MY WHY

The smallest title for probably the most meaningful blog post I've ever written. 

Welcome back to the blog friends. It's been a while hasn't it? I've taken some time away from this little space and it was MUCH needed. I felt like I was just blogging to blog a couple of months ago and I didn't have a clear vision of where I wanted my little corner of the internet to go. I fell in love with writing here last year, but a path was needed (as well as a carefully curated blog calendar) and guys, I'm back for good. We're kicking off all new blog posts today with an important one. If you follow me over on IG, you'll know I was at Creative at Heart Round 4 in Maryland last weekend and I always leave that conference on a high filled with motivation and a positive outlook on this little business. There was just something about round 4 that made it such a special experience for me. Every CAH does that, but this one just had that boom about it.

Image by Andrea Pesce Photography.

This post I'm about to write stems from Tiffany Farley's speech from this past weekend and all the way back to Bonnie's speech last November in Charleston at CAH round 3. It's about building a business and brand around your why. Basically we all want our businesses to be profitable because there are bills to be paid y'all. But that's not your why. It's not my why and it really shouldn't be anyone's reason for wanting to start their own business. 

So what is my why? Well, it's something I've never shared before ever to anyone really. Chris is my reason for starting creating centerpieces on our kitchen island, but why did I turn it into an actual business? Why do I love to invest in each couple of mine and be a part of the biggest day of their lives? For starters, I never thought I would get married. I was always a relationship girl (6 year high school sweetheart, 4 year relationship before Chris) but I never thought I would be the one in the white dress with every detail perfect, and having a grand sparkler exit of most girl's dreams. I know it sound silly, but I really did think that that was for other girls, not me. See, I didn't have the greatest childhood. I won't go into too much detail as much of it is too personal for me to share here, but growing up was difficult for me. I was the girl who after years of a terrible home experience started high school and basically lived with friends because I didn't want to go home. I was the girl who was parent-less at graduations because they didn't feel like coming. I was the girl that couldn't have opinions at home because they were always wrong. I was the girl who tried to hold her head up high while her home life was crumbling. Family was not a word I associated with happiness or safety. It was a burden and something I just had to deal with. My extended family is all overseas, so I didn't have an aunt or uncle or grandmother to turn to. I just had me and some rather wonderful friends who will forever be special to me. They got me through. I knew what was happening in their houses was normal and I remember thinking at about age 15 that maybe one day I would have a functioning home life like them. Maybe. Then, 10 years later I met Chris. Life as I knew it changed. And with him came this great big family that treated me as one of their own. I had a mother for the first time that I could just call and say hello and ask advice for. (Hi Kathy!) And for the first time marriage seemed like it might be in the cards for me. And it was. On September 20th, 2014 I made Chris my forever. I actually got my happy ending and the word family became the happiest of words and the most important thing in the world to me. (insert dancing lady emoji here) 

So my why comes from my past. Creating beautiful florals for a bride and her family is a way for me to celebrate something that I never thought I would have. I put a little bit of my heart into every bouquet because as I'm making it, I'm thinking to myself. This is the last thing a bride will hold on to before becoming a wife. And as Mary Marantz would say, THAT MATTERS. There not just roses or peonies or dahlias, they are little parts of a girl who uses this business to celebrate how far she has come in life and gets to love on others because of what she went through. And that little girl inside from 20 years ago is beaming inside of her. My favorite part of a wedding day? Walking into a bridal suite with the most stunning of brides surrounded by her family and friends and I get to hand over her bouquet. Something that has been curated just for her and her story. They are not just flowers, and each wedding is not just another wedding to check off on my calendar. Each one is so meaningful to me.

And now you know why. 

Warmly,

Michelle 

2016 GOALS

And just like that another year is upon us. I hope you had a great New Year's Eve! Over here we enjoyed a little date night out followed by couch time with pups and I barely kept my eyes open until midnight. A perfect quiet night. 

