Meet Blaire Jo of Joyfully Co. in Orange County + LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Blaire Jo.

Blaire, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Every part of who I am is reflected in my company. I immigrated to California with my family when I was ten years old. None of us knew any English. From a young age, I’ve witnessed my parents build their own business with only hard work, determination, and the drive to feed their family. I saw their tenacious work ethic, their passion for their business, their emphasis on great customer service, and the resulting fruits of their labor. It shaped my image of what it means to run a business and inspired me to build my own.

After college, I started in real estate, a traditionally safe career path. However, during this time, I found myself yearning to do what I was really passionate about and began interning part-time for different event planners. One of the guests at an event recognized my talent and recruited me to work in her friend’s fashion apparel company. There, I had the amazing opportunity to develop my design skills, as well as my operations and coordination skills through working with buyers and vendors. During this time, I also began to build my own event planning business.

As I organized more and more weddings, my love for the business grew and grew. With the knowledge I gained from working under several different event planning companies as well as from my fashion job, I created a style of my own. As a wedding planner, I found great joy in being able to bring happiness to my clients and their friends and family on their special day. Bringing clients’ ideas to life felt very rewarding, and it never felt like work. I love the feeling of knowing that the events that I orchestrate will remain in many fond memories for the rest of their lives.

In 2018, I officially formed my business as Joyfully Design Co. LLC., in short, Joyfully Co. I decided to name my company Joyfully Co. to always go back to my roots of serving people joyfully because that is what I love the most about being in this industry. Through many referrals from previous satisfied clients, my business grew without the need to advertise externally. My business has since expanded to also include event planning for different occasions, such as birthdays, private parties, and corporate events.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Overall, it has been a relatively smooth road, with just a few bumps here and there. Since I originally started wedding planning on the side, it was tough in the beginning to balance my full-time jobs with my events. I was working long hours seven days a week. While I had fun, I was getting physically exhausted after years without breaks. I decided to cut hours at my other jobs to dedicate more time at Joyfully Co. It wasn’t an easy decision and a bit of a risk, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

After refocusing my efforts on Joyfully Co., I started increasing the number of weddings I took on. Many people ask me, “How is dealing with ‘bridezillas’ on a regular basis?”. Luckily, I was blessed with very pleasant clients! All of my brides and grooms were very sweet and so easy to work with. I can’t say I didn’t have difficult clients, but with experience, I began to realize that “bridezillas” KNOW what they want, which actually makes my job easier! You have to understand that in the end of the day, this is your client’s very special, once in a lifetime event, and they just want it to be as amazing as possible. Working in this industry, I’ve had the opportunity to work with all kinds of people and made amazing friends along the way.

One thing that every creative can agree with is that we tend to compare ourselves to other creatives. I didn’t understand it at first, but after being in the industry longer, I was able to understand what that meant. Seeing better designers out there makes us small sometimes, but I always go back to the root of it all and what motivated me to continue!

Like many businesses, I have to say the biggest struggle was trying to stay afloat during the Covid-19 Pandemic. During this time, around 90% of my booked events had to be postponed, It is an ongoing struggle, but we are staying grateful during this time!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Joyfully Co. specializes in event design, styling, and coordination. We specialize in weddings and provide a service that makes the planning process as smooth and painless as possible for the bride and groom. Many of our clients come to us to conceptualize their wedding theme and colors customized to their unique visions and inspirations. We also offer the option to rent decors that we have curated over the years that add that extra touch of sophistication to each wedding.

In this industry, it’s all about convenience and attention to detail. During the wedding, brides and grooms have so many things to worry about that when it comes to the little details like decorations for welcome tables and so forth, they don’t have the time, forget, or just miss it all together. At Joyfully Co., we ensure that nothing gets skipped and everything flows from one beautiful frame to another without our clients having to worry about a thing. Our unique decors rentals mean our clients never have to run around buying and selling odds and ends that they will never use again. Our clients come to us for a fun and convenient one-stop-shop because a bride and groom should never have to worry about anything on their wedding day.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was always cheerful and loved being around people. I always tried to be a part of the community, whether it was joining a school club, volunteering at a local organization, or just chatting with the people I encounter on a daily basis. When I was in kindergarten, I asked my parents if I could run the cashier because I thought it was fun to scan the barcodes. I loved greeting customers and asking about their day. People running errands were not always in the best mood, but a having a cute, bubbly kindergartener greet them seemed to brighten their day. This left a lasting impact on me as I realized how much of a difference having a positive attitude can make. Since then, I strive to bring positivity and smiles wherever I go.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joyfullyco.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @joyfullyco_

Image Credit:
Sincerely Sini Photography, Katrina Kim Photo, Jordan Galindo Photo, Sanford Creative, Jorge Macias Photo, Wilson Oh Photo, Banana Weddings by Hannah Park, Stephanie Yang Photography, William Kim Photography

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