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

Rebecca, appreciate you joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

In December of 2020, our family moved from South Louisiana to Tampa, FL. I was, truthfully, nervous that this new, bustling market would accept an unfamiliar face. However, business grew here almost immediately and in the fall of 2021 I was juggling clients in South Louisiana and locally in the Tampa Bay area.

In 2022, while my calendar was filling up of couples in Tampa, I realized that it was time to begin to make an exit strategy for my work in Louisiana. With a goal to finish up client work there by the end of 2022, and solely focus on growing my business in Tampa. That transition wasn’t as difficult as I imagined. Truthfully, I think I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough work locally, but as soon as my efforts became focused here, the work increased dramatically. So much so, that bringing on additional planners was a must.

In the fall of 2022, when I was absolutely slammed and overwhelmed with double-header weekends, weekend-after-weekend, I added to the team with a day of assistant and quickly realized I should have done that sooner. She was there to help in every part of the process while learning exactly what my process is and training to become a lead planner as well. Which is exactly what happened in Spring of 2023. As she began to lead her own weddings, another day-of-assistant was brought on the team to support both of our efforts and also train to become a lead planner herself.

With every contract, we grew inventory, offering brides items we may not have in inventory YET, but knew we could sell to future brides like her. In 2022, our inventory doubled with so many more offerings to clients and opportunities for our financial growth.

Without realizing it, I was organically scaling the business by growing my inventory and team. Adding support roles allowed me to open up my calendar to add more clients in a way that a one-woman-show can’t. It allowed me to not just accept more work, but to also stay human.

Recently, my 2 daughter’s had their ballet recital – a moment no mom wants to miss, but with a wedding already on the books for that date, last year that would have been a reality for me. Thankfully, I have two incredible team players who seamlessly can be put in my place at any moment to take on the day-of tasks as needed. Without any hesitation, that’s what I did, and I had both happy clients and daughters.

Scaling your business, most specially in a service-based business comes down to your team. While there are profit margins to be considered and often are the cause of delay in moving more quickly to add on support, I’ve only gained by adding to our team. My advice for that would be – Look at your existing circle first. Who do you already know and love that may be interested in joining you. Those are the people that already know your personality, work ethic and speed. Building a base with people you trust, makes additions later on so much easier.

Rebecca, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When Bustle and Bloom first began, it was a word-of-mouth service that had no official title, business name or strategy. For years, I was simply a girl good at planning weddings and doing it for those I knew and loved with an Etsy shop that made hand-crafted wedding items that shipped all over the US. After planning multiple events for family and friends, soon friends of friends were asking for those same services. Then covid hit, and everyone stood still.

In 2020, I got a call from a friend who wanted to introduce me to a possibility. She knew the owner of a large historical home who was interested in opening it up as a venue, and thought I’d be perfect for the job. That meeting led to me taking the role of Wedding & Events Director and truly formulating the business from the ground up. What an absolute thrill that was. I quickly learned that I loved both equally. I loved helping brides plan their day, down to the last detail, but I also loved creating an atmosphere and business that was streamlined, purposeful and left potential for growth, always.

So, when our family moved from South Louisiana to Tampa, FL, I knew that I wanted to start my own business and grow it in ways I couldn’t grow someone else’s. I wanted generosity of service in a manner that blew people away, and I wanted to be able to pivot when I saw potential arise. That’s why in April 0f 2021, Bustle and Bloom became.

Since then we’ve done nearly 100 weddings in the Tampa Bay region, and are looking at exponential growth in 2024.

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

I didn’t aim to make a name for myself. My greatest goal was to provide exceptional service to our clients in a generous portion. I made generosity one of the pillars of my business – always giving clients more than what they expected and leaving them ready to leave a rave review. With every wedding we had the privilege of managing, we made real relationships with vendors and venues. We offered support to them that encouraged them to send future clients our way in way of referrals and resulted in reviews that encouraged others to secure our services for themselves.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Social Media. Hands down, social media. It’s such an incredible tool. Whether boosted posts, hashtags or industry groups, social media has been where the majority of our clients have found out about our services, outside of personal referrals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bustleandbloomdesigns.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bustleandbloomdesigns/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bustleandbloomdesigns

Image Credits
Matlock and Kelly Photography Stephanie Lanni Photo Rusty and Sage Photography