I would wager that most successful entrepreneurs can pinpoint something specific that helped their business grow from an unpredictable start-up to a sustainable business.

My “thing” is Kelly Marie Uss from Fleur. A year ago today Kelly and I met for lunch to get to know each other. I had heard great things about Fleur and so referred her to my October 10th wedding. That evening was the rehearsal for my first wedding as Five Grain Events.

As we chatted I got to hear Kelly’s story of how she started in the business–it was an incredibly easy conversation. All of a sudden I felt comfortable enough to ask her a question I hadn’t had anyone to ask before…and then another…and then another. I walked away from our lunch armed with a list of fabulous vendors to meet with and a renewed feeling of confidence.

A few weeks later I got a great phone call–a bride looking for a day-of coordinator, referred by Kelly Marie. Megan ended up booking as did four other 2010 brides. Over half of my weddings in 2010 were with Fleur and from those 6 I have gotten 4 referrals–and it’s only March.

I don’t even want to try to quantify how much Kelly’s referrals will mean for Five Grain Events. But I do want to say how much her encouragement and friendship has meant to me personally over the past year. As a new planner, Kelly helped me gain the confidence I needed to feel comfortable in my new role as an “expert in my field”. (Ok, I still don’t feel comfortable calling myself an EXPERT, but I’m getting there!).

Since I haven’t been able to properly thank Kelly for everything she’s done (what could I do? send flowers??) I thought this would be a way to commemorate the one-year mark of our great relationship.

I hope that one day I can be as inspiring to a newcomer in the wedding industry as Fleur has been to me. And in the meantime I’m happy just to be collaborating with another fantastically fabulous Logan Square wedding vendor!