We were lucky to catch up with Gina Jokilehto recently and have shared our conversation below.

Gina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, let’s jump into one of the most exciting parts of starting a new venture – how did you get your first client who was not a friend or family?

When I first launched Shi Shi, it was in a time where print advertising was a crucial part of marketing a business. I took a leap of faith and spent probably more than I should have running a full page ad with The Knot Ohio magazine for the full year. We were able to secure our first client and subsequent clients from that one ad, so it was definitely worth the investment. We also had an online profile with The Knot as online advertising was just starting to emerge as a way to reach potential clients. I was in Maui when the online profile went live. It was so exciting to open my laptop and see my business name officially listed with a major wedding resource! That day is what I consider my company’s “hard launch” just seeing our profile go live on The Knot’s site from my hotel room in Maui.

Gina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I made my way to the wedding industry in a very organic way. My work history up to launching my company included time spent in the music and experiential marketing industries. Creating memorable experiences for people not only came naturally to me, but was a part of each of the roles I held within those industries. When it became clear the best path forward was to strike out on my own, social events seemed like a natural transition. Of those social events, weddings were the most interesting to me with their extensive scope, and their meaningful significance. From there, Shi Shi Events was born.

We are a boutique planning and design firm by every stretch of the definition. We are a small, dedicated team, serving just up to 10 couples each year offering full service planning, design, and production for each. Our work takes us all over the country, but our home base is Cleveland, OH.

As a firm, we’re known for our impeccable project management, exceptional hospitality, and our design aptitude. We set ourselves apart from other planning and design teams with how we value direct communication and full transparency in both our client and vendor relationships. I also follow daily the best professional advice from my very first job, which is to “always have a sense of urgency”. My clients and vendors never wait more than 24 hours for a reply when I’m in office and most of the time my replies are received within hours or minutes. That attention to communication and addressing needs is paramount in my book. It’s part of a broader philosophy of viewing hospitality as a fine art. It’s just as much a part of how we make magic as creating immersive design and executing seamless production.

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

There is so much joy in my job. We’re in the business of planning one of the most joyous occasions of a person’s life and that’s a very special position to be in. Learning about each of our couples and what makes them individual both as a couple and as people is an important part of my design process. I like to let who they are lead where I take the design for the day. It helps me create tangible and intangible touchstones for both them and their guests to experience the day of the wedding that makes the day itself feel very “them”. Creating an unrepeatable experience to me is true luxury. And for me, the only way to get there is to not only talk about aesthetics they love and the vibe we’re looking to create, but to also dive deeper into what makes them, them, and subsequently find interesting and immersive ways to present those sensibilities in the design for the day. Watching our couples’ eyes get wide and their jaws drop when we reveal their spaces to them on their wedding day will never, ever get old.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara was a fantastic book I read recently. I’m always looking for “legends” as he calls them in the book for our clients. It was so interesting to read his take on hospitality and learn from the immense success he’s experienced. A really refreshing and exciting book! Years ago I also read “Different” by Youngme Moon which was a revelatory way of looking at leaning into our strengths vs. trying to improve our weaknesses as a way to separate your company and self from the pack. And both “The Culture Code’ by Clotaire Rapaille, and “Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster” by Dana Thomas were fascinating takes on the culture of luxury and culture itself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shi-shievents.com
• Instagram: shishievents
• Facebook: shishievents

Image Credits

Images 1 & 2 – Gayle Brooker
Images 3 & 4 – Emily Millay
Images 5 & 6 – Elizabeth Austin
Image 7 – Lauren Gabrielle
Image 8 – Hannah Pickle