Yesterday I shared my 2015 recap and today with it being January 1st it seems fitting to share my 2016 goals and my word of the year. But let's rewind a bit....

For 2015 my word of the year was BUILD. I was entering my first real year of event floral design and was pretty much a deer in headlights there for a while. I knew what my business meant to me and what I wanted it to portray, but I was shaking in my boots being so new. I felt build was the perfect word for all aspects of my life. I was newly married and I wanted to build my marriage in that first year and our home together. Now that it's 2016 the "building" won't stop. Marriage is the best thing in the world, but also the most challenging and it needs building everyday. Build was also the perfect word for my new business. I wanted to build it into something meaningful and something I could be proud of and I wanted to build my relationship with my fellow industry ladies. Choosing last year's word was really easy. This year however, it's been a bit of a challenge. So many things went right last year and I learned a ton when some things didn't go perfectly. 

So what are some things that worked?

Well for starters, I booked over a dozen weddings and I'd say almost all of them were ideal brides. Why is this? I think what worked in 2015 was my branding. I put out there a brand that spoke to a certain type of bride. I also made it a point to streamline my social media to my brand. I love the word streamlined and I worked all year to streamline my business across all platforms. Especially Instagram. If a photo doesn't fit within my brand, it doesn't get posted. Simple. And slowly but surely I started to get inquiries through IG and in turn have booked a handful of wonderful ideal brides who already know who I am through my photos. They know I love Starbies, that I have two dogs, and that I love fluffy pink flowers. So I think I did a really great job of streamlining my brand to turn it into bookings. 

Another thing that worked was outsourcing. I hired an assistant. (Hi Caroline!) Talk about a life saver. Not only has outsourcing let me focus on more important things like my brides, I quickly realized that when Caroline is over it makes me sit down and get work done instead of getting distracted and ending up in the kitchen eating snacks. She keeps my focused. 

Another thing I got down in 2015 was my client experience. It will always be changing and being updated, but my work flow became organized. One Sweet Day in May is a people centered business. My brides end up my friends and we keep in touch. I always wanted my business to be experience centered and I never want that to change. It means I have to market less. If my brides have a truly wonderful experience with me, they are more likely to tell their friends about me. I want each bride to feel like my only bride. I love sending them little surprises. It doesn't have to be anything expensive. Little things go a long way. So I'm really proud that my business is like that and that I cultivated it to be that way in 2015. 

What didn't work? 

Being able to leave work. Let me explain....Michelle is working on a client proposal. It turns 7pm and then 8pm. Chris is downstairs waiting and waiting. He comes up stairs and pretty much begs for my to leave my office and join him for dinner. Michelle gets upset and then finally comes downstairs at approximately 9pm and is too tired to make dinner so the inevitable frozen dinner or quick unhealthy meal out occurs. NOT GOOD. And then during that late dinner, I'm still answering emails on my phone. REALLY NOT GOOD. 

Another thing that worked for my first year of business but led me to be stressed was saying yes to everything. Towards the end of 2015 I started to get better at this, but the truth is saying yes to everything was a lot of pressure. This one is tough because when you're new you have to get your name out there and collaborate on everything you can, but it has its limits. There was one point in April of last year where I did 5 styled shoots in a week. A WEEK! The trick I wished I learned earlier than I did is to be more picky about what I said yes to. Somethings I said yes to were not beneficial to me or my brand and knew it at the time I said yes, but still came onboard those projects. I learned to cultivate relationships with other creatives but in a way that would benefit my business. After all, us ladies have to make money. So going into 2016 I have a better sense of where to give my time. 

