Today we’d like to introduce you to Claire Williams.
Hi Claire, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I went to LSU, so all my friends married at a young age. After college, I started a side gig to get all my friends married. As I started planning and executing these large weddings, I fell in love with design and creating something new for each client. From there, I moved home to Austin and worked in the music production industry to learn more about events overall. That experience taught me so much about patience and juggling several things at once. In 2010, I moved to Chicago and worked for The Food Network as a Sales Executive for their digital media sales team. I met with owners and restauranteurs daily, which gave me experience in the service and hospitality industry. On the side, I worked for a catering company to learn more about that side of planning events and food and beverage operations. In 2014, my husband’s job moved us to Denver, CO, and I bought into a wedding planning franchise to expand on everything I had learned from there. Although a franchise, I built my business from the ground up and made a lot of connections resulting in success in the wedding and special events industry. That leads me back here today! I am back in Austin, TX, planning small events and weddings!
Please talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned. Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Planning events is not a “smooth road” industry. Primarily, the struggles have been handling cancellations, problem-solving, and keeping clients and their families happy. It’s fun, though! It takes sweat equity and a lot of time.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Weddings, special events, design, and relationship building; what sets me apart from everyone else is that I am extremely calm. My clients give me feedback at the end of every event, and what makes me most proud is that they all seem to say, “You are so chill. I never knew if anything was going wrong, and you made every effort to pay special attention to us on the most special day.” If my clients can walk into a room and see their vision come to life, plus some, I’ve done my job.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Speaking to anyone and everyone in the service/hospitality industry. Attending any events surrounding that industry helps too. I firmly believe in word-of-mouth business, and to do that, you need to have time to build those relationships and show them you’re not just another “planner” dropping off their information packet. You care about their business and have clients that would appreciate making their service or product show everything they have put into it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @sprucedevents
Image Credits
Rachel Havel Photography
