We were lucky to catch up with Karen Landis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Karen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

2020 was the first time I ever questioned if owning my own business was the right decision for me. It was a time when, for a moment, I wished I wasn’t the person at the top, the “manager” that everyone wanted to talk to and negotiate with. In a sea of unknowns, I was expected to provide certainties and guarantees that didn’t exist. That time felt like trying to grasp for bubbles in a dense fog. Impossible and constantly evolving. I daydreamed about what it would be like to have a corporate job or work for someone else. What would it feel like to not have so much pressure to stay profitable and afloat when the world was standing still? What if I only had to focus on my work output instead of the multitude of jobs I do daily? I fantasized about having a designated office space to go to each day, the daily camaraderie of my colleagues, and the structure a corporate environment would provide.

During my mental sojourn, I realized: corporate life was never for me. Among the obvious perks of entrepreneurship, like working from home (before it became the norm!) and having freedom with my schedule, I also love being faced with the decisions that come with running your own business. Every decision I make, both big and small, has a direct impact on the direction our business travels. I enjoy being an integral part of that journey. I love trying new things to see what trends successfully, in turn learning from the efforts that don’t. I enjoy forming relationships with industry peers and with our clients and getting to structure what that looks like. And, hands down, my favorite part of being a business owner is building a team that feels like family. My teammates and I are all incredibly close and in our office, no idea is a bad idea. Collectively, we all contribute innovative ideas to the business. And I truly believe that’s why we are still here 8 years strong.

Thanks for sharing your insights! Before we move on to more of these questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started Pop + Fizz right out of college after helping to plan my sister’s wedding for most of my senior year. My degree is in Biology with a focus on Pre-Dentistry. Deciding to become a wedding planner was a huge pivot for a Type 2w3 who had her whole life planned out in middle school. But the joy, wonder, and chaos I found in the event world immersed me whole and I couldn’t shake the thought that this was where I was meant to be. I knew if I was going to dive into wedding planning over dental school, something I had worked for my entire life, I would need to go all in. Which is why I decided to start my own company over joining an established firm. I learned from industry peers and I taught myself, which I think is what really helped me find my own style and my own voice in a big industry.

Although my career path now seems worlds away from my science background, I think my studies laid a great foundation for my business today. I treat my event processes with the same preciseness I would a chemical experiment. Our methodology to ensure a seamless event is no different than the methodology I would use to ensure a seamless procedure or scientific process. With both career paths, there is a delicacy required and both are solutions-based, which is an environment I thrive in.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

1) Transparency and clear, prompt communication. Our clients value both of these things highly as do we. Our goal is to be a wealth of knowledge and luminary for our clients walking through a key time point in their lives. There is a lot of pressure that comes with wedding planning, in various forms, and we try to relieve as much of that as we can. We want our clients to know we are available to them and a constant support and resource. Wedding planning is also time-sensitive in many ways. If you’re slow to act, highly desired vendors may book up, items you want may not be able to be produced in time, and/or it may be too late to order something you envisioned having.

2) Focusing all of our energy into our existing clients. It can be easy to have a “more” and “what’s next” mindset in business. But what we have found is by investing the majority of our energy into our existing clients and making their experiences exemplary, more business comes.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

1) Listen to your team and don’t be dismissive. If you are quick to shut down their ideas, you’ll lose trust and it will make your team feel less invested in what you are building.

2) Let your team have a hand in big decisions and be transparent with them about business directionality. When adding to our team, we have a thorough process that involves everyone to make sure we all feel it’s a good fit.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.popandfizz.com
• Instagram: @popandfizz

Image Credits
Abigail Thomas Photography McSween Photography Wild Heart Visuals