Do you want to turn your creative passion into a sustainable business? That’s what my guest, Keisha Scott, did with K Scott Weddings. Keisha is a multicultural wedding architect who has been planning gorgeous weddings for 12 years. You’re going to learn so much from her creating a strong foundation in the wedding industry.
The Branded by Bernel Podcast is brought to you by Bernel Westbrook, lead designer and founder of Branded by Bernel, a design studio dedicated to building strong brands and Showit websites for creative entrepreneurs.
Make sure you’ve hit that follow or subscribe button on your favorite podcast player to get notified each week as we air new episodes!
Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Player
Apple Podcast App | Spotify | Amazon | Google Podcast
Keisha was born in Jamaica and was expected to become a lawyer or doctor. She went to school for medicine but knew it wasn’t for her, so she switched her major to psychology. After college, she went to nursing school and worked as a nurse for a few years. During that time, she planned her own wedding and the wedding of a coworker. After those experiences, she knew she was in love with wedding planning and had to find a way to do it full-time.
When Keisha was first starting out as a wedding planner, she moved from Connecticut to North Carolina and didn’t know anyone in the industry. She joined a networking group and met photographers, bakers, venue coordinators, and other vendors in the industry. The group was collaborative and the members wanted to help each other out, which helped Keisha get her foot in the door in the local industry.
Today, Keisha continues to network by going to conferences and joining Clubhouse rooms.
At the beginning of her business, Keisha had a hard time connecting with mentors in the multicultural wedding planning industry. She relied on research and her own experiences to figure out what she knows now. Today, Keisha wants to elevate the whole industry, which is why she offers online coaching to wedding professionals. Her sessions help new business owners strategize and build a solid foundation for their business in the wedding industry.
“Knowledge is power. The more that I know, the more that I can inform my client.” -Keisha Scott
After 12 years as a multicultural wedding planner, Keisha has learned the importance of clear communication with clients. In the beginning, she found herself over-promising more than she could handle. Now, Keisha prioritizes transparency with her clients so that they know exactly what to expect from her services. When you’re in the wedding industry, it’s easy to over-promise because you want to make your client’s dreams come true, so it’s important to get clear about what you can and cannot do to maintain client satisfaction.
Set actionable goals. To keep your business plan on track, check in with your goals monthly and quarterly. Write out individual action items to help you progress towards your goals and grow your business.
Keisha Scott, Owner and Event Designer at K. Scott Weddings, is passionate about creatively designing and planning weddings with an infusion of love and culture. Lauded as a top wedding planner in North Carolina and a Wedding Industry Expert Winner for the North Carolina Triad Area, she plans and designs dream weddings! She plans Indian weddings, African weddings, fusion weddings, and all other cultural weddings home and abroad.
The wedding planning industry is becoming more and more open and Keisha wants to welcome new wedding planners and share with them the things she wishes someone had shared with her. This year she released a planning course to teach planners, not only how to plan weddings, but how to plan cultural weddings.
Known for her calm demeanor, her strong work ethic, and for building trusting relationships with her clients, Keisha brings positive energy and solutions to any of her clients’ needs. Her favorite quote is “Don’t underestimate me because I’m quiet. I know more than I say, think more than I speak, and observe more than you know.” -Michaela Chung.
We are so blessed to have Keisha on the podcast today. Reach her here to learn more about her upcoming ebook, her personal coaching and her courses.
https://www.instagram.com/kscottweddings/
Review the Transcript:
Bernel
Hey, hi. Welcome to the Branded by Bernel podcast. I’m your host Bernel. You may know me as the branding and web designer who obsesses over the details so you don’t have to, we all desire to be great at what we do. Although once we get there, no one seems to talk about the messy middle. This motivated me to set the table and invite industry peers over to share stories about living and working in the creative world. So grab the OJ and champagne, pull up a chair, join the creative community and be prepared to build a brand you fall in love with. This is the Branded by Bernel podcast.
Bernel
So on today’s episode of the podcast, I’m able to speak with Keisha Scott, owner and event designer at K Scott wedding. She’s passionate about creatively designing and planning weddings with an infusion of love and culture. Thank you so much for coming on the show today. Keisha,
Keisha Scott
Thank you so much for now for having me. I’m super excited to be on the podcast with you.
