By Sara Perez Webber
Jill Vidal-Raines’ path to the top elected role at the National Association for Catering & Events (NACE) didn’t start in a hotel ballroom or a catering kitchen. It started with rigorous sales training in the pharmaceutical industry.
Yet Vidal-Raines took a leap of faith into hospitality nearly 25 years ago. That’s when the Texas A&M marketing grad saw a gap in North Houston’s event market—linen rentals—and decided to fill it. After leaving her job as a pharma sales rep, she launched Elegant Beginnings, Inc. (EB Inc.) from her garage, building it into a thriving business. In 2003, she made another strategic move: joining NACE—an organization she credits with opening doors and shaping her professional growth.
After years of increasing involvement and leadership, Vidal-Raines took the reins as NACE National President in January. In her first interview as president, she shares with CFE News her priorities for the year-long term: membership sustainability, chapter growth and health, and leadership development—with a focus on making chapter governance easier for volunteers.
Growing a Business—and a Network
When Vidal-Raines was establishing her business, she quickly realized the benefits of being involved with NACE. “A hotel I really wanted to get a contract with in the city said, ‘I only refer to NACE [members],’” she recalls. So Vidal-Raines joined the Houston chapter—one of the most active in the country—and never looked back, building a network with other professionals based on trust and loyalty. In fact, when one of Vidal-Raines’ sons was little, he thought “NACE” was the name of a relative, because he heard his mom talking about it so much.
“It really opened up a lot of doors,” she says. “The people I’ve met in this network are family. It’s a relationship like no other.”
The Power of Certification
Today, EB Inc. has grown into one of Texas’ most-trusted event rental companies, providing specialty linen and furniture rentals for 30 to 40 events each week. Vidal-Raines oversees a team of 18 and two 6,000-square-foot warehouses. The company ensures consistent quality and customization by manufacturing and cleaning all linens in-house.
Vidal-Raines credits some of her business growth to earning NACE’s CPCE credential (Certified Professional in Catering and Events), which is widely used in the catering and event profession. From a supplier’s perspective, she saw it as a way to speak the language of caterers, venues and hotels.
“The CPCE exam provided me with a bridge to truly understanding clients’ needs and talk about events at their level,” she says. “This heavily strengthened my credibility, and the relationships created long-lasting direct contracts with venues and hotels.”
Vidal-Raines says the industry knowledge she gained from the course enabled her to make helpful suggestions that extended beyond décor and linen specs—such as noticing a client didn’t have enough bars to serve the number of guests expected.
That broader operational fluency helped expand her business. “Just having those conversations, where it put me on that same level, pushed the company into more partnerships,” she says. “We’re more than a supplier; we are a part of their team.”
She encourages others to earn their CPCE designation—especially vendor-side professionals who want to be treated as strategic partners. “I’m a huge advocate,” she says. “It really elevates you, and it extends your credibility.”
Leading NACE Through Continued Recovery
As NACE president, Vidal-Raines is inheriting—and building on—multi-year work to stabilize the organization after the pandemic hit live events harder than almost any other sector.
“We have shown incredible resilience in rebuilding post-pandemic,” she says.
Vidal-Raines has worked with Lawrence Leonard, NACE executive director, on the association’s financial strategy. “Financial security really helps build the structure and the foundation back,” she says.
At the same time, NACE has focused on “relaunching and rehabilitating chapters,” she says—work that is now paying off: “This past Evolve [a recent NACE conference in Nashville], I saw a huge difference in our leadership, their confidence, their perseverance. It’s just a whole different feel. Everything is now showing all the efforts from the past five years.”
Membership Growth and Retention
Currently NACE counts 2,000-plus members. About a third of the membership consists of catering professionals, about 16 percent are event planners, and roughly 9 percent work for event venues. The rest are primarily vendors, spanning everything from rental firms to DJs to florists.
And not only is NACE attracting new members, but those members are also more likely to stay. “Our retention level has increased from 48% to 56% within the last year alone,” says Vidal-Raines. “We want to have members that are going to be members for a lifetime.”
NACE currently has 40 chapters, including recently established ones in Asheville, N.C.; California’s Central Coast; Nashville; Salt Lake City; and a student chapter at Texas A&M University. Other chapters have been revitalized—including the chapter in Austin, Texas—and one is in formation now.
Interest in chartering new chapters and revitalizing dormant ones is growing across the country, says Vidal-Raines, particularly in California, Tennessee and Florida. “NACE is really the only catering and events association out there,” she explains, adding that members will often start new chapters when they move to a market that doesn’t have one.
A Focus on “Joyful” Leadership
Looking ahead, Vidal-Raines describes three strategic priorities for her term: membership sustainability, chapter growth and sustainability, and leadership development.
A major theme is reducing friction for volunteer leaders. “Lawrence and I have been working very hard with our board to modernize governance at the chapter level, so that it’s always joyful when you’re leading,” she says.
Her goal: for NACE to do more of the back-end heavy lifting nationally, with such measures as simplifying governance and developing marketing templates, so chapter leaders can focus on growth: “If we can make their jobs easier, then they’re going to want to get out there and recruit more.”
Navigating Industry Challenges
Vidal-Raines cites three main challenges facing catering and event professionals today: rising costs, labor shortages and elevating the client experience.
NACE can help members navigate it all, she stresses: “Our solution has been education and relying on your resources and your network. That’s where we thrive as event professionals.”
Vidal-Raines points to such association resources as GlueUp, which she describes as “our own little NACE LinkedIn”—a customized platform that connects chapters nationally while allowing each chapter to manage its own website, events and communication. Through GlueUp, members and chapters can post job listings, ask for advice and find a master calendar with all NACE events throughout the country.
She also encourages members to attend NACE’s national conference, Experience, taking place Aug. 2–4, 2026, in New Orleans. “There are so many educational tracks and so much information that’s delivered in one place,” she explains. “You can view trends and talk to industry leaders who have solutions for you.”
A Call to Get Involved
NACE also offers many virtual educational options. The key, she adds, is taking advantage of such opportunities—and making the choice to be a part of something bigger than yourself and your own business, like Vidal-Raines did 23 years ago.
“Get involved,” she advises. “Don’t wait until you feel ready. Get out of your comfort zone. Go to a meeting. This industry runs on relationships and integrity, and if you invest in both early, the rest will follow.”
