Meet Jen So

We were lucky to catch up with Jen So recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jen, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

The development of my confidence and self-esteem came from years of hard work to constantly learn about myself, the industry I chose to dedicate my craft to, and by listening to how I can better support those around me. I found that when I was open to discovering more about my capabilities, practice empathy and being open to learning about the people around me (and their passions), it was easy to be confident because I had the knowledge and context to have something important to contribute at any given point in time. Knowledge truly is power, and that power propels the rise of self-esteem when you take what you’ve learned and harness it to connect with those around you. Always learning and always growing with one accomplishment at a time. I recommend embracing any discomfort because life is full of them and that’s simply positive change in motion.

I was fortunate to have a great mentor that was tough as nails and always pushed me to be prepared in any situation. Being mediocre was never enough. This not only helped me grow in my career, but it helped condition me to know that it was MY responsibility to do the prep work before stepping into any meeting and never expect to have anything handed to me. Besides, victory tastes so much better when you know you earned it.

Growing up as a young, 5’1”, first generation Asian American girl, I was habitually underestimated and often my opinion was disregarded even before conversations began. Desires assumed for me, and decisions made with the assumption that others knew what was best.

Over time, I learned how to not perceive being underestimated as a disability, but rather as an opportunity to exceed expectations. It’s all about perspective, and the more I viewed these moments as an opportunity versus threat, the more driven I was to do well at any goal I set my mind to. You must be your biggest advocate and you need to show up for yourself on the good days, but especially the hard ones.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself and how you got started with your company before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

After spontaneously having to jump in and execute a friend’s wedding day when their venue coordinator left the party, I was hooked for life and started my own wedding planning company in 2017. Organizing chaos, helping couples tell their story and caring for people have always been my calling and keeps me excited about my craft. I love being that rock for my clients. Most times when folks get engaged, they tend to be surrounded by many opinions and requests from friends and family, but our job is to take note of what our clients truly want deep down and help their vision come to fruition without them lifting a finger (besides their ring finger) on the day of.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Stay hungry for knowledge and keep learning: Walking into the industry with my art degree and hands on experience in the marketing world really helped me make sound decisions when starting my company. It allowed me to strategically problem solve for my clients on the daily, and I was able to utilize my experience of tools and software to develop processes internally and support my clients’ creative visions. Continue to stay on top of the latest tools and trends by reading, jumping into webinars, going to conferences and of course networking.

2. Focus on partnerships: Learn as much as you can about your peers and partners to be sensitive to their challenges and struggles. Figure out how you can be a solution for them and cultivate genuine friendships and relationships across your industry and network. It’s amazing how much you’ll find that you yourself grow by helping others and taking the time to hear their stories.

3. Speaking with brevity: I still struggle with this. I always have so much to share but I realized that speaking with too many words and too quickly makes you seem like you are nervous. If you take a moment to figure out how to speak with less words and with clarity, it helps you communicate effectively both personally and professionally.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client is one that trusts me.

I’m so grateful to have had such fantastic clients that not only understand the value our team brings to the table, but trusts us to deliver a fantastic day for them so they can be present with their loved ones on their wedding day. I love when my clients walk into the wedding week with big smiles knowing that we have their back, and that their only responsibility is to fully enjoy themselves as much as possible.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Alyssa Lizarraga Photo Christy Kendall Photography Lisette Gatliff Photography Ernesto Olivares Photography Matei Horvath Photography Warrior and The Gypsy

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