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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Esther Sarpong, a 39-year-old celebrity experience marketer and the director of experiential retail for Brookfield Properties from Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
I’m a director of experiential retail at Brookfield Properties and I drive innovative entertainment concepts at prominent retail locations.
My career started in experiential marketing when I realized that I’m a creative, fluid problem solver who stays calm and cool under pressure. Through live events and touring exhibitions, I establish trust and emotional connections between customers and brands. In this role, I curate human experiences that foster brand loyalty.
The day starts with Afrobeats playing as my family’s morning alarm. Our current jam is “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez. We keep the music on until we walk out the door.
My two kids and I play a game where we spot colors, shapes, and numbers, during our morning drive to school.
On the way to work, I swing by Starbucks to get a tall caffe misto and a ham and cheese croissant — my usual.
After arriving at the Brookfield Properties’ office in Las Vegas, I check my emails and organize my to-do list. My to-do list is prioritized based on project-scope and timelines, and immediate and current projects.
I’ve worked at Brookfield since June 2019. In the morning, I have meetings with producers on the East Coast, West Coast, or sometimes overseas. We discuss experiential concepts for EXPlore, which allows our partners to use spaces within our properties for touring exhibits.
I have a painting in my office from a local Las Vegas artist, Ricardo The Artist, which shows a free spirit boss babe who inspires my energy daily.
I have face-to-face meetings with location-based companies that organize touring exhibits. Right now, I’m in active conversations with key global players, as we discuss partnership opportunities for various intellectual properties they manage.
We discuss not only the concept but the operational process, permitting, scheduling, timelines, ticketing process, media outreach, social media promotion, and all the details to make their launch successful.
Around lunchtime, I spend a few hours catching up with live-experiences in the Brookfield Portfolio. Today, it’s with Fantasy Lab Las Vegas, a location-based entertainment concept that’s new to the US.
It includes a bar and restaurant inside Fashion Show Las Vegas, which has a multiverse of attraction rooms filled with large-scale interactive art, mixed-reality playgrounds, and secret passageways.
Today, I’m heading out to Area 15, a well-known immersive entertainment space in the industry.
While at Area 15, I’ll visit Illuminarium, Meow Wolf, and other experiences. I really enjoy seeing the future of entertainment being reshaped through these futuristic venues firsthand.
At my desk, I continue working on my passion project — the EXPlore Newsletter. It’s a recently launched quarterly newsletter that highlights touring exhibits and the experiential industry and keeps the business abreast on the latest news and trends.
At 5:40 p.m., I look at my calendar and organize my schedule for tomorrow, make my to-do list, and plan for the next day.
After arriving home at 6 p.m., I finish homework with the kids.
After homework and dinner, we play a fun game where we share our favorite part of our day and have Google Assistant clap for everyone’s winning moment.
We put our kids to bed at 8:30 p.m. with prayers, a bedtime story, and a few kisses.
I like nighttime workouts, so at 9:30 p.m., I head to the EOS gym for about an hour. My favorite workout equipment is the Stairmaster or elliptical.
At the end of the day my husband and I Netflix and chill with a glass of wine.
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