At WBEC South, we’re proud to celebrate the women-owned businesses that are reshaping industries, creating opportunity, and strengthening communities across our region. In this edition of our Featured WBE series, we’re highlighting Luz Lobos, founder and CEO of Synergy Design Group, a Louisiana-based trade show and experiential marketing company.
Luz’s path to entrepreneurship began not long after college while working in the marketing department of a medical center. Tasked with sourcing an exhibit for an upcoming event, she found herself asking a straightforward question: “What is a trade show?” That simple curiosity set the course for a career that would eventually lead her to founding her own company. As she immersed herself in the industry, Luz discovered that trade shows were about far more than displays. They offered businesses a powerful way to tell their stories, build relationships, and create memorable brand experiences.
After joining an exhibit company and gaining valuable industry experience, Luz noticed a recurring challenge in the marketplace. Many organizations invested heavily in branding, advertising, and marketing, yet their in-person brand experiences often failed to reflect the quality of their businesses. Drawing on her background in architecture, design, and marketing, she saw an opportunity to bridge that gap by bringing strategy, creativity, and execution together. That vision became the foundation of Synergy Design Group.
More than 26 years later, Synergy Design Group continues to help companies bring their brands to life through innovative exhibit design and experiential marketing solutions. The company’s name reflects Luz’s guiding philosophy: combining brand, aesthetics, and function to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
What sets Synergy Design Group apart is its commitment to serving as an extension of its clients’ teams. “We invest in our clients’ success as if it were our own,” Luz shares. Every engagement starts with understanding a client’s goals and objectives, not simply delivering a product. Guided by core values such as trust, exceeding expectations, high-quality execution, attention to detail, and teamwork, Synergy approaches each partnership with purpose and care.
That commitment has helped the company build long-standing relationships across a wide range of industries. When one longtime client was asked why they had continued working
with Synergy for more than a decade, the response was simple: “Your passion for what you do. It defines you.” For Luz, that passion remains central to the Synergy Promise: constantly improving, exceeding expectations, and helping clients feel proud of the results.
WBEC South has played a significant role in Synergy Design Group’s growth, offering far more than certification alone. For Luz, it has provided a true community. During the pandemic, when the trade show industry largely came to a halt, she leased a small office at The WB Collective. The space became a place where she could think strategically, innovate, and reimagine the future of her business during an uncertain period. Equally important were the relationships she built with fellow women business owners who shared encouragement, ideas, and support.
One particularly influential moment came during the pandemic when WBEC South hosted a workshop with Allison Maslan, a global scaling expert and founder of Pinnacle Global Network. At a time when many business owners were focused solely on staying afloat, the session challenged Luz to continue thinking bigger. That shift in perspective helped fuel Synergy’s growth trajectory. Since 2020, the company has achieved three consecutive years of growth and earned a place on the Inc. 5000 list for three straight years.
The WBEC South network has also opened the door to meaningful business opportunities. Through a connection made within the community, Luz was introduced to a business owner in Nashville who was preparing for retirement. After sharing Synergy’s vision for expansion into Tennessee, that relationship ultimately led to the acquisition of Imagen in 2024 and the launch of Synergy’s Nashville operation.
Another valuable relationship emerged through Luz’s connection with Allyson Wynn, founder of The Wynning Experience. Because the two companies offer complementary services in event management, experiential marketing, and trade show solutions, they have been able to collaborate in ways that create additional value for clients while supporting each other’s growth.
WBENC Certification has also helped Synergy Design Group access opportunities that may otherwise have remained out of reach. “WBENC Certification has opened doors that would have been difficult to access otherwise,” Luz shares. In addition to connecting the company with corporations that prioritize supplier development, the certification has encouraged Synergy to continually elevate its standards and strengthen its operations.
Through WBENC conferences, expos, and matchmaking opportunities, the company has developed relationships with Fortune 100 organizations and global industry leaders. More than a credential, certification has become a catalyst for growth, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Luz’s advice to fellow WBEs centers on a single principle: invest in relationships. “Some of the most meaningful opportunities I’ve received came years after the very first conversation,” she explains. She encourages women entrepreneurs to stay involved, ask questions, share challenges, and remember that certification is only the beginning.
“Success doesn’t happen because you have this certification,” Luz says. “It happens because you consistently build trust, deliver on your promises, and nurture the relationships that certification helps you create.”
For Luz, the greatest value of WBEC South comes back to relationships. Through the network, she has found mentors, peers, clients, and lifelong friends who have supported one another through challenges and celebrated each other’s achievements. “It’s a community that emphasizes success isn’t only measured by business growth, but by how we help others grow along the way,” she shares.
At WBEC South, we are proud to recognize Luz Lobos and Synergy Design Group as a powerful example of what can happen when vision, creativity, resilience, and community come together. Through meaningful connections and a genuine commitment to helping others succeed, Luz continues to demonstrate that when women-owned businesses support one another, everyone benefits.