Beneath Debbie Chapman’s name on her brand-new DAP Health business card is her title, Director of Development: Events and Partnerships. Underneath that, in invisible ink, is a subtitle: Maker of Magical Memories.

Words by Kay Kudukis (as seen in DAP Health magazine)

For 20 years, Debbie Chapman has been the creative genius behind some of the most extraordinarily unique — and uniquely extraordinary — special events in Southern California. Her productions of DAP Health’s 2019 and 2020 Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards were so dazzling, they prompted Board of Directors Co-Vice Chair Kevin Bass to call her “an event-planning rock star.”

What’s her secret sauce? Her core blueprint: Engage all five senses to create a ‘wow’ factor that leaves a lasting impression and keeps people talking long after.

When she was asked to return in 2024 to produce the hottest date on the desert’s social calendar, she did just that, ensuring The Chase’s 30th anniversary edition was a smashing success, generating $2.3 million and leaving a strong buzz that has lasted for months.

Let’s Make This Official

Within a month of beginning the planning of this phenomenal gala, DAP Health Chief Development Officer Chris Boone invited Chapman to step into her current role as director of development: events and partnerships.

While always passionate about event production, DAP Health’s Health Equity Walk and Dining Out For Life have Chapman excited to nurture mutually beneficial collaborations and explore new opportunities. “I love this community,” she says. “I’m always interested in finding ways we can support one another’s growth.”

What many might not realize is that Chapman navigates her world with significant hearing loss. With no hearing in her right ear and only 60% in her left (with the help of a cochlear implant), she relies heavily on lip reading. Her challenge is often invisible to others because she’s worked tirelessly to ensure it never holds her back.

Her ability to read lips has made her a profoundly attentive listener. “Others can get distracted or multitask,” she explains, “but I have to focus entirely — look directly at you — because that’s the only way I can truly hear you.” And if she doesn’t acknowledge you? It’s not rudeness. She simply didn’t hear you. Try making eye contact instead.

Family, Challenges, and a Champion

From age 12, Chapman was raised by her Italian grandparents, who instilled in her their love of cooking, a strong sense of family, and propensity for hugging. Mom was more of a free spirit, not quite suited for traditional parenting. As for Dad, he had a new family.

By 17, Chapman had her high school diploma in hand. After a graduation ski trip, she was going to work for the airlines, travel, and make a difference. Only, one day on the slopes, she got hit with a high fever — and ignored it.

Once home, doctors put her on antibiotics. Some 10 days later, they couldn’t say if it was due to the illness or the meds, but the news was bleak: She had a 50% hearing loss. The best she could do was work in a factory and collect a disability check.

Crushed, the ambitious teen took a job proofreading at a check-printing company. After the worst six months of her life, she quit. There had to be more for her. She sent out resumes, and within two weeks, Eastern Airlines hired her in airfreight, where her supervisor, Robbie Robinson, changed her life.

“At that time, to be a Black supervisor was rare, especially in Florida,” she recalls. “Robbie stood out. He dressed impeccably, bringing his best to work every day. When I doubted my ability to advance due to my hearing loss, he said, ‘Create a life where you hire your own assistant!’ He made me believe I could achieve anything. Even now, it brings tears to my eyes.”

When One Door Closes…

Chapman’s world expanded exponentially when she moved to Venezuela, doing contract work and volunteering as an event planner at the Valencia Newcomers Club. After two years, she returned to Florida as an accounts and leads manager at the International Gold Bullion Exchange.

More hearing loss came 10 years after the first, when she was a regional property manager in Texas. Then again five years later, once she’d married, moved to California, and had two children. The final blow came in 1998, while juggling motherhood and running her own property management company. One morning, she woke to complete silence.

Determined to overcome this new challenge, Chapman enrolled in a two-year American sign language course and, after extensive research, received a cochlear implant. For the first time, she heard her children’s voices.

Fate soon intervened when her friend and event producer Steve Norton asked for her help with an event. Her passion for event planning shone through, and when Norton suffered a stroke, he encouraged her to start her own venture. Evoque Events was born, and Chapman has since collaborated with some of the industry’s most innovative minds, many of whom remain her creative partners today.

A Unique Gift

Some who’ve experienced hearing loss have reported sharper eyesight. Science calls that “cross-modal plasticity — an adaptive change in the drive of neurons from one (deprived) sensory input toward another (non-deprived) sensory input.” But Chapman’s eyesight didn’t improve. Rather, she developed hyper intuition. “That gut feeling kicked in for me,” she says, “and it was almost like it was talking to me.”

While she listens intently to every idea presented to her, her sixth sense has proven so reliable that she trusts its accuracy over everything else. It just knows.

Highly competitive, Chapman not only sets the bar high for herself, but for others. After all, the key ingredient in her secret sauce is team collaboration. “My process is to surround myself with imaginative, forward-thinking individuals, and trust that our collective creativity will produce something exceptional.”

It’s perfection she’s striving for, and she expects the same from every member of her team. “I truly believe people are capable of more than they realize,” she asserts. “Sometimes those expectations push them out of their comfort zones, but when you have faith in them and sincerely say, ‘Yes, I know you can do this,’ they often rise to the challenge and surpass their own expectations.”

In every event she crafts and every challenge she overcomes, Chapman proves magic is not just an illusion, but a testament to the power of vision and resilience.

If you are interested in learning more about how to partner with DAP Health in one of its many fundraising events, please reach out to Debbie at dchapman@daphealth.org.