We got to be a part of a fun series over on The Planner’s Lounge and we thought we’d share part of it here.
What is your typical day like?
I start my day with a big glass of kombucha (I’m a total hippie), some doggie cuddles, and head straight to my desk.
If it’s summer time I usually take the kombucha outside for a quick walk around the yard and check on the tomato plants. I don’t know why but this really gets me day going for me.
I live in the country so three days of the week I’m in my home office (which means sweat pants, no makeup but mega concentration) and the other two days a week I’m in our office in Osborne Village having back to back client meetings.
My home office days usually start around 8am and go till 5pm or 6pm (sometimes I have a skip day in the middle of the week – especially in wedding season or if it’s raspberry picking season)
Most days the first work task I do is check my to do list for the day (which I create the day before). I like to start with that first and then get to the emails.
Generally from day to day my emails take 2-4 hours (with the planning work that’s created from them) so if I don’t get started on other tasks first I find I get eaten alive (aka hugely distracted) by all the emails.
On my in client meeting days it start with 2 hours of emails, followed by a 45 minute drive to the office (which is generally used by listening to Dave Ramsey or Gary V Podcasts), followed by 8 – 12 hours of meetings. I usually go 10am – 10pm on those days (depending on the season). Yep, those days are intense but I love it! I’m really a total introvert so to have 2 full days like that and the rest of the week I can sit at my desk getting work done feels really nice.
I’m a huge gardener so if I can take breaks in the middle of the day for a trip to the garden – even if it’s just to water or see how the flowers are doing – I take it.
How did you get started in the industry?
I started in the industry with a creative events internship when I was 19. I got some bad advice that you couldn’t make a full time income doing this job and being young and wanting financial stability I found a 9 to 5 job that gave me that.
I keep going with lots of volunteer work on conferences, dinner theatres, productions, youth events, you name it I wanted to get into it.
Years later I went back to school for PR & Marketing and while I was in school the whole ideas of being an Event Planner – full time – kept coming back around. I realized that PR & Marketing was close but not the exact fit.
While still in school I started my company and just ran with it. I also pitched myself to a local wedding magazine for an internship, got that and then later got hired as their communications coordinator but soon had to move full time to Event Planning because it was taking off so well.
What inspires you?
I find the most inspiration from nature, interior design, and high fashion. I love seeing how I can bring these crazy different elements into my world of events. (I love the designs of Casa De Perrin & West Elm)
I also like to surround myself with some seriously talented people here locally and connect with what they’re learning too. I find if you have a great team around you (staff, business besties, other creatives, etc) you can grow creativity so much more freely and organically.
What are your favourite online resources for your business?
I’ll be honest, I don’t use a lot of online resources. I find more inspiration and encouragement through great Facebook groups or online communities. I encourage anyone in the industry to find one or two that are the right fit for them.
Aside from wedding and event planning, how do you spend your time?
We LOVE to holiday. If I can travel at least a month out of the year I’m a happy camper. Over the last couple years we’ve gone to Bali, Peru, Florida, Mexico, Roatan, and our most recent – a month long road trip all the way east and then south (I ate as much BBQ as I possibly could!)
During the wedding season I garden as much as I can. And spend every moment I can in the sun but all other hobbies take a pause.
During “off season” I try and make up for the busy with all the salt baths, reading, Netflix, baking, managing my insane collecting of house plants, and games nights I can handle.
