Interview by Mercedes Arnold

Maine Vibes Magazine: Can you introduce yourself, state your pronouns and tell me what you do?

Chelsea MacDonald-Coffin: Yes, I'm Chelsea Macdonald-Coffin, but I go by Chelsea Mac or Chelsea Mac Daddy, which is the name of my business. My pronouns are she/her and your royal highness. I own my own events and production company, I do anything from copywriting to parties to commercial shoots to advertisements, marketing campaigns, and all kinds of stuff.

MVM: How did you get into all of that? 

CMC: I was an actor growing up and did theater and I was always working in the arts and entertainment industry. I started doing events more as I got older and saw that there was a big overlap between them to in between during production for events and shoots and thought I could be making money at this. And I'm pretty good at it. 

MVM: Did you grow up in Maine?

CMC: I am from Bowdoin, Maine. I left when I was 17 and have not gone back. 

MVM: Can you talk about what you did after you left at 17? What was your trajectory from there? 

CMC: I have worked so many jobs in my lifetime. I worked in a restaurant growing up and I learned really fast that it wasn't my cup of tea. Upon graduating high school, I tried to do the whole college thing at UMaine Orono and didn't really love it, I found it to be very redundant and boring. I ended up moving to Boston then Miami, then I moved to LA, then I went to Nashville, New York, all over the place, and then I somehow wound up back in Portland.

MVM: So you're back in Portland and then you're going to Miami for three months? 

CMC: Yeah, I’m going to get some R&R and do some creative research and prep for the spring. I love Miami because it's so different from Maine. It pushes you out of your comfort zone so much. I need that sometimes because I get so comfortable in my little bubble that I won't even leave the West End to go to the East End.

MVM: Miami is really great, there is so much beautiful energy and creativity there. Where do you think you get your creativity from? 

CMC: I don't know. My great-grandmother probably has a lot to do with it. She was an artist but in a whole different sense. She's one of those people that can create any sort of tangible piece of art out of anything. She could paint, she would make baskets, she would do all these little things. I remember visiting her when I was little and walking into her home and there were all these trinkets and toys that she created. I think that rubbed off on me. Her daughter, my grandmother, is pretty creative, too…I think it's something in my lineage. Both of my parents are creative as well. My mom is creative in the sense that she does events for her community, and she inspires me to do the community give-back portion that I do for my events. Other than that, I don't know where it comes from.

MVM: It's part of your being.

CMC: I grew up loving movies and watching TV. I'm such a film and TV nerd. I love acting and love going to parties, and I'm a little neurotic. When I get to control the party and plan it, that makes me feel better. So I think taking control of the planning aspect and getting to be the one that is saying, we’re going to do it this way, is partly why I do this. 

MVM: Do you have any movies or shows in particular, that you remember from childhood or now that you’re obsessed with?

CMC: I was a big MTV kid. My mom had me really young and my aunt, who was a teenager, lived with us. I watched Beavis and Butthead, Ren and Stimpy, and Boy Meets World, I couldn't get enough of them. Anything with Macaulay Culkin, he is my star. Home Alone is my favorite movie of all time.

MVM: With event planning, is it about making sure other people are having a good time? Is it about the experience? 

CMC: It’s a little bit both, I think our ego always wants people to experience things the way we do. We want people to see our certain perception, but that’s 25% of it, the other 75% is that I want people to have fun. The world is scary and life can be shady. I don’t want to spread toxic positivity and not say we can’t focus on that, but why not have fun and support each other and come together within our community and lift each other up? Listen to music, eat good food, play some games, dance, and give back to the community where we see it needs it. It’s really simple to me. 

MVM: Do what feels good. 

CMC: Other people inspire me so much. I’m a Pisces, everything makes me cry in a good way. People inspire me all the time. When I see someone else living out their dream, I know I can too, and so can that person, and so can you. There’s no excuse, as long as you believe in yourself. There’s so much magic in creating and seeing everything come to life. 

For example, I had my event [The Fifth Dimension] and I remember, every week leading up to that event I’d be listening to a song in my car and get emotional because I was so grateful for everyone that came on board. I had a lot of obstacles to overcome, but I kept overcoming them and thinking, I’m fucking doing this. The night of the event, it was so cool seeing everyone having fun and the amazing creatives that were there. That is what really inspires me the most, are other people. If you believe in me, I believe in you, and it’s this big, beautiful love bubble that we’re in. 

I was scared to have the event. You always have that little self-doubting voice in your head that you have combat. At first, I was thinking no one was going to come, but then I told myself to stop being a weiner, people are going to come and so many people ended showing up. 

