Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alexis Schlitt . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alexis , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I gained my experience in the event industry through many avenues and amazing mentors. From venue management, to event design, to wedding day bridal coordinating! Each person I worked with trusted in me and supported my goals of growing into the industry disruptor I am becoming. I was burned out from working my corporate 9-5 routine, I decided to travel across the globe on a ship. During my voyage, I was able to experience the culture of many countries through events. I had the pleasure to complete a journalism cover of the Valencia Independence Day Parade, crash an authentic Indian wedding the same day I saw my 3rd wonder of the world at the Taj Mahal, and even see the most elaborate set up construction for Christmas events in Dubai.
Once I returned from my peaking life experiences I decided that my ambitions and goals for the wedding industry was something I wanted to start achieving immediately. These goals required me to take a risk and go solo. I had to trust myself, and put aside the fear of failure. I was taking the risk of a comfortable job and salary and instead working on building my brand. The risk of starting a business is not scary in the beginning steps, it is fun and you feel like you are on cloud 9 when you are curating logos, mission statements, and getting to network with the community. The risk comes when bills come, and employee management follows, and you start taking on the beast of business management. Nobody teaches you about taxes, and payroll, and work-life balance.
But let me share; it has been THE BEST decision I have made. I am so thankful I took the risk and believed in myself when most people doubted. My team has achieved so many goals in our first year of business.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Alexis Schlitt is the face behind the brand, 17th & Sage.

17th & Sage is a wedding planning and floral design company for the madly in love. We built ourselves on the values of love, loyalty, and kindness. Our couples deserve a team that focuses on their and their guests experience. Our team is set apart from the competition because we bring you a day that is meticulously planned out to the minute while allowing you to not feel rushed or to ridged. Your wedding day should flow and move with ease. Our team has been graced with working with the best vendors in Florida.

Our services include day-of coordination, along with full planning packages. Our newest addition to the company as been florals. I have been such a little girl with excitement that cannot be kept at bay. Florals has been something I have had a deep passion for. My mother worked in a floral shop when I was real young, my love for florals has grown ever since then! Our floral team is led by Vanessa who is a skilled individual with an extensive background in feeding florals. Her beautiful style has been seen and quickly getting our next season booked by the top brides in the Tampa area. We are excited to be jumping into the 2024 season with prom orders, fashion show creations, and bouquet workshops.

I am proud because we have accomplished amazing things for being a new small business. We have been blessed with the opportunity to plan weddings for many cultures. Our team specializes in Indian Weddings, as the culture and religion associated has many traditions that are to be honored, 17th & Sage has been trained in the traditional wedding needs.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The power of social media is stronger than ever, and everyone you talk to will tell you you need to keep posting…. and they are right. I understand as a business owner it is tough to manage all aspects from administration to marketing to HR to sales. You are every role! Social Media is taking the lead. I can say 80% of our clients come from our advertising sites and social media. Many of my favorite and best clients found my company through our Instagram. I am surprised they trusted and chose me because our social media was not strong back then. It is about creating true connections, being yourself, and staying consistent.
If you are just starting to build a presence, please niche and show out! Consumers want to build a connection and they will with you when you show your face on camera. They cannot connect to the reposted stories, they yearn for human interaction!

Our posts that have the most interaction and shares are when I share personal stories, and show the faces behind the camera. I ensure on wedding days we remember to post behind the scenes content of the day.

My last social media tip: Videos! TikTok and reels on other platforms will help grow traction to our pages and create a farther reach to potential clients. I sit down for one hour and plan out videos and content ideas I want to complete that month to help keep me on track to post.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

When I was working for others, I also observe the company’s values and morals. Also, when attending events I always like to see the different ways companies handle situations and manage their clients. I also joined many groups on Facebook within my industry to read the experiences of others within companies they hired to see the best practices people are upholding.
With the launch of our company, I created playbook guide of how our team would work with clients, manage events, and work through conflict.
This allowed my team to have complete transparency of the level of expectations I had for them within our events.
Our reputation became noticed from vendors and venues from the very first wedding I completed under my company.
They were impressed with our early arrivals, attention to detail (way past the already detailed production schedule planners create). vendor management with a helping and caring hand at all times, and the extra mile for our clients. Vendors will always advocate and share with potential clients great vendors, we enjoy working with each other and having a trusted team makes the day go by smooth.
My advice is to see ways your competitors might not be going the extra mile in ways a client will notice. We implement no-cost additions to help our clients feel that they hired a team that is going above expectations at all times.
Your clients are your biggest advocates and sellers, they will promote your business for you if they believe your company is a must for all their family and friends to experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.17thandsageevents.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/17thandsageevents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/17thandsageevents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexis-schlitt-806267182/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@17thandsageevents https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/17th-and-sage-belleair-fl-2062458

Image Credits
Amber Yonker Photography Karin Maria Photography Anna So Photography Cain and Camera Photography Rabecca Cruz Photography