Employee Appreciation: Caroline Walker

By Greta Engel

Phipps is well-known for our beautiful gardens, seasonal flower shows, pioneering sustainability initiative, informative educational programs and community outreach. None of our work would be possible without the knowledge and dedication of our employees. There is a wide array of departments at Phipps, each playing an integral role in creating a wonderful experience for our guests. In this series of profiles, we meet some of our employees and get a glimpse into what they do to make Phipps possible.

Events Operations Manager Caroline Walker has been working at Phipps for a little over 8 years. When she first started working at the Conservatory, Caroline was looking for a part-time job while she was in grad school for Psychology. When she decided to return to school, her goal was to be able to help people through her work. After some time, Caroline realized she could do that through working events at Phipps! “It is extremely gratifying to have the bride and groom give you a big hug at the end of a crazy wedding day and thank you for helping make their dream day come true,” she says. Caroline started as an event assistant and has worked her way up to her position as a manager!

Every day in events is different, especially depending on the time of year! Some days, she is fully focused on logistics and staffing for events. This includes strategizing timing for venue-set ups, staging event equipment and scheduling event assistant and set-up teams. Other days Caroline is more client-focused responding to client questions, coordinating vendor load-in and load-outs, creating floor plans, scheduling rehearsals and coordinating linen rentals. 

Outside of work, Caroline stays busy with her three cats! One of them is a 9-year-old American shorthair cat named Willow who belonged to her husband before they met. The other two are Bengal cat brothers named Mario and Luigi. While Willow keeps to herself and loves to cuddle, the other two can be sweet when they are not chasing each other or meowing at Caroline for more play time. Her husband recently installed a catwalk with bridges and tunnels along their living room wall. Caroline also enjoys reading, hiking, skiing and attending the occasional music festival.

Caroline’s favorite part of her job is the amazing team of people she works with! “This applies to my core events team as well as the other departments at Phipps. This place really seems to attract kind, compassionate and grounded people,” she says. Caroline also loves to be surrounded by nature while she works! Her favorite memories at Phipps are the events team’s group photo tradition. During large-scale events that require the whole team, they make it a point to get a group photo before the end of the night. “No matter how crazy the event may have been, it’s nice to be able to come together as a team and experience that ‘we made it through’ moment all together,” Caroline adds. Your next event at Phipps is in good hands with Caroline on the team!