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

Azurae, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Over the past 15 years my primary focus has been serving the wedding industry and maintaining a high profile for brides to find me when planning destination weddings on the Central Coast. As my children became school age and I started volunteering for school related projects I realized I have more to give. Over the past couple of years I have been hired on by local non-profits to plan and design auctions and events that fundraise for local colleges, non profits and our schools. I have found a satisfaction in this service that I never knew I needed. Being able to create a more diverse footprint for my brand has always been a goal of mine and lately it has become much more realistic. Knowing the work I’m doing is so meaningful to these organizations is a great feeling! I hope to continue down this path for years to come and highly recommend other business owners and entrepreneurs find a way to serve their communities as well- it’s such a good feeling!

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 have always been a planner by nature. I planned alllll the parties growing up, all the school dances and even in college I continued crafting my planning skills through my sorority and a few professional organizations on campus. It wasn’t until I got married that I realized what a nightmare it can be to plan your own wedding, have no one to intercept the tons of vendor communication and then not have anyone to run the show for you. My wedding was great  but OMG would I do things differently now. I missed out on really being able to live in the moment that day when our venue’s promised “coordinator” sat in her office all night and didn’t even refill the toilet paper. There was a fire in my belly after that experience and I never looked back. I built a small business in Northern California but then relocated back to my hometown of Paso Robles to set some business roots and build a brand people would know and trust. I pride myself on full service, luxury planning and design experiences and of course some non-profit work as well when I have the opportunity.

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

Consistency, patience and a hell of a lot of hard work! I have found there is a ton of turnover in this line of work… lots of people choose to begin their journey as wedding + event planners but very few stick around for the long haul. It’s stressful, hard work and it’s certainly not for everyone. I attribute my reputation within our market to the longevity of my business, the relationships that I have built within our network of vendors and the way I treat people in stressful situations.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

In the wedding + event industry I have found that networking and establishing relationships amongst your peers is hands down one of the most powerful ways to earn new business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cielbleuevents.com
• Instagram: Ciel Bleu Events