We were lucky to catch up with Lydia Greenway recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lydia, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

Lydia, 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 so grateful for the people who believed in me before I believed in myself!

I specialize in wedding planning and event coordinating, as well as virtual assisting as a client liaison for various business owners/non-profit companies.

Everything I do comes with a healthy dose of kindness, joy, grace, and hard work. I am committed to my clients on a personal AND professional level. My goal is to be known for producing excellent results/memories while being one of the kindest and most positive ladies clients, vendors, and guests have ever worked with.

But it all started because someone took a chance on me: I began by shadowing a friend in high school who coordinated high-end weddings in Athens and Atlanta. She taught me so much, modeling excellence and what it means to be a kind, hard-working, courteous professional. I had no idea how much I would use the skills I learned from her in the years to come.

Since 2009, I’ve directed weddings and events for friends and family, but only on the side or “part time.” Last August, I took the leap and started my own business, offering my coordination services full time.

I don’t think anything worth doing is ever a smooth road. “Struggle is the spice of life” I recently heard someone say. Going from five years of a consistent 30-40 hour work week with a 9-5 schedule to the ebb and flow of 20-50 hours of work with a sporadic schedule has presented challenges to my creaturely routines and habits.

Having a steady paycheck directly deposited to now being responsible for invoicing clients if I want to get paid has challenged my budgeting and organizational skills.

But the biggest blessings have been my supportive husband and community of friends and family.

My husband is such a hard worker, and I wouldn’t have been able to start my own business without him.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

So, like I said, the greatest gift has been the people who believed in and trusted me before I believed in myself. When I was coordinating as a side-hustle, I would offer my services or be asked to help and just tell them to pay me whatever was in their budget. I didn’t have a contract. It was all word-of-mouth business and completely honor-system for being paid.

The first milestone was a few years ago. I’ll never forget when a family paid me more than I had ever made wedding coordinating, and they trusted me with so much. They’re the ones who sparked in me the idea of “I might could do this. I might could do this full-time.”

The second milestone was being asked by another coordinator to help with 2 of her weddings, because she was due with a sweet baby girl at the same time. The level of trust she and the families placed on me was an incredible honor, and gave me the confidence to start the process of building my own business.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

My go-to book for anyone, but especially entreprenuers is an old classic called, “The Greatest Salesman in the World.” Og Mandino teaches principles and lessons through a story that I still repeat to myself and use often. Highly recommend.

I’m currently reading “Atomic Habits” and have been challenged and convicted by James Clear’s simple strategies for feeding new habits and starving ones that aren’t working.

One of the other helpful things has been podcasts related to my industry. I’ve learned much about contracts and legal matters, financial wisdom, and goal setting. These have really inspired me and kept my mind focused on positive content as I work and do life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lydiagreenway.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eventsbylydia/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086266881081
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydia-greenway-2a5029b4

Image Credits
Brighton Callaway Photography Kim Hymes Photography