We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kari Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kari , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I think being successful looks different to each person and the goals they have for their life. I don’t think there is a magical formula of what it takes to be successful. I think hard work and setting goals for yourself are important but everybody needs to define success for themselves and I think it’s important to do that for your own happiness. I used to think success meant climbing the corporate ladder, working non stop, owning a nice home, having a ton of money and achieving every next step that society deems worthy that you have “made it”. For me, I think being successful isn’t only about achieving the goals in your career but also achieving those goals in your personal life. Having a life that you are proud of and that you feel happy and fulfilled in. Having a work/life balance, being in good health, spending time with family and friends and having your time back to live the life you want. For me, it’s not about being the best in the industry with my business but being good at what I do and proud of the company I have created. It’s about being able to support my family with my income and having the balance of enjoying time outside of work to spend with family and friends or just to enjoy hobbies. It’s taken a lot of hard work and still is hard work but I’ve learned a lot over the years and I’m still trying to find the balance in my own life. However, I think being able to take back my time and build a business and life that I want has allowed me to define what success can look like for me.

Kari , 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’m Kari, I’m the owner of Feathered Arrow Studio. We’re a small creative studio designing and planning epic weddings and events for rad couples in love. We help create experiences for our clients that they’ll never forget and make wedding planning a stress free and fun process and providing our guidance and expertise along the way. I’ve been in business for almost 10 years and my mission has been to help people enjoy this chapter in their life, take away some of the stress that can come with wedding planning and help them to create a wedding that truly speaks to who they are as a couple so that they can be fully present and celebrate. I love when clients and guests leave a wedding saying “this was the best wedding I’ve ever been to!” We know we did our job well and we were able to provide an incredible experience and memory for our clients and their loved ones. We work as a tight team with our clients and truly want the whole experience to feel less stressful and we make sure that they feel fully supported. I give my all to my clients and make sure they are always taken care of. We’re here to make their vision come to life, no matter what that looks like, traditional or non-traditional. It’s a collaboration and we’re your expert guides making it all happen! . No more stuffy, awkward, or boring weddings, my friends. We’re going to party like it’s 1999.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think building a reputation for yourself and your business is all about creating relationships with others in your industry. I’ve done a lot of networking over the years with other vendors and other wedding planners by attending networking events, business events and just creating meaningful relationships with people I work with at weddings. It’s so important to connect with others, network and build relationships that turn into friendships. I’m friends with a lot of wedding planners and it’s been beyond helpful to have those people to turn to in times of need when I want advice, need help with a wedding or just to connect with on struggles or wins in our businesses. When you can form connections with those in your industry, referrals start to happen and it creates a cycle of business being shared among your peers. I think my reputation has not only come from these relationships but also from years and years of clients having an amazing experience working with me and my team. We’ve built a trustworthy brand that potential clients can see not only in our reviews but also in our work online.

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

A lot of our clients come from personal referrals and past clients. Those are the best type of referrals because those clients already trust us because they trust the referral source. Our clients are our biggest advocates and I’m so thankful for that. We also get a lot of clients from other vendor referrals, Instagram and online. We blog on a weekly basis and have worked hard on building up great SEO and it’s paid off for us over the years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://featheredarrowstudio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/featheredarrowstudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/featheredarrowevents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karidirksen/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/feathered-arrow-los-angeles-2

Image Credits
Jess Onesto The Shalom Imaginative Christy Kendall Photography Gabbie Burseth Photo Brett Loie Photography Anna Delores Photography