We recently connected with Amy Dunaway and have shared our conversation below.
Amy, appreciate you joining us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?
As a Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio wedding planner, and wedding accessory boutique owner, I have seen a lot of wedding trends change over the years. The biggest trend we are seeing right now in the wedding industry is clients choosing to personalize every chance they get. Monograms have always been a classic choice with weddings and adding a personal touch, but we are seeing personalizations in just about every aspect from Monogram Suspenders like our Jeffrey Monogram Suspenders, personalized cocktail napkins at the reception, and even personalized custom dance floors.
Our top sellers on our website are our Bride-to-Be Box (https://www.agm-designs.com/
Clients are taking every chance they can to personalize every aspect of their wedding and we are all about it!
Amy, 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 started AGM in high school in 2016 with a high school when I took a leap of faith and opened an Etsy shop after fracturing my back playing soccer. While I was out from soccer for a few months (turned indefinitely), I needed something to fill my time, so with the push from a family friend that loved to embroider, she encouraged me to order a basic embroidery machine and learn how to monogram my own clothing. I started selling monogram t-shirts to the girls at my lunch table and soon enough I needed a new way to take orders, so I opened an Etsy shop!
After managing the Etsy shop for about two years, I decided to expand into a website, creating Amy Grace Monograms, now rebranded to AGM Designs.
I am so thankful for the support from my family, friends, and most importantly God for blessing me in this adventure.
I continued AGM throughout high school and college at the University of Dayton where I studied marketing and ran AGM on the side. I never intended to take AGM full-time, until my internship fell through the summer before my senior year, and I was left with AGM full-time for the first time all summer. That summer I reignited my passion for the business and I realized this was something I could take full-time, and ultimately decided to pursue AGM, as well as open Glass and Grace Events – https://glassandgraceevents.
AGM Designs is known for our AGM Weddings Line and AGM Missions. Our AGM Weddings Line features one-of-a-kind, personalized wedding gifts for both women and men. I love creating new gifts for clients that can be used for many years to come like our best-selling Jeffrey Suspender.
We also focus on philanthropy and giving back to the community. We create special, limited-edition collections through AGM Missions where we partner with different nonprofits and give back a portion of our sales.
In 2019, in response to the mass shooting in our hometown, Dayton, Ohio, we decided to play our small part in helping raise money for the victims by selling Dayton Strong decals. What I thought would result in about 20-30 sales, turned to 400 decals sold, and $2,000 donated in only 48 hours. The response was amazing from the community, and we are so thankful for all of the friends and family that came over in the following week to help get the orders out. Helping our community is something that is very important to us, and we will continue to play our part in making our community stronger together.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Throughout college at the University of Dayton, I was in Entrepreneurship Club, and my senior year became the president of the Entrepreneurship Club. In ENT Club, we focused on bringing in entrepreneurs in the area to share their stories, successes, how they started their businesses and things they learned along the way. I think this helped to really shape and push me to achieve and run AGM full-time post-grad. I think it is so important to surround yourself with like-minded people that relate to your line of work, whether it is in the same industry or even different industries. I have friends that are in the wedding planning world that I can call anytime and bounce ideas off of, and also friends in the fashion/e-commerce world that we can talk through marketing strategies and what is working and what is not working.
Another resource that has really helped me is podcasts. I love listening to podcasts while I work as background noise when doing tasks that don’t require too much brain power. Some of my favorite podcasts include The BrandWell Podcast, The Goal Digger Podcast, and 6 Figure Wedding Planner Podcast.
Another book that really impacted me was Bob Iger’s book, The Ride of A Lifetime. Bob Iger was the former CEO of Disney and in this book he shared the lessons he learned as a leader and his hardships and wins along the way.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
While our audience isn’t huge by any means, we do have a strong core following of people that have followed us throughout the years. The biggest thing with this is staying consistent and creating new content. People also love to see the behind-the-scenes of YOU! Many times, people fall in love with a small business because they love the human behind the small business. Whether it is the story of how the business started and overcame obstacles or the daily jokes you can expect on their Instagram story. People want to relate to people and I think that is the biggest way to help grow your social media and connect with others through your platforms.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.agm-designs.com
- Instagram: @_agmdesigns
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amygracemonograms
- Youtube: AGM Designs
Image Credits
Rachael Leigh Photography