It was 1985 when Mike Brown from Monrovia offered his daughter Sindee a job that would transform her life.
Sindee Brown, a reserved and unassuming graduate of University of LaVerne, had the perfect-for-her-personality job: She worked in the accounting department at Toshiba.
But her dad was five years into a customer-focused, shine-the-spotlight business: Selling grandstand seating to patrons of America’s greatest New Year’s tradition – the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade.
- For more Rose Parade stories, visit here
Sindee was skeptical. Her dad persisted.
“My father asked me if I’d come in, and I told him I was sort of an introvert and I wasn’t sure I really wanted to do something that would mean for me to have any public relations involved whatsoever,” Sindee said during a Dec. 11 interview.
Give it a year, Mike Brown told his daughter. If she didn’t like it, he wouldn’t be upset and she could go back to being an accountant.
That year turned into nearly four decades.
Sindee (now) Riboli is currently the president of Sharp Seating, the official ticket-seller for the upcoming 136th Tournament of Roses Parade.
She wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’ve never looked back,” Riboli said. “I’ve had the time of my life. I participate in putting on a parade every year. How fun is that?”
Sharp Seating sells grandstand seats, parking spots and tickets for pre and post-parade events such as Bandfest, Equestfest and Float Fest.
Her father’s company – Mike Brown Grandstands – erects 55,000 temporary bleachers that line the 5.5-mile Rose Parade route along Pasadena’s Colorado Boulevard.
Watching the metal grandstands magically rise up from the ground every fall is a signal to Pasadenans the holidays are right around the corner.
That work, said Riboli, is accomplished by a crew of about 60 from MBGS, her dad’s company.
Each year, grandstand setup begins earlier and earlier.
This year, workers started Nov. 1 building out the massive, complex metal structures at TV corner – at the intersection of Orange Grove and Colorado boulevards. Those premium grandstands hold platforms for broadcast booths and photographers as well as seats for thousands of fans.
Nearly every open lot along the Rose Parade route is filled with grandstands and Riboli negotiates and manages the contracts with dozens of landowners as well as with the city of Pasadena.
For safety, the stands are inspected by the city’s Public Works Department. In the rare event of a storm, lightning rods are strategically placed, said Riboli.
The soft-spoken CEO also directs about 300 volunteers and staffers on the day of the event as parking attendants and ushers.
It takes Mike Brown’s crew eight weeks, she said, to install the grandstand seats, which sell from $75-125 each. It takes just three weeks to disassemble the giant structures, she said.
What started as a one-year experiment for the former accountant has now turned into her life’s avocation. And, Riboli – herself a former 25-year Tournament member – is an unabashed ambassador for the Rose Parade.
“We are giving people all over the world an experience of a lifetime,” Riboli said of the New Year’s tradition.
“I cannot tell you how many people use the term bucket list when they call us,” she added. Clients want to see the parade in person, they want to smell the flowers, they want to hear the drum cadences of the marching bands, she said.
Riboli and Sharp Seating are slowly recovering from the economic impact of the 2021 COVID-cancelled Rose Parade. Before the pandemic, Sharp sold nearly 75,000 grandstand seats. Today’s number is closer to 55,000, Riboli said.
“That was such a hit to the business,” Riboli said, describing how, during that pandemic year, she and a few staffers would come into their offices across from Pasadena City College once a week to ensure bills were paid and to “try and keep our heads afloat.”
Clients were refunded money and encouraged to keep their same seats for the 2022 parade, she said.
In general, Sharp Seating does a “pretty high” amount of return business, Riboli added, though she didn’t know an exact percentage. Oftentimes, tour companies are booking a block of seats for the next year’s parade on the first day they can: That’s the first working day of February, said Riboli, when they open reservations for the following year.
Despite the downturn COVID had on the business, Riboli has seen upswings in other areas. The addition of selling admission to ancillary events such as Bandfest, EquestFest and FloatFest has bolstered the business as has a transition to primarily digital sales.
“I used to have 10 to 15 people in the office going crazy this time of year,” Riboli said. “But now we are 100% digital and people can just go online.”
Now, she said, there are fewer employees in the office and she sort of misses all the excitement.
Riboli, herself, attends and works every New Year’s Day Rose Parade.
She’s there on the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado when the parade starts up at 8 a.m.
“The minute the Highway Patrol comes through on their motorcycles and there’s they’re beeping their horns and their lights, I get so emotional,” she said.
Why?
It’s the hope of the New Year, Riboli said, and the promise of what’s ahead, no matter how tough of a year you’ve had.
And having such an entrenched tradition – with gorgeous pageantry of flowers, with entertainment, with community members surrounding you, well, it just doesn’t get any better, she said.
And that’s a passion she wants to share with customers. And, she added, the best way to experience the parade is high up in a grandstand where you have “19 inches that is totally yours with no one’s head in your way.”
“I want everyone to walk away with a smile, going, this is going to be a great day,” Riboli said of the New Year’s tradition.
Riboli added this year’s Rose Parade theme: “Best Day Ever” wonderfully captures the enthusiasm she has for Pasadena’s long standing, internationally televised event.
“January 1 is really important to people in so many ways, and we want them to have an experience of a lifetime,” Riboli said.
If You Go
- Decorating Places: Dec. 28-30, Times vary, $20.
- BandFest: Dec. 29 at 2 p.m., Dec. 30 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. $25.
- EquestFest: Dec. 29, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., $50 and $25.
- 136th Rose Parade reserved grandstand seats, Jan. 1, 8 a.m., $75-125.
- FloatFest: Jan. 1, 1:30 to 5 p.m. and Jan. 2 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. $25
- Visit sharpseating.com to purchase grandstand seats and/or tickets for events.
Lisa Jacobs is a freelance writer in the Los Angeles area.
