Today we’d like to introduce you to BJ Hesketh.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In the 80’s I kept asking myself “Why am I still working for other people/companies? Surely I’m smart enough to be able to start my own business!!” I really disliked sitting at a desk for 8-10 hours.
I’d taken a couple of folks in my neighborhood, to the Dr’s, and the airport. My love of driving proved to be the catalyst to start me off. I put an ad in the small Charbonneau, Wilsonville neighborhood paper, because it is an affluent community. I figured they would be traveling, so they would need a ride going to and from the airport. I was right.
It started as part-time because I was afraid to take that leap off the proverbial cliff and just go for it. All three jobs that I had gone back to, fell apart within a couple of months. After the third one closed, I finally said “FINE. I get it. I’ll take the leap!” When I picked up a few people for the airport, they would say that they had had to put their pets at a kennel. I spoke up and ended up staying at their homes while they were gone, taking care of their animals, plants, etc. And, just like that, I was Uber, before Uber!
The driving job morphed into also coming in contact with a couple who had a gas pump on the Willamette river there in Charbonneau. They asked if I would be interested in managing that for the summers. Looked like fun, and after the first year, I had a snack shop built on that dock, too. It’s still there after 27 years!
Then in 2007 my good friend called and tried to talk me into becoming a Wedding Officiant. Nope. Not interested. She kept talking. I kept saying Nope. FINALLY, after 40 minutes, I said OK already! Geeez After my first one, I was hooked, but good! And I’m still going strong after 19 years. Doing about 70-80 a year.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth? You’re kidding, right! Working for one’s self is very scary in the beginning. There’s no getting around it. Waiting for the phone to ring, or a ding from a text now (not so much back in the 90’s). Knowing the rent is due in a week, bills coming in that need to be paid, ect. Things you learn, sometimes in a nice way,..sometimes in a not so nice way.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I’m a Wedding Officiate now. Since 2007.
Not every Officiate travels to venues. I go wherever they need me to in Oregon and Washington (I’m still waiting for someone to get married in Hawaii…lol)
I guess my specialty would be in never letting anything phase me. Whatever happens, I’m always the rock. And boy, have I got some stories!
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I think it would be the people themselves. A wedding officiate has to “read” the couple and then later, at the ceremony, their guests.
Some couples are very nervous, so I try and help by maybe making a bit of a joke about something, which then let’s them laugh out loud, which in turn, helps them calm down.
As they say, laughter is the best medicine…
Contact Info:
- Website: https://anytimeanywhereweddings.com
- Facebook: BJ Hesketh Anytime Anywhere Weddings