Bernel
So for those of you listening at home, Keisha is amazing. When it comes to everything multicultural. She is the multicultural event architect, I had the chance to work with her through branding and web design a couple of years ago. And as our client relationship turned to a friendship, we have been able to serve various other people in the creative industry as well. We have a lot of overlapping I feel like with our creative partnerships,
Keisha Scott
so all the networking that we do, right, yes, so
Bernel
much networking. I love it really building a community here in North Carolina. So Keisha, how long have you been in business? And how did you get started?
Keisha Scott
Well, I have been in business on January 1 of this year, made 12 years. So I have been wedding planning for 12 years. And I started out actually in the medical field. A lot of people know this story. But I was born in Jamaica. So when you born and you no country, other than the United States, families have big on, you know, either you becoming a doctor, lawyer or engineer, there is no other options. So I was supposed to be a doctor. And so I went to went to college, I was in medical school. And I just remember meeting with my advisor, and just saying, you know, I don’t know if this is for me, I want to help people, but I’m not in this capacity. And he spent about an hour convincing me to continue. And I just knew, you know, in my story, what I wanted to do, I was very creative. It was more of me not feeling like I connected. There was something missing. So I ended up graduating with a psychology degree. And then I went to nursing school. And as I was in nursing school and graduated, I worked with a nurse practitioner and she was getting married. This was back in 2003. And she said to me, you know, you’re always creative. You’re doing fun things you so I was sewing, I was doing a lot of things. And she said to me, can you help me plan my wedding? And I was terrified. I was like, no, no, no, like, I do this on the side play play. So I didn’t feel confident. And she said, No, I trust you, you can do it. And so I helped her plan her wedding in 2004. And then of course, I got married in 2003. A year before she did. So she was super excited after I did my wedding, and felt a little bit more confident in me executing hers in 2004. So at that time, I planned my wedding, her wedding, and I just fell in love. So I did that I was of course researching the market learning a little bit more about the wedding industry. And then in 2008, I launched my company, which at the time was called infinite bliss events. So that was the name of my company back in 2008 when I started doing event planning, wow,
Bernel
that was definitely a journey. So you could have been adopted right now. current state of affairs, you would be in the COVID madness. So I’m really glad you chose event planning. So there’s so many valuable points in your story. I love the fact that when you were first approached to offer the service of wedding planning that you felt clay play, as you said, because that’s something as creative entrepreneurs, I feel like we all have had that feeling like nobody walks into their business saying like, I’m an expert, I got this. Everybody come to me for this. You have to start somewhere.
Keisha Scott
And you know, it’s okay to plan your own wedding because you’re doing it. I’m just talking to professionals trying to find out their rates. But when it comes to somebody else and you’re doing it for the first time, you know You only get one opportunity to execute someone’s wedding. So the fear, the anxiety, all those feelings started coming over to me. And when she said to me, like, I trust you, it just, you know, we had a working relationship, but at the same time, she was confident enough to trust that I would execute her wedding as I did mine.
Bernel
Oh, I love that. Yeah, the confidence, building confidence and trust in your clientele. That is huge. So we know a lot has changed, I’m sure in your business from that first wedding to 12 years later today. So what purpose does your business serve? Now? How do you serve your clientele in 2021?
Keisha Scott
Um, well, it actually relates to what you just mentioned, having trusting relationships, and moving forward with your clients having an open and honest relationship. So that is kind of my model. When I’m working with clients, I advised them that I will be as totally honest with you as I possibly can. I won’t lead you astray, and to trust my expertise when it comes to hiring professionals to executing their day. So I move forward with that with my clients. And when they understand and they’re able to let go of that anxiety and stress, it makes the planning process much easier.
Bernel
Oh, I love that letting go of anxiety and stress. I feel like I need to put that on a sticky note.
Keisha Scott
Oprah used to say make it a tweetable.
Bernel
Right. Oh, I love that. That’s definitely a really tweetable thing to say. So as you weren’t starting out in your journey, what are some of the resources that helped you along the way?