The Fifth Dimension credits:

Venue: Après

Videographer: Neil Shelley

Food: Meet on The Street, Lady Shuckers, and Whisk and Thyme 

Music: DJ Wes Henderson

Dancers: Daija Paradis and Ashley Jolly

Musical Guest: Kevcoastt

Tarot: Tenessa Thomas

Art Installation: Brandon Dinardo and Diana Gonzeaux

Fashion: Kayte Demont of WCKD Collective, Sarah Lederer of Sarah Lederer Studio, and Jamaica Ford of Empowering Jewels by Jamaica 

Model: Caleb Foster 

MVM: It looked so fucking cool. 

CMC: It was, and Après donated the space, which was phenomenal. They had already decorated it for their holiday season, it was beautiful in there and then all the other artists that came on board fucking killed it. I gave them all creative freedom. I wanted dancers, a fashion show, a DJ and a musical performer, and a videographer. I told everyone the theme of the event and what I envisioned, but to do whatever they wanted. Every single person fucking killed it. I couldn’t have asked for a better team of people. They are all so talented.

MVM: Are you planning on doing more events like The Fifth Dimension?

CMC: Yeah, absolutely. I want to do one community event a month where it's a nonprofit event and we put money back into the community for whatever needs we see fit. 

MVM: How do you choose the nonprofits that you work with?

CMC: With this one, I chose it in honor of my mom; she is a domestic violence survivor, and her birthday was the day before. I chose Freedom Place at 66 State. They provide resources and programs promoting recovery for women who are domestic violence survivors, experiencing homelessness, or getting reintegrated back into normal life after experiencing addiction. I picked them to honor my mom for her birthday and made the donation in her name. 

MVM: Do you want to do events across the country? 

CMC: All over the world. I'll go anywhere, I don't care as long as you have the budget and will fly me there, I'll do it. I’m up for the challenge. 

MVM: Do you have other ways you like to release your creativity? 

CMC: I love to take dance classes, that's my me time. My friend Ashley Jolly teaches a bunch of different dance classes and she's amazing. It's such a challenge because she's so fucking good. Aside from that, I love acting and going to auditions. There are different routes that I take all the time, but I definitely love dancing. If I don't take a dance class at least once a week, I'm pretty miserable.

MVM: What type of energy are you drawn to? When you’re working with clients, how can you tell it will be a good fit? 

CMC: I am drawn to people that are self-aware. I like working with people that understand that in order for me to work, I need you to do your job as well. Communication is my number one thing. If you’re a good communicator, I love you, I could marry you. But really, anyone that has their stuff together is good in my book. As long as you're open and honest, and we have a good level of communication, then I'm on board. 

To answer the second part of that question, I attract so many different walks of life myself and I used to have a hard time figuring out if it was a good fit for me. If it doesn’t work with a client, I'm still going to root for you, I'm still supporting you, I just don't think we're a good energetic match. That's pretty much it, it’s easier said than done sometimes. 

MVM: I think that's fair. Saying, hey, this isn't going to work, I feel like that saves them time and energy, too.

CMC: It’s like dating. That's what it is being a creative because you want to work with as many people as possible, but also, creators are fucking crazy. And I know that because I'm one of them. We're control freaks, we want things a certain way, but we also want to integrate as a community. Anyone that can communicate, can check their ego, and also trust the process, will work really fucking hard. And don’t be mean, that’s it. 

MVM: Exactly, don’t be mean, mean people suck. 

CMC: I really appreciate the people in my life that will say, hey, my energy's off right now so we probably shouldn't hang out because I don't want to rub my bad mood off on you. That’s very self-aware. I used to talk about things happening to me and didn’t even ask what was going on with the other person, but it’s so good to have those lines of communication open. 

MVM: It's can be hard to say that but it’s great to advocate for yourself, especially if you’re in a vulnerable state. Ok, so tell me more about how you and your company work, how do you approach people to work with you? 

CMC: I'm in a pretty cool position, I have worked for other people doing events before that have really paved the way for me and taught me. I've been working in the wedding industry for about three or four years now working for my friend and mentor, Hannah Lake White, who owns Lake & Co., a catering company. It’s picking up little things from her and getting constructive feedback, which is really great and has definitely helped me. 

