ERIN
BRANHAM
the boss
erin is our founder & president. as the daughter of the founder of ballet palm beach, erin grew up learning everything from production to logistics coordination. graduating from the university of miami in 2006, she began her career working for a local non-profit & found her knack for planning as she executed their large-scale events. working to plan and promote festivals, retreats, banquets, and national conferences, she was able to help the organization rebrand & grow.
after multiple people approached her to plan events for other organizations, she founded apartment two events. ten years into her business, now just called a2 events, she can say the startup has grown substantially. as our clients, our programs & our staff have grown, she still loves to work through the details, make goals, propose marketing strategies, and meet with every client.
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erin currently lives in west palm beach with her husband, jimmy, and their two beautiful
daughters, isabelle & evelyn. when she's not working, you can find her traveling with her family or hanging with them on the beach.
Fun Fact: Erin
erin cheered for the U & often stood on the sidelines with nfl players whom she never recognized because she doesn't like football.
SUSAN
SAUBY
the steady hand
susan helps keep us organized as a2's office manager & director of accounts receivable. she grew up in oshkosh, wisconsin. people always say, "oh, oshkosh b'gosh?" & yes, that is the home of the overalls. she attended the university of minnesota where she received a b.a. in theatre arts. since then she has lived in atlanta, south carolina, back to minneapolis, alabama, and then chicago.
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having moved so much, she became quite good at renovating, buying & selling real estate. since 2010 she has taken root here in south florida where she is married to her husband eric & raises her daughter, elizabeth. in her free time she enjoys yoga, long walks with her miniature poodle henri, reading, cooking & travel.
Fun Fact: Susan
susan has a story for everything, including the one time she flew on the concord with van halen.
VAL
YOUNG
the designer
val is our director of sales & creative. she was born & raised in Fort Lauderdale and is a proud graduate of the university of florida. after graduating, she moved to atlanta where she worked in sales. while she loved the city & southern hospitality, she was happy to return back to sunny south florida in 2017.
after impressing us all through the a2 internship, we were thrilled when she accepted our offer to join the team full time just two months later. she is known for her creativity, organizational skills & incredibly fast email response time.
in her free time val loves trying south florida's newest & greatest restaurants, boxing at her favorite local gym & traveling with her friends. her top travel experience so far was attending oktoberfest in munich followed by a week in barcelona.
Fun Fact: Val
val has danced on stage with flo rida & had sushi with blink 182. blink 182 was at another table.
ALEXA
KAILING
the detailer
alexa is our director of operations & meetings. She was born in new jersey & moved to florida where she graduated from ucf’s rosen college of hospitality management with two b.a.s in event management & hospitality management. after graduation, she worked at numerous resorts in the orlando area growing event sales & client relationships. in 2019, she became a certified meeting professional and expanded her passion in meeting planning & logistics.
we were introduced to alexa through a former colleague of hers, and we knew right away she would be a huge asset to our team!
in her leisure time, alexa enjoys traveling the world with her husband, alex (a2!), visiting friends & family in their hometown of tampa, fl and finding new wines to taste!
Fun Fact: Alexa
the first international country alexa ever visited was china because she found a groupon.
LOLA
ALOIA
the executor
lola is our newest addition as our event coordinator. she was born in argentina and raised in miami, making her fluent in english & spanish. she also spent 11 years learning french, making her a trilingual threat. a proud graduate of the university of florida, she is currently expanding her education with an online master’s degree in tourism, hospitality, & event management from uf.
being the oldest of three girls, lola loves to spend time with her family and help around the house. Her younger sister's autism diagnosis started a family goal of fundraising for the cause over the past 16 years. though her immediate family is in miami, she frequently travels to argentina to spend time with her extended family.
lola's background in competitive dance led her to start a varsity dance team in high school. her corporate event experience has driven her to aim for larger & more impactful events. known for her love of organization & scheduling, lola loves the challenge of overcoming obstacles to make sure everything runs smoothly. in her free time, she is a huge foodie, currently crafting her own food instagram page.
Fun Fact: Lola
Lola always has a crazy story to tell—if you don’t believe her, just ask!
COORDINATOR TEAM
ashley cochran
fun fact:
ashley once had 24 hours' notice to pack a bag and flee a country… you’ll have to ask her why!
bailee robinson
fun fact:
bailee danced in the macy's thanksgiving day parade. it was freezing but worth it
luiza desouza
fun fact:
luiza has been skydiving & survived to tell the tale.
charisse thompson
fun fact:
charisse also plans bachelorette parties too!