Keisha Scott
Well, um, when I first started wedding planning, and I moved from Connecticut to North Carolina, I didn’t really know a lot of people. And at the time, there was, I think it was called the wedding planning guide, or wedding planning guide. But that was a networking event that we would have. Quarterly, I think it was like once every three months, that we would meet with wedding professionals. And so when I started, that was a great resource for me meeting with photographers, and videographers, bakers, everyone in the wedding industry with me, and we would have lunch. And at the time, everyone was standing up and introduce themselves and say what they did. And I just remember meeting a lot of photographers that said, I know you’re just starting out, I know you’re new to North Carolina, I’ll do your headshots for you. And so that’s how I developed personal relationships with a lot of the wedding professionals in my area at the time. So that was a great resource for me. And, you know, like I said, before just networking, going out, meeting venues, meeting other vendors, and just building that relationship to say, you know, when I get this wedding, I’ll definitely think of you. And that was a great resource for me at the time.
Bernel
That’s awesome. So you definitely did the footwork to meet other vendors in your same industry, not necessarily doing the same service, but people who were in adjacent service offerings to your target clientele. So that’s awesome. But I have to ask, because I didn’t hear you mention a mentor, or a wedding planner that you attached yourself to. So when you got started, how was that process? Did you look for mentor?
Keisha Scott
How did that go? Oh, well, back in 2008. Of course, times have changed. Back in 2008. It was very difficult. There were TV shows like Whose wedding is at anyway, and platinum weddings. And so a lot of the wedding planners, I felt at the time that were more established. They were not too open to novice wedding planners coming and asking for advice. So I did reach out to some in the area in the Raleigh area, Charlotte area. And it was very difficult, I wouldn’t get a response, I would get, you know, I’m not going to be able to tell you anything. So everyone was protective of their service, which are understand at the time, so I didn’t really have a mentor. I had other pairs. You know, as I mentioned before, with the wedding planning guy that we met, and I met a lot of great planners from that. And we would just ask each other questions like What are you doing? How are you meeting clients? What does your consultation look like? And we would just bounce ideas off each other. And then the other point of it is that I had to research on my own. So I did a lot of research. I studied and just googled everything that I needed to know and made sure that I had my systems in place when it comes to the questions to ask each vendor what to ask a venue when you go so a lot of that It was on my own I and I know of again, times have changed. So a lot of planners are more open to teaching and educating novice planners. But at the time, I didn’t really have that. Yes,
Bernel
oh my goodness, so much value there in that experience, because I faced a very similar experience when first starting out, I could not, or especially when starting in the wedding industry, when I was offering stationery services, reaching out to other stationery companies, no one wanted to give advice. And so I think that we really, as entrepreneurs learn from moments like that, and then we seek to do better when we get to a position of educating others. I always like to say, I love to give back the knowledge to newbies, so to speak, that I wish someone had given to me. So that leads me to your new educational platform. I love all the things you’ve done in 2020 kind of pivoting and expanding your business from just services to also educating other new planners. So tell me a little bit about the educational resources that you offer now?
Keisha Scott
Absolutely. So, um, as we just talked about, there are times when I, you know, look back at my wedding planning career, and I’m like, I wish someone had told me this, I wish that I had learned that. And so planning multicultural weddings, I get a lot of calls, I get calls from planners in Chicago, New York, and even locally, that will ask me, you know, how do I plan a multicultural wedding, I have a client, I’m not sure about the customs and traditions that I need to know. And so I find myself, of course, giving of my time, which is, you know, totally fine with me with talking with each of these wedding professionals to help them on the right path. Because it’s one thing to be at a higher level of planning, but you want to make sure that everyone in the wedding planning industry, especially wedding planners are on the same playing field. So everyone is consistent with services, and how they structure business. So I sat down, and I thought about it. And I decided to provide coaching. So I wanted to be able to educate wedding professionals on multicultural wedding. And even the basics of planning, because a lot of again, a lot of planners that are novice, don’t really know what it takes to run a business. You know, it’s okay to go online and, you know, get a website and get business cards and say, Now I’m in business. But what foundations do, you have to make sure that your business isn’t going to end in a year or two, because you didn’t set it up correctly in the beginning. So that’s what I kind of wanted to put out to wedding professionals, whether you’re a novice or whether you’re established, but really want to, you know, level up, you can say in different areas of your business. Oh, I love that
Bernel
you used one of my favorite words to level up. But then also foundation because I think that when people think about leveling up or even running successful businesses, they tend to look at the top and not the bottom, like it has to have a strong foundation or it will not be sustainable. And yes, thank you for the shout out there. Just building a website does not mean we’re in a business. Talk to countless planners in the course of a week. And a lot of times with people just starting their business, they’re like, Hey, I heard I need it branding and web design. And that’s true branding and web design helps get your services out there. But you need a brand strategy, and you need a business plan first. And before you can even have a strategy or a business plan, you have to develop quality services and no industry standards. So I think that it is amazing that you are really helping people build that strong foundation from the ground up so that if they start fast and are not having the fundamental tools, they don’t they don’t crash, you know, like you’re really helping to stay steady. So I love that. So we kind of talked about the course that you developed. Are you offering any other educational services this year?
