Emotions are a big part of who we are and why we do what we do in the wedding industry. We could not work and be the creative geniuses we are in our industry if we did not have passion and love for what we do. So why do they tell us to check our emotions at the door when it comes to business? 

My business is all about emotions.  My love for my couples, the love they have for each other, and the families who share in their love. My love for the fellow wedding rockstars (AKA YOU!) I have the amazing privilege of working with and alongside. Continuing to do what I do for the love I have for my family to help support them and give them the life they want.

Showing my kids the passion and kindness I have for others makes me hope that one day they will grow up to be good and kind humans. Humans who will find their passion and love for something in their lives that gets them as excited as mine gets me.

Lately my daughter Amelia (6yrs) and I have been on a kick of reading chapter books the past few months. You know the classics: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach,  Romona, Matilda, and the book that started it all, Charlotte’s Web. I thought this would be such a cute book to read and then we could watch the original movie that I have not seen in years!

Well, if you have never read Charlotte’s Web then spoiler alert. It’s a pretty lovely and sad book. And if you for sure have never read it please stop reading right now as I may share a few things you may not want to know if you do plan to read it some day.

As I said earlier, I am a pretty emotional person but I swear I didn’t used to be this way. I blame those two really cute kids I pushed out of my body. I mean I cry at everything! When my couples walk down the aisle, when a couple does something truly unique for their wedding like recording themselves singing the cover of their first dance song to dance to together in front of all their loved ones, dads seeing their kids for a 1st look. Those dads, they always get the tears flowing. The wife who is dying on Grey’s Anatomy because she didn’t get to see the world with her partner. A surprise in a book I didn’t see coming. You know the one that you can’t put down and now you’re crying at 2am with your partner snoring next to you because you couldn’t put the damn book down.

Anywho… back to Charlotte’s Web. So I’m reading the story to Amelia and we get to the part where they talk about Charlotte not coming back to the barn after the fair and I am doing my best to hold it in. But my voice changes, the tears start to come and Amelia is just looking at me like WTF mom? And I can’t turn off the water works. Then it hits her, I’m sad so she should be sad. 

She then says, “sniff sniff it’s so sad, mommy. I’m sad. Sniff sniff.” 

Cough fake sniff sniff if you ask me. But in that moment it was the sweetest thing because I am realizing what she is realizing. She is still learning that being sad is okay. Crying when you are sad is okay and so is showing that emotion. Being emotional is not a bad thing. Being emotional is a good thing! It means you care and you have a heart.  

So why do we try to steer away from our emotions in business? As I ponder this question I don’t have a good answer. It is one of those things that we were told when we were little and I don’t agree. It’s not how I want to run my business.

I say F that! Running a business is so emotional in the best and worst ways. Our emotions power so much of our lives and the decisions we make. It’s okay to make a decision because we are emotional. The way we feel may not be the way someone else feels and that’s what makes us unique to our clients. It makes us who we are. 

To you, I say that it’s important to have and express our emotions because if we don’t they will just fester and wear you out. This is hard to learn as adults because we’ve been taught to hold it in and keep a brave face. But what happens if maybe we let it out? We can join in those tearful moments of joy and memory that our clients are experiencing. Express that frustration because life can be f’ing hard sometimes. Dance around in happiness because your favorite song just came on. Or even jump up and down with excitement because you’re fucking crushing it!

We all hold so many emotions and they’re all so powerful. It’s about time that we live in them and love them for what they are.

Let’s make it okay to be emotional about your business! Take a moment and feel those emotions and then take the time to figure out why you are feeling that way. Taking that time will help you decide how to react to those emotions in the best way for you to steer your business in the path that’s right for you.