We were lucky to catch up with Ashlee Martinelli recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Ashlee thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Having had a ‘regular job’ for a good portion of my adult life, I remember those 9-5 days very clearly. While there were many things I loved about what I did, I also felt trapped, caught, stuck in an endless cycle, and like I was using my skills to support someone else’s dream. I wanted more. I never felt like what I did was the right fit. Not because I didn’t enjoy the work (I’ve had some really awesome jobs)! More-so because I didn’t feel like anything was going to make me feel completely happy and fulfilled. It seemed like there was always something more that I wanted/needed. Sarcastic banter, awesome co-workers and office pranks can only keep you hanging in there for so long. I wanted to work for myself, start a business and be an entrepreneur.
Being a business owner is hard work, and that’s no joke. It’s hours outside of the office, checking emails on vacation, solving lots of problems, and going to work when others are putting up an out-of-office message for the weekend. Would I change this life? Absolutely not, hard-pass, never, not in a million years. This life of being an entrepreneur is intense, but it’s everything that I’ve ever wanted. It’s long hours, literal blood, sweat and tears to make the dream a reality and I LOVE IT.
All of that effort is made so my business and my family can thrive. Being an entrepreneur means that I can be at the things that matter, the things that count. I’m able to show up with the same intensity for my family and my business. Mom makes it to the cross-country meets, the mid-day classroom activities, and can volunteer at field-day. I even make some time to have lunch with my husband at our favorite restaurant!
The flexibility of being a business owner gives me the ability to be in a lot of places that had I chosen a W2/regular job, I wouldn’t be able to accommodate. And….I’ve said it more than once, “If I had a ‘real’ boss, I’d definitely be fired for taking all this time off!”
My family (and my business) are at an age where lots of things are happening. I’m able to build my workdays around activities, always putting the family first. This requires discipline, making accommodations and sacrifices on both ends to fulfill the needs of each aspect of my life (work/family). There are nights that I will be missing dinner for a venue tour, getting back after bedtime because it was a wedding weekend, or put in a late night at my computer to get caught up after taking the day for kid-activities. This is the price for having that flexibility.
Sitting at my desk in my home-office, I’m surrounded by plants, big sunny windows with rainbows swirling off of my hanging crystals…I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Facing obstacles and challenges, setting my own schedule, managing pivot after pivot, and creating a business that I absolutely love is what gets me up and moving every day. It has given me a drive to do more, be better, achieve and succeed. When doing these things for myself, rather than someone else-the possibilities are endless.
Ashlee , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m Ashlee Martinelli, owner of The Grand Bank and Every Little Thing, LLC. I founded my wedding planning company in 2015, and as it grew, so did my dreams for fulfilling other entrepreneurial goals. Since I was young, I always wanted to make/do/create. I had a plan and a to-do list for everything for as far back as I can remember. Starting my planning company was a jump into a booming industry, one that coming from a 9-5 lifestyle, I needed to learn A LOT about. I knew that I loved helping people and making things efficient. I love pretty things, I’m super crafty, and can think on my feet to fix/adjust and adapt in any situation. I love checklists, and timelines, and to-do lists…and office supplies. So what kind of business has all of that?!
Through many brainstorming sessions with my husband, we quickly found a theme: happy people, celebrations, hosting events, weddings…and weddings just fit. I could use my skills in crafting to make pretty décor, and my organizational skills created an efficient and effective process to bring those task lists together for a beautiful purpose. I found my niche!
Every Little Thing, LLC is now a strong, female-run team of service-driven, detail-oriented, genuinely personable Type-A’s that love nothing more than to coordinate the tiniest of details. We help couples to feel confident that their day will look and flow exactly as they’ve envisioned, giving them an experience built on professionalism with a focus on guest experience.
Our planning process makes something that can often feel stressful and overwhelming…actually fun—breaking it down into achievable, monthly tasks, we give couples a roadmap for planning success. We offer multiple levels of planning assistance, ranging from Wedding Management to Full-Service Planning, all based on the needs of the couple.
