We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Bryan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

When I first started the business, I relied on this concept a lot. I thought that I would be the person in the family that would throw all the parties and they would share it on social media and that’s how I would see initial growth.

None of that actually happened unfortunately. While family has been support in the labor aspect (me paying them to assist during weddings / events) on the “spreading the word” and social media support, it hasn’t shown fruit.

What I will say, is the times I am involved with events within my family and friend groups, I have always received compensation. No one has asked for services for free. I will say that is a blessing.

With all of that said, when you have a passion to start a business, it is “your baby”. I feel that not only myself, but a lot of initial business owners will use “non-family/friend support” as an attack on themselves. When you use a victim mentality it can not only destroy relationships but also not be an aide in building your business.

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?

My name is Sarah, and my husband and I started an Event Planning company (B. Inspired Events) in 2023.
I initially was trying to find my passion, because out of high school I enrolled into a Cosmetology program and after completing, realized it was not for me.

In 2019, we had our first baby and because of the pandemic, I ended up falling into virtually working with a freight forwarding company and being a stay at home mom. After a lot of prayers and soul searching, I realized that I have immense joy when I plan events for people. There is so much that goes into planning and I love every aspect. From budgeting, getting quotes, vendor interfacing / building connections, I loved it all.

In a way, I feel that it was tied into Cosmetology (being that those services are needed for weddings), but planning was the bigger picture.

So my first order of business that God put on my heart was to reach out to other planning companies and offer my labor services for free, in order to gain on the job experience. I had planned events for family/friends, but what does it look like to be paid to do it for a stranger?

Believe it or not, I found it hard to find planners willing to bring me on with the ultimate goal of me owning my own business in the end. But for others reading, it is possible! Don’t give up. There are people out there that know the truth… that there is business for everyone, so there is no need for gatekeeping.

Long story short, that started in 2021 and my mentor really poured into me. My first year (2023-2024) majority of our business came from referrals from my mentor. When she did not have the capacity to take on an event, she passed it on to me, and then we were able to grow word of mouth.

What I want people to know most about our business, is that, I don’t claim to “know it all”. What I have seen in this business is that other planners tend to push what they think is most efficient, rather than what the client wants. When it is a wedding, the clients want a good flow of events, but typically want to add their personal touches, and I have witnessed push back to keep it “cookie cutter” for optimal efficiency.
The stance I take on it is, it is the couple’s wedding day and I am HIRED to make sure everything goes according to how they envisioned. Of course I will give suggestion, but I also let them know, even though this is what typically happens, it is your day, and it can be changed in any which way. Or we toss it all and start from scratch :)

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As I said before, I started this business while also holding onto a virtual billing position during the pandemic. But the ultimate goal was to quit my 9-5 and run the Event Planning business full time.

But my husband and I also had financial goals and renovations projects at home that required me to hold onto something stable.

Without getting too much into the weeds, there was an opportunity for our business to start selling florals as an optional add on, and even to sell arrangements in a small boutique store. My husband was not a fan of this idea, but in my mind, it was going to get me out of corporate America. I pushed the envelope for Valentine’s Day at the boutique without my husbands support. That got me into a lot of trouble. First, I relied on my thoughts, without praying and getting God’s insight, but also leaving out my husband & business partner because I thought I knew better.

All of that to say, it was forced, a flop, and we lost some money. I realized, you can’t put the cart before the horse, and there is something special in watching your business grow naturally and slowly. We were able to keep doing florals on the side for the business on a case by case basis, but the boutique store ended up flopping.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Event Planning is really service based, so the great thing about it was it didn’t take much capital. Once I got a contract, I would use the profit to purchase things like online contract services, a floorplan subscription, a Google domain, etc..

When you are in the business to “serve” I think inevitably, you can make money, especially if making money isn’t your first concern. It is an important factor for sure, but when your passion outweighs your desire for money, there is no way you won’t be successful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.binspiredevents.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/b.inspiredevents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/binspiredevents/?notif_id=1754160537073386&notif_t=page_user_activity&ref=notif
• Other: Google: https://share.google/abChPksR3DySDNUlN

Image Credits

Maggie Gilbert Photography