Keisha Scott
While I did start a course, I was going to offer a course like a masterclass a one on one services. But I offered a course but I just found that not that people aren’t focused, you know, I feel like everyone is in a technology world and we’re so busy and we want time to put back into our businesses. So I do have a course a cultural wedding guide that I have, that I would love to offer to wedding professionals that really want to know again the foundations of selling out their business and also the touch point on planning cultural weddings, but I definitely want to start out with the coaching just to get them established and then the course will be there if anyone needs it. But I feel like people are just, you know, they learn better, and I can’t speak for them. But I just feel like people learn better when they have that one on one than to have a self paced course that they may not log into, or really focus on. So I will put that on the back burner for now. And just focus on the one on one to help other wedding professionals just to again, strategize and build a strong foundation for their business.
Bernel
Wonderful. So I will link to all of that in the show notes, if you want to level up and work with a higher end clientele or a more diverse clientele. Then he says, one on one, personal coaching is the way to go. So I’m definitely going to link to that in the show notes. But tell us, what are some of the roadblocks to watch out for? If someone could have told you 12 years ago, here are some stumbling blocks to watch out for? What do you wish they had told you.
Keisha Scott
Um, some roadblocks, I would say to watch out for, I would say is just to be clear with clients. For me, a lot of times, I feel like, of course, I’ve developed into my business and into my own personal structure of my business. But when I first started, I was like, you know, a little naive. So my clients will say, you know, I want this? And I would say, yes, yes, we could do that. So one of those roadblocks is not over promising and then being under delivering that that service. So I really had to process over the years what I can and cannot do. And again, just to be honest with the clients to make sure that one you’re doing your research, and it to you’re informing the client, so you can help them make a more informed decision. So I always say knowledge is power. So the more that I know, the more that I can inform my client and let them know this, yes, this can be done or No, this cannot be done. But those are some of the roadblocks that I personally experienced. And that I want everyone to kind of watch out for. Again, don’t over promise and under deliver when you’re working with clients. Oh, that’s
Bernel
such a good one. And that honestly takes a level of humility, to know what is in your wheelhouse, and to know what you’re good at, and to make sure that you’re only offering the things that you’re best that I tell people all the time I do not do everything. Because anything I do I want to do it well, so I don’t offer everything. And so I think that that is great. So really identifying what you can offer and then don’t over promise, I love that. So if you’re listening in at home, grab your pen and paper, make sure you write down that roadblock because that was a really good one. Along the lines of knowledge is power. How do you continue to learn in order to stay on top of things in your industry?
Keisha Scott
Well, I continue to learn by going to conferences like I enjoy a you know, education is forever infinity, I would say you’re never at a point where you feel that you’ve reached the, you know, the top where you’ve learned everything that you need to know. So every year I tried to look out for conferences that might help me to better my, you know, business skills, as well as event planning and design skills. I’m very careful with selecting those because I feel that we’re at a point right now where I feel everyone wants to start a conference or a workshop. Yes. So just looking at different ones and making sure that they’re going to be suitable for me and my business is what I do. That’s key. And then another thing is that when it comes to conferences, sometimes I don’t go to wedding industry based conferences, I might go outside of my industry to go to a conference that might focus on finance or business structure. So I tried to also look at the full picture of what I need to learn, even systems learning, you know how to structure your business in creating standard operating procedures. So some of those things that I do look out for, to make sure that my business is overall well rounded and not just focused on weddings. That is
Bernel
so good. Yes. Going back to that word sustainability. When you’re building a business, it’s more than just your skill set. You also have to run the business. There’s finances you mentioned and systems and processes, automation, outsourcing, hire people, or at least learn from people in the skill set that you don’t already have. So I love that so much. So as someone in the wedding industry, I know that 2020 was extremely tough for you guys. Yeah, we don’t even have to talk about 2020. Everyone. Everyone who just lived through it knows that. That was a curveball that no one saw come But what would you say the biggest surprise that you had in the last year was and why? And it could be a good surprise.
