We were lucky to catch up with Jazmin Portnow recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jazmin, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think in order to be successful, you first have to identify what success means to you. At the core of that is your “why”. Did you start your business solely to make money, or did you start it so that you have flexibility within your schedule for your family? Unless you define this for yourself and reevaluate it on a regular basis (because yes… you are allowed to change your mind and your goals!), then you will constantly be chasing someone else’s dream and not your own.

I think that the event industry, more so than many others, is full of grandiose and shiny things, which makes it hard to stay focused at times as we fall victim to the comparison game. With the rise of several social media platforms, it’s very easy look at others and wonder why you aren’t booking the types of clients they are, why you aren’t being invited to certain industry events, etc.. This not only clouds your focus, but it also distracts you from your personal goals and why you started your entrepreneurial journey in the first place.

Admittedly it’s taken a while for me to realize this within my own journey. I think that COVID and the backlash from it forced me to reassess my “why”. During the pandemic, I became a mom… twice! I have an amazing 3 year old daughter and an almost 2 year old son who keep me on my toes when I’m not at work. From a company perspective, 2021 was the epitome of what I thought success looked like from the outside. I was making more money than I ever had because we were essentially working 2 seasons in 1 year due to all of the event postponements from 2020. I was also doing the types of events that I’d dreamed of doing when I began my business. Yet somehow, I was the most miserable that I’d ever been. I was exhausted, overworked, and resented the fact that I did not get to spend as much time with my newborn daughter. I was pushing my body so much in fact that I didn’t know that I was pregnant with my son until after my first trimester was finished (but that’s a story for another day!).

Eventually a light bulb went off in my mind. This lifestyle was not sustainable, nor did I care for it to be. Part of the reason that I started my business was so that one day, when I had hypothetical children, I could have flexibility within my schedule for them. I found myself in a situation where my little humans were here, but my business was running me and encroaching upon family time. Once that light bulb went off and I reassessed my goals, I made a clear plan to still have a “successful” business, but strictly on my terms.

People often only see the outward success of others, but don’t acknowledge the sacrifices that it takes to get there. It’s hard sometimes, but you always need to remember what success looks like to YOU and go after it.

Jazmin, 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 am the Creative Director and CEO of Anyvent Event Planning. I started the business in Charlottesville, VA and we now have teams in both Charlottesville and the Washington DC metro area. We are a luxury wedding planning company and pride ourselves on creating custom planning experiences that lead to the ultimate expression and execution of a couple’s love story on their wedding day.

I started my business in 2014 after following my “heart, now husband” to Charlottesville while he attended grad school at UVA. At the time I was working in luxury real estate and once I made the transition from doing so in NYC, it became clear that this career would be much less demanding in VA. In full transparency, I never in a million years would have thought that wedding/event planning would turn into a career for me. I always enjoyed planning/hosting luxurious events for residents at the properties that I managed, but never gave it a second thought as far as a means of full time employment. Alas, once I relocated to Charlottesville, learned that it was becoming a wedding destination, and had nothing but time on my hands in this new place, I decided to try my hand at planning my firs event. OK, OK… I kind of dove in head first and started my business without knowing very much about weddings OR business! But after a couple of clients who took a leap of faith with me. Anyvent snowballed into the successful business that it is today.

I think that a big thing that separates us from others in our industry is the effort that we take to get to know each of our couples so that we can sprinkle the best part of their love story throughout their event. I love making an event look beautiful, but the reason that I find meaning in what I do is that it’s more than likely the only time in a couple’s life where everyone that they love is in one room. Creating an experience that they will never forget as they celebrate will forever continue to fuel my passion!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think that leading with kindness helped build my reputation within the industry. We often get compliments from other vendors about how nice we are and that Planners can sometimes be a nightmare to work with. Our team operates under the philosophy that we are there to act as a support system to our vendor team as much as we are for our clients. We are there to make their lives easier so that they can provide their services to the best of their abilities so that our team can provide the best overall experience to our clients.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients for us has been vendor and venue referrals. I have been very intentional about fostering genuine relationships with my vendors. Not only for them, but also for my team. Working with vendors that we know and trust makes us a resource to our clients so that we can ensure that not only are we recommending the best businesses in the industry, but also the best people. Likewise, by getting to know us, vendors know that they are setting their clients up for success by playing match-maker between us and our ideal clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://anyventeventplanning.com/
• Instagram: @anyvent_eventplanning
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anyvent.events

Image Credits
3 Cats Photo Ashley Cox Photography Meredith Coe Photography