10x award-winning CEO, executive producer, public speaker, and event expert, Melva LaJoy Legrand, announces new company rebrand from LaJoy Plans to LaJoy Creative

New Website Now Live at www.lajoycreative.com

10x Award-winning event producer, entrepreneur, and CEO, Melva LaJoy Legrand, is eager to officially announce her 2025 company rebrand from LaJoy Plans to LaJoy Creative, now encompassing the breadth of her professional work that extends beyond events management.

Started almost 20 years ago in 2007 as LaJoy Event Design, Melva LaJoy has seen remarkable success in the events industry, working alongside mission-focused organizations whose work is rooted in social justice, higher education access and equity, climate change, creative arts, juvenile justice, beauty equity, and belonging. From humble beginnings launching a company during the recession and planning 10-15 events per year, to losing 98% of her business during COVID, to elevating her company to where it stands today – doubling her yearly revenue each year for the past 3 years and now producing events in 42 states – Melva has consistently learned to shift with the times, adapting to the ever-changing business landscape and becoming a more resilient and accomplished leader. 

“I think what has allowed me to persist over the last two decades of my career, is that this is my professional calling and purpose, so giving up was never an option,” explains Melva LaJoy. “It did not matter how many times I was discounted, when I lost treasured staff members, when I didn’t price myself appropriately, when life put me in a caretaking position or took me out of an abusive relationship – through it all I was always going to win in pursuing my dream. I was always meant to be doing this.”

Originally getting her start in education where she taught History of Race Relations in the U.S. at American University, and eventually made her way back to her Alma Mater Howard University in an administrative post, Melva never imagined that events management & production was the end goal. After shifting to events to better serve her creative side, Melva decided to officially relaunch her company from LaJoy Event Design to LaJoy Plans in 2019. Armed with a passion for purpose, Melva was ready to take the Events Industry by storm until the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the complete shut down of the industry, losing almost all of her business. Instead of feeling defeated, Melva took matters into her own hands by creating initiatives that supported her community, and helped elevate other Black-owned event businesses within the DMV area. Co-founding Beyond the Blackout to address diversity in the events space, Melva continued to offer opportunities for vendors of all races to connect, including joining the newly-created Live Events Coalition as the Co-Manager of its Education Programs, helping to facilitate virtual events for their some 2000+ members. Once the world started opening up again, Melva made another commitment to her beloved industry by co-creating the monthly Head Table Talks series dedicated to building community within the event industry and providing a safe space for event professionals to connect and collaborate. 

Finally back in the groove, and maximizing her events schedule as well as landing speaking opportunities with IMEX America (2024, 2023), IMEX Frankfurt (2024), and four cities of the BizBash Connect Conference (2022), Melva LaJoy continued to use her leadership impact and expertise to contribute to conversations around the gender pay gap, blending profit with purpose, the importance of service in leadership, and redefining success as you age. Winning coveted awards such as the Inc. Female Founders 500, SUCCESS Magazine’s Women of Influence, andthe EventEx International Event Agency of the Year award, Melva also began introducing new skills and services such as scriptwriting, designing accessible and inclusive events, and even documentary filmmaking (the latter which landed her the 2025 Oniros Film Festival “Best Social Justice Film” Award). Now, ready to make yet another career shift with the official rebranding of her company to LaJoy Creative – a name meant to acknowledge her ever-expanding list of Client services and now global reach, as well as her shift from being a DC-based office to adding a New York office too – LaJoy Creative will focus on its tradition of providing stellar comprehensive events management services but now a one-stop creative company inclusive of production and script writing. Along with presenting a brand new website, logo design, and business Instagram channel @lajoycreative, Melva and her LaJoyasphere are ready to take 2025 head-on.

In addition to LaJoy Creative’s revamp, Melva recently released Season 2 of her monthly YouTube leadership series, Mondays With Melva, offering her take on FOMO (aka Fear of Missed Opportunities), interpersonal SWOT analysis, and evaluating client relationships on fit vs. profit. Initially released to her some 2000+ newsletter subscribers, the new season joins past topics such as the art of letting go, managing doubt/imposter syndrome, and identifying your life’s purpose. Due to critical reception and high demand from the series, Melva and LaJoy Creative will also be providing limited executive coaching services through LevelUp with LaJoy, a 4-part signature program for business leaders across industries. More details to follow.

To stay up-to-date on all things LaJoy Creative, follow on Instagram at @lajoycreative and check out the new website at www.lajoycreative.com.

Spoonsored Content