Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Shah.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jasmine. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
When I was about ten, my parents were getting our house renovated. I remember coming home from school each day, propping myself on one of the worker’s ladders with my glass of milk and a snack, and just watching them for hours. Or until my mom asked me to start doing my homework at least!
It was fascinating to me how they could cut and chop and polish different materials to create different shapes, and how lovely our house looked after. Even though I’d always been the kid that loved to draw and paint, I think my obsession with design, and specifically interior design, started right then and there. I confidently proclaimed to my parents that I would become an interior designer. They thought it was a passing hobby.
Fast-forward to seven years later, I enrolled in design college. Four years after, I earned my interior design degree with the third-highest ranking in my class. I was pretty elated! I had done it!
During this time, I met my soul mate who became my husband right after I graduated. I moved to Atlanta GA with him and worked in the field of interior design for a few years. We made two super cute kids together 🙂
But something else happened in those years, I had discovered a love for entertaining. And I realized I had a burning passion to lead something. I wanted to lead a creative business that really had a heart of its own.
IDEA! event + style, a full-service event planning company, was born of that realization. I decided to combine my years of design experience, my love for entertaining and my passion for business. I live and breathe IDEA! and after my family, I put everything into this passion of mine. In these 8+ years of celebrating with wonderful clients (a lot of whom are good friends now!), I have also been fortunate to work with big names like Monica, Spanx, NBA/NFL players, Kate Aspen, Beech Nut Foods & many more!
In the middle of my event planning journey, I met my “business soulmate” Yana Kaszubska. Also an Atlanta mom, she has the heart of a friend you can depend on anytime, and the brain of an entrepreneur. We launched CRATED® together nearly three years ago, and have grown together as women and business owners. We design, manufacture and sell via retail/wholesale, our many collections of unique party supplies & party boxes. Our goal is to make party planning & decorations EASY for busy moms like ourselves!
There are some great things in store for both companies, and we are excited for 2019 to unfold!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As hard as it is, I try to think of struggles and challenges as “opportunities”. A positive word makes it somewhat easier to deal with!
Some of my initial opportunities were MARKETING. I’m a designer, a stylist, a visionary. I’m not a marketer. I had to get down to the wire and learn how to get myself out there! This included collaborating with other vendors in the events industry, networking with them, and building valuable relationships. I planned styled shoots to build my portfolio. In doing so, I learned what my own style was, and decided to stay true to it.
The most important thing that I believe I did was – define my ideal client. I gave her an imaginary name and personality, and I decided I wanted to work only with her. Because it wasn’t just about the paycheck, it was about enjoying what I did, and it was about my client enjoying the planning and celebrating process with me. If we got along well, and our personalities matched… we could make magic together. And we did, and still are!
Please tell us about IDEA! Event + Style.
IDEA! event + style is an event planning company – we plan and execute all kinds of events from birthday parties, to baby/bridal showers, to graduations, to social/corporate holiday parties, and more. We currently don’t offer weddings, simply because I believe Atlanta already has a great group of wedding planners to pick from, so I decided to create a different niche for myself!
We specialize in creating a really fun & beautiful experience for our clients and their guests. We bring their Pinterest boards to life! Over the years, we’ve designed celebrations many cool themes like pirates, superheroes, princesses, rockstars, Halloween parties, camping, unicorns, ponies… you name it, we’ve probably done it!
One of my steady goals with IDEA! is to always provide a pleasant and professional experience for my clients. No one likes to work with a stressed out planner, isn’t that why they hired one in the first place, to eliminate stress? I believe one of my unspoken and not-in-the-contract services is to be their listening ear, their patient partner, the person that will say “Don’t worry, I got it” every step of the way. Because I believe a mother that is celebrating her child’s first birthday should be doing just that – CELEBRATING the milestone of the first year. Not stressing over “What if the cake doesn’t get to the party on time?!”.
I firmly believe our level of personalized service, and our love for the modern/minimalist style of decor is what sets us apart. We never present set packages to our clients, each one is a custom project that is executed with love and passion.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have possibly looked into hiring a marketing expert, to grow faster and more aggressively. Instead, I chose to grow slowly and organically, which has been better for my family life. It also gave me the space and time to focus on my next venture CRATED®.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ideaeventstyle.com
- Phone: 4049330511
- Email: jasmine@ideaeventstyle.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ideaeventstyle
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ideaeventstyle
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/ideaeventstyle
- Other: www.pinterest.com/ideaeventstyle
Image Credit:
Brandi Inman, Amber Gossett, Michelle Stanislo, Cat Milanes, Kelly Santos
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