Today we’d like to introduce you to Tammy Bowser.
Tammy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I like to say that I went from finance to fashion, to founder. My career began working in corporate accounting, but I quickly realized that I did not want to look at spreadsheets for the next 30 years. This is where my career took a much-needed pivot into fashion, then founder.
My next move was to a large fashion retail company based in Plano, Tx. Where I started out in accounting but moved into a role that would allow me to interact daily with the design team, buyers, product development, fabric development, etc. As an accountant, you only report out the numbers at the end of the month or quarter, but I wanted to be in a position where I could help drive the numbers and be a part of the design process.
Now, I was in a job that both challenged my creative side and my analytical side, all should be right with the world. Well as someone who has multiple ideas pop into her head daily there was one that I could not let go of and I had to at least give it a try. I didn’t want to look up 30 years from now and regret not taking a chance on myself.
In 2012, I was at my cousin’s wedding as a matron of honor. I’m from a very large family, so our job was to help set up the wedding the night before, be at the wedding, then help take everything down once the wedding was over. That experience is what lead to me creating Snag My Wedding, an online platform to help brides resell their entire wedding once it’s over.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No, this has not been an easy road, but I’m glad that I have taken the journey and challenged myself. When I first approached my manager about wanting to make the move from accounting to the design/product development side of the company, he was not optimistic that it could happen. After a few meetings with him, he gave me a few options and because the person I ended up interviewing with was very openminded, I got the job. You will never get what you don’t go for.
My advice to anyone is to not let someone tell you that you can’t, because they can’t! You can do and be anything you want to be, you just have to put in the work and ask for what you want. I can not tell you how many times I have asked for something in my business and got it. As someone else said, “No, just means not right now.”
Please tell us about Snag My Wedding.
The one thing that is always a part of what I do is process improvement, both in my 9 to 5 and my business. Snag My Wedding was created to solve a problem I saw that was missing in the market. With the average cost of a wedding in the United States being around $35K, why was there no place where brides could both buy and sell their entire wedding? A lot of work goes into planning a wedding, as I learned during my cousin’s wedding. As we unload, the reloaded things on and off the truck I was thinking to myself how many times a week, a month, a year is this being done for a wedding? Why couldn’t the bride pre-post all the items before her wedding, then the buyer could pick it up once the wedding is over?
What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
I would say go into every situation with an open mind and a business card. First and foremost, be present at the moment and listen for clues that will help you move to the next step. I have gone into many meetings, events, pitch competitions, brunches, and coffee meetups looking or one thing and finding another.
Always have your business card in hand and ready to give out when someone asks you for it. This can make or break you getting the call when someone is looking for the service that you have. I always have my card with me no matter where I go and because of that, I don’t miss the opportunity to share my business with whomever I’m in the room with.
On a side note, because I believe having a business card is important, I also think knowing who’s in your network is equally as important. Remember, I said that ideas are always popping into my head, well I have also created an app that solves this problem if you don’t have a business card with you. The app is called Rodexly and it’s currently available in the App Store. I wanted to create an app where you could have all your contacts in one place and be able to search them based on their skillset. Next time, you’re looking for an accountant, website designer, photographer, etc., you’ll be able to search your network first using the app.
Contact Info:
- Website: Snagmywedding.com Rodexly.com
- Phone: 469-619-7624
- Email: tammy@snagmywedding.com
- Instagram: @snagmywedding @tabowser @rodexlyconnections
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/snagmywedding/
Image Credit:
Some photos by: Local Embers @localembers
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