Today we’d like to introduce you to Chrissy Elliott.
Hi Chrissy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
After spending 15 years at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports running the event management team and 7 years as the District Executive Director for the YMCA of Central FL in Brevard County running 3 facilities, I resigned in August 2020 to save my teams’ jobs during the COVID spike and personally take on my dream of traveling the world for 10 months.
I have scaled to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, stood on top of the rock at Mt. Everest Base Camp, conquered Machu Picchu, hiked in 48 of our 63 National Parks, sailed on 33 cruises, visited 55 countries and numerous other high octane adventures. I’m currently on a one-month trek in Utah and Hawaii hiking daily.
I started my own travel blog www.fearlessadventures.blog to document my dream after some good friends encouraged me to start sharing my otherworldly experiences and inspire others to go see the world. It has also morphed into creating my company, EBC Adventures LLC, which is a three-fold venture – contracting my expertise in event management and operations, extreme adventure vacation planning, and writing articles for publications.
While in Greece and Turkey in summer 2021, I got an opportunity call from Florida Citrus Sports to bridge the gap in building an entirely new 15 field campus for the Pop Warner Super Bowl at Camping World Stadium after a 20 year run at Disney. This 6-month challenge culminated in a very successful December 2021 event with a multi-year deal, and I’ll be starting full-time in early Feb to continue the journey.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My 10-month travel journey was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and through finding great flight deals, traveling during shoulder seasons, utilizing COVID incentives, banking credit card points, cooking instead of dining out, I have fortunately been able to extend now to 17 months. Besides one wrong COVID testing going to Egypt, one flat tire, and a horrific skateboarding accident in Hawaii, I wouldn’t change a thing along the journey. It has been truly life-changing!
In events and operations, you have to be equally good at planning and preparation but also be able to execute and make decisions/changes on the fly. There are numerous partners and departments needed to pull off any event or have a high functioning facility, so having a vision, clearly communicating the plan, and rallying the team to perform are critical.
There are so many variables specifically in running sporting events that you always need to have backup plans when dealing with weather delays, travel plans changing, field conditions, injuries, etc.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in event management and facility operations, and love being behind the scenes pulling the strings together to form seamless experiences for guests and clients.
My role is to bring their vision to life and make sure all pieces are firing to produce a high-quality event with a few extra personal touches added in. I love mentoring and building teams from scratch into high-functioning groups while capitalizing on learnings and best practices for constant improvement. I believe in focusing on strengths, being a great communicator, analyzing the details, and driving results.
After contracting with Florida Citrus Sports for the last 6 months, I, fortunately, had the choice to stay on in events or take on a different role being a general manager of a potential few new sports complexes around the country. I enjoy both roles, as many of the skill sets needed are similar. But ultimately, I want to continue giving back and serving the Orlando community, and making more of an impact locally.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
There are events popping up every weekend trying to pull guests’ time and money, so I believe you have to provide a quality overall experience to gain the trust and repeat business of your consumers. You have to change and be ahead of trends to give people what they want and make any experience over the top memorable.
Contact Info:
- Email: elliottcm@yahoo.com
- Website: www.fearlessadventures.blog
- Instagram: @fearlessadventures20
- Facebook: Fearlessadventures
