All work

Earls Japan Culture Trip.

A year and a half of planning, so 83 guests would never see any of it.

Client
Earls Kitchen + Bar
Agency
MyWorld Experiences
Where
Tokyo & Kyoto, Japan (7 Days)
My part
Lead Producer (End-to-End, Start to Finish)
Earls' top performers in front of a temple in Kyoto

How do you celebrate the top performers of one of North America's leading restaurant franchises? You take them to the culinary capital of the world.

The goal was designing a deeply immersive, multi-day experience across Japan that celebrated hospitality, food, and culture while rewarding 83 top-tier professionals. It needed to be far more than a corporate trip—it had to feel like a seamless, high-touch brand journey in a country where language nuances and complex logistics present endless hurdles.

83 guests, two cities, absolute precision.

Moving 83 high-profile guests—including C-suite executives, executive chefs, franchise partners, and top front-of-house talent—through the hyper-dense streets of Tokyo and Kyoto demanded total operational precision. The scope behind the scenes was staggering: managing private transport fleets, synchronizing Shinkansen bullet train buyouts, and directing staggered arrivals from across North America. Across exclusive culinary seatings, traditional tea ceremonies, and high-energy team moments, our job was keeping every gear turning silently behind the curtain so the experience felt effortless.

Guests in hairnets at a hands-on food workshop in a wooden hall
Guests tasting from little cups as a host pours from dark glass bottles

What the guests saw.

And what they didn't. The logistics were engineered to be completely invisible—so shine your torch on any moment to reveal the magic running behind it. On a phone, the torch is the middle of your screen. Tap a photo to see just the photo.

  1. A welcome room drop: an Earls card saying Welcome to Japan, above a pack of Japanese beer
    Welcome to Japan.

    Behind it

    • Staggered arrivals for 80+ people
    • Hotel buyouts
    • VIP room drops, waiting when they walked in
  2. Guests crowded around a private tuna-cutting show under paper lanterns
    A private tuna-cutting show.

    Behind it

    • Large-scale, high-end reservations
    • Every dietary restriction handled before anyone sat down
  3. Dinner for the whole group, hot pots steaming on every table
    Dinner for all 83.

    Behind it

    • Local translation teams, hired and managed
    • Me on the direct line to Earls' leadership
  4. A bullet train car full of guests, smiling for the camera
    Tokyo to Kyoto by bullet train.

    Behind it

    • Private bullet train cars, bought out
    • No luggage sent ahead: the timings wouldn't allow it, so everyone brought their own and kept their things the whole way
    • All 83 off the train in under 1 min 20 s. A nail‑biter
  5. Guests seated on tatami for a tea ceremony, a host in a blue and white kimono
    A private tea ceremony.

    Behind it

    • 80+ guests rotated through, a group at a time
    • A fleet of staggered VIP shuttles
  6. The team on the K36 rooftop at dusk, a pagoda and Kyoto behind them
    Kyoto at dusk, from the K36 rooftop.

    Behind it

    • An exclusive rooftop buyout
    • The ground team I built and trained

A year and a half, from the ground up.

As the lead event producer, I directed the experience from initial concept to live execution across an 18-month timeline:

  • End-to-End Logistics & Vendors: Directed international transit, luxury hotel buyouts, and local transport networks. Coordinated coach fleets, hired and managed bilingual translation teams, and negotiated access with exclusive Japanese cultural vendors.
  • High-Touch Client Servicing: Served as the primary direct line to Earls' executive leadership, ensuring dietary preferences, personalized VIP room drops, and emergency contingencies were solved long before guests ever arrived.
  • On-Site Ground Leadership: Assembled, trained, and led a specialized ground team. Running a high-touch 7-day international itinerary requires immense momentum and foresight—making sure every team member was aligned and energized every step of the way.
The welcome pack: an Earls Welcome to Japan folder with a map and a printed schedule
The team in matching blue kimonos and headbands, fists up, in front of the giant fish tank at the sushi spot
The team, kimonos on, at the sushi spot.

Whether navigating international contracts, crossing time zones, or leading a ground crew through the live energy of two foreign cities—I specialize in building effortless spaces where great culture thrives, leaving people with moments they'll remember forever.

A race across Tokyo.

I designed and deployed a custom, city-wide "Amazing Race" challenge through the streets and parks of Tokyo, balancing competitive fun with cultural exploration. Here are seven of its checkpoints.

7 clues in the deck

  1. A race team in sunglasses and headbands, posing by a statue on a busy Ueno street
    UenoCat Spotting
  2. An Earls chopstick box on a café table, a tower of little blocks balanced beside it
    TokyoChopstick Mayhem
  3. A team in matching flame shirts in front of a wall of sake barrels
    HarajukuBarrel of Tradition
  4. Plastic food in a shop window: a bento box, tempura and all
    KappabashiTokyo Food Illusion
  5. A team in headbands in front of a huge blue fish tank
    GinzaTeam Photo at the Amajo Diving Tank
  6. A team inside a packed Don Quijote store, under red lanterns
    TokyoDon Quijote
  7. A team selfie in a narrow Shinjuku alley lined with signs
    ShinjukuSmoke & Stories

The result was one of the proudest milestones of my career: a massive, moving puzzle where the heavy logistics remained completely invisible. The guests experienced the absolute pinnacle of Japanese culture, hospitality, and food, while our team operated the magic behind the curtain.

Let's build something together.

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