Meet Ashley Schmick

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Schmick a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
Key moments of my life had to happen for me to be on the path to finding my life purpose. I got married in 2014, started a wedding planning business in 2015, had my son in 2016, overcame severe PPD/PPA, chose to not drink alcohol in 2019, and my mom died in 2021, on top of filing for divorce in 2022. Every single part of those life events was such a pivotal moment for me to grow into who I am today. If I didn’t get married, I wouldn’t have started a wedding planning business, if I didn’t have my son, I wouldn’t have overcome and experienced the lows of PPD, my mom had to die for me to step back and stop micro-managing my employees, and then the divorce only propelled me to live my life to the fullest. I found grief therapy in flowers, which lead me to start our sister brand, a wedding floral design company and then ever since then things just kept falling into place. I still think my mom is always pushing me to the next level, even with her on the other side.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
After coming together as a team we were able to successfully execute 64 weddings postponed from COVID which is where we all came together as a team. I felt confident allowing all of my employees to take the lead on future bookings, which helped alleviate the grief of such an unexpected loss. It also pushed me to exploring flowers which is where I found the most healing during the loss of my mother. Quickly we turned into a wedding planning and floral design company, with our own floral studio operating out of Dripping Springs. The only thing I can say that makes our job and what we do special is that we get the pleasure of being there on the ‘best day’ of everyone’s life and you can feel that in the energy in every single room of every single wedding.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Stop micro-managing: let go and trust the process. I have only ever hired based on intuition, which means I have a lot of trust in the people that work for me. The business can’t grow, they can’t grow, until they have enough power to take their skills and show what they’re made of. Letting them take the lead saved me from my mental health, but grew the business to exponential levels.

Presence. There is so much on the internet today for resources, so you need to stay on top of ALL of it. Create your brand and make it be known on as many platforms as possible. Make sure you stay up to date on every single one of them – I mean Instagram, Facebook, Threads, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, Vimeo; being relevant is what will make your brand be seen and grow.

HIRE PROFESSIONALS! I thought I was able to juggle every ball until I had them all up in the air. Having a professional CPA was a GAME-CHANGER. If you want an amazing website, hire a web designer. If you want to be seen, invest in someone who does SEO. These people charge what they are worth and there is SO much value in them.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
I don’t think we have an ‘ideal’ client, but we focus really hard on our experience and what we bring to the table in the wedding planning industry. We want to hear from our clients. We want to get to know them. We have spent A LOT of time figuring out how to run the business to create an stress-free experience, while getting the information we need to create their dream day. Communication is key. We want to be able to get to know them well enough that we can make sure that their wedding day is a reflection of who they are as a couple. As long as they are trusting us, our process, answering the questions we need, then the rest just flows in place. We want our clients to feel valued. When they trust us, the stress goes away. We do a lot of research, creating a ton of resources for blogs, social media, and helping clients understand the wedding industry as a luxury and why it is important to pay the rate that vendors charge. Weddings are an art. When we feel trusted, we are able to let go and have full creativity to bring their vision to life. As long as they understand it’s a collaborative experience and we aren’t there to barter with others, we will show them why it is worth paying what they are worth. You really ‘get what you pay for,’ and if something sounds too good to be true – it is. You can see our reviews and why we have the best relationships with vendors and offer some of the best recommendations. Most people get married once in their life, we get to experience it 50+ times a year, so we really know who to trust.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Tay Danay Photography Vanessa Joy Photography Curation Studios

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