Planning and organization have been a part of Jen Yutzy’s life for as long as she can remember. “As a kid, I always made sure my toys were organized. Everything had its special spot. I kind of mapped out in my head what toys and games I was going to play with and when,” Jen chuckles.  

Those seemingly ingrained attributes made her college days run smoothly. Following graduation from the University of Miami, Jen put those skills to work as a television news producer in Dayton. “It was my job to plan out the entire show. That included deciding what news was relevant the order of the stories, how much time for each story, even the format of the story. Everything was planned down to the second. However, in the world of live t.v., those plans were often adjusted on the fly.” After Dayton, Jen went on to produce news in Cincinnati and Miami.

It wasn’t long after marrying her husband, Eric, now a morning news anchor in Miami, that they had their first of four children. Once again, Jen put her planning and organizational skills to work in her new role as a stay-at-home mom. “I always knew I wanted to be able to stay at home and raise my kids, and I am fortunate to be able to do so. Our household would be complete chaos, we wouldn’t be able to function without planning.”

Jen homeschools her kids, Isaiah(14), Elias(12),Mya(10), and Simon(7). “I’m sure you can imagine what kind of forethought and organization that takes. And then there are sports, dancing, and church activities. We are always on the go.”

But that’s not all, every holiday and birthday party are also perfectly planned. “I let each of my kids decide what theme they’d like for their special day, and then I go to work. It’s a lot of fun. They enjoy it too.”

Slowly, Jen began planning events for family, friends, her church and philanthropic organizations, “I thought, why don’t I do this part-time. I have a passion for planning events and I can make money doing what I love. That’s how Special Occasions by Jen got started.”

For now, Jen is sticking to smaller events, usually no more than 100 people, “Any special occasion, and anywhere in the United States. In fact, most of my clients live out of state. Bring me an idea, I’ll run with it–and all my clients need to do is just show up.”