So back to my word of the year. This was a tough one. Mainly because last year's word covered my whole life perfectly and I guess I put pressure on myself to find a word that would do that again. Nope. Didn't happen. 2016 is going to be craziness, there I said it. 16 amazing brides that deserve and will get every ounce of my undivided attention, our second (and hopefully 3rd) Floral Gathering, a few projects that are in the works that I'm super excited about! A few personal things on the books, my best friend's wedding in Florida, and sprinkle in some getaways in there and I my friends have one booked year. Just Keep Swimming should really be my phrase of the year haha. So because I couldn't find the perfect word that covered my whole life I have two words. 1 for my personal life and 1 for me in general and One Sweet Day in May. My personal word of 2016 is BALANCE. My goal is to not let work spill into my personal time. As in, don't answer emails at 11pm Michelle! And my word for me in general is FORWARD. I definitely see some obstacles ahead and time where I know I will feel overwhelmed so in those times I hope to remember the word FORWARD or in other words, remember why you started. 

So there you have it my two words of 2016 are FORWARD while having BALANCE. Their not big words or fancy, but I have a feeling they will mean a lot to me the next 12 months. 

So what do my 2016 goals look like this year? 

First let's do my short term goals ...

1. Give my current brides an incredible One Sweet Bride experience.

2. Book 2-3 more full service floral weddings for 2016.

3. Book 1-2 more full service planning weddings for either 2016 or 2017.

4. Book 18 brides for my 2017 season.

5. Blog 4 times a week 

6. Find my niche in blogging. 

7. Sell out our April Floral Gathering and announce our third!

8. Say NO more often for my peace of mind.

9. Stay the course of my health journey. 

10. Be more intentional with Chris and my weekly date nights. 

11. Hang those gallery walls! 

12. Attend one floral workshop to keep working on my skills. 

13. Go to Florida to see my best friends. 

14. Go to the UK to see my family. 

15. Collaborate with new vendors.

16. Learn photography. 

17. Give leftover flowers to a local nursing home. 

18. Finally turn part of our kitchen into a sitting room

19. Finally buy deck furniture this year.

20. Be more supportive of my husband.

Long term goals...

1. Have my work published in print.

2. Book a wedding at Pippin Hill in Charlottesville.

3. Work in Europe. Whether a styled shoot, workshop, or wedding.

4. Expand One Sweet Day in May in the way of adding products or an educational platform.

5. Finally complete the landscaping around our house.

6. Start a family. 

Happy New Year sweet friends! Thank you for walking this journey with me! 

A SCHMIDT CHRISTMAS IN RICHMOND VIRGINIA

Happy Monday afternoon! This week is going going to be a low key one, but today I am in cozy Starbies catching up on emails from the past week, scheduling venue walk throughs with my brides, and taking care of some details for my April classic meets enchanted garden wedding. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families and loved ones. Despite the 75 degree weather and torrential downpours that occurred here in Richmond, it was one of my favorite Christmases ever. Over here it was one of those weekends (ok, 5 full days) of yoga pants and sweaters, long talks on Chris' parents deck, matching pajamas, girls day with nails and brunch, game night, and wonderful conversation with my sister-in-law who I hadn't seen in a whole year which led to me pretty much living at my in-laws all weekend and minimal sleep. Hello, coffee! 

 Oh! and my youngest brother-in-law got engaged so I'm getting another sister which now makes the Schmidt family have more girls than boys! Hooray! haha! And talking about engagements, my best friend Jen also and finally got engaged to her longtime boyfriend Scott. Love is in the air! And I'm so excited for all the wedding planning to begin with these two couples! Gosh it was such a great (almost) week! You know those days where you don't know where your phone is in the house, but you don't even care? It was like that everyday and I'm hoping for a lot more days and weeks like that in 2016. 

Chris and I didn't go crazy with presents this year because Ireland was pretty much our gift to each other, but Chris made a collage frame with photos of us which was really sweet, though he accidentally put two of the same photo in there...right next to each other...oh boys... and everyone is telling me when I hang it I have to keep it that way and I just don't know if I can do that haha. 

So another Christmas is in the books and later this week I see that Richmond is going to finally be getting colder and I'm anxiously awaiting the first snow even though it may be quite sometime.

I'm so excited to recap 2015 in a huge blog post on Thursday and on Friday share my word of the year and my 2016 goals! Hooray! 

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas!