Everyone tells Amanda Roseth that her job must be so much fun. A professional event planner and owner of Epic Events, Roseth can’t hide the fact that yes, her job is a blast a lot of the time. But, it also involves a lot of hard work and unpredictability. As Roseth says, “It’s not an event if something doesn’t go wrong!”
But you can tell that she’s good at her job, because she makes executing an event look seamless, random mishaps included. Roseth, a Woodbury resident, is the woman behind the scenes of many of the city’s well-loved (and well-attended) events. It’s challenging work and certainly not for everyone, but Roseth loves what she does, and after nearly two decades in the business, she’s really good at it, too.
Roseth’s event planning career began in 2001. Shortly after graduating from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a degree in marketing, she secured a highly competitive internship with the events department at the Mall of America. Quickly rising through the ranks, she eventually became the department’s manager and, over the course of her 13 years there, planned and oversaw thousands of events, from exhibitions to competitions to concerts. “I would take different demographics that we needed to target and create an event that would drive that demographic to the mall,” she says, noting that she most loved the events she came up with herself.
It’s hard to choose a favorite after so many years and so many events, Roseth says, but 2008’s New Kids on the Block performance still stands out in her mind. “They were the big teen band when I was growing up, and I never really cared that much about celebrities, but that group was one that I was excited to meet,” she says. Roseth admits she has some interesting stories after so many years of coordinating celebrity appearances. “We always said that we should write a book about all the things that happened in the basement of the mall,” she says, laughing, but she can’t spill too much. “We saw a lot of things that celebrities did that wouldn’t be good for their public image.”
After nearly 13 years at the Mall of America, Roseth decided to branch off on her own with Epic Events. “I’m the kind of person who likes constant challenges,” she says, and running her own small business certainly provides that challenge. Since 2014, she has planned, marketed and overseen a wide range of events throughout the Twin Cities, including Ice Castles Stillwater and Eden Prairie, the Woodbury Area Community Expo and the Starlight Cinema.
Roseth says she loves the opportunityto work on many different types of projects, but she has a special fondness for the ones she creates from scratch and watches come to life. “I like pulling in all the pieces, being creative and thinking of all the different activities that will make it very interactive and fun,” she says. The Starlight Cinema’s outdoor movie series is a prime example. “I love bringing the Woodbury community together with that event and helping to create lifelong memories,” Roseth says. “It hits every aspect of what drives me to do events.”
Although event planning isn’t all fun and games or glitz and glam, Roseth says that the rewards far outweigh the negatives. “I love creating things where people and families can come enjoy and create memories,” she says. “That’s really where my passion lies. Seeing the responses from the people attending your event and how much fun they’re having... That makes it all worthwhile.”
