We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Cowden. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.

Hi Jessica, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

We all know what the year 2020 had in store for us. Unfortunately, 2020 was the year everything was shut down. In our case, 2020 was the year we took off. Talk about turning a negative into a positive. With everything shut down, I had a lot of time to think. To think about what I really wanted to do with my time, what my passion was, what I wanted to invest in. It became obvious after being in the event industry for over 5 years, I wanted to invest everything into events. I was also attending Nursing School at the time, and realized that was not what lit my flame. Events, love, design, organizing, these lit my flame. So I took the leap, I invested everything I had physically, financially, emotionally, everything. We created microwedding and elopement packages, and soon took off in the pandemic. I invested hours, days, weeks to customizing packages that I felt could be useful to stressed out couples. These packages were all inclusive and customizable. We soon became recognized and our business has since spread, and grown. The best decision I have ever made, was to follow my desires and give it my all.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Jess, owner and lead coordiantor at Aesthetic Event Planning. As mentioned previously, I started my business in 2020. I have been in the industry for over 5 years now. I started out doing Makeup for weddings and events in South Florida, then soon began coordianting and organizing yacht parties/ crawls. Although I loved spending 6 years down in Florida, I was still very much a Colorado girl at heart. I moved back to Colorado in 2019, right before the pandemic. Clearly, there were no yachts in Colorado, so I quickly began brain storming. A close friend asked me to help with her wedding, and boom it all began. I found my love, my passion, my skill. I found my life long career as a wedding and event coordinator, here in Colorado. We have since grown, and now have three amazing coordinators on the team. I am constantly looking to grow, as a business, as well as a human being. Life is too short, if you have a passion, if you have a dream, make it happen.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I received my Esthetician license during high-school in 2009. I soon began applying Makeup for weddings and events. I have always been intrigued by events and weddings. I just never thought I could make a career out of my passion. I always thought I would just do this on the side, while I attended nursing school. I soon realized nursing was not for me. I was scared not to finish what I started. I was scared it would be a waste. A professor told me, “nothing is a waste, everything is an experience.” This stuck with me, I took what I learned through nursing, and changed my route. I dove into events, and realized Coordinating was in the stars for me. I always loves organizing and coordinating/ hosting events. I honestly thought everyone did. It came to my attention that many do not like this side of events, and I could really help couples take the stress away from their special day.

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

What helped me build a reputation and long-lasting vendor relationships, I belive, was my passion, heart, and dedication. I also look at vendors and couples as humans, not a money sign. We hosted styled shoots, and built forever friendships with vendors that we love to refer to our couples. We become a friend/ companion to our couples during the planning process. Their day becomes our day as well. I believe, when you put your heart into your career, clients feel that and see that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aestheticeventplanning.com
• Instagram: Aesthetic_Event_Planning
• Facebook: Aesthetic Event Planning

Image Credits
Headshot By Makenzie Grall Imaging Other Images Captured By: Hennessy Photography Colorado Wedding Photography Grace Gatto Photography Authentic Collective Photography