We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katie Hackmann a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

When thinking about what it takes to be successful I always go to the traditional answer. Working hard and believing in yourself. But what I am not sure many people say is fear. I think to be successful in business and in life it takes fear. For me its the fear of losing the business I have worked so hard to build that keeps me driven. The fear of ever having to work for someone else besides myself…joking but not really. Also the fear of being unsuccessful keeps me driven to be successful. I have three small children and my fear for them is to not do what they love in life. That fear helps me tocontinue to grow my business so they can see you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started Rouge when I was pregnant with my son in 2014. It was a huge leap of faith and a very strange time for me. I was struggling with becoming a mother, what that would look like, and wanting to be happy in my career and how I would mange it all. I have always loved planning events and being creative. I left a stable and stable job and started my business. When Rouge was first established we began as a wedding planning company. Quickly while planning weddings I became intrigued with the creativity behind floral design. I soon dove into learning all things floral. I read books even though I do not like reading, took online courses, and started getting my hands on as many flowers as I could. We continued to service our planning clients while also starting to offer floral services. Within about 2 years Rouge was able to shift from wedding planning to wedding florals. Every since then we have grown in the wedding industry and now take on about 100 weddings a year. Rouge was home based until last year. I signed a lease for a retail location at the very end of 2021. We are now continuing to focus on our love of weddings florals but also looking for expand into everyday floral and retail.

What makes me proud about Rouge? It’s been my baby since 2014. I have three children but I always say that Rouge is my 4th. Raising little humans isn’t easy but raising my business on top of it has been a struggle and a balancing act but it’s what I am most proud of.

One thing that has always been important for me is that our clients feel a sense of comfort and family. We love our clients and love that we get to be a part of the biggest days of their life.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being a team player. The event industry is one like no other and our motto is we are all in it together. I always joke that you don’t get the wedding industry and the hard work that goes into it unless you live it. We have built such good relationships with so many other vendors in our industry and we value those relationships and friendships.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being creative feeds my sole. It helps me to fuel my energy, make it through a rough day, and that I get to do it everyday is just icing on the cake!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eventsbyrouge.com
• Instagram: @rouge_events_design
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RougeEventsandDesign/

Image Credits
Claire Forrest Films Emily Broadbent photography Tristan Singleton Photography Steph Masat Photography Mindee Malloy Photography