Tell us a little about yourself, your business & why you started it!

Hello! My name is Stephanie Jenssen, and I am a writer and graphic designer. I got into my business after realizing that I could charge people for my designs! Kidding haha, but when I realized that I could turn my designs into an income for myself I became much more serious. I am now developing a DIY design program, for bloggers and small business owners. I want to help people learn to make their branding as beautiful as possible, as well as have the tools and know how to update it themselves whenever they like!

What inspires & motivates you?

Everything around me is inspiring! I truly find everything inspiring, it might be a little weird now that I think of it! My family and friends are great motivators, but the thing that truly motivates me is the word "no". When people tell me that I can't do something or I can't achieve something, it sparks a flame. I believe that anything is possible if you have the confidence and drive to achieve it.

What has been your biggest accomplishment thus far in your journey?

My biggest accomplishment so far has been the fact that I'm running my own business. I don't know if you've seen it, Tangled? I see a bit of myself in Rapunzel. When I was younger I would keep to myself and was home-schooled, so I would do it all. Ballet, cooking, design, writing, singing, etc. If I couldn't do something at the time, I'd log it and keep it as a goal. Running my own business was the biggest goal, so I'm pretty happy that I've accomplished that! The next one (that I'm tackling currently!), is writing a book.

Happy Friday Lovelies! Todays Creative Chat is with the beautiful Becky Baker of Becky's Brides! Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how GORGEOUS her website is?! I have always been a sucker for pink and gold :)

Tell us a little about yourself, your business & why you started it!

After a couple of "wrong" turns in my career I decided that I really wanted to pursue entrepreneurship. I knew that I absolutely loved planning events from some experience I received in corporate event planning, so event planning seemed like the perfect choice. Almost 5 years ago, Becky's Brides was born, and I haven't looked back once. We are based in Birmingham, AL and plan and coordinate beautiful weddings throughout the Southeast.

What made you jump into the world of Wedding Planning?

Ever since elementary school I loved math and numbers. I loved it all through high school and college - so much so that I took math as my electives in college (nerd alert!). Because of this, I thought the obvious choice was to major in Accounting. Fast forward to getting a job in accounting and I absolutely HATED it. I hated being in an office doing the same things over and over again every month. I was really fortunate that I got to work on some major corporate events at the company I worked with, and that peaked my interest in the event planning world. A few lucky breaks and I was hooked. I decided to pursue wedding planning because weddings are way more fun than corporate events. :)

What is your favorite aspect of the wedding planning business?

Meeting with all different types of brides and helping them come up with unique ideas to make their wedding personal and completely represent themselves and their style.

What inspires & motivates you?

As cheesy as it sounds, my brides inspire and motivate me. I love getting to know each and every single one of my brides. I love learning about their likes and dislikes and helping them bring out their personalities in their weddings. I like making sure they feel special throughout the entire wedding planning process. They motivate to me to push myself to make sure that brides who plan their weddings with us will have the absolute best planning experience and a wedding that is a true representation of themselves.

What has been one of your struggles within your biz that you overcame?

Finding the right team and learning how to delegate has always be a major challenge for me. I'm fortunate to have found a wonderful marketing manager and event coordinator to join my team. She handles all of our social media, coordinates beautiful events, and in general is just a complete lifesaver. It's allowed me to focus on really doing what I love - planning beautiful weddings.

What has been your biggest accomplishment thus far in your journey?

My biggest accomplishment has been making this business a full-time career for myself. For several years I worked a full-time "day" job and spent all of my free time growing Becky's Brides. It was a scary leap, but taking that leap has been the most rewarding and satisfying experience, and has completely paid off.

If you could offer some advice to females wanting to start their own businesses what would it be?

Be yourself. Don't compare yourself to others. What works for others might not necessarily work for you. Be genuine and always stay true to yourself.

Anything else you would like to add?

I wake up every single day feeling like the luckiest person on this planet to be able to have a career doing something I genuinely love. My days are spent helping sweet girls plan the most exciting day of their lives so far - what could possibly be better than that?