Before I get started into the nitty gritty, I will explain a little about why I am doing this. A month ago Amber Veatch, owner of Amber Veatch Designs, asked me if I was attending Making Things Happen in Chapel Hill, NC. I said mehhhhh... not so sure about that. I met Amber Veatch a year ago at the Cultivate Conference that I attended with Layla and at the time both Amber and I were assistant wedding planners. Both Amber and I wanted more though. At the conference, Amber Housley talked about the power behind Making Brands Happen and how it helped her find her brand identity and transform her brand. I was so inspired by her and was also so intrigued by this Making Brands Happen I kept hearing about. Coming from a business background (I received my Bachelor's Degree in Business Leadership from the University of Puget Sound), I know the importance of strong branding and I want that so badly for my business. Anyway, moving on... after 2 short days mehhhhhhing the idea of attending Making Things Happen I decided... enough with the mehhhhing. Just do it. One of the biggest reasons I knew I had to do it was because I have invested in a new logo from the amazingly talented, Molly Jacques, and now I am working with Love-Inspired to help redesign the website. At first this was my excuse to not attend the conference... but that just seemed silly. Now is the time. And I knew that the best way to help me relaunch this business after the rebranding is complete is to attend this conference to really help me build the confidence that I need to make things happen.
That being said... here is the first part of the Goal Setting laid out by Lara Casey, the incredibly inspirational and talented woman behind Southern Wedding Magazine and also part of the team behind Making Brands Happen.
Step 1: Make your list of things you made happen in 2012 and things you are grateful for.
1. I think the biggest thing on this list that I both made happen and that I am grateful for is that I was able to take over Simply Savannah Events. It is such a joy to have a job that is something I love doing. I always have been the girl to tell myself that I want to be living what I love, so much that I decided to get a tattoo saying just that... So it is such an amazing feeling that I can say that I am living what I love everyday.
2. I am so grateful for all the couples that I am working with. It has been so much fun getting to know so many amazing people and to help them while they are planning one of the most important events of their lives!!
3. My life would not be the same without my dad. He has been so incredible and so supportive of me and my dreams. He has given me the life I live everyday and without him I would not be the person I am today.
4. I am probably the luckiest girl out there. I met an incredible guy a little more than 2 years ago and I truly believe it was fate. I mean... how many times do you end up with the guy you turned down for a dance with at the bar? He is so supportive of me following my dreams even when that means me spending hours and hours while at home on my computer catching up on e-mails and blogging.
5. I am very thankful of the new home my boyfriend, dog, and cat just moved into on Dutch Island. It is so nice to be living in an amazing house that is in a safe and secure neighborhood with amazing neighbors.
6. I feel so lucky that I have gotten to know some incredible vendors in the Savannah area that I can rely on and trust. Not only that but it is so humbling to have vendors that want to work with me! It is especially amazing when vendors are wanting to collaborate with me! I must admit... styled shoots are like playtime for grownups.
7. One of the biggest things I made happen!? Getting published on Green Wedding Shoes! Of course I didn't do this alone, there were lots of vendors that came together to make this a reality and it was seriously was like a dream come true. Green Wedding Shoes is the wedding blog that I look at pretty much on a daily basis to get inspiration and it was one of the major wedding blogs that seriously inspired me to keep following my dreams and go down the path of being a wedding planner... so to have my work be featured on there!? Seriously incredible. We also were published twice on Style Me Pretty Georgia and Ruffled.
8. WEDDINGS UNVEILED. Seeing my full name in a printed magazine publication? That was a dream come true... I am so grateful for this. It just shows that all it takes is a vision, a lot of hard work, and you can achieve anything.
9. Booking a wedding in Pennsylvania. I am so beyond excited to collaborate with Layla on our wedding in Pennsylvania this fall at Friedman Farms!!!
10. My newfound passion for flowers and flower arranging!!!!!! I cannot even describe how excited I get over putting together floral arrangements. I love love love it.
