Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christie Hart. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

As a Single Mom that started this as a Side hustle while going through a divorce as a supplemental income to try to rebuild my life I never at that time had a single thought of this becoming a full time gig. I worked so hard, most of the time 7 days a week initially to build a name for myself and a clientele. It never seemed like hard work because without me even realizing it, I was loving what I was doing.

18 months later the hard work paid off, and I made a huge decision to leave my corporate career and do this full time. SCARED TO DEATH! is an understatement. I had goals, I had a vision but I had to actually make the money to replace my full time salary in order for this to be what I wanted and needed it to be!

Learning the biggest life lesson ever….there is much more to just the income of a career. It’s the happiness and the lifestyle it creates for you. When you have a career doing something you love and you lead with your heart all the rest falls into place. Why is that ? Because happiness helps reach new heights and new goals. For me I quickly realized this created such an amazing lifestyle for me as a mom, I was able to be around for my son mon-friday and be a mom first! Something my corporate career never allowed. And being able to do something I truly had a passion for, well the success came from the peace this brought me.

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?

Hello Everyone My name is Christie Hart, I am the owner and designer of Every Excuse for a Party.

Most of you might not know but I have done event planning and decor for friends and family for longer then I can remember however for a long period of time due to complications and what I like to call a cloudy part of my personal life I lost this creative, driven part of me.

During this time my son was born and the energy I had I completely focused on being a mom and blocked out everything else that wasn’t what I wanted it to be.

Fast forward to 2018-2020 when I made a big decision to go out on my own as a single mom the creative spark started to come back from the Peace I didn’t even know I was giving myself! So on a whim in February of 2020 I decided to start @every_excuse_for_a_party . As a second job alongside my corporate career.

I didn’t realize that in this huge Fight to get back to who I was this was exactly what I needed! To find Every Excuse to celebrate life ( hence where the company name came from 🥰) and just feed that creative part of my soul again and there she was !

So you see this journey that 18 months later let me leave my corporate career behind and become a full time entrepreneur, gave me a schedule that was better for me as a mom, financial freedom, freedom of time and a reason to come out of this shell I put over myself and the list goes on .

✨The largest and most meaningful gift it has given me is ME !✨

What I didn’t realize was it was going to give me the best version of her I have ever known!

No matter what you’re facing on days where you think it’s all not worth it and close to impossible, if this is what your heart 🖤 is telling you is meant for you…. JUST FIGHT HARDER!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I always say that after all I have been through in the last 5 years this career path has given me a whole new outlook on life. When I was trying to come up with a name for my company I was puzzled, however I had made a decision at that time in my life to find EVERY EXCUSE to celebrate in life as I started this new path as a single mom and make sure I made so many memories with my son.

So the most rewarding part besides the creativity I get to display is all the memories I create for my clients with every single event.

How did you build your audience on social media?

First, I cannot stress this enough, be you, be raw, be real. Dont be afraid to tell your story why this means so much to you. You just never know how being the version of yourself is going to make you relatable to your audience, and turn them into your next client or maybe your friend.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say ” I follow you on social media your inspiring you have come so far”, or ” I’ve been following you since the beginning and Your story you have come so far”.

Put yourself, your passion and your whole journey out there…they are listening.

Secondly, Make sure you give 110% with every client you have. My business is at a minimum 60% referrals which are a true testament to the level of service your gave your clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.everyexcuseforaparty.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/every_excuse_for_a_party/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everyexcuseforaparty
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/every-excuse-for-a-party-fords?osq=every+excuse+for+a+party
• Other: tik tok https://www.tiktok.com/@every_excuse_for_a_party

Image Credits
Jenny James – One Stop Partys Rentals
Jessenia Cosme – JC’s Art Designs
Gwen Charles – Amuse Bouche Events