What was I thinking?
Like really - what was I thinking! It has taken seven full-on intense years to answer that question and be totally at peace with the decision I made in 2009 to leave the financially lucrative (at the time it was) financial services industry to start my very own event management firm.
For those that have cottoned on to the dates you will also realise I started a luxury, 'discretionary spend' business smack bang at the beginning of the GFC. Yep, all those years of training in financial services still didn't deter me from investing everything I had into starting White House Celebrations when it was simply crazy to do so. And why?
Because I wanted to make celebrating people what I did EVERY day! And I was not prepared to wait any longer to do it.
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate”
So I ripped up my fancy business cards with my exorbitantly long Executive title "Senior Adviser to the Chief Executive, Financial Services, Financial Planning" (yes my boss and I actually came up with that together because we figured saying 'the person who gets sh!t done', was not quite the professional look we were after) packed up my Sydney CBD apartment and headed back to my adopted home town of the Sunshine Coast in Sunny Queensland, Australia to live the dream.
Fast forward to November 2016 and I am calling an end to the most successful year that we have experienced. Successful financially, yes - but also spiritually as it became so clear to me this year what it was all for and why I just HAD to make that decision seven years ago...
People do not live forever and I am just not prepared to let them go to their grave not knowing how people feel about them
Celebrating does not have to be difficult and really just takes a little bit of care factor - something I have bucket loads of
The creative, passionate soul within me was screaming for an outlet that would require bringing daydreams to life
I am one of the most organised people you will meet and I needed a career that celebrated my obsessive desire for lists, lists and more lists (yes, I will openly admit to finishing a job and writing it on the list, just to cross it off, if it wasn't already there!)
I believe life should be extraordinary and if that means I have to sacrifice months and months of sleep to pull off a six hour event that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary I am more than happy to do so
I LOVE people
I am a hopeless romantic in the body of a matter of fact, no-nonsense, factual personality type and I needed an excuse to 'go there'
I just love storytelling and writing and I get to do that with my own unique flavour
I am bold and I love attracting clients that are willing to be bold with me - together we take risks that are not for the faint hearted
and lets face it... after starting my own business at 21, then having a three year Corporate stint, I am just not cut out to work for others (even if the others I have worked for have always been amazing!).
So as we create our new website, full of photos from our amazing events and testimonials from our wonderful clients, I sit here with absolute pride at the resilience, commitment and total dedication it took for me to get through the roller coaster that has been the last seven years.
Via this blog I wish to share with you what inspires my crazy ideas, the people I have shared this journey with, the lessons I have learnt and the tips that you can take into your life that will make sure that your life is one big celebration too! My extensive business background will also see me share my business learnings that will apply to any business.
I look forward to sharing this adventure with you.
Min x
Having fun with one of our Red Carpet Special Guests, Stuart at the 2010 White House Celebrations "On the Red Carpet" event (Photography credit: Melissa Jean Photography)