Keisha Scott
Oh, uh, one of the surprises that I, you know, notice, of course, was just, of course, everybody uses this word, but we all pivoted, right, we all switched. And we looked at, you know, what other things that we can do to, you know, be creative when we were unable to focus on our primary career. So one of those things for me was, you know, focusing on interesting on my design skills, like a lot of my clients know that I do design and know that I sketch, I was already doing that for some clients. But again, jumping back into interior design, where I would be able to sketch and design for clients that are purchasing a new home and sketch and design for, you know, realtors that I used to work with, and just being able to contact them again and say, you know, do you need assistance with any layout and the floor plans, or even any staging in their homes, I was able to tap into things that I’ve kind of put on the back burner, and be able to, you know, switch into doing some of those things. Oh, that’s
Bernel
great. And yes, I’ve had the opportunity to see some of Keisha sketches. And oh, they’re amazing, in full color, and just beautiful. So we may have to link to some of those in the show notes as well. And I think you have a few on your Instagram stories or on your Instagram page
Keisha Scott
as well. Yes, I definitely do.
Bernel
But that is wonderful. So yes, that word pivot. We’ve all used it. And we’ve all heard it a million times. But I love when people can pivot to continue making a profit. I think that that is what is going to help small businesses to survive. Absolutely. Speaking of pivoting, we chatted briefly about this. prior to recording when we were talking about clubhouse. That seems to be the newest hot ticket item in the App Store. Everybody wants to get on it is very elite at the moment because it’s invitation only. So are you clubhouse, Keisha?
Keisha Scott
I am on clubhouse and just like you, it just came out of nowhere, right? It was like an app that just popped up. And so one of my wedding planning friends in Dallas, you know, she pinged me, and she was like, Are you on clubhouse? And I said to her, what is that? So she told me to sign up. And she was able to pull me up to, I guess, the top of the list somehow. And so I got an early December. And it’s been it’s been amazing.
Bernel
That is awesome. I had a very similar experience. And one of my clients messaged me, it was like, Hey, are you on clubhouse? And I was like, Bob, what? Like, no. And it’s funny, because I didn’t even look it up. Like I was just like, No. And she was like, it’s a really good app. And I was like, you know how much time I spend on Instagram. I did not need another app. Right? And it was funny, because maybe like a week or two later, another industry peer was like, Hey, are you on clubhouse? And he was like, What is this clubhouse that everyone keeps talking about? And they explained it to me as a designer that you can really kind of go in and find your community and you know, how I feel about the work community. And so I was like, okay, there is so much free education on there. And there are so many ways to consume information, but also so many ways to give back information. And so that is now my goal is to get on there and really share some of these points that have helped my business to develop, and I will make sure that I go follow you on clubhouse, because I can’t wait to hear what you have to share either. 12 years. As a business owner, I’m sure you have some stories.
Keisha Scott
Oh, absolutely. And, and just like you, like you mentioned, you’re able to find your community, you know, you avoid the rooms that have you know, funny titles, and you just focus in on what you want to learn. And there’s so many people like you said that will pour into you provide free information. And I was able to go into a few rooms, even on the business side, like with these seven, eight figure moguls that are, you know, sharing and pouring into others. So I just am able to, of course, like I mentioned, focus in on the content that I want to learn, and then stay away from the ones that that you know, I feel like a little too much. But it’s a great community. I feel like I’ll be able to definitely share more about cultural weddings with many different listeners.
Bernel
That is wonderful. That is wonderful. Yes, I definitely understand the feeling of too much. It’s overwhelming a little bit. The first day I was on there. I was like whoa, there are all kinds of titles about all kinds of things but definitely using it too. to enhance your skill set, I think that all of these tools that we have now, all of these social media platforms, it’s not about the tool. It’s about using it skillfully.
