We were lucky to catch up with Kathy Bull recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kathy, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
That’s easy…from my father. He was always piddling with something and loved to stay busy. Early in life, he taught me that nothing in life is free and that you truly have to work for what you want. And I was always an organized child…not sure where that came from if I’m being honest. No one in my family is very organized; however, somehow I got that skill and it has suited me in more ways than I can explain. From laying out my clothes for school the night before, to finding the fastest path out of college, to the corporate world, and finally, as a small business owner, I’ve benefitted greatly from that skill. I think I’ll go ahead and give all that credit to my dad…after all, he did love to print and file everything.
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 started my life as an event planner with the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce in 2001. After I left the Chamber in 2007, I continued to work in Marketing & Events on the corporate side but it wasn’t until 2008 that I started thinking about stepping out on my own. It actually took an episode of Bridezillas to finally push me to make it happen. That particular episode focused on a bride that wasn’t a “bridezilla” at all, until all of the friends (and family) that she had assigned to help out on her big day, all bailed out on her at the end of the night. The worst part was watching the bride pick up trash while trying to hold her dress off the floor and crying…it broke my heart. It was then that I thought, “Okay, I can do this…I can help clients have the day they’ve dreamed about and do it without breaking the bank.” The basic foundational belief being that everyone deserves to have at least one day where it is about them and not anyone else. And with that, Plan It With Me was born in the summer of 2009.
Since 2009, I’ve been hard at work building the business, while still working a full-time day job. With the support of my husband Russell, and countless family and friends, we made the decision to take Plan It With Me full time, and I left my 16-year-old day job in July of this year. That was probably the hardest part…letting go of a full-time job with secure pay, benefits, insurance, 401K, etc., to take the plunge and just do it. It’s extremely scary, especially when you didn’t come from money, and aside from the savings we have, there was nothing else to fall back on. But I am oh so glad we did it and it’s been a fun learning process. Being organized and having an extensive background in the event industry, the “planner” part of building Plan It With Me came easy, but the business side did not. I’ve definitely put in the hours learning about how to build the business, make it sustainable, scaleable, and build it big enough that it would take over my day job. Every day I learn something new from the business side and with every event, there is a small nugget I take away of what to do better next time. I feel like as long as we are still learning, the clients are happy and our business is growing, we’re doing pretty well.
Over the last 14 years, the thing I’m most proud of is that I built this business by word-of-mouth alone. I have never purchased advertising to promote our methodology or to “sell” weddings. That tells me that not only are my clients happy with the work that we’ve done, but they are so happy, that they’re telling others, and those folks are hiring us too!
The biggest lesson I’ve learned (and still learning) is how to not get overly involved. Wedding planning is an extremely intimate business. You get deep into the family’s lives, their complexities, and finances…even when you are trying not to. It’s very hard to take on a client as “just a client”, and not the beginning of a new friendship, which many of them do turn into. At the end of every wedding, there’s a bit of sadness that you won’t talk, email, or text that person every day anymore. That’s the hardest part, letting your little bird fly off into their new life without you. Sounds silly but it’s true. I do think that’s a big part of our success…we care deeply, and people know it.
In the DFW area, we are fortunate to have an abundance of wonderful planners; however, I think we stand out in the industry because aside from being really great at what we do, we build true relationships, and heavily believe in the power of communication. One of our deepest principals behind our brand is communication. Brides, couples, moms, etc., are easily stressed out when they feel they aren’t receiving proper communication or when they feel like someone isn’t truly listening to their needs. We are extremely clear with communication, timeliness of responses, our intent, capabilities, and level of professional execution. I believe in being as honest and direct as we can, and if that means we aren’t the right fit for a particular client, we’ll tell them and often help find someone who is. But if you decide to Plan It With Me, and we take you on as a client, you’ll never feel like you are left alone to navigate the wedding process. We guide our clients 100% of the way. That means once you are a client, you can reach us by phone, text, or email pretty much any time we’re awake. We want you to have answers to your questions, someone to bounce ideas off of, someone to get direct input from and put all the pieces together so you can truly relax on your big day.
Lastly, I am super excited to announce that we have a new planner in East Texas who will be launching weddings in that area starting March of 2024. Visit “Who We Are” on our website to meet Kelley and reach out if you have a need in that area!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Response time, communication, and integrity. With the fast-paced environment we all live in, it’s become increasingly more difficult to be accountable, know how to effectively communicate, or do so quickly. You can learn how to run a business, you can learn how to “sell” but it’s extremely difficult for someone to have those three qualities, if those qualities don’t come naturally, but it can be done.
I had a wonderful mentor early in my life and that made all the difference. She was someone I could lean on for answers, bounce ideas off of, and learn the etiquette of how to properly work with a variety of people, in different settings.
Find someone who will mentor you and help hone your skills to bring out your best qualities. Learning from the generations before us is an invaluable tool.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
Biting the bullet and having the confidence to officially quit my “day job” to take the business on full-time. That was a tough decision but I’m already loving it. In just the last 6 months, we’ve had our biggest production event to date and booked half of our year already for 2024. I feel like I’ve run this business in the past without giving it my full attention. I’m excited to see where we go from here with 100% attention and dedication.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.planitwithme.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/planitwithme
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/planitwithme
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-b-77782434/
- Other: Wedding Wire: www.weddingwire.com/planitwithme The Knot: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/plan-it-with-me-plano-tx-2078449 TikTok: @weddingtips (www.tiktok.com/@weddingtips)
Image Credits
George Street Photography; Perez Photography; Stephanie Brazzle Photography; Valentina Vladi
