We recently connected with Tatum Picha and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tatum, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Growing up I played a lot of sports and tried to involve myself in a lot of activities. I played volleyball, basketball and track in high school and went on to play college basketball. I finished my B.A. Degree and went on to compete for Miss Washington USA getting first runner up. Since then I am a wife and a mom of 3 boys and I have started my own wedding planning business. I have always enjoyed having my hand in many areas of life that I enjoy including being involved with my community, teaching American sign language, coaching volleyball summer camps, and being a large part of my families life where I am a work from home mom and have recently started homeschooling our oldest. Working hard brings me joy. Seeing the fruit of my hard work, brings me joy. I am a big advocate for doing things that bring you joy and trying new things. Life isn’t meant to just go through the motions, it’s meant to be lived full and abundantly. All the activities I was involved in growing up, both team related and individual showed me that working hard towards a goal can bring about so much joy in the end and hopefully you can find joy in the process as well. I was a wedding planner for 7 years before starting my own business and it’s important for me to find a good balance of work and personal time in my life. Working hard doesn’t always mean at a job, it could be at a goal both big and small, at a personal growth or maybe at a hobby. When you put yourself in situations to grow and get comfortable, that is when growth happens.
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 wedding planner that loves to bring joy to the planning process and comfort and ease on the wedding day. We offer anything from day of coordination to full service wedding planning. We are based in the PNW but travel wherever love will take us having experience from coast to coast as well as internationally. I believe that each couple is unique and is allowed to create the wedding that represents who they are not what they feel their day needs to be based on other people’s expectations or even previous traditions. I absolutely love my job, whether I am doing full service, partial planning or day of coordination, each couple is special to me and I am always honored when they choose me to be a part of their wedding day. This is one of the most important days of someone’s life and I get to be there from start to finish, how cool is that! Weddings are full of emotions, anxiousness for the day, excitement, happiness, joy, sometimes with tears and of course love. Getting to help couples navigate their day with timeline details, choosing vendors, picking out colors and design and even the emotional elements, is something I don’t take for granted. My team and I really focus on serving and loving our couples as best as possible based on each of their needs and desires. I recently expanded my team with a new planner as well as a content creator for couples to hire if they are looking for someone to capture their day in a whole new way. Tapping into the modern day culture of reels and TikToks, we provide content and reels withing 48 hours for couples to share on their social platforms. It’s been a hit so far!
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?
Something that sets myself and my team apart is our joy. There are a lot of good planners out there that are timely and have great design skills but if they bring negative energy on the day of or come across as stressed or even rude, can be a big turn off. It is very rare to not see me without a smile on my face and I think this makes a big impact on the wedding day to everyone there. One piece of advice I have, which may sound silly, but practice smiling! Smile while you talk. Work your cheek and face muscles and train yourself to smile frequently. It can make the world of a difference. A couple other qualities I think are important are organization and people skills. There are A LOT of moving parts on a wedding day and having things organized is extremely beneficial to the flow of the day. Having good people skills is also key because not only are you interacting with guests and potential future leads but also working well with vendors, being kind and genuine with them is important in your growth in your company. More than that, it makes your job a lot more fun when others enjoy your presence. You learn a lot on the job and I think it is extremely important to shadow someone before jumping right in. The wedding industry seems very glamorous and while it is a ton of fun, it’s not for everyone. There are a lot of behind the scenes jobs that are hard work and exhausting both emotionally and physically. Being prepared with that is helpful!
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
Being a working from home mom with currently 3 boys, being involved in my community, being a wife and building a successful business can be a lot. Finding the right balance is very important to me and I feel like I have found a good groove. One challenge I currently have is knowing how quickly to expand. I added a new planner a lot sooner than I thought and things truly just fell into place. I am letting the Lord lead the way in this and trusting His timing. Sometimes I want to run full steam ahead and grow drastically overnight and other times I remind myself that what I have is exactly what I need right now. My husband is a business man and we have a lot of helpful conversations navigating our lives personally and professionally. I am so thankful for him and the leadership he has for our family and the encouragement he gives to me with my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.planningtoaTbyTatum.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/planning.to.a.t
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555682794654
Image Credits
Michael Dorgan
Pickles Photography
O’ryan Empire
Red Letter Days Photography
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
