We recently connected with Marisa Dawson and have shared our conversation below.

Marisa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Back in 2022, a friend of mine was getting married and I was trying to help her with the logistics as much as I could. Not knowing much of the wedding industry, besides being a bridesmaid myself in many of them, there was definitely some trial and error. The venue she was getting married at required a “Day-Of Coordinator”, and my friend asked me if I could fill the role. I remember feeling excited to coordinate a wedding, especially my friends, but also scared being the person “in charge” with not much experience behind me. I solved many problems that day that the bride had concerns with, so that she could truly enjoy her day and not take in any stress. Overall the day went very smooth, and I even had many people, vendors and guests, complimenting me and my services! There were a lot of trials that I experienced that could have been handled differently by many different roles that day, but there were also a lot of upsides to their wedding day! I remember thinking to myself from that day on that I was going to own my own business for event/wedding planning and coordination!
Like I said, I have been a part of many weddings over the last 10 years and I felt like I needed to make it in to the career that I have always been passionate about. I love meeting new people, especially when it involves a wedding! I am a very fast-paced, hard worker, that is also a people-pleaser! I always want to make everyone happy!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello! My name is Marisa Dawson, I am a 29 year old dog mom, wife, and entrepreneur located in Concord, North Carolina! I am originally from New Jersey, and my family and I moved to NC from Florida. I have been a resident here for about 14 years, so I consider myself a NC native for sure!
I started working as soon as I was allowed to at the age 16! I have always been a hard worker, rule follower and always very passionate about my work. I love meeting new people and creating a long-lasting friendship with everyone, especially when it involves a wedding!
I have been a part of weddings for 10 years, and I have been on the industry side for 2 years now. I officially started Dawson Events in January of 2023, and I can say that I definitely learned a lot in the first year of business.
I found my passion working with weddings back in 2022 when I was helping a friend plan and coordinate her wedding. There were a lot of up’s-and-down’s through the process of her wedding day, but overall it was a truly amazing day! I am forever grateful for her trusting in me, for it being my first wedding.
Within my first year open I learned a lot when it came to the process and logistics of wedding days, contracts, pricing, etc. Luckily for me, within that year I have also met a lot of wedding and event vendors that have become my lifelong friends! This community of vendors that I met are all on the same page of wanting to help one another instead of feeling like we are all competing against each other, and I am so thankful for them.
With the creation of Dawson Events, I wanted to offer couples a great experience for stress-free planning and coordination, but at a reasonable price as well.
I once was a bride on a budget, so I did not want to create a business with pricing that was completely unaffordable for couples.

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

I believe what helped me the most trying to build a reputation is people! What I mean by that is, every single person you meet, you are representing yourself and your business. Every single person you talk to, will usually remember you and/or your business and they can(usually will), talk very highly of you! There are many previous brides, friends, and family of mine that talk very highly of me and Dawson Events, face-to-face with people, and also on social media! Word of mouth is key, and I can’t stress that enough. I am so thankful for every person that recommends us!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Growing up I have always had a job, sometimes 3 jobs at a time. I have worked for “mom and pop” businesses, big corporations, and for families. While I have always loved having a job, or multiple, over time I really had this urge of wanting to own my own business. Getting the urge to want to change something about a business format and not being able to because it’s a corporation, can be frustrating when it may be something that will help the future of that company. Unfortunately I dealt with that for a long time, and I was getting tired of it. When you own your own business, you’re able to make your own rules(reasonable ones of course), make your own schedule, and execute your own ideas! You have the time and mental headspace to have your own creative freedom, and that in itself is so satisfying. So within the last 2 years, from building a business, to launching it, and to working in it full time, that has been the biggest life and career pivot for me. It has been the most challenging, but also so fulfilling.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dawsoneventsco.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/_dawsonevents?igshid=MmIzYWVlNDQ5Yg==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087230111194&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
The Lilac Lion Photography(image 1) Brooklyn Jean Photo(images 2,5,8) Hailey Davis Photo(images 3,7) Madison Snedeker Photo(image 4) K&J Image(image 6)