We recently connected with Andi Mejia and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Andi, 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?

From day one, it was just me (Andi), I started this business in 2013 from my parents house, which turned into my college dorm, which then turned into my home office my husband tyler and I’s first home when we got engaged. Tyler started helping me once we got engaged and he always says he didn’t realize how much work I had until he started getting asked for “involuntary help” by me, lol.

I think through it all there’s always been grace for the seasons i’ve been in. We’ve never had “too much to handle” or “too little to run a business” It’s always been the perfect amount of work. I used to work as a graphic designer (which I hold a degree in) for my church, I was in that position for 9 years, that provided a steady income for us as newlyweds and tyler worked as a sub at the church’s school. right after we got married, we realized we needed to spend more time on growing our business, and tyler ended up going full time at AM+Co before I(andi) even did. Which was so helpful because he is the backbone to our business, we wouldnt be here, in year 9, without tyler. after about 2 years of being married and running this business together, I decided to leave my job at the church and go full time, it was a scary , but exciting jump and we hired our first ever employee. This was the biggest learning curve! working from home was definitely comfortable for tyler and I, but having someone else in your home was vulnerable. We joked our employee got initiated when she walked into the bathroom to find underwear left behind (omg so embarrassing but so hilarious now) Making sure our home was tidy at all times was hard, but through it all we’ve been blessed with amazing team members that extended grace and didn’t expect perfect. After this we hired our second employee about a year later, 4 months after that our 3-4 employee and now we are a solid team of 5. We were given the opportunity to lease a space in Orlando, this gave us the opportunity to not be crammed inside our home, not have to worry about making our home PERFECT at all times ( because honestly nobody can sustain and pristine home all the time)

during interviews we always wanted to know about their heart, and about what they look for in a work enviorment. We always tell our team that we hope they make the position they are in better than they found it, and we hope to allow them to grow through this job, we want this to be a 2 way street, not just beneficial for us.

funny enough, one of our team members found us through tik tok, and on her cover letter even included Stella our pup in the letter. (This was an instant hire for me LOL)

Training for me is 3 parts:
1, letting them sink while they try to swim, mistakes allow us to learn, and if I were to hover over them they would never truly learn how to do things on their own.
2. making sure we have an open door policy, questions are encouraged and welcome.
3. Making sure we have fun while we do things, nobody wants a boring job.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I definitely always wanted to be a graphic designer, at one point i thought i would end up in the corporate world, maybe working for a design firm under someone, but once I had a taste of working for myself, I could never go back. Being your own boss is so rewarding, the pressure that lands on your shoulders is so rewarding to see yourself in the process, and on the other side of a project that seemed impossible.

I ended up in the wedding industry because my close friend asked me when I was in school to create her wedding invitations…. in which I forgot to place the time of ceremony on, whoops.

I believe at AM+Co we truly brand events to be as cohesive as possible. We allow the stress of finding all pieces from different places to be found in one place.

I’m truly proud of our internal process, as a team we prioritize, are able to work on 10 things at the same time and have excellence in mind at all times. We peer check each other, we are open about mistakes and we fix our mistakes immediately before anything leaves our studio.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

when it comes to our clients, I never want to feel stuffy or too fancy for anyone. We want to be real, and have true connections with our clients.

We act like ourselves, we are kind, positive and happy when greeting, delivering and tearing down a wedding.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

Tyler and I met at church, and I even chaperoned his senior prom LOL ( i’m older by 2 years)

Contact Info:

• Website: Andimejia.com
• Instagram: @andimejiaco
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@andimejia4342