We were lucky to catch up with Rachael Grijalva recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rachael , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

This is a fairly recent story but applies on so many levels to each and every one of my businesses, how I structure them, level up in them, and pursue more in my life.

I am a firm believer in positive energy and visualization. This is something I bring to my coaching sessions with my clients who want to level up their businesses. I take a walk almost every morning and do visualizing myself. I believe that once you have a strong visual goal in place, and the roadmap to get there you propel yourself there by not only following your steps, but letting go of control, visualizing your end goal, and allowing the universe to do what it does best, and create success in your life.

The perfect small example of this was recently I was invited to do a stylized editorial in Lenox Mass. by an amazing photographer. This was an editorial focused on fashion, dresses and creating a mood or feeling. Part of that feeling was a vintage car exit. I could clearly see in my mind the exact car I wanted. A vintage Mercedes convertible, black. It felt like it fit the style. Everything in this editorial was coming along so beautifully that we weren’t forcing, (getting permission from designer Monique Lhuillier to use their gowns for the shoot for example) but for some reason I was trying to force this car. I had my assistant calling about 40 different companies and car owners to no avail. Finally I let go and understood that the wheels were in motion for this editorial, the vibe was there already and we had pulled together a fantastic team! I took a walk the morning of the shoot and began visualizing the car again and the details of the day, when I rounded a corner, sitting outside a B&B was a vintage classic convertible Mercedes. I followed my instinct to ask the owners of the B&B if we could borrow the car for the shoot, they agreed, and we had an incredible element added to our editorial! It set the tone for the day of this ultimate kismet vibe. It was a moment of reminder to let go and let be what is meant to be and it will all work out. The owner of the car was the most incredible

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

My name is Rae Grijalva, I am the owner of 2 wedding brands, Taylor Rae Events, and Silk and Sabal, as well as a coaching business, Rae Nicole Coaching. I started my career in theatre as a stage manager, and while I loved it, events were truly capturing my heart. When I moved to Orlando I worked in a variety of different event fields. Festivals, concerts, corporate, venues, etc. It was while working at a venue that I found my passion in weddings, and wanted to create an elevated wedding experience for clients and their guests. I created my first wedding business when I was only 20 years old. Since that time I brought on a business partner (Taylor) and we built Taylor Rae Events to where it is today with design and coordination options for clients, as well as inhouse contracts with local resorts. During the pandemic I developed Silk and Sabal, my full planning experience for wedding clients. This was created for our clients who have a lifestyle that doesn’t lend them to have the time to dedicate to the planning process, but want to create the ultimate immersive experience for their guests during their wedding weekend. This brand was developed to focus not just on the wedding day, but the full weekend, and each guest interaction. I am most proud of how this brand has developed so vastly and quickly over the course of two years, and all of the incredible experiences it has brought into my life, including a full wedding weekend in Puerto Rico complete with dancing ballerina’s for the bridal entrance and the groom entering in on horseback!

Most recently I have developed my coaching brand for those looking to elevate themselves to their best level. I had been approached by many people wanting to explore opportunities to either pursue a new career in life, make a big move, or start their own business but not knowing what that looked like, where to start, how to get there, or what barriers to break through. I offer one on one coaching for my clients in aspects of their personal and professional lives to level up, let go, and create the life they dream.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Absolutely. I highly highly recomend Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz & Dan Kennedy

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

I think the largest pivoting point in my business, and in I’m sure in most, was during the pandemic. If you didn’t pivot, you were going to sink. Prior to the pandemic by business partner and I only had Taylor Rae Events, and we had just gotten our first shared working space/mini venue and were complete in the renovations. At the time I would say a lot of our business focus was on quantity of events but merging slowly into qualitative. When the pandemic hit everything was shifted on it’s head. During the pandemic the hardest hit for us was letting go of our shared space. We bought out our business partners, signed the release on the lease and closed up the doors. But, sometimes in business the best thing you can do is knowing when to let go and say no. While our company only had 1 cancellation from the pandemic and the rest full postponements, it was the post-pandemic that made us aware that there had to be a huge shift in how we did business. Attempting to maintain postponed weddings while booking new clients to keep our lights on essentially, created one of the most over inundated wedding seasons I think anyone had ever seen. I knew there had to be a shift in how we moved forward with our business. I developed Silk and Sabal with the intention on fewer but more impactful events. We knew that for the future of our business in particular we had to adjust our business away from a focus on quantity and into high impact and high level. It’s taken off and it’s been an incredible pivot to where we are today!

Contact Info:

• Website: taylorraeevents.com
• Instagram: @taylorraeevents / @silkandsabal
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rae-grijalva

Image Credits
Kristen Weaver Photography KWP Masters KT Crabb