We were lucky to catch up with Tara LeClaire recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tara , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Coming into this business alter in life, I feel I have had quite a few “purposes” over the years. After marrying my husband young, I became a mother at the age of 20 and then again at 23! My children will always be my true purpose and that is why for the first 15 years of their lives I stayed at jobs that were best fit for my family. Most of those jobs were in children services within the Air Force! I taught gymnastics for the youth program in North Dakota for 6 years as well as working with the recreational services department. My duties included special events on the base as well as all youth and recreational activities! After moving to Charleston one of my dear friends was getting married and needed someone to help manage the ceremony and bridal party at the reception! Since she knew my experience in managing events in the past she asked if I could help! I of course said yes and that is when I realized that weddings is something I may actually be good at! I started out slow with 2-4 wedding the first two years and then decided to quit my military job and I enrolled in The Culinary Institute of Charleston in the Hospitality program! With my children in high school they didn’t need me as much as before and as I was not getting any younger either! School was never a strength for me, personally I would have rather been doing anything else than studying or homework when I was younger, so to say I was nervous was an understatement!
Thanks to the wonderful teachers at CIC I was off to the races to learn all I could about the wedding industry and more importantly, the wedding industry in Charleston! The more I learned the more I grew to love this line of work and found out that I am actually pretty good at it! I am happy I found this passion later in my life as being a wedding planner requires a certain kind of personality. You have to be firm but not rude, organized but not over bearing. Its a fine line to keep everyone in order and happy that I learned from different things over the years as well as working with children and being a mom. Working for the military for so many years with strict rules and regulations I knew my next career path I wanted something fun and more in my control that would also allow me to make more time for my family! Now here I am 5 years later loving my job and my kids are now in college and work along side me!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am originally from Richmond Hill, Ga; a small town on the coast just outside of Savannah. I met my husband when I was 18 years old and quickly fell in love with my Airman from New York! We were married a year later and started our new adventure together! We lived in Warner Robins, Ga for a few years until the military moved us overseas to England! We then moved to North Dakota for 6 years and finally Charleston! Now here we are 13 years later, my husband is retired and owns a successful pressure washing business. My son is studying Aeronautics at Charleston Southern University and my daughter is at Trident Tech for Radiology! My children also help me with weddings and I love having them work alongside me!
Being on the coast one of my favorite hobbies is to be on the boat or any kind of activity on the water! I also love any type of musical and cheesy rom com movie! Being in my jammies watching a good movie is my idea of a perfect afternoon! I also take pride in my amazing team! Most of the coordinators and assistants on staff have been with me for years and we are all a big family! Together we do about 75 weddings a year! I am very fortunate to not have had to hire out for staff; they have all come to me! I could not do what I do, without all of them!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
If I had to pick 3 skills I would say organization, customer service, and patience! Patience being key in this industry. There are so many loose ends and people to manage and it all needs to be done in an efficient and polite way. Customer service is always important especially when things are out of our control. If you are polite to those you are helping or to those who are helping you, then you can get much more accomplished. It is outside of the 3 qualities I listed, but a big skill that you need for any business is computer skills! As someone who graduated high school before there was wifi, there has been a bit of a learning curve to keep up with the new systems and programs for efficient planning. Luckily, I have wonderful millennial staff who help me along the way!
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
My biggest area of growth has definitely been the administration side of things. As I mentioned it has been a learning curve to keep up with the technology side of making web sites, social media, floorplan software etc. It is something that I am constantly learning and trying to improve on daily! A few months ago I was able to remodel my home office so that I have an efficient and organized work environment! I also hired my first full time administrative assistant who is a life saver! The amazing Julie! I honestly do not know how I did it all on my own before and I am grateful to be able to delegate things so I have more time for family!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.taraleclaireweddings.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taraleclaire_chs/?hl=en
Image Credits
@palmsandplacesimagery @shelbystewartweddings
