Today we’d like to introduce you to Hillary Waddle Lowe.
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?
Hello, I am Hillary, a Designer, Planner, and Brand Coach in the Pacific Northwest. I started my career as a designer in the corporate world for a large sportswear brand. I got to travel the world, I learned the importance of storytelling and I felt like I got my Masters in professionalism, but ultimately I felt too far away from the creative work I had grown so passionate about in Design school. After planning my own wedding and making my own wedding dress, I fell in love with the process of bringing design + vision to life through events and I wanted to keep experiencing that. Ten years later I have produced over 100 weddings in multiple states and developed a niche in small, highly designed weddings for fashion forward couples. I now share the expertise I have developed with other small business owners who want to maximize their impact by curating an elevated brand presence and attracting their ideal clients.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My biggest hurdles to overcome in my business were in balancing my aspirations with my personal life. I had my three children in a four year timespan, which also happened to be the first four years of my business. I quickly learned how to prioritize what work actually needed to get done week by week, since I did not have the luxury of unlimited time. I constantly battled the tension between having so much passion and drive to grow my business, but being human, and a partner and a mom who wanted to have a healthy home life as well. While this was unbelievably frustrating at times, I can laugh and revel in it all now because I don’t meet many other business owners who can get as much done in as little of time as I can. You learn to be incredibly efficient and scrappy while balancing all the parts of your persona.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
What sets my design + planning approach apart from others is that I start with the core of the couple. I tap into their core values, why they love eachother and why they even want to have a wedding. I then design for them, their goals, their vision of life together, and their biggest priorities. I believe that the “design” of a wedding day is about far more than table settings and flowers. The timeline and how you spend your budget, are just as important elements in the overall vision because design is the full picture: who is there, how they feel, how time is spent, and what is available to interact with. I love a final gallery of beautiful photos, but we have to keep the full picture connected to bring together an event that actually feels good to BE at, and I love guiding my clients through that decision process.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I have learned almost everything I know about business through books and podcasts (and a healthy amount of trial + error). The thing that actually helps me do my best work creatively and professionally is by consistently working on my personal development and refining my inner world. I see my business and my design language as an extension of myself and believe that the clients that I attract in are a direct representation of the energy I am putting out. I ground in breathwork, exercise and visualization not just for self care, but also as a business tool. I could give a full book list of titles that have changed the game for me, but if I had to choose three I would say 1. The Big Leap, by Gay Hendricks 2. Company of One, by Paul Jarvis, and 3. Living in Wisdom, by Devi Brown.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kayloe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayloe.co/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-waddle-lowe-03474445/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kayloeco
