Meet Trailblazer Sarah Faulkner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Faulkner.

Sarah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I moved to Denver in 2009 after a post-college year of ski-bumming in Steamboat and couldn’t find an advertising job (or any job for that matter!), so decided to go back to school and earned a second bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising. I found myself in charge of every fashion show and fundraiser and got this crazy rush with each event so I thought maybe event planning could be a good field for me. Upon graduation from the program, I accepted a job as an unpaid intern at what was then the largest wedding planning in Colorado. In 13 months, I went from unpaid intern to the top planner on the team and was doing all of the high end and mountain weddings and loved it! I knew the plan was always to start my own event planning and design business so after 2.5 years there, I started Ever So Chic Events and, as they say, the rest is history!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
A few pieces of advice come to mind: create your own experience and know your worth! So many people complain that they want to break into the industry but don’t have experience and no one will hire them without any experience. Well, create experience! Help a non-profit throw a fundraiser, give up your nights and weekends to assist a planner you admire, join the Junior League and help them with events, be willing to work for little/no money knowing the experience is the value at first! That being said, once you are worth it, charge accordingly! I have so many friends who love being a wedding planner and love the industry and are fearful about pricing and asking for what they’re worth! If you don’t value your services, why should anyone else? I have always been a numbers person and I know how much work goes into each project and how much experience I have that makes me valuable and worth what I charge! I never apologize for my pricing and I never negotiate. But I work hard every day to demonstrate my worth to my clients!

At one point, before I started my business, my former boss restructured how she paid us and it was going to result in a huge pay cut. I went home and worked the math 10 different ways and was the first one in her office, thinking I was about to quit. She said she had to keep me and was making offers on the spot, but because I had done my homework and worked the numbers so many ways, I knew those scenarios wouldn’t work for me. Ultimately, she asked me to take 24 hours to “name my price.” I then got to propose what I needed to be happy. I was the first employee in 16 years to negotiate a salary plus commission structure (rather than strictly commission) and because I had done my homework, I was able to defend my position and how I could earn that and why I deserved it. She accepted my counter offer! I gained so much more valuable experience in that additional time working there before starting my company. I knew I was worth it and knew what I needed, and knew how to defend and prove my position. Also, know your strengths. If that isn’t something you are great at, then talk to a friend or a mentor who thinks that way and let them help you!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Ever So Chic Events – what should we know?
At Ever So Chic Events, we plan and design luxury Colorado weddings. Our focus is always exceptional customer service and incredible attention to detail which I feel like we can best achieve by limiting the number of weddings we are planning at any given time and bringing a huge team on the wedding day to pull it all together! Our design process is unique and our clients love it! We work with them to understand who they are and what they want for their wedding day. We then create an initial inspiration board and edit that until it is just right. Once they are fully in love with the vision, we then go behind the scenes and design a 50+ page design proposal for them. It shows them every single detail for their big day so they get to picture how everything will come together! I want each client to feel like they are the only person we are working with and the only wedding we are designing. Feeling special and tended to during your wedding planning process is so important!

We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
In the wedding planning world or just weddings, in general, there are mostly women and it is fantastic!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eversochicevents.com
• Phone: 423-595-7112
• Email: sarah@eversochicevents.com
• Instagram: @eversochicevents
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eversochicevents/
• Twitter: @eversochicevent

Image Credit:
Rachel Havel, June Cochran, Nate and Jenny Weddings, Autumn Cutaia, Amanda Kopp, Sarah Goss

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