Adding in Design + Styling services gave ELT the ability to assist our couples in building the perfect look/theme for their celebration with an amazing, hand-selected vendor team. This ensures that every event we produce is unique, special, and beautiful, just like our couples.
Service Offerings: Planning | Coordination | Design | Styling
Packages: Wedding Management | Signature Planning | Full-Service Planning
Consulting Options: Available for existing, new and aspiring venues!
As my planning company grew, so did my desire to fulfill a childhood dream of owning an event space. With the purchase of The Grand Bank, I was essentially able to ‘marry’ my two businesses.
Bringing these two pieces of my life together gave my clients more of what I had to offer, in the same space. It gave my creativity a burst of life, and sent The Grand Bank in directions outside of just hosting weddings. I could utilize my skills in ways I hadn’t even thought of prior to having the event space. Being open to this new idea of hosting themed ticketed events led to things I would never have imagined hosting—Princess Parties?!?! I’m a mom of 4-boys and I’m hosting princess parties—YEP!
Through owning this event space, other doors for my entrepreneurial ventures opened too. Places that wanted to host weddings and events were now contacting ME to help them do it! WOAH, what an amazing feeling! Through this, I created a Venue Boss and Venue Management Program and have helped new locations throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania start their venue-segment. Many of which include ELT as their exclusive planner.
Through this, ELT has evolved into consulting for existing, new, and aspiring venues. Guiding new business owners in the early stages brings me so much joy! Sharing what I’ve learned, teaching them the process, and connecting in the early stages ensures that they have a roadmap and don’t have to make rookie/beginner mistakes.
Having these multiple segments of my business allows me to combine my efforts, my team and my events. This provides additional services to my clients that wouldn’t be available otherwise and even the ability to create specialty packages. Hosting ticketed events in my venue space opens it up to guests that otherwise wouldn’t see it unless they attended a wedding—Building on the ‘events get events’ mentality for gathering new clients. Maintaining a service-driven attitude and client-first mentality ensures that we are offering top-notch and professional expertise in the field. These things continue to set us apart.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
As many businesses learned during 2020-now, challenges were abundant. Day after day, there were so new challenges to face. It felt like one, after another, after another. Adjusting, changing, adapting. The word ‘pivot’ became a steady during that time. Having not just one, but two businesses in the wedding industry made restrictions crushing. The same weekend that our governor closed PA, we had an 80-person wedding scheduled, and needed to cancel. Both businesses income came solely from in-person events. And we could not host events of any size for an unknown amount of time. No one in the industry knew what to do, or where to start, or how to move forward with so many uncertainties.
The venue had just opened in 2019, and as we rolled into 2020, the shutdown and restrictions of operating a business in Pennsylvania became more rigid. First—let’s just be honest and transparent, there was a lot of crying. So many tears. But after that, in order for the businesses to survive, we needed to get creative and pivot.
We found ways for our couples to ‘vow now, celebrate later.’ This meant that they would get married now, but put the Reception off to a later time when we knew more about what restrictions looked like and how the Pandemic would evolve. Through this, we saw beautiful, intimate and heartwarming Ceremonies, champagne toasts on family porches, and even live-streamed Elopements for guests watching from across the globe! There was so much to celebrate in a time of unimaginable uncertainty.
We started hosting small-scale events sized for individuals rather than groups, take-and-make items rather than in-person instruction, and even a pop-up coffee shop! We got creative, we adapted, and we did all the pivoting. We survived.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Being someone that remains calm under pressure, is approachable, kind, fun, knowledgeable and always honest has built my reputation in the industry. Professionals know they can come to me to help them find a solution, but also lean on me in crisis and in joy/excitement. Staying true to who I am, regardless of the situation makes my peers know that they can count on me, always.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eltnepa.com | www.thegrandbank.com
- Instagram: @eltnepa | @grandbankashley
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grandbankashley | https://www.facebook.com/eltnepa
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashlee-martinelli/
Image Credits
Mia Mcglynn Photography Cassandra Weber Photography