We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katherine Reed a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Katherine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?
As I reflect on my entrepreneurial journey, I definitely would have started it a lot sooner! Here is a little back story on how things began for me- my husband and I got married in the autumn of 2006. Here I am a high school senior, focused on walking across the stage to receive my honors diploma, so I could walk down the aisle. During this time, my mother and I didn’t know that people made a living to take on the stress of planning a wedding day, so we did it all ourselves. Throughout the process I learned a lot! For example, what colors are acceptable during that time of year, how to manage bridal parties, timelines, vendors-even how to properly address an envelope to wedding guest. My mother and I handled just about every detail for my wedding. That’s when I realized I wanted to have some type of role in the wedding and events industry. I also learned during that time, that NO ONE in their right mind should try to plan a wedding all by themselves.
So, we make it through the wedding day without hurting anyone too bad! Fast forward to after the honeymoon, I’m an 18-year-old working in the audiovisual department at a local hospital, enjoying the job, because I understood technology, and had a natural aptitude for it. Everyone in the family came to me for their computer issues and I fixed them. But something was missing! A coworker in another department was getting married, so I leapt at the opportunity to provide decor for the reception. She and her husband were very happy with what I provided, I however wanted to do more and make it grander, but I didn’t know how.
That thought always came across my mind, whenever someone called to get help with their event, no matter if it was a wedding, baby shower, retirement celebration, or anniversary party- I would be called on, to assist in organizing or enhancing the look of the venue. I always wanted to make it bigger and better!
I soon realized that I didn’t want to be a planner, its great and all, but it can be very time consuming and not what I wanted to focus my efforts on. But I didn’t know I could focus only on the floral and decor aspect of the industry.
Fast forward to 2016/2017, I was on Facebook one day and came across a business owner, who was hosting her 2nd business conference that focused on the planning and decor facet of the industry. I knew I had to make my way there, and that’s what I did! I arrived in Baltimore, in September 2017, and it’s like the light went off! I was introduced to Mrs. Amber Kirkland, owner and florist of The Velvet Touch Events located in Detroit Michigan. She was my introduction to fresh floral arrangements; I learned from her that I could in fact be a florist and event designer, (it’s a real job)! LOL
So that’s where the passion grew with a sharper focus. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until 2020 when I became serious about my business- even still I delayed another year to make it a legit company; because of fear of not knowing how to appropriately run a business. I sought out opportunities to invest more time with local florists, to learn more technical skills, but more importantly, the fundamentals of running a business. I am still learning honestly.
I have not stepped fully into the entrepreneurial role in this business venture just yet- but I’m making my way towards that goal.
If I would have started earlier, I’d be further along in my journey, with more opportunities to create beautiful experiences for my clients. Looking back, I realize I held myself back a lot of the time, because I didn’t see many people like myself who started a successful creative-based business. But now I know I must keep pushing. I’m continuing to invest in my business by taking one-on-one classes with other florists who know the business and who are willing to share their knowledge with me.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I love making things personalized and beautiful! I started my business out of my personal experience of planning my own wedding with my mother- blindly, but it was successful, and no one was harmed during the process (others may have a different opinion :-) ) After the many nights of arranging and organizing a 300+ guest wedding, I realized no one should go through this process by themselves- so out of trial and error of my own wedding, my business idea was birthed!
I am a Birmingham, Alabama native, who has a keen eye for details, and I carry that into each client’s event. I treat every single wedding and event as if it were my very own, leaving no detail undone. Although it is not my special day per se, I do go into every event with the thought of ‘how would I want it to be, if it was my wedding or special occasion, what would really make it special?’ So that is one of the driving forces of my attention to detail, and making everything as beautiful as I reasonably can for my clients. I have recently transitioned from the planning side of events to the fresh floral and decor facet of the business. Every now and again, you will catch me pulling my planning hat out, just to make sure things go smoothly for our clients. I want all my future clients to know, that I will do whatever is in my power to make their event a special one; one with beautiful, pleasant memories they can look back on with fond thoughts!
Great customer service is very important to me, so I do my best to provide personal, and positive customer experiences for my clients.
The services I am currently focusing on, are fresh floral design and installations, this will include (but not limited to) personal florals such as bouquets, boutonnières, ceremony altar installations, reception decor and prop rentals and design. We love unusual and unique design concepts!
I’m most proud of my ability to make my clients feel like they are the most important person throughout their event -bringing their vision to reality, via my creativity.
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
Initially I funded everything from my own money, because I was focused on doing things on my own. However, I am thankful to have the support of my family who believed in my vision enough to invest monetarily or with their time and energy in my endeavors. They have pushed me even when I felt like I wasn’t moving as fast as I saw others moving. Thankfully they have continued to encourage me to stay focused on my goals.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
As I mentioned earlier, I found conferences that provided so much valuable information and even provided a real life visual of a person who looked like me. A person who was doing what I finally realized I wanted to do, and was successful in that role. This in turn, led me to finding other organizations that introduced me to other florist who are very successful in their respective locations. Also in my state, Alabama – (War Eagle!!) there is a non-profit organization that one of my sisters sent to me to check out. I am currently working with this group of business owners (Ignite Alabama), to receive insight on obtaining funding, and networking opportunities for small businesses in the state of Alabama. I’m excited to see what opportunities will present themselves!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eleganteventsbham.com
- Instagram: elegantevents_more
- Facebook: Elegant Events & More, LLC
- Other: TikTok : elegantevents_more
Image Credits
Catt Eye Photography, Shots with Petty Photography, Tiffanys View Photography