The inspiring story of the pioneer of early morning sober raves

Morning Gloryville runs sober, drug-free early morning parties. It was founded in 2013 by Nico Thoemmes and Samantha Moyo. Ahead of her keynote appearance at StartUp 2018 in London, Samantha tells her story.

How did you come up with the idea for Morning Gloryville and turn it into a business?

The idea came from a personal need to experience a high-quality clubbing experience in a natural and healthy way.

My friends and I used to party for days drinking loads of booze and taking even more naughty stuff. It became unsustainable and was killing my mental health, so we thought why not curate all the wonderful elements we love about partying, add some wellness elements like yoga and massage and share it with our community.

It was only meant to be a party; the business part seemed to happen organically.

What challenges did you face setting up the company and how did you overcome them?

The main challenges of setting up Morning Gloryvilles were deciding who would be part of the company and what all our roles were. When you are all creatives with similar skill sets, roles tend to overlap.

The other memorable challenge was the name 'morning glory'. We only discovered after about four parties that the trademark was owned by a big media company. They tried to charge us a licence fee to carry on hosting our parties so my partner at the time cleverly suggested we add the "VILLE" at the end. All the trademarks are 'Morning Gloryville'.

How do you market your events and what advice would you give to other entrepreneurs looking to promote events?

Events are marketed on Facebook, Instagram and by word of mouth.

My advice is always to decide on your audience then find your ambassadors then go out there with the help of your ambassadors.

Events are about people so get as many people talking about your event, and the real secret is to pick up the phone. There's nothing like a phone call to get folks you really want to come down.

What do you think are the key factors being the successful growth of Morning Gloryville?

• Consistent innovation and refreshing of the brand events, messaging and visuals

• Strong partnerships, venues, and DJs

• Soul and community nurturing

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