WOW!
I have never been big on “dates”. I barely even remember my own birthdate (old people problems lol) but as much as I encourage people to celebrate their wins and blessings, I would be a hypocrite to not celebrate my own success.
Every time I read blogs and snippets about small businesses, I always hear about the successes with a very small sentence about the losses. I know we aren’t “supposed” to harp on losses because we’re celebrating but why can’t we celebrate the loss too? Without loss, can we truly be successful?
Well, here are my losses AND successes in a nutshell. It is my hopes in sharing this that YOU will be encouraged to share and celebrate both loss and wins in your own life while also learning and growing from them all.
Minister Sharnise Sears (formerly Weddings By CPE) was officially launched on July 7th 2017 and we have served over 135 couples with weddings and premarital counseling since our launch.
2017: All gains, no loss..per se’. I did however, have a wedding fail were I overpromised and under delivered. Completely dropped the ball and overstepped my “Officiant” boundaries. I was even trying to design couples wedding “programs”. Way too much. All of my “advice” came from various Facebook groups so needless to say, not all advice was bad but good lord I needed perspective and real guidance. I did win Wedding Wires Couples Choice Award and that was pretty cool!
Lesson of the year: Girl, Slow Down.
2018: 49 Weddings. Chile…49! I was booked and busy doing the absolute most but missing my family and a very important piece to this business: EDUCATION. Honestly, I showed up and read a semi curated ceremony script and went about my way..essentially doing a job and not running a business with strategy or goals. This was realized early on so, by July of 2018, I was on the hunt for knowledge. I attended my first Wedding MBA and got all the info from various experts and was determined to be great. I found a mentor in the wedding business that continues to give me sound advice. I also connected with some amazing Officiants and wedding vendors that I could glean from. Goals were set by November and I decided to scale back for 2019. I DID win Wedding Wire’s Couples Choice Award again and was recognized by American Marriage Ministries in various blog posts.
Lesson of the year: Girl, it is okay to be your authentic self.
2019: Between weddings, elopements, and premarital counseling, I was FULL but still felt my brand hadn’t been established properly. I hired a marketing team without doing my due diligence in research and that didn’t work out too well. I paid for a lot of miscellaneous marketing things actually…none of which helped me with growing my business. I did however, hire a business coach and wrote down all of my goals that I am still slowly implementing. Long story short, I spent so much money in such a small amount of time with no ROI. I knew I was in trouble when I looked at my calendar for 2020 and didn’t see any weddings booked.
*Marriage Win & Fail* If you know me, you know I am BIG about happy and healthy marriages so here is my personal snippet on grace in marriage. It was always my desire to build something with my husband. He is also a Licensed Minister and I believed this would be an awesome business and ministry for both of us to build. When I tell you I HARASSED him to do this with me…please believe the struggle was real. But after much resistance and heartache about it, I was reminded about what our premarital counselor told us 7 years ago: “one of you have to learn how to speed it up and the other needs to slow it down”. Guess who needed to slow down? (slowly raises hand). I will continue to pray about us building something together but I will also let God lead the way in this area. I am grateful for a spouse that knows God and extends grace to me and my crazy ideas every single day. Swoon
At the end of 2019, I decided to practice what I preached. I set more goals (scary ones both personal and professional) and claimed 2020 as the year of discipline.
Lesson of the year: Girl, your help comes from the Lord.
The year of our Lord 2020: How fitting that a global pandemic would hit and MAKE us all more disciplined and focused!. With everything slowing down, Covid-19 ain’t stopped or slowed the love. I have booked more weddings, elopements, and premarital counseling with couples that want to hire me because of my skill and not just because I do “this". I have focused a lot more on building better relationships with my couples so that I can be a vessel and resource for them well after they say “I-do”. These awesome couples have allowed me into their homes and their mental spaces and trusted me with the most sacred moment of their lives. They’ve even referred me to their family and friends and that is the ultimate compliment imo. I have connected with Wedding “Friend-Dors”and built actual relationships with them and they have strengthened and gassed me up with blogs, referrals, likes, shares, and tags.
I ain’t spending no unnecessary money on my business but I will use my dollars wisely with my goals in mind. It’s only July and 2021 has me semi booked and busy and I am ready. SHE READY!!! (in my Tiffany Haddish voice).
This was a long read so I thank all of you that have a great attention span and have made it this far. I’d like to let you all know that I could not have done any of this without God…and the tribe he has blessed me with. I pray that you all are encouraged today.
Scripture for the year:
“To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.” Jude 1:1-2
XO, Minister Sharnise Sears