I'll cold call people or message them and say, I think you're really cool, I want to work with you, and here's my vision. That's what I did with the Fifth Dimension, I reached out to every single person and said, you're amazing, I really admire you, here's an idea that I have, if you want to be part of it cool, if not, that’s okay, either way, I want you there and you're invited. Then if they want in, we’ll talk about how they want to participate. It’s like pitching an idea to your friends. I also have people that reach out to me, but I have to make sure that I’m excited about it too. I want them to have a solid foundation of their own idea when they come to me, or I can figure it out for them if that's what they are hiring me for, but either way, it’s a lot of networking.

MVM: How do you approach your creative process and plan for events?

CMC: Oh, my God, ideas come to me at like three in the morning when I'm on mushrooms. I’ll be on mushrooms and then, oh my god, that's a genius idea. I'm always texting myself ideas. I'm always writing stuff down in my journal. There was a time when I had so many ideas that I wouldn't do them at all because I told myself, Oh, that would never work. Now, I'm going to do every single idea because they are all going to work out. But it’s normal, everyday inspiration. I'll be on the beach and something will inspire me or I'm sitting in a café and something will inspire me or I'm watching an old 80’s cult movie and feel inspired. It changes from day to day.

MVM: Do you like using mushrooms?

CMC: Yeah, I love them, I'm the mushroom queen. I fucking love them. In the last years, I dabbled in them. I did them for fun and did macro dosing in college and would trip balls, I had a few bad trips and then the last year or so I started using them for depression and anxiety. They have helped so much. My favorite day in the summer is taking a microdose and going to the beach by myself and sitting there and closing my eyes. It’s so relaxing. There's also something in my brain when I microdose that reiterates everything that I already know I need to do for myself. You need to get outside, you need to work out, and you need to eat a healthy meal. 

MVM: I love that. It’s your inner self-care person saying, take care of yourself, Chelsea!

CMC: It's like the little angel comes down and beats the devil on my shoulder and is like no, this is what we're doing today instead; we're going to eat healthily and go for a walk in the woods and we're gonna go to the beach. 

MVM: Yes! So, when you don't feel creative but you have deadlines, how do you get yourself back into that mindset of getting shit done? 

CMC: I work out. I go to the gym and get on the treadmill. I meditate. My normal routine is to meditate, do daily affirmations, and go to the gym, and that really helps. If I’m not doing that, I’m a miserable cunt. I know that’s what I need to do for myself. If I’m failing off track, I always know that I need to go to the gym and get on a treadmill, even if it’s for 30 minutes. 

MVM: Is there anything that you want to share in terms of your business? What are you looking forward to next year?

CMC: I want to reiterate what my platform does. Community over competition is my motto. If someone is a direct competitor, they can still be your friend. The more that we network with one another, the bigger our collective audience grows, and it's beneficial for everyone involved. It feels good to work together instead of against each other. When I first moved back to Portland and started working here, it felt very cliquey. I really want to push community over the competition on people, you’re not cooler than anyone, I’m not cooler, we’re all doing our thing. We are all humans before we're brands, before anything. I don't want anyone to ever feel like they have to be less soft or less crazy, or whatever. As long as they're a respectful and kind person that's learning and doing the work then that’s all that I care about. 

For my business itself, book me, I want to throw a party for you, I want to have fun. If you have a vision and you need help executing it, I can definitely do it. I want to keep building on it and making it better and listening and learning from other people and giving my platform to other creatives or other people that may not have that platform yet to advocate for themselves or advocate for others. I always want to turn it over to other people so that I can be learning from them. 

MVM: How did you advocate for yourself when you are first starting out?

CMC: Oh, my God, I cried a lot. I was a victim, it was very everyone out to get me, and no one likes me. Then I was finally like, do I like myself? Yes. What do I need to do for myself? Now I'm very like, nope, you did this, it didn't feel good to me so we're going to take some space. Or I've had clients in the past that didn't pay me on time or weren’t nice to me. I used to get very caught up in it. 

Recently I had to ask someone for space because this person was overwhelming me and projecting their stuff onto me. I was very proud of how I handled it. In the past, I would have let them do that and been crying at home about it with my boyfriend. This time, I was very direct, saying I respect you, I think you're awesome and I care about you, but I need some space right now because this doesn't feel good, let’s come back together when we've had some space and time apart from each other. That was the first time I’ve felt like as an adult, and as a woman, in my career where I’ve been able to speak my truth and say this isn’t working right now and I need a break. 

MVM: I’m proud of you for protecting your energy. And thank you for talking, Chelsea. This has been great.

CMC: Thank you! 

Thank you to Chelsea Macdonald-Coffin for taking the time to talk with Maine Vibes Magazine!

Web: https://www.chelseamacdaddy.com/

Instagram: @chelseamacdaddy

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