Hey you,
If you’re reading this, you’ve made it through the first few months of what will surely be remembered as one of the craziest, most high-paced, intense season-openers of our entire careers, and I don’t say that lightly – some of us have been in this industry for a long, long time. So, I first want to take just a minute to allow you (and us) to take a collective deep breath, close our chaotic and cluttered inboxes momentarily, and quite literally give ourselves a pat on the back for powering through all of the chaos and intensity we have; all of which was immediately preceded by one of the most stressful and scary years of our careers. Seriously – go ahead and pat that shoulder blade for a few seconds and tell yourself “good job.” I promise it will make you smile, and I guarantee you deserve it.
Ahhhh. There. Thank you for humoring me.
Now, for the not-so-nice part. You knew it was coming, right??
We are in unprecedented times, dealing with overflowing inboxes, waiting lists, incredibly high expectations, and with that, a TON of work. Without a clear “end” in sight (and minimal time to get things sorted on our own processes and expectations), I can absolutely accept the feelings of overwhelm and exhaustion you may be feeling. Hang in there.
HOWEVER, what I absolutely cannot accept anymore, is flat out giving up. Worse yet, I’m seeing folks avoiding the “giving up” phase and moving on to the “acceptance, attitude and annoyance” stage. Not okay, friends. On behalf of myself and my hard-working team, on behalf of our mutual client bases and future couples who are counting on us, on behalf of everyone else in the country and in the world who is also sorting through some of the very same difficulties; I need you to take any of those feelings of weariness, complacency, negativity, knee-jerk reactions of “I’ve done this thousands of times, why should this time be any different,” even your “here’s what I typically see…” responses, and I need you to throw it all out the damn window.
Seriously, before too much more of the season goes by, I need to express how tired I am of dealing with the attitudes and pushback from my very own colleagues, and remind you all of the reason you decided to enter this world in the first place: people and service. After all, we’ve all been through far too much already, and our clients deserve better.
Think about it: there has never been a moment where we have all more clearly been called upon to not only serve our clients, but to give them our biggest, most honest, most compassionate, most I-will-stay-up-all-night-to-deliver-your-design-proposal selves than RIGHT. NOW. Every person and business in our industry has been through hell and back over the last eighteen months, and while our country is beginning to open up (thank goodness, right!?) one thing remains the same as it ever has:
PEOPLE ARE CHOOSING LOVE, AND THEY ARE CHOOSING YOU.
If you are one of the lucky small businesses who made it out of this pandemic alive, I’d like you to first: count your blessings – there are many who had to shutter their doors for good. On the flipside, if you’re on the “wedding boom” end of things and are busy navigating the same chaos that many of us are right now, just remember that things could have not turned out this way for you. So, simply being in business is such a blessing in itself.
On a similar note, I urge you, implore you, to take a moment, regardless of how you may be feeling right now, and remember the reason why you chose to dive into this crazy, emotional, exhausting wedding world in the first place. Chances are, you were crazy enough to expect long days and sore feet. You probably even prepared yourself for thousands upon thousands of emails, phonecalls and texts, and envisioned yourself giving hugs, wiping away tears and high-fiving your teammates at the end of a phenomenal day. I can also pretty much guarantee that you didn’t prepare for a whole slew of other benefits (and downfalls) of working for yourself in such a high-stakes industry, but you are here now and you have a duty to deliver. We are all counting on you, and ideally, we’d prefer to smile with you along the way.
No matter what you may have been through since you started this crazy ride, I still need you to dig deep and remember your why. And if you are no longer waking up every day, slightly exhausted but nonetheless marching towards that passion you’ve always had burning since day one, then let me tell you point blank: get out now, so the next dreamer, schemer, and even MORE passionate creative can take over. Because if you are no longer feeling butterflies with each new inquiry in your inbox; passionately creating, designing, dreaming and scheming on behalf of those couples who chose you for your insight and your expertise, and getting fired up over the amazing collaborations ahead of you, I guarantee you that there is someone else out there who will, and who will do it without complaint.
Yes, things are intense right now, work is seemingly endless, and the temptation to take the easy route is greater than ever before. But let me remind you: at this very time last year, our tomorrow was certainly not guaranteed. Crazy idea here, but what if we collectively chose to work together to create not only a great tomorrow, but the most beautiful, collaborative, passionate future we have all always dreamed of? It is our opportunity to seize, and a chance our incredible couples deserve.
Hang in there, and keep on creating that magic, friends.
XO, Mallory