Alright, so there are 2 more hand written pages full of things I made happen and things I'm grateful for... but I think I will stop at 10 because the rest are a lot of the little things. But obviously they are still just as important.... take for example #21: not gaining weight even though I eat lots of cupcakes and macarons when given the chance... but seriously? How I have not put on an extra 50 pounds after this weekend I am really entirely not sure? (free cupcakes + macarons at a networking event on Saturday, free cupcakes + macarons at Behind the Veil wedding show on Sunday, free cupcakes + macarons leftover from our styled shoot on Monday...)
Anyway, moving on to step 2... which is honestly the part I am more scared about sharing. But in life, sometimes you have to reveal the bad to move on and grow. So here we go.
Step 2: In business and life, what didn't work well to help you live your best life and what needs improvement?
1. It did not work well when I did not take the time to be very thorough in my work. I learned a huge lesson while working with a bride and groom on their budget and that was that I need to make sure I am being very thorough when sending information to my clients. It is important that I do my research and make sure that I am including all the necessary information to help them make a completely informed decision.
2. In my personal life it does not work when I am "spending time" with Chris but am on my laptop really paying more attention to work e-mails. He is so patient with me and understanding although I know he doesn't like it. But this is something I really need to work on because I know how important the time we have together is especially since we are both extremely busy. I know that this is one of the biggest things I want to fix moving forward... I need to find time that I can give to Chris and only Chris, no social media, no e-mails, no blogging, no texting, no Facebook, no nothing but Chris time.
3. I need to do more networking!!! Good thing is... I love doing this... now just need to make this a priority.
4. One of my biggest faults is that sometimes I take on more than I can handle. I love being busy and constantly having something to do. But I need to make sure I am only taking on what I can handle. In one specific case I told someone I could do x, y and z for them when in reality it was just too much for me, and later having to say that well I actually can't do that was way more disappointing than having just told them in the first place that some other vendor would be able to do that for them.
5. Letting fear get in the way of rebranding. It took me several months to commit to the idea of rebranding... and those several months was time I could have spent making things happen.
6. Comparing myself to other wedding planners that have been around for years. When I do this it makes me feel very inferior and depressed... and instead I need to be focusing on what I have done. Everyone has a different journey and it is important to remember not to compare my beginnings to someone else's middle.
Step 3: What fires you up?
New ideas for styled shoots, pretty flowers, garden roses, cactuses!!!!!!, pretty design anywhere and everywhere, pretty furniture for a good deal, finding antique treasures for cheap, ghost furniture, my pets, my boyfriend, my family, cooking something healthy and delicious, Insanity (hurts so bad but feels so good after), wedding magazines, amazing photography, designing unique installations, gold spray painted dinosaurs, funny things, recycling things to use at weddings and making them pretty, putting together a bouquet, coming up with new inspiration for brides, designing dessert spreads and layouts, funky art, floral halos, blush pink, antlers, antlers, antlers, finding ways to incorporate antlers into design, happy in love brides who gush lots about their fiances, pretty stationary and paper, pretty ways of organizing, weddings in the desert, vintage furniture, geometric shapes made into art, Taylor Swift music, "Make Someone Happy" the song by Jimmy Durante, a good blog post, an opportunity to get published, being clean, crafting, rebranding with Love-Inspired, e-mails I reply to quickly, vendors who support me, Katniss, doing yardwork with Chris, documenting my pets on Instagram, Facebooking stuff on Simply Savannah Event's page, phone calls with potential clients, new clients, old clients, all clients, staying on top of things and even better staying ahead of the game, getting things done, making my clients happy, clients telling me how happy they are with my work, clients thanking me for my work, staying busy, MAKING THINGS HAPPEN
Check out my Pinterest board here for some more inspiration!
Part 2 coming tomorrow!!!! Have a great night ya'll!
Yay! So very proud of you friend. I am so lucky to have met you and I love seeing your progress. You have so much to be proud about.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to Make it Happen with you next week!