We recently connected with Serena Merriman and have shared our conversation below.

Serena, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

In my twenties I worked in fashion, doing PR for a Parisian couture and ready to wear designer. My boss, Sydney Finch, lived in London and I worked out of the New York office. She flew in every few months for meetings and to work with me in person. I was completely in awe of her and the lessons she taught me remain with me to this day. In no particular order, here are the highlights of what I learned from her:

-Be charming! Syndey was and is an incredibly charming woman; she always greeted everyone from the janitor to the Editor of Elle with a big smile, a ‘good morning!’ or ‘how are you?!’ and she always asked personal questions and listened before getting into work related topics. Even if she was in a rush, she took the time to stop in and say hello to people and ask after their families or compliment them on their work. So often people forget the basic niceties at a workplace and everyone appreciated that Sydney took that time and considered everyone.

-Never ask an employee to do something you haven’t already done yourself: Sydney sat with me and showed me how to do press clippings on the floor of her office after work. I remember I had a friends birthday dinner to get to and she said, go ahead, I’ll finish up. She stayed in the office that night till 11pm, cutting and pasting the work that I should have done. I never forgot that.

-Phone calls over emails: Sydney called me on the phone every morning at the same time to go over what was needed for the day. She always started the call with a good morning and how are you and a few minutes of catch up instead of diving straight into business which I really loved. She always had me call all the editors on the phone rather than rely on email. So few people make phone calls these days and having that voice connection is more of an effort but goes further in creating and sustaining these relationships.

-Do your homework! Syndey always scheduled lunches and teas and coffees with editors to meet in person and build relationships. Before every meeting, she would make sure to read the latest issue of the magazine and any articles the editor had personally written or produced. That specificity and taking an interest in someone’s work goes such a long way. I remember every editor really appreciating that she paid attention to what they were doing – so often people’s work goes unrecognized.

-Bring me solutions, not problems!: Margaret Thatcher famously said these words and I try to live by them. The best thing an employee can do is bring the boss solutions when there is a problem instead of laying a problem at their feet for them to deal with. It shows leadership skills and creative thinking and responsibility. When I would go to Sydney with a problem she would always have me think through what we could do to solve it before offering a directive herself. It taught me how to take control and not feel helpless or panicked.

-Be thoughtful and kind: Sydney wrote me hand-written thank you notes when I gave her the smallest of gifts and she did this with everyone. There is nobody who doesnt appreciate a hand-written note.

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 parents were great entertainers and I grew up in a house full of adult dinner parties, holiday parties, lunches, get-togethers. All our friends wanted to come to our house because our parents were fun and knew how to host. I left my job as an event director for a social networking company when I was 6 months pregnant with my first child and started helping friends with their baby showers, birthdays, engagement parties. It was just a natural progression – something I really wanted to do with my time. When someone referred me to a stranger who wanted to hire me to do a dinner for 60 at their loft, I started my Instagram account, got an LLC and my business was born. My husband at the time told me to have a business plan, be much more thorough about it all but I just wanted to start and think about details later. Clients hire me for all sorts of events – small dinner parties at home, weddings, balls, galas. I specialize in smaller events – my favorite thing to do is work closely with a client on a celebration dinner in their home – and I do everything: I find the chef or caterer and work closely on creating a personal and special menu, I draw out all the floorplans, rent tabletop or buy items, the flowers, candles, paper items like menus and placecards and I hire the entertainment – music, magicians, dancers etc. Its a soup-to-nuts operation.
I work alone with freelance assistants and helpers for the day of the event and I designed the business this way intentionally – I want the creative planning experience to feel personal, where a client can always reach me directly and they know I am overseeing everything myself. When I worked with a planner for my own wedding, I was always relying on assistants to supervise or produce important details and the while thing felt very stressful and not cohesive, so I really want the experience of working with me to be the opposite of that.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think its important to be both proffessional and down-to-earth and relatable – I am always myself and at the end of the day, clients are going to be working closely with me for a significant period of time so they want to talk to someone they like and can be honest with but thats also going to give them clear opinions on what they recommend. I always stick up for my point of view and give clear direction on what I think will work, what looks good and what I don’t like. People are hiring someone who has ‘taste’ and knowledge from doing this over and over so you have to be confident about what you know and what you think.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had connected more with other women in my field earlier on. It’s so important, especially for women, to talk to each other about money, fees, resources, tips, advice. If I had known what other proffessionals in my industry were charging and how they were structuring proposals, what vendors they use, how they hire teams for work days, it would have been so helpful. I am always happy to give advice to anyone who asks me and I think so often we forget that – its as easy as asking! The more we share with each other, the more we all succeed. There is room for everyone and we should all be supporting one another!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.merrimanevents.com
• Instagram: @merriman_events

Image Credits
serena portrait: billy farrell viera-newton’s wedding: lucy cuneo others: serena merriman