This may sound weird but I want you to take a moment and imagine all the career paths and jobs in the world as a person. You doing it? Now I want you to not focus on what the job person looks like but their personality. You see the command stoic persona of the CEO, the soft patient teacher.
I want us to realize every career choice has an archetype persona. A set of necessary traits and personalities that one must have or acquire to be successful. You can’t be a lazy and antisocial business person it wont work you would never make a deal or acquire clients or anything. You have to develop into the person that you imagine when you think of that job. You have to be committed to developing the skills and personality traits necessary to be successful in that industry.
As an event planner and businesswoman I am still learning and growing to fit into my career archetypes. It is important to know why you want the job you want. If you just want it for the paycheck you will never be happy or content. To love what you do should be the goal. I love helping people have those moments that they think back on and can’t help smiling. I love supporting and helping my community in anyway possible. I love organization, operations, and business processes. That is why I love event planning.
What is the event planner archetype?
As an event planner you have to have a certain type of persona. First and foremost you have to be outgoing, this is because being an event planner is kind of like being a salesperson you are constantly reaching out for new clients, vendors and venues. You have to be confident otherwise your clients will be worrying about the state of the event and our ultimate job is to take that stress of worry away from the clients. Speaking of being worried and stress you have to have positive and upbeat almost bubbly deposition. In event planning its a joke that everything that can go wrong already did and if it hasn’t it will. This can be so stressful because you are managing all the emotions in the room so you have to put everyone at ease and not let the cracks show. You have to be able to troubleshoot problems and manage employees while handling your initial work and maybe not eating or sleeping. While doing all of this you have to keep a for lack of better term zen demeanor because we never want the client or guest to be aware of any problems that may occur. Also event planners have to be logistical and confident and have strong negotiation skills.
I say all of this to make a point. I am not saying that if you are not this confident outgoing, bubbly ray of sunshine you will never be a successful event planner, but if you refuse to grow and learn; that is when your business will begin to suffer. I am writing this article because as the launch of this business quickly approaches (may have already launched by the time this blog goes live), I am currently reaching out to clients I would love to have and businesses I would love to work with and I am not an extrovert individual. Before working in the real world I hated making phone calls talking to new people and even presenting projects in front of my 18 peers in business school. This business is a dream of mine it is what I want to be in the future, which means I must become the person who will succeed in this industry. Forcing myself to be outgoing even if it starts with throwing my phone every time I get a response from a business or client, and drafting messages 6 times before sending I will do it. I can do it. That is what growth is, it is working so very hard at your dreams.
This week I challenge you to sit down for just 30 mins one day and assess your life where you are and where you want to be and think how much energy are you willing to put into your aspirations and personal growth. I am not saying that you have to dye your hair blonde and buy a new wardrobe but it is parative to develop the habits necessary for success.