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

Hi Erinn, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I am always thinking of ways to take things that I have an interest in or love and turn them into a business, without taking anything substantial away from my life, if I can help it.

With my latest venture, Starberry Cabin, the seed was planted in June 2021, when I went to support my co-worker and friend Margo at a wedding expo, showcasing her Wedding Coordinator services. After she did a few weddings, she decided to take a step back from the work but I didn’t want her to let all the knowledge she had go unused. I suggested she consider writing a book, creating a podcast, online course or something because she had something to contribute to the conversation! Fast forward to September 2022, Margo and I were chatting and she reminded me I gave her this idea that she really wanted to run with, The spark came from seeing what was on the market and wanting to add a unique spin on the “traditional” planners or those of us who are “non-traditional” in many if not all aspects of our lives.

From that day forward, we would meet at least once a week during the end of our day and brainstorm the name of the business, deciding what we ultimately wanted the final product to look like and how to take all the ideas we had and spread them out for future iterations. We created a business plan, divided our responsibilities, and creating a timeline to help us list the minimal tasks we NEEDED to get done to get the first edition printed.

Luckily we both had started a business before so we knew some of the logistics. What we needed to work on was what we wanted to accomplish and what our end game was. We are open to watching it change and evolve but ultimately, we wanted to weave in automation to save us time. We have batch-created content for our promotions, social media posts, and merchandise. Currently, we are awaiting final edits to move on to launch.

Erinn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a lover of all things creative and appreciate all forms of art, including painting, graphic design, cooking, music, and dance. These loves have manifested in several business endeavors with creativity at the forefront. – Beautifully Bombshell, launched in 2016, is a beauty & makeup blog created from a constant need to find the next go-to beauty products and share them with as many people who would be willing to listen. The core content includes product reviews, beauty tips, and tutorials, with room for so much more! Beautifully Bombshell’s mission is to serve as a hub for all things we love the most and to educate those who want to learn along the way. It also doesn’t hurt to have a little fun.
– 52 Week Creative started as a personal challenge to create and ultimately push me to start and complete one new creative project every week for an entire year. What it evolved into was an online e-commerce site to showcase and share my art with the world.
– Starberry Cabin was born from the desire to make wedding planners that made spouses-to-be feel seen and read like a conversation with a good friend.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My Starberry Cabin cofounder and collaborator, Margo and I met for the first time in January of 2020. At the time, she was the Office Admin at my new employer and she helped me get everything I needed to get my day started. We shared a lot of conversations in passing, ate lunch together occasionally, worked on puzzles during lunchtime with a few other coworkers, and collaborated on putting together a mailing system for my department which was just being implemented in that office.

By March 2020, we were all transitioning to a completely remote work structure and that was one of the last times I would get to see her in person and on a daily basis. By February 2021, I had moved to our Legal Department as a Compliance Analyst and Margo also transitioned to Licensing, which landed us on a team together, guaranteeing we would see each other at least once a week (virtually).

During the pandemic, Margo started her own business as a Wedding Coordinator and provided her services to 10 brides in the Phoenix-Area. As she was expanding her business, she attended the Arizona Wedding Show as a vendor. Several of our coworkers joined me in going to surprise her at the Expo and I got my first real taste of what that industry has to offer.

After a few months, as Margo began to scale back her business a little bit, I suggested she take what she already knew about event planning, what she learned from the weddings she completed and turn them into a book or a social media page or something. I just didn’t want the knowledge to go to waste and it would minimize those who knew she had experience from inquiring with her when they did not want full service. Fast forward to a year later and Margo reachs out to me to discuss actually putting her thoughts down and wanting to pick my brain about how to get these thoughts out to the world. We agreed to collaborate on this project together because we had a lot to offer and gain from each other and so far, the rest is history.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The greatest lesson that I have had to unlearn (and continue to unlearn) is to not get in my own head or in my own way. I am a person who enjoys planning, which includes trying to plan for all the worst-case scenarios. While this isn’t a world-ending trait to have, it has been creating unnecessary anxiety and delays in the launch of some of my products. How I am working on unlearning this habit, is reminding myself that failure if part of the process but I can never fail if I never take a step forward. If something does not work as intended, all I have to do is take a step in a different direction.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.beautifullbombshell.com / www.52weekcreative.com / https://starberrycabin.start.page
• Instagram: @BeautifullyBombshell / @52WeekCreative / @StarberryCabin