Creating a rich, positive culture of entertainment for Baltimore’s brands and young professionals

Heidi Klotzman is the founder and CEO of HeidnSeek Entertainment. One of Baltimore’s premier event planning, hospitality, and brand promotion consulting companies, HeidnSeek provides entertainment, cultural programming, and marketing coordination for the city’s young professionals and emerging brands. The company has worked with numerous clients local and national, such as Johns Hopkins University, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Absolut Vodka, Uber, and United Way. Heidi is the daughter of Richard Klotzman, a legendary concert promoter who has worked with the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, the Jacksons, Madonna, Luther Vandross, Alice Cooper, and Diana Ross. Following in her father’s footsteps, Heidi has been recognized with various awards and honors, including listing as one of Baltimore’s “Most Influential Professionals” and a “Top Single” (Baltimore Magazine), “Queen of Clubs” (The Baltimore Sun), a “Top Professional Under 35” by (b newspaper and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation), a “Rising Star” (The Baltimore Business Journal and The Living Classrooms Foundation), and many more.

Heidi Klotzman spoke with citybizlist publisher Edwin Warfield for this interview.

EDWIN WARFIELD: Tell us about starting the company.

HEIDI KLOTZMAN: It just came about, actually. I wasn’t really pre-planning. I was promoting nightlife at Club 1, and Saturdays I was promoting $3–4 a head in college. I was pretty good at it and I was promoted to take over Saturday nights. Later on, after a year, new ownership came, I said, “Oh, this is the end. I can’t do this anymore. But then, I thought to myself: “Wait a minute—I’ve built a pretty strong list of young professionals throughout this effort being here, and I can move this and we can be mobile now. HeidnSeek, per se, had already started but the actual new website and the development of moving the list and the concepts and the events all over the city had just started.

Q. What milestones have you reached since then?

A. When you reach each year and you think to yourself, “Wow, this is what was accomplished this past year—these are the people that helped and supported and made this happen,” and you get reinforced and you feel more encouraged each year as you go on—because, as you know, small business is not something that always lasts and if you make it past a certain point then it seems like you’re in it for the long haul—so the milestones are actually having the years coming and going. Also, creating more of a platform each year—a larger network, so that that I can get more coverage for the messages and the causes that I support, and that they’re more out there—those are milestones for me, because that’s what it’s all about: having that audience so that you can get out the word for the things that you believe in and for people you believe in. Those are huge milestones: when I’m able to make that happen through social media, through events, et cetera.

Q. Did you major in business? What kind of background did you have prior to starting the company?

A. I was a psych major at Goucher. I loved Goucher. It was a very open, warm school. But I didn’t take business seriously, because I didn’t think I was going into business. I didn’t really know what was ahead. I’m a poet, and so I was thinking about the future in that regard—someway to write throughout the year, or at least be a school counselor and write in the summer for a book of poetry, a book about my dad, a book about whatever may be. The issue was that I really had no education as to how to run a business, how to understand your accounting, your profit and loss—the tedious details that go into making sure something is profitable. I struggle with that to this day, because I’m more of a creative concept person and that stuff doesn’t really intrigue me. But, as anyone right would tell you, you delegate the things that you’re not interested in or that you’re not necessarily the strongest at. So, I do delegate those things—thank God.

Connect with Heidi on LinkedIn

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ABOUT OFFIT KURMAN

Offit Kurman is one of the fastest-growing, full-service law firms in the Mid-Atlantic region. With over 120 attorneys offering a comprehensive range of services in virtually every legal category, the firm is well positioned to meet the needs of dynamic businesses and the people who own and operate them. Our eight offices serve individual and corporate clients in the Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Northern Virginia markets, as well as the Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City metropolitan areas. At Offit Kurman, we are our clients’ most trusted legal advisors, professionals who help maximize and protect business value and personal wealth. In every interaction, we consistently maintain our clients’ confidence by remaining focused on furthering their objectives and achieving their goals in an efficient manner. Trust, knowledge, confidence—in a partner, that’s perfect.

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Edwin Warfield, CEO of citybizlist, conducts the CEO Interviews.

If you're interested in reaching CEOs, please contact edwin.warfield@citybuzz.co

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