We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Wang recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
This traces back to 2014 when I was still working as the COO of a jewelry company. At the time I was pretty involved in the entertainment industry in the Chinese community in my region. I was singing at music venues, and events, and also teaching singing on the side as music is my passion. I have been thinking about possibly going into music full time either as a performer or an instructor or both, but to be honest I don’t think the income was enough to justify this shift.
One night, I was praying and reading my Bible and I came across the Parable of the Talents, which talked about God encouraging us to utilize the resource He gave us. Right after I read the story I asked God what are the “talents” He gave me, and I was reminded right away of all the weddings I’ve sang at. I thought that meant for me to start my own singing business therefore I asked God for a business name, and the name “My Wedding Songbird” just popped into my head right away. I googled the domain, the social media handle, and the Gmail account with this name right away and none were taken, so I quickly registered this name on all the platforms I could think of. That’s how the name of my company was born.
Sarah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As I previously shared, I first got the idea of starting my business from a Bible story. The mission of my business is to glorify God in all we do to serve and love others as well as ourselves. As of now, I have been a full-time wedding planner for about 8 years. I have tried to plan and work with different types of events and clientele, but what stuck with me and has been most successful is our niche of Chinese-American weddings. Since I was born in Taiwan and moved to the US when I was 11 years old, I am fluent in both Mandarin and English. Because I grew up in both countries, I am familiar with both cultures. I was able to use my language and cultural advantages to bless and serve my clients and their families. Oftentimes our clients look for planners who not only can communicate with their families in Chinese, but also need someone who is familiar with the traditional Chinese tea ceremony, door game, attire etiquette, reception traditions, and more. We often get clients reaching out to us after they already booked a planner or coordinator telling us they wish they found us earlier. We offer not only designing, planning, and coordination services, but also bilingual officiating, MC, and tea ceremony services. When I build my team, which consists of around 10 wonderful ladies, I look for someone who is ideally also faith-based, enjoys helping others, is detail-oriented, and also speaks a second language such as Mandarin, Cantonese, or Vietnamese. We always put in 120% effort to create the most magical and awesome day for our couples and their guests to make them all feel extra special and taken care of. This is what I want our brand to feel like to others.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
My favorite marketing story has to be when I did a styled shoot in Bali, Indonesia back in 2017. Long story short, I had an opportunity to go to Bali on a free flight right after I experienced a breakup and I actually had to be on the same flight as him. You can imagine how anxious I was to be on that flight. However, I told myself, this is still an opportunity that God gave me so I should fully utilize it. I started posting on social media and asking around if anyone knew anyone in the wedding industry in Bali, and one of my friends connected me with a planner in Bali. She was so sweet and invited me to stay at her place with her family for the entire duration of my visit there. I told her about the styled shoot idea and it’s all new to them. I supposed they don’t really do styled shoots in Bali. She and her husband, who’s a photographer, were able to help pull a few strings to help me make the styled shoot happen. I also contacted a few local vendors myself to invite them to be a part of the shoot and also set up in-person meetings with them. I was probably in Bali for only about 4 days but we were able to do a full-on styled shoot with a beautiful venue, models, gowns, makeup/hair, photo, cake, decors and rentals, florals, and all. I was also able to assist and be a part of 2 other weddings with my planner friend and the makeup artist I met there. It was an amazing experience and even though the styled shoot didn’t get published, from the photos I posted I actually booked an actual client and helped them plan an amazing wedding in Bali! The moral of the story is, that everything happens for a reason, don’t overlook even the slightest opportunity presented to you, as it could bring you somewhere you’ve never dreamt of and meet people who’ll forever change your life. This amazing planner friend in Bali passed away in 2020 due to lung cancer, and I wanted to give her a tribute here for the warmth, joy, hospitality, and passion she’s unconditionally shown me. I miss her and I will carry her sweet bright light with me wherever I go!
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I am in an accountability group that meets weekly and we share resources with each other all the time. Here are some of the most amazing books I’ve read and applied to my business and my routine/lifestyle.
1. “Traction” by Gino Wickman – If you’re running an organization larger than 3-5 and planning to expand into a large corporation, this book provides a very thorough system that you can use and modify accordingly. I would highly recommend getting the physical book as there are tons of useful charts.
2. “Profit First” by Mike Michalowicz – This book teaches you how to manage your business finances in a very practical way. Instead of collecting the remaining revenue as your profit, you’ll put away a specific percentage each time you receive a paycheck. Again, I recommend the physical book as there are also a bunch of charts in there.
3. “The 5AM Club” by Robin Sharma – Different from the first two books which provide a lot of practical structures, processes, and systems that you can follow and adapt to your business, this one is strictly about your mindset and brainpower. I’ve probably read this book about 3 times now and it always motivates and centers me to own my morning and elevate my life.
4. “Eat that Frog!” by Brian Tracy – This is a very short and sweet read explaining the concept of doing the task that you’re dreading the most first, which is probably one of the most simple yet helpful tips I use every day.
5. “At Your Best” by Carey Nieuwhof – Similar to “Eat that Frog!” it’s also a short and easy read that explains how you should manage your daily to-do list according to your energy level, which I thought was brilliant.
There are many more and I’m also constantly reading new/old books to keep myself from being lazy, which is where I naturally default to. Putting healthy content in our minds is just as important as putting healthy food in our bodies. Let’s all be healthy in our mind, body, and spirit!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://myweddingsongbird.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myweddingsongbird/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myweddingsongbird/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/myweddingsongbird
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/myweddingsongbd
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@myweddingsongbird
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/my-wedding-songbird-arcadia
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/myweddingsongbird/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@myweddingsongbird The Knot: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/my-wedding-songbird-arcadia-ca-1059931 Wedding Wire: https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/my-wedding-songbird-arcadia/d97ba37641a22c79.html
Image Credits
Apollo Fotografie Jake Choi Photography Xo and Fetti Photography Joyce Choi Photography