"SUZETTE SPEAKS"
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I’d like to say, “Congratulations!” to all my couples who are engaged to be married in 2020, 2021 and 2022. You’ve entered a new season in your life that can be both exciting and nerve racking. On one hand, you never get tired of telling others the story of how your fiance proposed, what you were wearing, how you suspected it was coming or not and how for once in your life you were speechless.
But on the other hand, finding a venue that matches your décor style and guest count is about to take you out. And if one more person asks you if you’ve found your dress or what your wedding colors are, you will voluntarily opt to go into the federal witness protection program until you walk down the aisle on your wedding day, IF you’ve even decided on a date. You have important decisions to make and whether or not you will invest in a relationship with a Wedding Planner or a Day of Coordinator at minimum, is one of them. As you examine your budget and pin inspirational photos to your wedding Pinterest board, you wonder if you can swing the cost of a Wedding Planner (strike cost and put investment). “Can I afford to invest in a Wedding Planner?” you ask. Well, if you respect money, time and quality of experience, you can’t afford NOT to invest in a Wedding Planner or Day of Coordinator. You can’t just have ANY Wedding Planner (remember that you get what you pay for). Having the right Wedding Planner on your Team can save you time and money and protect your reputation. The right Wedding Planner has spent quality time building and nurturing a great network of vendors to service their clients at various price points. The relationship that your Planner has with videographers, photographers, dress designers, chefs, floral designers, DJs and entertainers, along with MUAs and hairstylists, can make or break your wedding planning and wedding day experience. The Wedding Planner with great vendor relationships can get you meetings with hard to book vendors. The great relationship your Planner has with the catering chef may get you a sweet deal on adding your rehearsal night dinner to your reception package. The amazing MUA that your Wedding Planner has a great relationship might say “Yes” to squeezing in your makeup trial before she hops on a plane to a celebrity shoot. Relationships matter. You can’t put a price on it but you can reap the rewards. As your Planner, I can’t guarantee you anything from someone else’s business. But what I know for sure is that the wide range of wedding industry vendors that I’ve nurtured great relationships with have done amazing things for my clients because of the relationship. American Express used to say, “membership has its privileges.” Well, so does having great relationships in your business and personal life. Invest in a Wedding Planner for your wedding and watch the return on your investment come back in ways you couldn’t have possibly imagined. Relationships matter!
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Happy New Year and welcome to the start of a new decade!!! There's been so much excitement around this year and the significance of 2020. I'm here for it, but some of it can feel overwhelming and be a bit gimmicky. There's a lot being planned for 2020. It could be your wedding, a graduation, your calling, the book you've been writing, your family reunion or a career shift. Whatever it is, focus on your path to maximize the opportunities you have to do great things this year.
"How do I do THAT Suzette?" I'm glad you asked. I say, "Set your intentions!" For the past 5 years or so, I've created vision boards and hosted fun gatherings around them. Vision boards are great motivational goal setting tools and I have 3 around my house right now. They work and many things on them have actualized over the years, as a result of me visualizing my goals and putting the work in. But this year, I wanted to do something different that would still impact my life. In walks Koereyelle of @werkprayslay. Well actually, I watched an IGTV video she posted called "Manifest the life of your dreams" and she talked about setting our intentions to create room for more manifestations of dreams in our lives. When Koereyelle said that, it resonated with my Spirit. She showed us how she listed 19 of her intentions for 2019, but charged us with listing 20 for 2020. Koereyelle created this on a 8x11 sheet of construction paper, with her intentions hand written on colorful post-its. Simple yet powerful. I accepted the challenge. I decided to use a 3x5 index card and wrote 10 intentions on one side and 10 on the other (actually, I've only come up with 17, but will decide on the remaining 3 this week). I then decided that I would fold my index card and put it in my wallet so that I could pull it out and reference it regularly to focus on the things I want to manifest in my life. Yesterday, I pulled out my index card while waiting in the line at TJ Maxx and read through them to remind me of what I'm doing and why. The intentions I've listed are not frivolous desires. They cover the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual things that I want to have come into my life. For example, I set my intentions on operating in increased wisdom. I don't want to make foolish choices in my life so I decided to ask for more wisdom to help diminish that. I've also set my intentions on spending more time each day reflecting on what I'm grateful for. One of my favorite songs that redirects my focus on this is Hezekiah Walker's, Grateful (click blue to listen). It settles me and makes me feel so thankful for the wonderful blessings in my life. For the simple things, I am grateful. So, whether you create vision boards or intention cards, what matters is your focus being on the things that you are assigned to in 2020 and no one else's work. What's for you, is for you. Just do it! What an amazing year 2019 has been! I've had a myriad of experiences that have "Wow'd" me and I'm so grateful. I've had the pleasure of creating some awesome curated events with my amazing clients and friendors. I've traveled to various parts of the world for celebratory events, collaborative projects and learning meet ups. I've also grown tremendously with understanding myself and others in this thing called life (speaking in my Prince voice). This was a mind blowing/life building year for me.
So, as I reflected on what one of the most invaluable things were that I received this year, my soul rejoices. Why? Because this invaluable thing has set me up for LIFE. This one thing literally opened up my Spirit to receive great things in the decade to come and beyond. "What is it Suzette?" I'm glad you asked. I learned that there was no benefit at all in me being upset with people who did not value me in their lives. Period. It didn't matter who they were to me, my being upset with them for not valuing what I bought to the relationship, held me in bondage. I kept wondering, "Why didn't they do 'this'?" "Why didn't they say 'that'?" "Why didn't they give me 'this' because I earned it?" Over and over again, I asked these questions feeling horrible because "they didn't" and hindering my advancement because "they wouldn't." But freedom came when I asked God what the lesson was (there's always a lesson) and He revealed that I did not value who I was to them in the midst of the situation, so I gave myself away for cheap and I felt the loss. Not just financially, but mentally, emotionally and physically. I have talents and gifts that I let someone else disregard because they didn't value me. I learned that waiting for someone else to value you and then demonstrate what you're worth, puts your value in someone else's hands and that's dangerous. Marshawn Evans Daniels said it this way at the MunaLuchi Bride Coterie Retreat, "If you allow yourself to settle for less, no one is obligated to stop you." It. Is. Your. Responsibility. To. Decide. Your. Worth! So I realized that I "over delivered and undercharged" in certain situations. **clutching pearls** I have to set the standard for how people will treat me and what I will allow; and in some instances, I allowed an uneven transactional exchange to occur. When that "Wow" moment happened, my whole life changed and I stood in a new light. I felt free and I no longer lived in fear of someone else's decisions over what I deserved in life. I decided for myself that my value was worth more than I had previously established. So, I'm leaving 2019 with my mind right for 2020 and the years to come. I decided that I will no longer over deliver and undercharge for all that I bring to the table in business or personal relationships. I've had rich experiences that drive my decisions, suggestions and direction. I have a wealth of knowledge that equips me to lead others wisely. I am enough and I know my worth. Watch what comes next! ReplyForward |