Team Spotlight: Jordan Tapley, Regional Marketing Manager

Jordan Tapley joined Convene in June 2022 as an Event Production Manager at Convene 1201 Wilson Boulevard. In less than two years, Convene has provided her opportunities to grow and develop her career in new and unexpected directions. Since October of 2023, she has been the Regional Marketing Manager overseeing Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco. I had the opportunity to sit down and get to know more about Jordan Tapley and how she has gotten to this point in her career. 

Can you tell me about your time in college?

I went to Howard University, which is how I ended up in Washington, D. C. 

I majored in biology with a minor in chemistry. I had a huge focus on research which was in environmental microbiology, which is just a great way of saying “studying microbes that affect the environment.” I was taking bacteria and other microbes from like radioactive sites and putting them in a similar environment in the lab and seeing how they can kind of remediate their environment. I loved my research and I definitely thought at some point that I would keep going and do my PhD. 

While I was in the lab researching, I was also a resident assistant in my dorms which led to me planning a lot of events and starting a club. I wanted to get people together and create alternative social events to get people talking. I didn't realize that could be a full-time job. I'm from a small town on Long Island and I never saw anyone like me doing that for a job. I was lucky to have really supportive parents that supported me pivoting, and I’ve been in the event industry ever since. 

What was the first event you managed professionally?

Oh my god, that's such a good question! I was hired to plan my cousin's wedding. That was a wild ride. I was grateful that it was a family member who trusted me because I think the wedding world, especially for event planning, can be its own beast. People are getting married, it's their own personal dime and that takes a lot of trust. So my cousin let me plan her wedding.

What has your journey at Convene been like? 

I started at one of, in my opinion, the best destinations in the Convene portfolio - Convene 1201 Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn, VA with incredible views of Washington D.C. It was an incredible team with a really strong general manager that helped me understand the landscape of corporate events. Before Convene, all of my other experiences were B2C so moving to focus on B2B was very different. I loved being an event production manager. It was very hands on and cross functional. You're working with the clients, the sales department, your executive chef, the service team, and other event production managers.

However, I'm always looking for more. What can I learn? What else can I do? I was very passionate about what 1201 Wilson Boulevard was doing, what my team was doing, and the event we were having, but I wanted more people to know about Convene in D.C. like they do in New York City. So when the position opened for regional marketing manager, I raised my hand.

I believe If there's an opportunity, and you think that you can make an impact in some way, raise your hand.

I asked quite a few people before formally applying for the position and they all said, “just go for it! What's the worst that could happen?” My background may not be traditionally in marketing, but I raised my hand, showed my interest, interviewed, and luckily I got the role!

Every step of my career, every choice I made, was some because somebody took a chance on me. My life could have been so, so different but I went with my gut and every single step of the way, I raised my hand and there was somebody to pull me up. So I'm really, really grateful for that, and it's something that I want to give back while I'm here.

Are there any role models in the Black community that you would like to amplify to the Convene audience and beyond?

Isa Watson - she has a story that I really identify with. She's an entrepreneur. She started in STEM, just like me, and then she ended up going the business route. She was working with JP Morgan, where she was an executive, and she just has had an incredible career. Her story is incredible. 

I also love Chef Kwame Onwuachi. He is an incredible chef that has a Pan African background. When we talk about Pan African, we're talking about the actual continent of Africa and also the diaspora. He is of Caribbean and Nigerian descent, raised in the United States. I think that he does an incredible job bridging all of those cuisines and bringing them to the public along with the stories of the cuisine. I think it is incredible. 

How can companies support Black employees and authentically celebrate Black History Month? 

I think a lot of companies go the wrong direction when they just assume how their black employees want to celebrate and how they want to be represented.I think the best way to do so is to ask your community. I think it can be a little bit uncomfortable for some people because no one wants to feel like they're targeting or tokenizing their employees' experiences, but I think when you come at it in a genuine way, asking “how can we celebrate your experience” or “how can we learn more about you” it works.

I think the best way to celebrate black employees is to ask them what else they're doing. A lot of people are entrepreneurs, or have other passions, on the side. So, if there is someone in your company that has that side project, like a chef that also has a catering business, or a poet that has a spoken word event coming up, or a singer in a band, encourage your employees to support them.

One final question: what else are you doing?

Right now, I'm not doing much because I'm planning my wedding. That is taking up all of my time so I'm not really doing much else. 

I like to write in my free time so I would love to explore that in a different way. I write a lot about my own and other people’s experiences. So one project I'm working on is a story about my future mother-in-law who has passed. She had an incredible life story. She was an engineer, super accomplished and super smart.

Interested in joining the Convene team?