This special events manager (and self-proclaimed “World’s OK-est Mom”) is a Houston native who now calls McKinney home. In addition to throwing events for CASA of Collin County and clients of Black Event Agency, Linda Black enjoys time with daughter Caitlin, 15, son Luke, 12, Jazmine (the dog she admits could be her favorite child), Moose (another pup) and Mister Hobo (the cat in residence).
5:45AM Alarm goes off. Usually I ignore anything before 6am; however, it’s event day. Immediate action needed. Hop in the shower two minutes later. Contemplate the need for a waterproof notepad to jot down ideas that pop in my head.
6AM Teen daughter knocks on my bedroom door to ensure I’m up. (She has early color guard practice.) Surprise her by not only being awake and dressed but also super cheerful—the excitement of event day has kicked in. She is even more surprised when she learns I haven’t had any coffee. Yet.
6:30AM As we pull out of the garage, I ask the same question I ask every early morning practice day: “Why do the band directors hate us parents?? Early practices are terrible.” Proceed to drop teen and her friend off at school. Time to jump into work mode. Head to the golf course where the event this afternoon takes place. I’m glad it’s only a few minutes away from the school, since I’ll have to head the other direction right after.
6:45AM Drop a carful of event items off at the course before heading to Carrollton to pick stuff up from Marquee Event Rentals. (Thank you, Tori and Randi, for accommodating an early pickup so I could beat traffic!) While the warehouse crew is loading up my vehicle, I check in with other vendors via text to see if there are any changes I need to be aware of and verify that arrival times are as planned.
7:52AM I get a text from my son that he made it on the bus. Good. Check that off the list.
8AM Second stop at the golf course to drop off rentals. I do a quick walk around the event area to verify that things are prepped and ready for us. Head to the office. Dance around the office because hey, it’s event day! I love these days. Nonstop busy but so rewarding.
10AM Last-minute office work complete and vehicles loaded. Head to the golf course along with staff. Upon arrival, I immediately jump into event setup and volunteer management. It’s a beautiful day outside, and my volunteers are the best. It’s a great work day!
12PM The golf tournament is in full swing. Players check in and prepare for a day on the course. Tee–off isn’t until 1pm, so I have some time to chat with the attendees as they arrive and grab their lunches.
12:45PM Firetruck with a ladder for the ball drop is MIA. Confirm they got sent out on a call (awesome work by some of McKinney’s finest!) and reschedule for the evening. Players tee off on time; all is well. I spend my afternoon prepping for the post-tournament Party on the Patio and driving around the golf course a bit to check on players and sponsors. Everything is going smoothly.
4PM Son calls. He made it home from school. “What’s for dinner tonight?” … Uhhhh. Decide to get back to him on that. Ingredients for the Crock-Pot meal are still in the fridge, so pizza it is. I should put in the order now but get distracted by the band’s sound check and other vendor arrivals for the evening portion of the event.
5:15PM Firetruck arrives for the rescheduled ball drop. Upon its conclusion, the evening event gets underway. It’s perfect patio weather.
7PM Remember son’s dinner and quickly order him a pizza. Text son to keep the pizza warming in the oven so daughter can have some when she gets home from her orchestra concert that I’m sadly missing.
9PM The event concludes, so vendors arrive for breakdown and volunteers pack up the vehicles. I hang out until everything is clear, then head home. Realize on the drive home that I didn’t eat dinner. Hmmm. Not worth the stop; I will scrounge something up at home.
10:15PM I arrive home and visit briefly with the family (no early bedtimes here). Eat a piece of cold pizza (no desire to go to the trouble of heating it up) and send kiddos off to bed. I make a social media vendor shout-out post about the tournament on my personal page and then create a list of what needs to be done tomorrow.
11PM Post-event high is keeping me awake. I walk over to the on-site gym and get a quick run in. Start thinking about my next event, a Hindu wedding out of town in a couple weeks. Start a to–do list for that on my phone while running.
11:45PM Shower and head to bed so I can start this crazy thing called life all over again tomorrow. Lie in bed snuggling my Great Danes while thinking about how thankful I am to have found this career. I really love my job and life here in McKinney.
Fast Facts
Best vacation Whichever one is coming up next!
What’s in your Netflix queue The Crown, season 3
Favorite movie Probably Top Gun. It’s one that I loved as a kid, and it’s just stuck with me.
Favorite date night spot Anywhere with a good patio!
Beverage of choice My go–to is pinot noir, but I love a good dirty martini every now and then.
Best purchase ever My dog Moose. I may or may not have told my family before I signed a contract on him. It was a great surprise though!
Words she lives by Stay strong. I have it tattooed on my wrist in my kids’ handwriting.
Biggest pet peeve People who don’t attempt first before asking for help.
What she does when life gets stressful Go for a run or call a good friend to chat
Motherhood in five words Entertaining. Expensive. Tiring. Stressful. Rewarding.
Celebrity mom she admires All of them. Kudos to all moms out there. Momming ain’t easy!
Dream job as a kid Veterinarian. That changed after I worked at a vet’s office when I was a teenager. I decided to keep animals as a hobby and not work.
Something she learned this week You can remove a message you send on Facebook Messenger!
She’s really good at Creative parenting lessons through Linda’s School of Hard Knocks
She’s really bad at Singing. Doesn’t stop me from belting it out in the car though!
If she had to change careers, she’d be a Ringleader in the world’s greatest circus. Have you seen the cool top hats they get to wear?!
Photo courtesy of Rajani Satish Fotography.
