We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Terricka Richard-Hayes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Terricka , thanks for joining us today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?
My business did not have a team in the beginning. I was the team. When I started Best Day Forever I didn’t have this big vision in mind. I also, didn’t know everything it took to run a business or even a wedding. I remember my first wedding I did I had to meet my bride at her hotel room, take the dog to the first look, take the dog back to the hotel room. I was so nervous because it was my first wedding and all I could think about was not to mess this up. I remembered the vision I had in mind for my clients and that was for them to have a great experience, so I asked my husband could he meet me at the ceremony venue to handle the guys for me and I stayed with the girls and did set up. I believe that’s when I realized I needed help and for someone to be with me every step of the way. My first year I managed to push out 20 weddings I was booking a wedding every other week. When it started to get like this, I had to call for help I asked my best friend to help me with my first few weddings and she did but we both have full time jobs and I didn’t want to pull her away from her work. I got a call one day from a lady wanting to book with me for her wedding. I told her I felt like she had everything under control, which she did before we hung up she asked if I was looking for help because she would love to get into weddings, she told me she does corporate event planning and wanted to start weddings. I thought to myself this was god sent because I needed help, I told her to contact me after her wedding so we can talk. I could believe it she did as soon as her wedding was over I got an email from her I sent her my current wedding booking and she picked up all the weddings she was available for. I got my first team member and within months we started taking business to the next level, Asha helped me create different ways to make the business run smoothly, she wanted to see Best Day Forever blossom into something amazing, I asked her to become my business’ partner. From that moment off our team started growing, I had a close friend/ old co worker who came aboard. After the team started to grow, we started assigning different roles. Best Day forever now consists of lead coordinators, assistant coordinators, and a sales and marketing coordinator.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Best Day Forever came to light during the midst of COVID. In the year 2020, I found myself planning my wedding. I’ve always loved events and the aspects that go into planning. I became infatuated with weddings. I had my wedding in July 2020 and if I could go back, I would change a lot of things I did on my special day. After my wedding, I thought, “What if I could be the reason, Couples have the Best Day Ever”? I talked it over with my husband and went into details about coordinating weddings he specifically told me to go for it and put myself out there, that’s exactly what I did. I started promoting myself and the next thing you know I booked my first wedding on October 15th, 2020 changed my life forever. My first wedding was amazing I was so nervous and I had no staff, I asked my husband to help me manage the men that day and that’s exactly what we did. I remember at the end of the day my bride told me that this would have been impossible without me. I was satisfied and I thought to myself again, I could do this! The weddings kept coming by the end of 2020, I already had booked 3 weddings, and my best friend came out to help me because remember I had no team at this point I wasn’t expecting this to become a big thing so soon. By the end of the year, I was already booking for 2021.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
In December 2020, I received a call from a lady named Asha, she was calling me about coordinating her wedding. Asha went into very specific details about her wedding and everything she had prepared. I told her I wasn’t going to take her money because she basically already did everything I would have done her timeline was complete and detailed, and Her vision for her day was clear! Before we got off the phone she asked me “How is it doing weddings”, she told me that she’s used to doing big corporate events and book signings and was looking into getting into weddings. I told her to give me a call after her wedding and we will talk more. I never thought I would hear from her again, two weeks after her wedding I got an email from her asking for a call to talk more about her coming aboard for weddings. We always look back at this moment and say, “God Did”. I had no idea he would set everything into place like this. Asha and I did our first wedding together in March 2021, that was the day the dynamic duo became one. Looking back from year one to year 3 best day forever has changed many lives, not only our clients but my whole team as well. I never thought in a million years I would have the opportunity to make such an impact on couples’ best day of their lives. Best Day Forever is not like other planning and coordination companies we build relationships with our clients, it’s more than just getting their money and doing a job. We take pride in making sure our couples have the Best Day that they can remember Forever!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
What helped build my reputation in within the market is just being myself and personal. I think Best Day Forever stands out because we are every personable. My team and I have one thing on our mind and that’s to make sure our clients have the absolute Best Day. I think we’ve done it all from printing out vows last minute, copying pictures that meant a lot to the couple, picking up Ice, meeting a cake vendor. I mean these are things that happens but you can’t let your clients stress right so what do we get it done!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bestdayforeveratl.com
- Instagram: bestdayforeveratl
Image Credits
Crystal Artis Taylor Handte Satterfield Savanna Sturkie Maekoi