As the Director of Events at Downtown Vision, Inc. (DVI); Co-Business Manager at wedding and event venue, The Glass Factory; and Owner of Haley Wright Photography, Haley stays booked and busy—and to say she’s a champion for her Jacksonville, Florida community would be an incredible understatement. Haley has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for Each is Every since 2016. We’re beyond excited to shine this long overdue spotlight on her today.

EiE: With DVI, The Glass Factory, and your own photography business, you’re a wearer of so many event planner hats! What draws you to be so connected to the community around you?

Haley: Jax is referred to as the “biggest small town city,” and in being involved with multiple business endeavors and serving through many leadership positions, it’s beneficial to wear all the hats! I take a lot of pride in being a ‘Jane of All Trades’. The joy that comes with bringing together my community—turning the ideas of my clients into reality, and making my photography clients feel like the most beautiful humans on the planet—makes all of the stress and pressure worth it. My sweet friend, Toni Smailagic, says it best, “Only the boring get bored.” I love knowing that I have a hand in changing the narrative about my hometown, and making everyone love it the way I do.

What does your typical workday look like?

Well, I “tumble out of bed and I stumble to the kitchen” around 7:30 to let my three pups: Chandler, Gretchen, and Roux outside, and then get ready for the day. I’m in Downtown Vision’s office around 9am for a dynamic day spent planning the upcoming events for Downtown Jacksonville, ranging from coordinating permits with the city, to pop-up bars on the Riverwalk, to bedazzling decor for our fundraising Gala. While my responsibilities are vast, I am particularly grateful to lead First Wednesday Art Walk, Third Thursday Sip and Stroll, Jax River Jams, and assist with so many other beloved community events. After a long day at work, I transition to my responsibilities as Manager at The Glass Factory, managing clients for my photography business. If the evening is clear, my ideal night is spending time with my husband at Kanine Social, enjoying drinks while the pets play.

What’s your approach to organization and also not just staying above water, but tending to your personal life and needs, despite your busy calendar?

Time management is critical to my success, and my approach is Kris Jenner saying, “You’re doing amazing, sweetie.” Organization doesn’t come naturally to me, so it’s truly a challenge and potential barrier to my success. I overcome it by living by my calendar on my phone—if it’s not on my calendar, it’s not happening. Between being involved with so many events, having ADHD, being a Sagittarius, and a generally creative-minded person, keeping everything in order is something I work hard at getting better at. I have a planner for major events, and I’m a new fan of Trello, as well as using a color-coordinated task list. Additionally, I look outside of myself—I am fortunate to have built an amazing team at work, and a group of friends who keep me on track. I am so thankful to them for keeping me sane. 

You and your husband recently took over management of The Glass Factory, a historic event/wedding venue. What are your goals for the space? How would you like to see it evolve?

It’s truly kismet that we get to manage this gorgeous space. I had the honor of managing it from 2017-2019 with the previous ownership, was able to host my own wedding there, and have had the opportunity to see ~100 couples and organizations celebrate in the space. Now, bringing my logistics-minded, calm, and collected husband into the whirlwind of event life is truly so fun. We are so grateful to partner with our owner, Tyler Saldutti, who sees its beauty and potential; and also our neighbors at Myrtle Avenue Brewing, who know that this will be a true pillar in our community. We are bringing more publicly accessible events to the space, and working to make Railyard District a place that’s not only home to hundreds of small businesses—bringing hundreds of millions of dollars of economic impact to our city year over year—but a neighborhood for the people, too.

You seem to have a knack for networking and successfully maneuvering through a variety of social situations. How do you decompress and re-center?

I admittedly don’t love “networking” in the corporate-esque sense of the word. I have always had the mindset that a stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet, and I LOVE getting to know new people, hearing their stories, and learning from them. Everyone has a unique skill set and background, and I love collecting new friends along the way. That being said, while I am naturally an extrovert and love making connections, the pandemic really showed me that being at home and spending time in my PJs with my husband and fur-babies shouldn’t be a luxury that happens once every quarter—it needs to be built into my schedule. Being at home with them and cold Coke Zero Sugar in hand is where I find true peace.