Keisha Scott
Exactly. Exactly. And just to your point about that, you can listen into a room and take notes all day long. But what action steps are you going to take to get into into, you know, put some of those things that you’ve heard into action? So I think it’s very important to understand that, yes, you will get a lot of information, but then you actually have to move on it? Yes, yes.
Bernel
So much, so much good advice there. So if you’re listening at home, and you’re also listening on clubhouse, and you’re listening quietly on all of these other apps, you have to just jump in, like you have to start putting things in action. Because if you stay stagnant, then I mean, there is no growth, you have to be moving in a direction. And when you’re moving in a direction, you can then use social media to kind of help you turn left or turn right, but it can’t direct you if you’re not moving. So, absolutely. Talking about actionable steps. That leads us to my absolute favorite part of the show. If you listen in weekly, you know that I end every show, asking my guests What are three actionable steps a person can take to move forward in building their business. So this is the time for you to go grab a journal, grab a pen, because Keisha is going to drop three gyms. Alright, Keisha, what are your three actionable steps?
Keisha Scott
All right, so my three actionable steps are, number one, know your why. We just talked about it briefly. But you know, if you’re passionate about something, and you really love what you’re doing, you can jump into rooms, and you can research and listen and write things down. But what’s going to push you into doing what you love. So know your why know why you’re doing it, it doesn’t always have to be about money, because that’s the wrong reason to get into any type of business that you want to project into. So know your Y. The second one is, you know, for every business, people always skip this step. But I need everyone to write out a business plan. There are many different templates online that you can download and fill in your information. But you have to know the structure of your business, writing that business plan down will help you to know the foundation of your business, why you want to run your business a certain way, how you project on, you know, bringing in funds to, you know, Excel your business, and writing out that business plan. And knowing those projections, or you know, how you want to earn year by year will help you to grow your business, you know, you can’t just jump into a business and not know the foundation or the structure of it, or your processes and procedures. So I think writing out a business plan will definitely help you to do that. And then the last thing is, no matter what you’re doing in your business, you have to set goals, and set actionable items for those goals. So writing out a tract on how you’re going to accomplish them. And then check in on your goals monthly or quarterly. Let’s set some time to look at them and say to yourself, Okay, if I set this goal, and we’re heading to March, which was the end of the first quarter, what have I done to make this goal happen. So writing out those goals and writing out those action items will help you to progress in your business. And in life. Because, you know, goal writing is not always about business, it’s about personal as well. So keeping on track with knowing your why writing out a plan, even if it’s a personal plan or business plan, and then setting goals and setting action items will set you on the right path to structure your personal life as well as a business life.
Bernel
Oh, that is so good. So, so good. And thank you for mentioning also your personal life. Because a lot of times as business owners, we forget that we are the lifeline of our businesses. So your business won’t work if you don’t if your personal life is in pandemonium and chaotic, and there are no goals and no direction that’s going to catch up with you business. So thank you so much Keisha for those three actionable steps. And I will have links to all of that in the show notes as well. That’s really good. We’re starting a new year. We’re still in quarter one. So this is an excellent time to make sure that your goals and your business plan are going to project to success.
Keisha Scott
Exactly. And there’s no better time than right now.
Bernel
So Keisha where can the people listening at home find?
Keisha Scott
Well, everyone can find me at K Scott weddings on all social media platforms, except for you Pinterest because somebody has my name, but it’s que en weddings on Pinterest but um, you can find me on all social media platforms at K Scott weddings.
Bernel
Wonderful for you guys you know what to do go find her go follow her and really tap into the knowledge that she has acquired over the last 12 years. She offers personal coaching, personal business coaching. She speaks at various conferences and has events throughout the year. So definitely go check out all the things that kita has in store for 2021 Thank you so much Keisha for coming on today.
Keisha Scott
Thank you so much for now for having me and even starting this conversation about planning and your journey as a business professional. And of course setting goals and action steps.
Bernel
Wow, that went by really fast. As always, thank you so much for showing up in my little corner of the internet. I would love to hear your thoughts on the show. So please, please subscribe, leave a review and share what you learned with friends. Some of the best things in life are freebies. So don’t forget to head over to brand if I pronounced.com to check out our free branding goodies. This show notes and more educational resources.
© 2017- 2024 BRANDED BY BERNEL, LLC
TERMS AND CONDITIONS