Looking Back

 

As a former regional administrative manager of a fortune 500 company, supervising 35 associates in three Northeast Ohio area offices, as well as providing human resources support for the region and hosting groups at out of state corporate hubs, Deborah McVay-McKinney - now Williams - suddenly became a “stay-at-home” mother in a city distant from her entire family.  With an urge to meet new people while maintaining her professional expertise, at the same time allowing her to be present for her daughter, McVay-McKinney decided to create her own business, Time To Spare. The name came from the idea that even though everyone has a very busy schedule, we could each use a little more time to enjoy life.

 

Originally founded in 1995 as a professional organizer, Time To Spare began by assisting small businesses and individuals wishing to better organize their home offices. Within a few years, McVay-McKinney was approached to plan intimate client events, custom gifts for special occasions, and found a local need to be a resource for private K-12 school district supply kits. McVay-McKinney's (now more than 30 years of) event planning, marketing, public relations, administration, and office management experience suddenly became more useful than leading administration for a major corporation!

 

The Early Years

 

As her daughter grew, so did Time To Spare. Through volunteer work, mother’s groups, church activities, and networking organizations, McVay-McKinney was fortunate to meet many people interested in utilizing her services. When “Y2K” (midnight December 31, 1999 – January 1, 2000) was approaching, her former employer called to ask for assistance creating fun, yet useful, custom gift packages to send to their clients across the country which had employees required to work throughout the stroke of midnight. Due to fears of electrical failures and computer breakdowns, it could have been a disastrous evening for many people and this corporation wanted to bring a little fun and reassurance to its clients. McVay-McKinney quickly used her organizational skills to gather names, locations, and a wide variety of light-hearted gifts for each company, while remaining within the client’s budget.

 

This one project propelled Time To Spare into a custom gift provider over nearly the next decade. Retirements, births, marriages, new employees, condolences, promotions, and more became signature reasons to contact Time To Spare. Typical gifts were selected with the recipient’s interests in mind. It became similar to ordering flowers – clients provided the recipient contact information, interests, and budget. Time To Spare took it from there, once again providing extra time, while making a lasting impression for clients.

 

By 2005, McVay-McKinney realized her own need in purchasing the long list of school supplies for her now elementary school age daughter. By observing the rushed expressions of so many parents in the school supply aisles of local shops, she approached her daughter’s school principal and offered to create custom school supply kits for parents who wished to purchase them. Much to the relief of so many parents, this service grew rapidly in the community and was extended to private schools, as well.

 

The Teen Years

 

Early into the following decade, McVay-McKinney determined a need for a conference of her own to assist busy not for profit entities the ability to locate affordable, reliable event providers for their fundraising needs. The Akron Event Expo was quickly created and for several years, a one day supplier show was held to showcase caterers, florists, specialty rental items, venues, printers, and marketing firms to the local community.

 

During these years, McVay-McKinney herself continued to volunteer in a variety of local organizations.  A founding member of Bath Business Association (a local chamber of commerce), McVay-McKinney held the positions of Vice President, Newsletter Chair, and Publicity Chair.  She was an ambassador member of the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, serving as a speaker at KNOW of Akron (Knowledgeable Network of Women) events, Women’s Network of Northeast Ohio, serving as the 2014 & 2015 Women of Achievement Event Planner, and Bath Volunteers for Service, serving in many leadership roles. She successfully co-chaired the 2009 Bath Home Tour. An active member of the Bath Church United Church of Christ, she served on the Youth Board and has been a Wonderful Wednesdays program instructor.

 

An active member of The American Cancer Society Cattle Baron’s Ball Diva committee for nine years, she held the position of Event Co-Chair, Auction Chair, Publicity Chair, and Table Captains Chair. She was (and continues to be) a volunteer for Stewart’s Caring Place, Cancer Wellness Center, where she served as the 2015 Butterfly Gala Co-Chair and 2016 Event Planner.