We recently connected with Megan Gillikin and have shared our conversation below.

Megan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

As much as I like to think I tend to shy away from taking risks where I don’t know if success is the guaranteed outcome, I look back on my career and see that the decisions I’ve made have definitely been full of unknowns and risks at every turn. One of the biggest risks I took was leaving a full-time job with a guaranteed paycheck, and becoming an unexpected entrepreneur. I went on a job interview in my mid twenties with a local event planner for what I thought was a position to join her team and instead came out with an offer to purchase her company. My new husband and I took out a small business loan, I left my job, and I jumped intro entrepreneurship. The business (I later learned) had a rocky reputation in my market and needed a lot of love and repair. I spent the next few years rebuilding bridges and rebuilding the reputation. Next came building a team and leveling up the brand. After owning that business for 12 years, I sold it last year in 2022 for much more than what I originally paid for it back in 2010 and left the new owner with a well-established business with a great reputation in the market.

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 got my start in the hospitality industry working for Marriott hotels back in 2006. I then became an entrepreneur/wedding planner in 2010 and spent 12+ years serving clients in planning events of all shapes and sizes. In 2018, I started a podcast for wedding pros called Weddings For Real and I now serve wedding professionals and small business owners in the event industry full-time as a coach, speaker, and educator. I help entrepreneurs in the event industry build profitable businesses that they love while helping them to set boundaries to create more balance for a life outside of their business. After learning the hard way that your business can start to feel soul-sucking with boundaries, I now make it my mission to help others avoid some of the mistakes and pitfalls that I experienced first hand. In 2020, I launched a memberhsip and education site for wedding planners where I now coach and provide support to over 400 planners nationwide as they grow and expand their own businesses.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

No one has it all figured out. Sometimes, you can get in your head and start to think you’re the only one who doesn’t have all the answers or everything figured out as it relates to life, business, relationships, and more. But the reality and what I’ve learned is that we are all messy, complicated humans. We all have good days and bad days and there’s never a “made it” stage in business where all your problems and worries and concerns drop off and life is now “easy”. The key is to lean into your strengths/superpowers and find people to support you in the other areas. This may be a coach, a team member, a community or just a friend. :)

We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.

I have both bought and sold a business and experienced all the twists and turns that come along with it. Here’s a full podcast episode all about the experience: https://www.theplannersvault.com/podcast/205-megan-gillikin-entrepreneur-money-stories    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theplannersvault.com or www.megangillikin.com
• Instagram: @plannersvault and @weddingsforreal
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-gillikin-34900524/
• Podcast: https://www.theplannersvault.com/podcast