We recently connected with Ashley Kurkiewicz and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think ambition and drive are two important qualities a person must have to be successful. The road to success is not a straight path, and it rarely stays the course when you think you have finally gotten it straight. The ability to overcome obstacles and find solutions where it seems there are none will keep you in business for the long run. Finding a work/life balance so you don’t burn out and creating a team who shares your passion will also help to sustain a small business owner. The work is endless, sometimes daunting, but always eye-opening and fulfilling.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I graduated with a major in advertising and followed that with experience in the marketing, advertising, and event planning fields. I found working for smaller businesses was much more fulfilling and provided the best work experience and environment, so I stayed out of the corporate world for the most part. My parents both owned their own businesses, so it was natural that I would eventually want to work for myself. I began by offering marketing consulting services as well as event planning and wedding planning. The core of our business is now event planning, with a focus on weddings and nonprofit events. We are headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA with a second office in Raleigh, NC. I am most proud of the reputation our brand has built over the course of almost two decades. Our team has grown, but our mission to remain client-focused and maintain strong vendor relationships has not faltered.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The company began during the great recession and has since also experienced the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic was a true test for our industry as weddings and large gatherings were not permitted. We had to change our marketing to focus on small weddings and also began offering consulting services for those in our industry who were looking for help. We had to change all of our contracts to include verbiage protecting us from any fault due to cancellations, etc. stemming from Covid, ensure we had more backup vendors and team members in place in case someone was sick, and stay on top of ever-changing rules on guest counts that were allowed at gatherings. We managed through it and even grew our business post-2020.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

When I was trying to work for myself, I had to keep a full-time job to pay the bills, but I soon realized it would be impossible to grow if I had to stick to a full-day schedule working for someone else. I quit the full-time job and took on several part-time serving jobs to make ends meet. Eventually, I was able to quit those jobs one by one as my book of clients began to grow. I worked many 80+ hour weeks, but it was worth it in the long run. The first key milestone was booking my first big nonprofit gala, which became a client for years to follow. Along with nonprofit events, I was then also hired to plan corporate conferences, which is when I realized I needed a team. The team started small, but stayed strong when I moved to Raleigh to be with my now-husband. While moving was a risk, it also opened up the opportunity to plan events outside of Pennsylvania as I began to take on several clients in North Carolina. The team in Pittsburgh continues to grow to this day, and I am planning to grow the Raleigh team once both of my daughters are in school full-time next year!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://helloproductions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helloproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelloProductionsLLC/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleymichelemoss/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelloEvents
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/helloproductions1/_created/

Image Credits
Aaron Varga Photography Michael Will Photography Steven Dray Photography