We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Courtney Marino a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Courtney, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
I think there’s a certain ideation that comes to mind when you think of wedding planning, or weddings in general. Personally, it always made me think of fancy dresses, 3-piece suits & white roses. While all those things can absolutely represent a certain style of wedding, it doesn’t necessarily define one. When I got married in 2019, I realized how much tradition was expected of me, and, being part of the queer community, how difficult it was to make sense of the overall “etiquette” when it came to planning. It was exhausting to preface who I was marrying with every vendor inquiry, but I was dead-set on finding a vendor team that made my partner & I feel safe, supported & excited about all the crazy ideas I had.
After building that space for myself, I knew that I wanted to share that with other couples. Now, my team & I always strive to cultivate an inclusive wedding world where it’s standard to come to the table with bold ideas, loud color schemes & out of the ordinary traditions. It’s okay to sometimes make selfish decisions, & there’s nothing wrong with pushing the boundaries when it comes to planning your wedding. There are a lot of rulebooks out there, but we pride ourselves on finding out how to bend those rules in a way that is unique to our clients.
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?
I was born & raised in San Antonio, TX & got my bachelors in English at UTSA. I changed my major probably about 4 times before that, & never really could settle on what I wanted to do with my life. I was incredibly right-brained when it came to processing things in general, & I always had big ideas that admittedly, seemed a little unrealistic at the time. I worked retail during college & even after, eventually moving up into management. I LOVED retail, and I felt like it gave me an awesome opportunity to build relationships & engage with other people.
When I moved over into corporate work, it was a huge adjustment for me. I had tattoos, piercings, and a BIG personality that didn’t really fit the “9-5 desk-job” mold. I stayed corporate for about 4 years, and I learned a LOT about the more analytical side of things (who knew Excel would be so important?!) After my partner & I got married, we ended up moving to Austin where I still worked my corporate job, but started helping out a close friend, Jess, with her coordination business on the side for fun. I realized I absolutely loved it, & eventually we partnered up to bring Satin into existence.
During that time, I landed a job with a company that allowed me to travel across the U.S. putting together themed events with huge vendor teams. It was one of the coolest (and most challenging) things I got to do creatively. Although Satin was a baby then, it helped me cultivate a better future for what I wanted the business to become, & for the first time I felt confident that my career was headed in the right direction. In June of 2022, Jess decided to step out of the wedding industry so she could spend more time with her family (weekends are pretty demanding in this industry!) & I took full ownership of the business. It’s been a wild ride, but owning something that you helped create from the ground up is one of the most gratifying (& humbling) experiences in the world.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
It took awhile to build the brand; I really wanted to create an edgier company that tailored to a unique clientele & liked to bend traditional boundaries. The Austin wedding industry is loaded with tons of talented creatives, so it definitely wasn’t an easy market to dive into. I used my own wedding experience when navigating most of the business processes, & asked myself questions like “If I were to do this again, what would I want to see in a wedding planner?”. That’s really how I started navigating things. Small business owners are constantly looking to find what works, what doesn’t work, how to make it work even better, & then they do that ten times over. It’s exhausting, but so worth it when you see your business bloom. It kinda felt like throwing spaghetti up against a wall; You try new approaches, new marketing, new branding. You throw out crazy ideas constantly, & over time, you just hope some of them stick. When Satin finally reached a solid place of business, my partner was incredibly supportive in giving Satin a fair, full time shot. It was absolutely terrifying to walk away from a solid source of income, but we took the chance. I think the most important thing to remember is that inevitably, there will be ups & downs. Owning & maintaining a seasonal business is difficult, and sometimes adjustments are necessary. Always allow yourself a little bit of grace, & remember that taking a few steps backward doesn’t mean starting over. Lean into those moments as opportunities, & you’ll end up back on your feet when you least expect it.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
I’ve worked for/with a lot of different personalities over the years, & I use that experience often when thinking about how to improve my business, my services, & my team. I think it’s so important as a business owner to stay humble and create a space where your team feels comfortable enough to speak up & be themselves. Invite challenging conversations, admit faults, & most importantly, validate successes. My team is incredibly intelligent & comes up with fantastic ideas, so not giving them a space to do that would be a disservice to their growth and mine. We listen to each other & always remain open, honest & communicative when we hit a roadblock. There’s not one person in the world who has all the answers, & mistakes inevitably happen. It’s so important to recognize the positives that come from working together in those moments, & how important it is to support each other throughout the journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.satinweddingco.com
- Instagram: @satinweddingco
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/satinweddingco
Image Credits
Manuel Ayala Photography Gypc Girl Photography Kristen Giles Photography