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

Hi Amber, thanks for joining us today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment I have made (and continue to make) as a business owner is in continued education. Starting out, I had no idea where to begin or what to do – all I knew was that I had an idea and I wanted to try and make it a reality. As a result, I hired a business coach who specialized in helping wedding vendors pave their way to success as small business owners (shoutout to the gals at Booked. For Wedding Pros for being awesome). She helped me map out a path to start my business, gave me all the right tools, and held me accountable on tasks that needed to be completed to get Out West Events off the ground. In a matter of 6 months, I had multiple styled shoots under my belt, a handful of weddings booked for the coming season, a fully functioning website, engaging social media content that connected with my ideal clientele, and a toolkit of strategies to streamline the consultation and booking process.

I owe so much of my success in that first six months to my business coach. Truly, there is no way I would have made so much progress in such a short amount of time without her guidance, simply because of how daunting the task of starting a new business from scratch can be. She helped me work through shortcomings and consistently celebrated all of my achievements, making it easy to stay motivated and hungry for more. I really feel confident that I got Out West Events off the ground in the “right way” and wouldn’t have done it any differently looking back. If I could offer advice to other folks looking to start a business of any kind, I would recommend hiring a business coach to help get you started without a doubt. Worth every penny you will spend – it certainly paid off for me!

Amber, 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?

Well hey there! My name is Amber Martinez and I am the owner and lead planner with Out West Events, a wedding planning and design studio serving couples who are getting married in the state of Colorado.

I have a background in large scale event planning and programming in the higher education industry – think new student orientation programs, family weekend events, and alumni and donor events across the country. However, in 2020 I had the opportunity to plan my own wedding and learned that my real passion was found in helping couples work to plan the most special day of their lives. Higher education events have always been fun, sure, but there’s isn’t much room to be imaginative or creative throughout the planning process: each event needs to have a similar look and feel, budgets can be tight, and it can sometimes feel like everything needs the approval of 15 different people before a decision can be made.

But weddings… my goodness, what a dream. Couples get to make this day entirely about their relationship and can shoot for the stars when it comes down to the details. There is so much space for creativity and ever better – it’s encouraged!
You want to serve pizza as your entrée? Let’s make it happen.
Want to have an intimate and private ceremony on a mountaintop in the snow with a massive reception in the city to follow with all your closest friends and family? You got it.
Bold and bright colors that speak to your personalities? Sure thing.

The beauty of wedding planning and design is that there is no restriction (with the exception of budget). If it’s important to the couple that something be included in their day, we can make it happen! It’s that shoot for the stars kind of creativity that really fuels my fire and makes me love what I do. One of absolute favorite aspects of this role is really getting to know the couples I work with and finding opportunities to mix in fun pieces of their relationship into their wedding day. Helping to make their day feel intimate, regardless of the guest count, is important to me and is a key pillar of Out West Events.

Any advice for managing a team?

Although Out West Events currently operates as a team of two, it’s still critical to maintain a positive morale when working in such a high stress industry. I think the most important advice I would give to others who are managing a team is to focus first on your hiring practices, then focus on relationship building. When it comes to hiring: trust the people you hire for their positions and to be intentional about who you hire.

My philosophy in hiring staff (both in this role and others) has been to trust your team to do their jobs well until they give you a genuine reason not to. If you’re doing it right – they won’t give you a reason not to. No one enjoys working for someone who micro-manages without having reason. It’s such a simple concept but it’s so critical to job satisfaction and staff retention.

Also, hire folks whose strengths are your weaknesses and vice versa – then be open to learning from one another. Building a team that can contribute in ways that are meaningful to them will help keep to them motivated and engaged in their positions.

It is also so important to maintain open communication amongst your staff. Encourage healthy interactions, be willing to accept constructive criticism, learn how they accept feedback and individualize the way in which you deliver it, and treat each person with respect. It all comes back to trust. You have to be willing to trust your team to get the job done well and they have to trust you to do the same. Once trust has been built, staff morale should come naturally.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The end goal for Out West Events is to turn a small wedding planning and design business into an event venue that offers exceptional planning and design services. This business has definitely turned into more of a passion project with much bigger goals than I initially intended and it’s definitely something I want to be doing long term. Hosting events has always been something I’ve enjoyed, but if I can turn it into my life’s work – why not!?

I have so many ideas for how I can continue to grow Out West Events that will get us closer to the end goal and I am energized by the possibilities of it all. For now, my focus is to serve couples on the most important, memorable, and exciting day of their lives. It really is such a privilege to have a job where you get to help people celebrate one of life’s most significant milestones and my goal for the next few years is to really elevate our client experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.outwesteventsco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outwestevents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OutWestEvents/

Image Credits
Austin Kaseman Photography Kate & Calder Photography Vintage Violets Photography Brenna Skattebo Photo