We were lucky to catch up with Heather Muto recently and have shared our conversation below.

Heather, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

I grew up in a household where college was not optional. I’m pretty sure I believed “16th grade” was a thing until the end of middle school. And thankfully my mother was as dedicated to saving for college as she was to insisting on it. I graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with two fully paid for degrees that, to this day, I’ve never actually been asked to prove. And while I value my time as a college student and the connections I made, I can’t help but wonder how things may have been different if I’d found a passion for my trade at a much younger age.

Reversely, I was contacted this spring by a teacher at my high school; she was wondering if we’d consider hiring one of her students who was interested in floristry! Absolutely! I literally didn’t even hesitate; I didn’t need any other information – the fact that my high school, now 20+ years later, was encouraging the idea of developing a trade and a passion early on (my highschool days were filled with AP tests and SAT prep) was so refreshing to me.

I’m not saying don’t go to college, but I’m also not saying it’s a must. Additionally, we need to start teaching that if your college debt is going to be higher than your expected annual salary, something is wrong; that trade schools and “less than ivy league” colleges are perfectly reasonable choices, and that the child who happens to love working on her father’s car or reviewing video games on Youtube has just as much a promising future as the one who studies every night because he wants to be a doctor… (want to guess which of those three future careers has the highest earning potential?)

A shift in the mindset of our educational system is definitely long overdue and thankfully this next generation is making some progress.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I began my career in California — first in film and reality TV production and then eventually in events. With a background in Advertising and Production from UNC Chapel Hill, my work in entertainment eventually transitioned into work in Marketing. I moved to New Your City, moved back to Los Angeles and after working for other small businesses for about 7 years, eventually launched my own.

I’ve never been one who desired to be behind a desk and strangely enough even at a young age I had business ownership at the forefront of my mind for two very specific reasons: control over my schedule (I am/was an avid skiier, surfer, hiker, etc) and because I knew I wanted to be a mother who could be home with her children,

Oh the irony! My husband and I were expecting our first child within months of me starting my own event planning business so I spent the first five or so years of my career figuring out both biz ownership and motherhood (I think I have one of these down pretty decently, lol!).

Heatherly Event Design came to be in 2018 when my family and I moved to Charlotte. Heatherly’s mission is to tell every couple’s unique story through an expertly designed and executed event. As wedding designers, we do not just plan but rather also provide full service floral design.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My best advice when it comes to social media is to stop making excuses and just do it. (I also happen to believe that like pretty much anything within the first few years of starting a business, if you physically can do it yourself, you should do it yourself; hiring out for social media puts a negative barrier between you and your audience).

Always be making content. Don’t stop to question too deeply how you look or what you’re wearing but rather focus on what you are providing to your audience – is it information, entertainment or a bit of both? Be unique, be fun and be yourself.

And lastly, as much as I hate to admit it, be controversial. For me at least, the more polarizing my post is – the more it gets under people’s skin in a way that they can’t help but share their own opinion – the more successful it is.

It’s why I’m known on my instagram account for being anti-faux flowers and I don’t even remotely apologize for it. Faux florals are an absolutely horrible choice for weddings. Yup, I said it. Come fight me.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

One of the things we recently implemented is anniversary florals. So if you hire us to plan your wedding, we are going to send you Heatherly florals on your one year anniversary.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://HeatherlyEventDesign.com
• Instagram: @heatherlyeventdesign.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherlyeventdesign/

Image Credits

Velvet Alfredo
Moments by Dani
Casey Hendricks
Elli Lauren Weddings