Two years… It’s hard to believe it’s already been two years since I launched this business. It feels like it's been maybe a month? First of all, we couldn’t do any of this without all of you. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts for always supporting us and allowing us to do what we love to do every day. Below, I’ve listed some of the awards and achievements that we’ve received in the past two years all thanks to you and your support!
2018 - Cover of Bridal Fantasy Magazine - Makeup by Rebecca @rebeccamakeupartistry
2019 - Star Metro Community Choice Award Winner Best Wedding Service
2019 - Star Metro Community Choice Award Winner Best New Business 2018/2019
2019 - Star Metro Community Choice Award Favorite Hair Salon
2019 - Cover of Bridal Fantasy Wedding Planner - Hair by Adriana @adrianasenbeauty | Makeup by Ryley @beautybyrjc
2020 - Cover and published in Bridal Fantasy Magazine - Hair by Adriana @adrianasenbeauty | Makeup by Ryley @beautybyrjc
So, I get asked a lot of questions about my business and how it started so I figured today will be the day that I’d give you a little look into at what building a business looked like for me.
I always wanted to start a business but I was never really sure what that looked like for me. I changed jobs a few times, I went back to University to get a BA in Psychology, yet I always found myself coming back to the beauty industry. I found a passion for styling hair (coloring is a close second) and wondered what I could do with it to make it into a full career. I always had this idea when I was younger that I wanted to be a wedding planner - I loved everything to do with weddings and soon realized that styling hair for weddings was the direction I wanted to go. I couldn’t have picked a better combination… Although, had you asked me 12 years ago when I was in hair school if I wanted to do an updo, it would have been a hard no. Now that I specialize in formal styling, I learned that styling hair for weddings is not for everyone (see my blog about choosing the right stylist for your wedding to see what I mean by this). I still had a lot to learn, but I wanted to push myself to the next level - anything from learning more about business, to practicing my hair skills, or developing relationships in the community. I was ready to take on the next chapter of my career.
I came up with a business model and presented it to a few people… I’ll be honest, there was some push back that I received from people around me such as, “What if it doesn’t work out?”, or “You should think more about it before you do this whole business thing.” But I also got a lot of great feedback like “Go for it! That sounds like an amazing idea!” Some people might view the pushback as negative, but in all honesty, my response to any push back was “challenge accepted!” This is how I’ve always been when it comes to someone saying I can’t do something. Fun random fact, someone once doubted that I could run a half marathon… So I ran three of them… Not fast, I might add, but hey, I finished! So with that being said, I went ahead with my business plan anyways and I’ve never looked back! I won’t say it’s been an easy road by any means and it does require a lot of work, but if you’re passionate about what you do, it truly will not feel like work. If you wake up every day being grateful for the life you live, you know you’ve picked the right path. Some of you who know me on a more personal level, know that I often say very bluntly, “I live a pretty damn cool life.” and that’s because I do! I’ve built my business around things that I love doing which has greatly improved my life experiences. Prior to starting this business, that was not something I ever said. In fact, I look back and say, “Damn, my life was boring back then.” So if you’re ever wanting to start a business, or you're already taking the steps to start one, or maybe just the thought is there, my advice to you is to JUST GO FOR IT! I’m here for you. Don’t let negative phrases or people hold you back. View them as an obstacle that you want to overcome. However, don’t do it just to be able to say to the person, “I told you so.” Rather, use it as an additional source of drive to prove to yourself that you can overcome any negativity that may surround you or prevent you from create the life or business that you want.
So with all of that being said, a lot of people ask how I came up with my business name. I’ll tell you right now - there’s no good story behind it or reason for choosing it but I have managed to find a small personal meaning behind it. I gave myself a deadline to launch the business, but of course, I couldn’t do that without a name and I needed one fast so I could move onto how I wanted to brand my business. I considered using my actual name, or parts of it, but since I was going to have a team of service providers, I didn’t want my business name to only reflect me. So literally all I did was come up with some words that were related to weddings, bridal, and beauty and asked some of my closest friends and family what their favorite combination was. Surprisingly, most people chose the same name. Voila! Bliss & Glow Artistry was made. See, nothing exciting behind the name! However, what makes this name special to me, is that the people I asked to help me create it are very important people in my life and it means the world to me that they contributed to the start of my business.
Once I finally came around to launching my business on March 15, 2018, I expected to take things pretty slow as I didn’t expect much movement at the beginning. I figured we'd maybe get a couple of bookings for the summer in 2018, but I was just going to work really hard to prepare for the next bridal season… but boy was I wrong. The next thing I knew, I had emails coming through left and right, the two girls I had hired, along with myself were getting booked up for the entire 2018 wedding season to the point where I instantly knew this was going to grow into something big and needed to start thinking about hiring on more service providers. However, even though the demand was coming in hot, I have always prioritized the quality of the work that the girls on my team produce. I have set my standards high from day one with who I bring on the team as I certainly value quality over quantity. So if you’re a bride who tried to book in with us, but we didn’t have the availability, I’m so sorry! I’m just not willing to hire anyone for the sake of filling the demand and I hope you understand. I promise to lead you in the right direction for another great company!
There is one particular vendor that I want to talk about that helped me get my business off the ground and who has remained a person of inspiration for me and my business. Crista-Lee of Crista-Lee Photography doesn’t normally do collaborative photo shoots since she’s always so booked up, but I decided to reach out to see if she was interested in partnering to do a photo shoot right after I started my business. I knew I wanted to spend more time in the mountains while doing what I loved at the same time. So here I was, just a random girl, wanting to start a business trying to tie in my love of going to the mountains and wanted to do a photo shoot out there with one of the best photographers around. Simple as that, right? If any of you reading this are business owners, you likely know how difficult it can sometimes be to get the people you truly want to do collaborations with you… especially when you’re brand new! I am so fortunate every day that Crista-Lee said yes and took a chance on my business and spent TWO FULL DAYS shooting for us! As I look back at those images and the people in them who helped me truly kick off my business the way I wanted it, I knew I created a life long partnership with someone truly incredible that understood my life and my vision. We’ve remained very close and always continue to bounce ideas off of each other to keep inspiring one another. If you own a business, I encourage you to find another business owner to talk to about ideas, talk honestly and openly about successes and failures, and to simply just have a friend that understands you and your goals who is rowing the same boat. Hell, maybe that person is me! I'm always down for business talk - Give me a shout if you just want to meet up for coffee and talk business!
So who is this “we” or “team” that I keep mentioning? Only the most bad ass women I could possibly know, that’s who! But seriously, they’re all amazing and I certainly wouldn’t have this business if it weren’t for them. Some have been with me since day one, some have come and gone from maternity leave and others have joined as we have grown. The best part about the last two years of owning a team has been the girls right beside me. There’s no better feeling than knowing you have the best boss babes to work beside every day. Are we perfect? Well no, we always tend to spill coffee on ourselves anytime we decide to wear white… so there’s that.. but in all reality, I confidently say yes, we’ve created the most perfectly imperfect team together. Sure, we make mistakes here and there, but we’re always there to support each other and I am so proud of the team that we have all developed together regardless of what obstacles come our way!
Thank you to everyone, especially all of our brides who booked us in the past, or have already booked us into the future, for supporting us for the last 2 years and made Bliss & Glow Artistry such a great success! We promise to continue with our delivery of exceptional service to you and your loved ones for any special event <3
Much love,
Adriana Senecal
Owner