Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nicole Mason. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nicole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

I think one of the most important things to do as a business owner is to find the right team. I will never forget reading the book Good to Great and how it talks about getting the right people on the bus. With the right team you can grow your business while also being able to take much needed time for yourself. There is no shame to be had in self-care and taking time to recuperate and refresh. I find that time away is what allows me to come back and be more efficient, more effective and produce some of my highest quality of work.

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

After college I attended my cousin’s wedding and watching her wedding planner I was inspired to try to pursue a career as a wedding planner. I was so intrigued and would spend hours perusing wedding blogs obsessing over beautifully designed weddings. While getting started as a planner I got a part-time job at David’s Bridal where I fell in love with wedding dresses and the process of helping brides find their wedding dress. When the opportunity arose to purchase the small wedding planning business I was assisting with I jumped and a few years later opened the bridal shop with the dreams of being a one-stop-shop. Then came designing floral arrangements for weddings. I loved watching the design process of wedding florists and wanted to learn how to do it myself. 12 years later and now my role is none of what I first started doing and more as overseeing the entire business as a whole but time to time I roll up my sleeves and help out with big design installations and it is always a blast getting to be involved in the creative process.

I am most proud of being able to have found a strong team to help with the growth of Ivory & Beau. Without having a strong team the business would not be where it is today. Having the right people enabled me to spend almost an entire year working on the purchase of the building we are located in today. It has been a huge dream of mine for many years to be my own landlord and to be able to have achieved that dream is mind-blowing to me. The building is under a different company name, Tommie Dash LLC, named after my daughter, Tommie Nicole, born in Nov 2022 and my son, Dash, born in Jan 2021. Without having a strong team to keep the business running I would not have been able to step away and focus on bigger picture dreams while also being a mom to 2 beautiful little wild crazy children.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Starting out the business did not have an advertising budget or extra funds to spend on advertising. Additionally, we were extremely slow all the time. Social media was singlehandedly one of the most important tools I utilized to be able to grow the business and keep things going during difficult slow seasons starting out. My advice now may be outdated as when I was the person behind the camera this was 12 years ago… but I’ll give it anyway. Be authentic and keep showing up. Even when you don’t have business coming in, just keep putting yourself out there! I have always been very genuinely me and authentic to who I am on social media and it enabled customers to connect and feel like they knew the brand. I have made so many friends and connections on social media with customers and vendors even after the wedding. It’s such an incredible tool when used to be kind, authentic and real!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

COVID was one of the hardest things for a company that relies on people getting together for weddings and customers coming in the door. I had to lay off employees for a whole month during COVID and we had countless weddings cancel or reschedule while also having to close the bridal boutique doors to customers.

But we did not give up and 2020 was the first very profitable year for Ivory & Beau. We had virtual sample sales on Instagram, we came up with appointments where brides would “rent” the dresses and take home to try on, we kept showing up on social media every single day! It was a challenging year but showed me that with the mindset that… “there is a way” that you can really make it happen even during difficult times.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ivoryandbeau.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivoryandbeau/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ivoryandbeau
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolepugetsound/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ivoryandbeau

Image Credits

Alex Converse Photography