YC's Director of Events Domonique Fines with Elpha CEO Cadran Cowansage

TL;DR

Domonique Fines, YC’s Director of Events, describes her unplanned career pivot from pre-law to tech event planning, which she achieved by combining a personal history of organizing (sorority, family club) with a self-built portfolio from an office‑manager role.

Key insights

• Domonique had no formal event‑planning education; her professional background was law‑firm work, and she built event experience by running a family club at night and leveraging an office‑manager role
• She decided to leave the law‑school path one week before applying, making a single phone call to her mother, then moving home and sleeping in her car during lunch breaks while working a day job to tra
• She distinguishes club events (any attendee, revenue‑driven) from YC/tech events (attendee quality and desired outcome matter more than headcount).