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Joe Mineo’s differences made Joe Mineo Creative
By Kalea Hall
CANFIELD
Joe Mineo admits in his book “It’s My Party” that he’s always been a bit different from the average Joe.
“I recognized that something set me apart, but I didn’t know how to articulate that the difference was creativity,” the owner of Joe Mineo Creative and co-owner of Something New Floral and Event Design in Canfield writes in the book. “I knew I saw things differently than others around me.”
The new, bold, blue confetti-covered book tells Mineo’s story in 280-pages of thoughtful descriptions and jaw-dropping pictures of just some of the major events Mineo has designed.
It’s the story of a local guy who once worked in a banquet center mopping floors to pay for his Ursuline High School tuition and who is now 30 years into a career as an event designer that didn’t even exist when he set out on his journey to create.
Seeing something different in his surroundings fuels Mineo’s creativity. Today, multi-million dollar budgets enable Mineo’s creative mind to make a client’s grandiose ideas come to life.
Mineo takes blank sheets of paper and turns them into something different each time he sits down with a client.
“I love creating an experience from nothing,” Mineo said. “I enjoy creating an event that reflects the client.”
NORTH SIDE ATTITUDE
Mineo is a Youngstown North Sider with hard-working attitude ingrained in him. He’s a snazzy dresser with a nonstop personality that exudes confidence.
It was that confidence that helped Mineo carve a path into an occupation that didn’t exist when he first started.
Mineo was only in New York one time when he decided to move there and study theater at New York University.
He wanted to be an actor.
But then his path changed when he came home and got a job at a floral shop.
Within a year, the 24-year-old had his own floral company.
“You are fearless when you have nothing to lose,” he said.
Mineo, and the business partners he had at the time, built up the North Side shop in 1987.
They did so without a real refrigeration system. Mineo added an air conditioner to a bathroom and turned it down low enough to make it a cooler.
“We did that for two years,” he said. “We have come a long way.”
STARTING SIMPLE
And so has event design. Back in the day, concepts – and expectations – were more simplistic.
“Thirty years ago, event design was not a profession,” Mineo writes in his book. “We were simply flower shops that decorated parties. A floral arrangement that was lifted off the table with a lucite rod to create height, with an assortment of votive candles placed around it, was very chic in those days.”
Mineo’s background in theater helped him to create different events throughout the Mahoning Valley. In the late 1990s, Mineo moved his Something New shop to Canfield to reach more customers.
In the last decade, the events Mineo designed started to expand outside the Valley.
Eighteen months ago, Mineo decided to break off from Something New to form Joe Mineo Creative. Mineo still creates for both companies, but on different levels.
Joe Mineo Creative does 125 events a year from baby showers to anniversary celebrations of major companies.
He transformed a ballroom into a fashion show for a girl’s bat mitzvah celebration in New York. The aspiring fashion designer created the outfits for the models in the fashion show.
“The client, as a creative person, needed to express her own artistic vision,” Mineo writes in his book. “Our job was to get into her head and turn her vision into a cohesive event theme.”
Mineo and his team noticed the client used eyeglasses to express herself, so the eyeglasses became the inspiration for the designer’s new boutique, which was actually the display area where desserts were served.
Desserts were displayed as if they were being sold at a luxury store. Actors served guests the dessert in branded shopping bags.
Mineo has worked with the Rock ’n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland for 15 years. He is the mastermind behind the design of the 125th anniversary party for Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
The anniversary party, entitled, “It’s About Time,” was the largest event – by number of attendees and cost – Joe Mineo Creative designed.
Mineo used steam punk design to convey the time message.
“Steam punk is a rich mix of Victorian-era visuals with futuristic machine elements, as well as an industrial connection that allowed us to visually acknowledge the rich manufacturing history of Greater Pittsburgh and its importance to the 125-year evolution of Children’s,” Mineo writes in his book.
Clocks, machines and metals were mixed with cut crystal and lace to create unforgettable moments in time.
STUNNING WEDDING
In 2014, he stunned one local mother-of-the-bride with his spectacular design. Thinking of what Mineo created for the wedding of her daughter, Maggie Cox, still makes Pam Kerola cry.
The wedding, which is featured in “It’s My Party,” had a traditional Catholic service with the worship hall transformed to the bride’s vision. Hundreds of giant paper roses lined the grand staircase near the cocktail area.
Inside the reception hall, guests could dine in a variety of ways on tables of different shapes and sizes. Ceilings were draped with flowing fabric with chandeliers and orchids cascading down them. Centerpieces towered over the tables with exotic flowers.
“We went into the ballroom and it was absolutely spectacular,” Kerola said. “While we were having a reception, he changed the patio into a cigar bar that looked like it was something out of 1940s Hollywood.”
Since Mineo designed Cox’s wedding, bridal shower and rehearsal dinner, he has done her baby shower and a 65th anniversary party for the family’s business, PI&I Motor Express. Now, he is working on a first birthday party for the family.
Every event was its own, because that’s how Mineo works.
“He has a very clear picture of what he wants to do,” Kerola said. “He definitely listens to what you want. He is so involved in his client’s life. Once you work with him, you just trust him completely.”
DESIGNING A FUTURE
Mineo knows there’s more big events to design and more to be done for his company to grow, but outside of opening up a Pittsburgh office and recently publishing his first book, he isn’t sure what could be next.
He wants his company to be as big as it can be, and with confidence he knows it can.
“I think confidence is very important in this industry and in any industry, especially when you are selling yourself,” Mineo said. “Be confident in you and who you are as a brand.”
Mineo will have a book signing from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble Booksellers at the Shops at Boardman Park in Boardman.
His book is available to purchase at Something New, joemineocreative.com, target.com, amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and local Barnes & Noble stores. The book is listed at $74.95.