Meet Lisa – creator of experiences & spreadsheets!

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

This quote pretty much encapsulates what a unique experience should be about: the feelings people take away with them and the memories an experience leaves you with.

Someone recently asked me how I started my own business and it goes a little something like this …

Back in 2014, I found myself wanting to spread my wings, be my own boss and work one-on-one with clients who wanted to plan an amazing celebration but didn’t know how to start.

I was constantly being asked by friends to help them organise their significant events and functions and that’s how Umbrella Events, was born.

I love planning, spreadsheets and details and over the years I have organised many special events from birthday parties to deluxe Hunter Valley weekends, corporate Christmas parties and even my own “surprise birthday party” – ask me how I pulled that one off!

I also have more than 20 years’ experience in the wine tourism industry and have coordinated multi-day conferences, weddings, corporate events, VIP wine tastings, functions and open-air concerts for up to 5,000 people.  My favourite memory from this time was meeting Chris Isaak and hearing the crowd go nuts as he ran down the aisle singing about a bad, bad thing!

In more recent years, I’ve had the opportunity to plan flagship multi-day community events that attracted visitors from across the Hunter Region and beyond.

I have a few (well, a lot) of passions including an insane love of travel, coffee, food, wine, unique experiences (enjoying them and delivering them, but more on that later), renovating, hiking and cows. Yep, I just love cows. 

I’m also a mum of one very ambitious, driven and kindhearted daughter and an adorable fur baby called Gilbert.  Both keep my heart cup full and my days busy.

Meet Robyn - group tour wrangler!

If you’ve been on the A Taste of Maitland walking tour, you will know Robyn! And if you haven’t met Robyn, let me introduce you….

A former primary school teacher of 30 years, Robyn loves engaging and educating an audience, which she does regularly as a tour guide for Umbrella Events & Tours!

Having met Robyn in a previous worklife, she was an obvious choice to join the team in 2019 as a tour guide to deliver ATOM and The Strolling Scholar – an educational walking tour for Primary school students, which aligned perfectly with her enthusiasm for contributing to the growth & development of the next generation!

With a passion for reading, researching local history, meeting new people and gardening, like me, Robyn also loves coffee, wine and travel. In 2017, Robyn ticked Africa off her travel bucket list, a favourite destination since she was 8 years old, and recalled seeing giraffes, elephants, zebras in their natural habitat was simply jaw dropping amazing!

Robyn is invested in the benefits of regional areas such as Maitland, lives locally at Vacy and recently discovered a colony of koalas on her property – isn’t that just the best!

When asked what she’s looking forward to the most post COVID lockdown, Robyn’s answer was simple – “ to sit down and enjoy a coffee from one of our fab cafes and resume the walking tours. I’ve really missed meeting and connecting with people on the tour and sharing unique businesses of Maitland and our rich history”.