We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shauna Pointer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Shauna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
One of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken was betting on myself. Could I rise to the challenge when the going gets tough? Or be able to make a living working for myself? Entrepreneurship and small business ownership is not for the weak. As an entrepreneur, we are building something that has growth potential, adds value to our community, and ultimately reaps the rewards of the investment of time and ideas. However, I commend small business owners more than anything. Creating longevity, hiring and managing a team, withstanding change, pivoting when needed, and providing a stable and reliable environment for our staff and clients is the ultimate test in succeeding long term. Starting out as a newlywed college student almost 19 years ago with no career ideas in sight, I reconnected with a former employer who shared this business idea with me. And with not a lot of experience, business classes under my belt, or hardly any money as poor college students, I quit my job and jumped right in. Learning as I go, implementing what I learned from business school on a daily basis, and trying new ideas/concepts to see what stuck was my day-to-day operation. Then, 3 years later, we hired our first employee and my husband quit his job to also come work in the business alongside me!
One of our biggest challenges to date have been persevering through a pandemic when the world stopped completely when it came to hosting weddings, and thereby affecting all of our clients (wedding vendors). Without the need to promote their services during this time, our team pivoted and focused on what was to come when we came out on the other side of this season. We took another risk with expanding into another market – Colorado! Not only did our team’s downtime from the normal hustle and bustle of our regular operations give us the time to research and invest into Colorado, but now we have a new sustainable business model moving forward that’s allowed our small team to grow and prosper from afar when we would’ve never thought of doing so.
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?
In 2006, my husband and I took the leap and started our first business venture as newlyweds that has turned out to be a lifelong passion right smack in the middle of the wedding world. Originally starting out as a Perfect Wedding Guide licensee, we have recently progressed into our own entity (AKA 4th child) and re-branded as the Wedding Collective New Mexico in February 2020.
We think of the Wedding Collective as a voice and outlet for small, local entrepreneurs to share their talent, passions, and services with the wedding community. Whether you’re a top veteran with weddings or a starry eyed first timer, we’re here to help showcase your talent and attract your ideal engaged couples. We have a love for local-to-New Mexico small businesses and measure our success with the success we see in others that we feature and serve. We continue to carve our own path in the pursuit of fostering connections authentically between our local wedding community and engaged couples with love and strong marriages on the forefront.
We love to celebrate the beauty that brings others to the “Land of Enchantment” and continue to build up New Mexico entrepreneurs and their pursuit of their own version of the American Dream.
Serving others and continually learning and growing is who we are at the core. We are a small, but impactful team of agile creatives, who together can make decisions without corporate approval. While larger publishers and digital marketers may be prone to following the mainstream, we delight in the risk of uncharted territory and the innovative path. At the end of the day our mission is simple: to create an original and uber-cool inspirational collection, both print and digital for the brides and grooms, and to shine a light on New Mexico’s top talent – those who are as keen to make a mark in this world as we are.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
One of the things that I truly value with our client relationships is trust, loyalty, and consistency. I feel that follow through, providing the results that we promise, and taking care of the relationships and clients that have been with us through thick and thin will always be on the forefront. Even if our team or our company is not perfect in everything that we do, we strive to always work hard for those that we serve. We know our clients can count on us, be communicative, and always looking ahead at some of the best trends and developments in the wedding industry to keep us and our clients relevant.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I’ll never forget the time I had to fire my first employee back in 2015. I racked my brain thinking maybe we just don’t jive together, maybe they weren’t meant for this role, or maybe I’m nitpicking little things that can be fixed with better coaching. Then came a complaint from a longtime client that came to me with honesty, a dishonest incident that happened on a work trip from a fellow team member, emails that berated me as the boss to their husband, and misuse of our company credit card. I lost sleep. I practiced what I was going to say to her outloud with my husband for when I called her into my office. I knew if I didn’t do the right thing for the company by letting her go, then it would hold us back along with our integrity. So I made the moment happen and ripped off the band-aid. A wave of relief came over the team, we pushed forward with new ideas and a new outlook on how we viewed that role while being more thoughtful with our hiring practices based upon attitude and integrity over experience and skill set. In 19 years, we’ve only had to truly let 4 employees go for various reasons…and every time I keep remembering what an old colleague used to say “slow to hire, quick to fire” and be resilient when the time comes.
Contact Info:
- Website: weddingcollectivenm.com, weddingcollectiveco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weddingcollective.nm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weddingcollectivenm/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weddingcollectivenm
- Twitter: @pwgnm
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/pwgnm
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wedding-collective-albuquerque
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@weddingcollectivenm
https://www.pinterest.com/weddingcollectivenm
Image Credits
Photography by Luna del Sol Creative, Jaqueline Vega Photography and Stephany Taylor Photography