What began as a mother’s mission to bake her son’s first birthday cake has transformed into a full-scale, celebrity-driven events and floral design company helmed by entrepreneur Denise Grant.
Grant, owner of Hactac Events by Denise A Grant LLC, describes her business as a “full-service floral design and experiential company,” one that brings clients’ visions to life from concept to execution. “Experiential means we create the magic,” she said. “Whatever you want your event to look like, we make that vision a reality.”
Now a fixture in the events world, Grant has spent 14 years building her brand, with the past eight dedicated specifically to her current design and production company. But her path to entrepreneurship was anything but conventional.
From Cake Decorator to Creative Director
Grant’s business began in her own kitchen. After successfully baking a cake for her son’s first birthday, now 15, friends encouraged her to turn her talent into a business. “I became the cake decorator who baked for everyone,” she said.
Her work quickly caught the attention of major platforms. She created desserts for Black Ink Crew, Love & Hip Hop, and Hot 97, and even baked for Wendy Williams. As demand grew, her services expanded, and she began producing events and activations for the same clientele.
Today, her company handles large-scale productions for organizations including Circle of Sisters, Jersey City City Hall, Zeta Phi Beta, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and corporate clients such as 1800 Tequila.
“I transitioned from cakes into events through the same relationships,” Grant said. “We stayed at Hot 97, and I moved from baking for them to producing activations.”
Seeing the Vision Come to Life
Grant says the most rewarding part of her work is watching a sketched concept come to life. “I mock up everything before I step into a space,” she said. “To bring a drawing to life exactly the way I envisioned it, that’s my favorite part.”
Her eye for detail and reputation for large-scale production have made her a go-to designer for clients seeking immersive experiences. Her Belleville production studio now serves as a hub for the elaborate floral designs and installations for which she is known.
Despite her expansion, she still considers Hactac Events a small business. “I’m looking toward a corporate office one day,” she said. “I still carry my corporate roots with me.”
The Challenges Behind the Glamour
For Grant, entrepreneurship is a combination of passion and pressure. As a full-time business owner and mother, she says balance is the biggest challenge.
“Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart,” she said. “The world makes it look glamorous, but it’s hard work, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
She left her corporate job as an administrative supervisor at NYU Cancer Center in 2019, just before the pandemic. The timing was risky, but she believed it was necessary. “It was time for me to go,” she said. “I had to do it.”
The shift, she said, improved both her life and her son’s. “When I transitioned from corporate to doing my business full-time, my son actually thrived more than he did before,” she said.
From Jamaica to Queens to the Boardroom
Grant was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica, and migrated to the United States at age 6. Her earliest memory is of stepping into a New York winter after a lifetime of tropical heat.
“I didn’t know anything about snow,” she recalled. “My mother put a coat on me for the first time, and I didn’t even know how to use a zipper.”
Growing up in Queens, she embraced American holiday traditions she had never experienced in Jamaica. “We didn’t decorate trees or put lights up,” she said. “Seeing Christmas here was a whole new world.”
Grant’s long-term goal is clear: a corporate headquarters overlooking the water, a space she envisions every time she visits Proximo Spirits, the distributor of 1800 Tequila and other major liquor brands.
“Every time I’m there, they give me the office next to them to work,” she said. “I always tell them, ‘This is going to be my office one day.’”
She believes the space symbolizes the future of Hactac Events, growth, stability, and expansion into a full corporate entity.
Through the challenges, pivots, and evolution of her business, Grant says she is grateful for the life entrepreneurship has afforded her.
“I’ve become a better person and parent because of it,” she said. “This business has taught me so much, and I’m thankful for where I am.”
