Jazmin Leslie

I would say my drive comes from pure necessity, honestly. I'm dealing with THE day, the most important day to most people. I'm not really allowed mistakes. Of course, I make them, but with the job that I have, it's really important for me to always be there no matter what, rain or shine, sick or not. It's gotta get done. This isn't like, oh, we can do this the next day. This is the only day it can be done. These are people's wedding days, and you want them to be perfect. You can't afford to fail. I want people to feel like there's someone who actually, truly cares about them, because when you're planning a wedding, it gets very expensive and sometimes vendors won't respond quickly. I just want to make sure that I'm one of those really amazing ones that people know they can trust and know that I'll deliver. I spend so much time with these clients that I actually end up loving them all. By the time their wedding rolls around, I am fully emotionally invested in them. They're not just clients, they're not just names on a piece of paper, they're people who mean something to me, and I want their experience to be everything that they ever hoped it was gonna be. That's what they hired me for, and that's what I want to deliver to them.

My number one bit of advice would be to be outgoing. That's what I'm really good at - being outgoing, making people feel comfortable, making people feel like they're a friend immediately. I'm really good at talking to people and making friends. It's kind of like my superpower. That has opened so many doors, especially in this industry, because how many times have you heard the phrase, it's all about who you know? The more people that you can get to know, the more people you can befriend, the more doors you're gonna open for yourself. Just being friendly back to people makes such a difference. Like, a photographer saw a photo I posted and messaged me about my top. I went out of my way to give her the exact link, and two days later, she invited me for a free photo shoot that includes hair and makeup and three fully retouched digital images for my business. That's what I'm talking about when I'm saying just being outgoing, being friendly, networking, talking to people, just being a good person. It will open so many opportunities. Also, if you don't ask, you don't get. Not being afraid to ask people or inquire with somebody - I can't even tell you how many people I asked in the beginning, like, hey, I'll do this for free if you do this for free. So many people said yes. Yes, there were some that said no, but more often times than not, they're gonna say yes. The worst they can say is no, which, okay, you already didn't have it anyways.