We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tay Ogundele-Ajibulu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tay, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

At my last job, I started planning the annual holiday party and received a lot of recognition for turning around the reputation of the event. Later I was at a church event and got the motivation to “go for it!” I literally came up with the name and made an Instagram page right there… in church! It was actually very funny because I had a lot of people thinking the page was pretending to be me! I had to tell them, “No, it’s really me. Now follow back!” I really figured everything out on my own. I learned how to make my own website, business cards and how to market myself. YouTube is a great teacher haha. My business is now an LLC, and again I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I wanted to protect my passion.

Being such a social person has allowed me to make great connections everywhere I go. As a graduate of Morgan State University, networking is like second nature, I have built relationships with vendors of all trades. This has given me the skills to make any event one worth remembering. I am a young, educated black woman and I plan to inspire others with my brand, it is something I am very proud of!

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 story has been a long time coming you could say! Growing up in a family with a hotel business in Nigeria and a catering business here in the States has honestly given me years of local event planning experience. I have basically been doing this for free for as long as I can remember! My aunt is also an event planner and baker, I used to help her out when I was younger as well. I have always had a passion for helping plan parties for fun. Fast forward to present day I plan events of all kids from birthdays, to proposals, to weddings and baby showers. I also provide day-of-coordination for weddings. I’ve done 3 weddings this year with one more to go! I was even crazy enough to plan my own wedding just last year! I am currently still a one woman show but I definitely plan on expanding and hiring in the near future!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media is a beast of its own kind! It only works if you work it! To build a following you really have to follow current trends. Each social media platform is also different! On TikTok you figure out your niche and you find a way to make the current trending dance or sound relate to your business. On Instagram they really want you to mix the usage of reels and photos! Again you follow the trending sounds and use them to your benefit. My favorite sound is “everything is content, don’t forget to film it!” That song rings in my head during every event I have or when I’m prepping for an event. It really is important to record what you do at all steps you can repurpose the videos and pictures for different posts. You will always have something to share even during dry spells! Just go to your archives. Even if you don’t get enough traffic at first, people are paying attention! Consistency really does work with social media. Although my page only has 800 followers, it reached over 56k profiles in the last 30 days! That’s a lot of eyes! Making a business account separate from your personal account is also a great tip. Separate the two. The business page gives you analytics (data). Share your business page on your personal page so people are inclined to click the post and follow that page too!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

This has definitely been quite the journey. As any small business owner will tell you, it’s not easy to go into business for yourself. It’s a very self-motivated task! I started in 2019 and then COVID hit! So for months the world literally stopped! In business there are already some days where you wonder if people even notice you and all that you are doing. There will be dry spells with no clients and that can be very discouraging. A global pandemic will definitely heighten that! I had to get creative. I started to decorate for drive-by baby showers. Literally decorating drive ways of houses haha. I got masks that match the colors of my brand and got to work! You also find that the people who you think will support you may not. This is not something to get upset about as you will learn quickly, people you already know may not be your clients. In a services-based business, you need to be able to branch out! Also, when starting a new business, you are broke, you don’t have any money for the supplies you need. Going into business, you have to spend your own money to make money. You also have to learn to do things by yourself. In the beginning, you are your own marketing team, social media manager, and employee. I had to learn how to make my own website, business cards and create content for people to notice. All while working a full-time job and living a regular life… it’s a lot!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tizzleyourfancyevents.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tizzleyourfancyevents/ , @Tizzleyourfancyevents
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tizzleyourfancyevents/