Home is where the event is

Kelly Lewis is a force. Full of positivity and purpose, she launched her Northern Beaches-based company Flying Ruby Events 12 years ago and has never looked back. Not surprisingly, she’s also seen/done it all. “We’ve produced so many different styles of events over the years, from large-scale gala dinners to intimate cocktail parties, fundraising events and brand activations,” she explains. “I’ve built a billboard made from burgers, produced python bath activations, and suspended a dinner table from a 50m-high crane.”

But that’s all part of the charm of the events industry for Kelly – no two events, or days for that matter, are ever the same. “One day, we’re having meetings on how to build and style an upside-down house and trying to figure out how many rubber duckies fit into a 180-litre bath,” she continues. “And the next, we’re writing a script for an MC and developing a menu for him because he’s pescatarian and only eats food on a blue plate,” she laughs.

It’s Kelly and her team’s ability to make each event appear seamless that has led to Flying Ruby’s enduring success. “For us, it really is all in a day’s work. I love that we’re constantly working through challenges – it keeps us on our toes. Little do people know how much goes into running one, or what’s happening behind the scenes. People just turn up and enjoy themselves and for us, that’s our job done. Our only mission is to make sure every single person who walks through the door of one of our events has the best time.”

With such a high-stress, high-energy, early-morning, late-night job, how does Kelly wind down? Manly-born-and-Collaroy-Plateau-bred, it’s not surprising the beach is her place of rest, although she’s reluctant to reveal which one exactly “because then it won’t be a secret anymore”. She also loves a little homewares shopping, “particularly at Emporium Avenue in Balgowlah,” she admits. “Although, if I bring home another cushion from there, I may end
up divorced,” she jokes.

But mostly, she and her family love to explore what’s on their doorstep. “I have lived on the Northern Beaches my whole life. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I did live in the Eastern suburbs in my late 20s, but I only lasted two years. I love the people here, and the super-relaxed culture. You just can’t find that anywhere else.

“It’s also ridiculously beautiful. I’ve done a lot of travelling – overseas and around Australia – and there’s no place on earth that offers the headland walks, the beaches, the lakes, the bike tracks… We’re just so lucky to live here.”

It’s funny to think that when Kelly first launched the business, she thought that “to compete with the big boys” she had to position herself in the city. “I thought we wouldn’t be taken as seriously if we were a ‘little Northern Beaches’ company. Now, I thrive on the fact we’re local, and that we support other local businesses.”

So much so, 85% of Flying Ruby Events suppliers are from the Northern Beaches. “That’s anything from the big jobs, like our audio-visual providers and production companies, to printers, photographers, staffing, florists and cleaners,” explains Kelly. “At the end of the day, it’s about working together and supporting each other through the good times and the bad. I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.”