Known to many as “the sultan of the soirée,” Todd Fiscus is an event-planning renaissance man whose experience spans several sectors of the hospitality industry. At his Dallas-based company, Todd Events, Fiscus says he brings “the juice”—that element of a party that makes you feel swanky as soon as you walk in—to the biggest events around the state and beyond. These include the Dallas Museum of Art’s 50th anniversary Art Ball and the Academy of Country Music Awards VIP and red carpet events. But before he found his calling, Fiscus took a roundabout route to success. After a stint in culinary school, his career path took him through restaurant kitchens and floral studios until he recognized his potential and founded Todd Events in 2004.
AGE
48
FIRST JOB
I was a bag boy at Albertson’s grocery store in Wichita Falls. It’s the first job you can get when you’re 15.
CULTURE
Our group is a passionate, fiery team of people who really care about their product. Our mantra has always been that we believe in the details, and the details always matter. So, we tend to be obsessive about the small things. I think our culture is a happy place because everybody works hard.
MANAGEMENT STYLE
My management style is to hire smart, capable people and try to stay out of their way. I move quickly, and I can sometimes set the bar a little high.
WHAT’S NEW
We’ve started Suite 206, which is our furniture division; we have a lighting company; we have restaurants; we have all these pieces of our pie, which has been exciting and beneficial in many ways. We are kind of known for these dramatic, slightly over-the-top, iconic parties, but it’s not all that we do. Our tagline has always been “Throw better parties, period.”
LESSONS LEARNED
My No. 1 is to strive for perfection every day and be really happy with the attempt, because perfection doesn’t really exist.
OTHER CAREERS CONSIDERED
Some days I think I’m going to chuck it all and open a really great gift shop and wear white to work and sit on the beach. Some days I think I’d love to do fashion, and I’d love to do interior design. I’m just a designer at heart.
MOTIVATION
Fear. A lot of times as an entrepreneur, you live on the edge … you’re on the precipice of either rapid, wild success or failure. The line is very narrow between the two, so you always feel like you’re balancing those two things and you get used to having a tight-knotted stomach.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
Keeping it all moving in the right direction, and trying to keep everything stable and strong while moving forward with some sense of caution.
FAMILY
My sister lives in Southlake, and the rest of my family is in Wichita Falls. My husband and I go back and forth; we live in Dallas and Houston. I spend about eight days a month in Houston and he spends about 10 days a month in Dallas.
STRESS RELIEF
I laugh. If I need to burn something off, I like to go somewhere and laugh.
RETIREMENT PLANS
I want to do this for about 12 more years and then it will be time to do something different. I can’t imagine doing this when I’m 65—I don’t want to be standing around at midnight watching 30-year-olds get drunk.