What’s something that recently made you proud?

It’s so crazy; I have crossed off so many professional and personal goals lately. I got nominated for this Each is Every feature—which has been on my goal list for the past three years (!!!); Downtown Vision won an award for Sip and Stroll—a project I saw from concept to completion; I got nominated for the Jacksonville Business Journal’s Women of Influence; and I was asked to teach at the Southeast Events and Festival Association annual conference.

Personally, my birthday fell on December’s Art Walk, and after the holiday tree was lit, the entire crowd of 1,000+ people sang happy birthday to me. I cried. My city, which I love so much, showed me so much love that night, and it was surreal. Picture it: the ultimate Hallmark movie moment, a small town girl who pours her heart and soul into her community has the entire town sing to her on her birthday. They might as well have given me a key to the city that night. I was so honored.

What’s the last book or article you read, podcast you listened to, or person you spoke with that left an impact on you?

I actually had a really great lunch with some fellow EiE community members—and it was our first time actually sitting down and meeting—but within the first five minutes, you’d have thought we had known each other for years. I loved it. We were actively talking about how we hate the inaccessible and cold structure of traditional networking events and “professional development” groups—that they’re just not built for our generation. We don’t want to play the corporate game anymore – we want real connections and a real sense of community that doesn’t come with a “Hi! My name is…” sticker and a drink ticket. It comes with being real about who you are as a person, asking for help, offering advice and not gatekeeping. I coudn’t be more excited about the EiE membership!

Who are some brands and/or people you’re currently pulling inspiration from?

Locally, I’m surrounded by so many powerhouse women in my field: Hana Ferguson, Ashley Smith, Alanna Luksha, Liz Grebe, Kady Yellow, Jodie Bielman, and so many others that I know will be sad I missed! They’ve each empowered me to cultivate this amazing community and experiences. I’m always swooning over our local cultural and artistic royalty like Ansley Randall with Jax is Rad, Toni Smailagic at Cre8Jax, Christina Karst, Olivia Gonzalez with Garage Roses Art Studios, Rachel Gregory with Garbage Pony Pop Art, Shawanna Brooks with Moving the Margins—there is so much amazing talent in the 904; I can’t believe I get to call all of these people friends.

I’ve been obsessed with the “post-pandemic” deconstruction of expectations, and seeing so many people finding their voices and saying no to things that they’re “just supposed to do.” I love seeing my brides wear the dress or shoes they want, skipping the garter toss because they don’t want their husbands up their skirts in front of their Grandmas, walking themselves down the aisle, and so much more. For office life: seeing professional women be their authentic selves, having fun colored hair, showing their tattoos, not wearing heels, hanging disco balls everywhere and art with curse words in their offices, etc. Together, we’re breaking the mold of the “corporate world” as the amazing human beings we were created to be. I love when brands and companies are funny and not as formal—like Duolingo being a savage on TikTok, or Wendy’s roasting people on Twitter.

How do you measure success, both professionally and personally?

In both areas, seeing the joy that my clients and community feel when attending something I have had a hand in creating far outweighs any profit or recognition. One tool is storytelling as a measurement of success: hearing people in a public place talk about my events and not knowing I’m the one bringing them to life; seeing threads on social media of people getting excited and telling their friends not to miss it; hearing people say they live all over the city and still come Downtown to experience the events that I help produce. With photography, knowing I get to capture core memories and be part of their legacy about the stories they’ll tell—it’s the best definition of success I could imagine.

Any final parting words?

If I could sum up my responses, it would be, “Be unapologetically you. Be authentic, transparent, and kind.” I don’t really do anything special other than treating every person I meet (from CEOs to interns) like a person, and not their title. I’m very thankful for all of the sweet compliments and the love I receive, but at the end of the day, all I do is love all and serve all—and I hope that my run-on sentences can inspire others to do the same.

To chat with Haley directly, join her in our Membership, and follow her on Instagram at @haley.tinkle.

Note: This interview has been condensed and edited.