Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Dunne.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
After several years of working in the fashion retail industry, my work ethic and attention to detail led me down a path of visual display coordination for a well-known Fortune 500 company. The career opportunity as a Visual Coordinator fueled my innate passion for design. I began leveraging my professional experience to assist co-workers and friends in planning important events such as showers, birthdays, anniversaries and weddings. Ultimately, I fell in love with weddings as I was always a big fan of a good love story. I then decided to get certified and intern for high profile event planners in the LA area for years (and still do some pro bono work with certain planners to this day in order to further my knowledge and experience) and decided to begin the journey of starting my own company. It has been the best decision of my life! I absolutely love what I do and I love that its meaningful work as I get to work for some pretty amazing couples! As a nice added bonus, I have overall job satisfaction and work-life balance.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There will always be rough terrain on the way to success. My advice is to never give up! One of the most important things to know is the cost of doing business! Know your numbers, including but not limiting outgoing expenses, labor expense, marketing expense, tools, software, etc…This means know how to price your services or product. Get a true understanding of the hours you and your team are working. If you don’t know or are unsure, seek professional help and hire a business consultant, set a strong foundation from the beginning. Then get an understanding of who your ideal client is and advertise where he/she would be shopping. Track those leads to get a better understanding of your return on investment.
Always be flexible and learn from every experience whether it’s good or bad. Grow your network and think of it as a community rather than as competition. Share best practices with others as you can learn from them as well. Never stop educating yourself in what you specialize in. Attend workshops, seminars, select mentors that align with your vision and will be there for guidance. Lastly, always remember you are running a business and not an expensive hobby!
Please tell us about Weddings by Susan Dunne.
We are a boutique wedding planning company whose focus is around the quality of each event vs. the quantity. I only take on a limited number of weddings per year so that I can focus as much time and attention to those particular couples as possible. I prefer to think of our services as exclusive.
Our approach to wedding planning is to methodically help couples in selecting the right vendors who will carry out the overall vision. Project management and communication is key. I ensure all vendors are on the same page and are kept in the loop to ensure we have a seamless execution.
Our overall design of esthetics is timeless, elegant-romantic with a modern twist for our non-traditional and traditional couples.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
There are so many book out there that I love which have helped me as an entrepreneur an as a person! The list below are a few of my favorites:
Girl, Wash Your Face – Rachel Hollis
Girl, Stop Apologizing – Rachel Hollis
The Closers Survival Guide- Grant Cardone
If you are not First, You are Last – Grant Cardone
The Gift of Imperfection – Brene Brown
Rising Strong- Brene Brown
Contact Info:
- Website: www.weddingsbysusandunne.com
- Phone: 310.569.8579
- Email: susan@weddingsbysusandunne.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weddingsbysusandunne/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weddingsbysusandunne/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/susandunne_weds
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/w7420/
Image Credit:
Anya Kernes Photography
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
