Linda Bahr of Grosse Pointe Woods was the Midwest market event manager for accounting firm PwC in Detroit when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The in-person meetings and events she had been organizing came to a screeching halt. She pivoted to virtual gatherings, but it wasn’t the same. In early 2021, she was offered a buyout after 32 years with the company. She accepted.
By fall that year, Bahr was getting antsy. She found people turning to her for help planning events and realized these inquiries provided an opportunity to strike out on her own. She recalls thinking at the time, “‘I’m already doing it, so why not take this leap?’” She adds, “It felt like the natural next step at that point.”
Bahr hasn’t looked back since establishing her company, Raising the Bahr Events, that year. “Right now, for 2026, I’m pretty much tapped out,” she says. “I have a couple weddings, couple large exhibits, trade show, large fundraiser, and holiday party.” They all involve the work she thrives on, drawing on her years of experience and network of connections and vendors.
Bahr says her path formed early, after she was hired as an executive assistant and got involved in social planning for the office at Coopers & Lybrand, which eventually merged with Price Waterhouse to form PwC. This role led to her accepting a new market event manager position when several were created. She later obtained the Certified Meeting Planner and Certified Meeting Manager credentials through Meeting Professionals International—an organization she has long felt an affinity with. She currently serves on the board of the association’s Michigan chapter, which named her the 2025 Planner of the Year.
“I fell in love with the whole planning process,” she says. “I learned it was about more than just decorations and schedules—it was all about the experience and what people will remember.”
Bahr relished the projects she worked on at PwC, noting that an annual gala was a premier event. “Even though it was at the same location each year [Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit,] and many clients were repeat clients, we always reimagined it, so it was a fresh experience,” she says. “That was fun.”
Bahr is still having fun, enjoying the new opportunities that come with being on her own. “Every event teaches you about people, organization, and how you can adapt,” she says. “I’m a perfectionist. I love when it all comes together, and I work hard for my clients.
I love what I do.”
