We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Abigail Gibson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Abigail, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?
When I began Laurel & Co. Events, I put so many hours into building the business from scratch. Eventually, the business grew so quickly to the point when I needed to either expand or turn away business. Any entrepreneur will tell you the difficulties with trusting another person with your clients, carrying integrity of your company and ensuring you’ve trained them properly. While I was in the process of deciding how I would hire and how to expand I received a Facebook message from a former teacher at my Alma mater. Essentially, she reached out to see if I would be interested in growing the business and if there would be a place for her. Little did she know, her Facebook message would be pivotal for growing the business. Looking back, if she wouldn’t have taken that leap we wouldn’t be as successful and experience the extreme growth our business has seen over the past 3 years. My second employee was actually my first client I ever took on. She took a gamble on hiring a new wedding planner in the industry and I was more than ecstatic to hire her when we continued to grow. My third and most recent team member actually knew of my business long before we met due to a personal connection with my midwife. Now I have 3 employees, all with “K” names and we all share the same Alma Mater but never met until many years post-graduation. I am so grateful for each of my employees and how they’ve been integral parts of bringing Laurel & Co. Events what it is today!
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?
Laurel & Co. Events is a wedding and event planning, coordination and floral design firm based out of Argyle, TX. We serve the DFW, Waco & Hill Country areas while also serving clients in other states and destinations. Our team of Godly women uses a client focused approach to curate one of a kind celebrations! With years in the industry, we are confident that we have been blessed with the best clients!
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Honesty, integrity and selflessness are qualities our business was built on. We are continually striving to come back to these pillars that have built our success. From up front pricing, honoring our clients needs and constantly looking for ways to improve we have set ourselves a part in an industry that many clients feel taken advantage of.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Managing a team of women has been one of the most rewarding and difficult tasks I’ve ever taken on. When it comes to managing a team it’s important to approach each situation with the consideration of the person and putting yourself in their shoes. All of my employees come from different background, have very different beliefs and personalities- which I love, it’s what makes our company do diverse! Our industry is very emotion based and does not respect “time off” which can lead to burn out. There are many things we do to help fight against burn out but what typically is the most effective is remembering why we got into this industry in the first place, reminding ourselves of our highest calling.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.laureleventstx.com
- Instagram: @laureleventstx
- Facebook: @laureleventstx
Image Credits
Stinkin’ Sweet Productions Sage and Stem Kira Lord PHotography Nicole Lea Photography JL Glamour Photography Kelsey LaNae Photography Maya Crawford Photography