launched our beta, onboarded our first paying customers, secured grant and accelerator support, and built strategic partnerships that validate our long-term vision. We’ve also continued to refine the platform based on user feedback, expanding features that directly support planners and vendors in more practical, revenue-driven ways.

What's one app on your phone that you cannot live without?

Instagram. Beyond being a marketing channel, it gives me a real-time pulse on culture and what people are responding to, how trends are shifting, and how brands and creators are telling stories. That insight is incredibly valuable when building a consumer-facing product.

Who are your customers?

Our customers span two core groups: do-it-yourself planners planning life moments like birthdays, weddings, showers, and corporate gatherings, and professional planners or vendors who want to streamline operations, save time, and book better-matched clients. We also serve small businesses, nonprofits, and organizations that need a more efficient way to plan events without hiring large teams or expensive agencies.

What's your top productivity tip?

My top productivity tip is ruthless prioritization paired with momentum. As an early-stage founder, there will always be more to do than time allows, so I focus on identifying the one to three things each day that will actually move the business forward and give myself permission to let the rest wait. I also rely heavily on time blocking and batching similar tasks.

What's your favorite business tool?

Figma Make has been a game-changer for us. It allows us to quickly visualize, iterate, and align on UI and user experience without slowing down development. As a non-technical founder, it’s been especially powerful in helping me communicate ideas clearly and move faster as a team.

What's your approach to work-life balance?

I don’t think true balance really exists when you’re just getting a business off the ground. In the early stages, it’s crucial to be highly focused and deeply invested, and that inevitably comes with a level of sacrifice that every entrepreneur experiences. For me, it’s less about perfect balance and more about being intentional and finding small pockets of time to recharge so I can sustain the pace. I’m realistic about the demands of building something from scratch, while also making sure I protect enough energy to stay clear-headed, creative, and resilient for the long term.

How do you avoid burn-out?

I’ve learned that I need creative, physical outlets that are completely unrelated to my business. Renovating my 100-year-old home has become a grounding, hands-on escape where I can see tangible progress that doesn’t involve a screen. Cooking plays a similar role (I'm such a foodie!!). It slows me down, forces me to be present, and gives me a sense of completion at the end of the day. Both remind me that productivity isn’t only measured in output, but in sustainability.

What advice do you have for aspiring Entreprenistas?

Just start! Don’t wait for perfect timing, perfect clarity, or a perfect product...none of that exists. Progress comes from action, and you can only improve what you’re already doing. Let go of perfectionism (something I’m still actively working on) and trust that clarity and confidence will come from building, not from waiting.

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