Iowa City’s downtown district is home to many businesses and places to gather for college students and locals alike.
Bitchin’ Events, a small business launched earlier this year, is bringing a whole new array of events to downtown. From book clubs to craft sessions, Bitchin’ Events offers a variety of fun opportunities to the Iowa City community.
The woman behind Bitchin’ Events is Tiara Phillips, an Iowa City native and University of Iowa alum. She had the idea for Bitchin’ Events in her head while working as part of a trio running a small crochet business called Bitchin’ Stitchin.’ She decided to pursue Bitchin’ Events on top of the crochet business. Phillips officially launched in January 2025.
“We would sell our crochet at markets, but they were super expensive to be a part of. I thought ‘I should just run it myself.’ If I ran it, I could attend it for free,’” she said.
The Green House Bar has been able to provide space for Bitchin’ Events to host events at no extra charge to Phillips. Her first event was held in February in the spirit of Valentine’s Day.
“I decided to do a singles mixer, and it was incredible … About 70 people showed up,” Phillips said. “People have asked me how I know I’ll be successful in this [event planning], and I say I’ve already done it.”
The singles mixer had a lot of elements to it. Blaine Sager attended the event in February and has attended some Bitchin’ events since then.
“It can be really scary and daunting going into a situation like that, but it was fun. It was easy, comfortable, and organized very well. Tiara had great ideas … There was bingo and prizes,” Sager said.
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Phillips was shocked by the turnout at the first event. She started her business with the idea in mind that not many people would attend, but it would give those who wanted a chance to meet new people.
“Nobody knows what to do anymore. No one knows how to meet anyone anymore. It’s so hard after COVID. Once you leave college, you’re down another place where you have the chance to meet people. After a certain age, it gets harder to make friends, so I am really grateful to the community for showing up. I can’t believe anyone would care,” she said.
In her day-to-day life, Phillips works at the UI as a full-time purchasing agent. On top of her full-time job, crochet business, and event planning company, Phillips is a busy woman. That’s not all she does, though. She also caters and petsits when she’s not doing other tasks.
Phillip’s number one supporter is her partner, Colin Underwood. He regularly attends the events Phillips hosts.
“It’s great. She has really great ideas. She came up with this plant bingo game thing,” he said.
Bitchin’ Events was launched for many reasons, but overall to bring people together. Phillips said she values community and believes in strengthening it.
“I think there’s a lack of leadership when it comes to events,” she said. “It’s very difficult to do these kinds of things. There’s a lot of artists that are great at what they do creatively, but it can be hard to plan and execute things.”