Hourly Rage

The event marketing landscape is shifting, but if there’s one person who knows how to navigate its twists, turns, and occasional "green walls," it’s Alexandra Nazaire.

On this month's episode of Hourly Rage, host Dk sits down with the Senior Director, entrepreneur, and self-certified foodie to look back on an 11-year journey that spans legacy media, big pharma, startups, and intentional community-building. Whether you are a junior coordinator trying to survive corporate life or a brand looking to make a real impact, Alexandra's career blueprint is full of gems you can't afford to miss.

1. January as a Launch Pad: The Power of Intentionality

While most of the world rushes into New Year’s resolutions headfirst on January 1st, Alexandra prefers a different approach. Because her event season officially kicks off in March, she uses January and February for deep strategic preparation and personal resetting.

"I think of January as like my launch pad... I'm doing like a lot of resetting for me personally."

Working a highly social, people-forward job means she is often completely spent by December. To pour back into herself, she commits to a completely dry January and even a spending fast. By strictly keeping away from impulsive purchases and food delivery services like Uber Eats and DoorDash, she uses her downtime to cook, enjoy her home, and ground herself before the peak season begins.

2. The Career Mosaic: Connecting "Mismatched" Building Blocks

Alexandra met Dk nearly 11 years ago in 2015 when they were starting out in the "trenches" of Source Media. Back then, she was a young media planner right out of school managing brands like the historic American Banker—all without any prior background in media planning.

Before that, she was selling insurance packages in the management training program at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. While these roles might seem unrelated on paper, Alexandra views her career as a series of mismatched but necessary building blocks.

• The Enterprise Era: Taught her how sales teams think and hit targets.

• The Source Media Era: Transitioned those skills into ad sales and the back end of digital media, introducing her to premium ad spaces and paywalls.

• The Pharma Era: Freelancing and eventually working full-time with giants like Pfizer taught her meticulous contract management. Navigating heavily regulated legal constraints—such as strict per-person meal caps and non-compliant restaurant acoustics—sharpened her attention to detail.

Today, at the startup The Guarantors, she brings that exact meticulousness to real estate event marketing, proving that no experience is ever truly wasted if you know how to harvest its soft skills.

3. The Industry Audit: What "Luxury" Actually Means

In a candid critique of current event trends, Alexandra didn't hold back on how the term "luxury" has been bastardized across the board. From overpriced, mediocre menus hidden behind decorative hibiscus flowers to restaurants trying to replace dead club culture by blasting music too loud to talk over, the true meaning of a high-end experience is getting lost.

The True Definition of Luxury

According to Alexandra, real luxury isn't about an exorbitant price tag; it's about high quality and intentional design.

• The GA vs. VIP Problem: Alexandra firmly believes that a General Admission ticket should still provide a top-tier baseline experience. VIP options should offer added bonuses (like faster entry), rather than being a requirement just to avoid a miserable time.

• Logistics Matter: Recounting a food festival where she waited in line for four hours only to find the included food samples had run out, she points out that too many events are run by people who are just "hustling" rather than actual event directors. True event management requires understanding logistics, crowd capacities, and flow—like utilizing timed ticket slots to respect attendees' time.

4. Balancing Corporate Capitalism and Creative Legacy

As the founder of her own consulting and event business, Elevated Lux (which approaches its landmark 10th anniversary next year), Alexandra has mastered a unique duality. She openly acknowledges working for the "big bosses of capitalism" on the corporate side, but keeps her worlds beautifully balanced by choosing to use Elevated Lux strictly as a vehicle for community empowerment.

Rather than turning her business into a massive money-making empire, she purposefully focuses on supporting small businesses, Black-owned businesses, and creators of color who don't normally have access to high-level corporate event expertise.

5. The Human Connection in an AI World

With current tech trends obsessing over automated systems and AI, Alexandra is highly optimistic about the future of live events.

"AI will never replace that one-on-one, in-your-face connection. It will never do that... People don't trust robots, they trust people."

After years of screen fatigue and political turmoil, people are yearning for real, physical community. For event coordinators and marketers, this era is a golden opportunity to cultivate authentic spaces where human social skills can heal and thrive.

Rapid Fire Round ⚡

To wrap up the conversation, Dk put Alexandra through a quick-response lightning round:

• Paper Invites vs. QR Codes: Paper Invites.

• Open Bar vs. High-End Swag: Open Bar ("People don’t want to take home a bunch of crap").

• Panel Discussions vs. Interactive Workshops: Interactive Workshops ("Panels can be self-aggrandizing").

• Haitian Grill vs. New York Steakhouse: Haitian Grill all day.

• 2016 Hustle Culture vs. 2026 Quiet Quitting: 2016 Hustle Culture ("It was authentic, it was raw, it was people that were go-getters").

Final Words for Next-Gen Coordinators

When asked what advice she would give her younger media planner self or anyone currently starting out as an entry-level coordinator, Alexandra had two profound takeaways:

1. Stop worrying about boys. It takes up valuable emotional bandwidth that is much better spent pouring directly into yourself.

2. Treat every role as a learning laboratory. In a tough, blended job market where junior and senior professionals are constantly competing, focus on the skills you can extract. Learn the sales cycles, study how teams operate, and master the soft skills that you can carry into the next chapter of your journey.

Keep Up with Alexandra Nazaire

• Instagram: @robins.nesting (Following her personal nesting, home renovation, and entrepreneurial journey).

• LinkedIn: Alexandra Nazaire.

Listen to the full embedded episode below to catch every detail of the conversation, including Dk's take on getting tested for autism, Alexandra's boundaries in leadership, and the real reason why New York feels a little different post-pandemic. *