Meet Swanda Smith

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Swanda Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Swanda, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

It has always been my personality to be a giver and not a taker. My mom and dad were givers too they would allow family members to come and stay with us, provide food, transportation or anything someone needed. So you can say it is a natural personality trait that I have. Once, I got saved and began my relationship with Christ I understood why giving comes to me naturally. The Bible tells us, “To give and it shall be given unto us in good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.” It gives me joy to be able to give to someone not just because they are in need but because it makes me smile to be able to give to them regardless if they need it or not. I don’t care about anyone else knowing that I gave but as long as God sees it that is all that matters to me. We get our blessings by giving.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am a wife of 16 years this month and a mother of two beautiful children: 9 year old son and 1 year old daughter. My children give me joy and are my reason why I go so hard in life so that they can have a better life than what I had. I am a Minister under the leadership of my Pastor Deon Britton & Lady Elect DeBette Draper-Britton at the Rising Star Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. I live my life on faith. FAITH IS ALL I HAVE! Even in the face of adversity and being told no my faith says yes! Every avenue of my life was because of my faith that God could do it and He did it. I am a positive and optimistic person that always believe that there is a blessing in every situation. God is and will always be the head of my life. I love God. I try to be a positive influence to others through conversation, prayer, time and love. Also, I am the proud owner of Five-Eighteen Events & Catering LLC where we provide all your event planning and catering needs from small to large. The name itself has a heartfelt meaning. My mom passed on May 18, 2010 and I wanted to do something that honored her and allowed her legacy to go on but I did not know what. The idea of this business derived from when my husband and I were preparing to renew our wedding vows. The stress of having to do everything gave me the bright idea that I wanted to be an affordable wedding planner for individuals on a budget. So Five-Eighteen Events & Catering LLC started off as 518 Sophisticated Event Planning & Design. In 2020, I rebranded the business to Five-Eighteen Events & Catering LLC. The catering part derived from my passion and love for cooking. When I am in the kitchen cooking it is my safe place, my happy place and what I consider my special gift. So I decided to add the catering piece to the business and the new brand and obtained my food handlers license. Additionally, we offer custom t-shirts, sweat shirts and much more custom items. We offer every aspect of the planning of any event; to name a few balloon arches, mosaic numbers, food tasting, event coordination and the ability to take the stress of planning off of our customers. We back our motto: “Providing an extraordinary experience one event at a time!” In the coming months I intend on being a full time entrepreneur and pray that the business expands above anything that I can imagine.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Faith
Faith, believing that no matter what I ask God for He will come through.

Determination
Determination has to be one of your focus areas because you have to be determined not to fail and if you fail you have to be determined to get back up and try it again. Our determination fuels us to go on despite what the circumstances around us say we have to be determined.

Open Minded
You have to be open minded because things are going to change and you have to be open minded to evolving. You have to want to be better than who you were previously.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

Currently, the particular challenge that I am facing is spreading the word of my business. While I have social media platforms and I try to remain active I still need those that have supported by business to tell others or recommend us to others. I want Five-Eighteen Events & Catering LLC to be the first to come to mind when someone is in need of event planning and catering.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Five_eighteen_eventsandcaterin
• Facebook: Five-Eighteen Events & Catering

Image Credits

Photo credits to Melissa Anderson and Rising Start Baptist Church