Today we’d like to introduce you to Jewel Odeyemi.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started planning events as a hobby for friends and family, years before venturing into my own business. The extent of my skills was, however, tested in 2012 when, after searching for a wedding planner who had the experience and understanding of planning a cultural wedding and couldn’t find one that was affordable enough for me or understood the traditions of a Nigerian ethnic wedding. I undertook the planning of my 400-guest count invitation-only wedding which was a lot of work but turned out to be a success with the help of hiring a month of coordinator. Following the event, I started receiving requests from others to plan their wedding and I did this until I decided that I couldn’t work for free any longer. By 2015, Touch of Jewel was established and I became a fully-fledged certified wedding and event planner. Prior to this, I got my degree in Business Management and worked in the banking industry as a HR & Training Administrator for 10 years before quitting my full-time job and stepping out on faith to pursue my passion as a full time Wedding & Event Planner in July of 2016. Being an entrepreneur is not a cake walk, it requires a lot of hard work, dedication and sacrifices. The journey has not always been an easy one, but thanks to a great support system, Touch of Jewel continues to progress.
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?
The road hasn’t been too bad, thanks to having a supportive husband and family support system that has made it worthwhile. I’ve also built a great rapport with some vendors in the industry and sharing knowledge and learning from one another has been a great asset. When you are your own boss, there’s no vacation time and if you take a vacation, twice the work load is waiting for you when you get back. In my field of work, you rarely find anyone who is willing to hold your hands and guide you through how to become a successful event planner. It’s almost a survival of the fittest to figure it out on your own! A lot of knowledge I’ve acquired has been self-thought and some through attending conferences and seminars. And thankfully, I do have a couple of mentors that I can look to when the going gets tough. This is why I would eventually like to start a speaking platform and intern program for aspiring planners to steer them in the right direction.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Touch of Jewel Events and Designs, fondly called TOJ does all types of events. Weddings are our primary focus, both local and destination; but we also plan and coordinate social events, corporate events, kid’s parties, fashion shows, galas, and any type of party or event in general. My background as a Nigerian gives me the upper hand and makes me the master of my trade when it comes to planning cultural weddings. Cultural weddings are usually of a larger guest count and it takes a lot of work and patience to be able to understand and deal with couples and guests of a different ethnicity. What sets TOJ apart from other planners is because we specialize in ethnic weddings, we have the experience of handling over 1000 wedding guest count. Our lowest wedding guest count to date has been 50 and highest has been 1200. The average guest count in most American weddings is 120 – 150, while for a Nigerian or Indian wedding is 350 – 500. We’ve planned and coordinated West & East African weddings, Indian weddings, South Asian, and many more other ethnic weddings. What a lot of planners refer to as “the day of” coordination is what we refer to as “wedding management” where we take over from the couple 45 days before the wedding. We just don’t walk into the wedding blindly on the wedding day trying to figure things out. We truly are a personal concierge for our brides, most of the time, I am the first face they see on their wedding day when I come into the room to wake up the wedding party and get them ready. I am also there till the very end to make sure a final walk through is done with the venue after all vendors have packed up. Arts and crafts are part of my specialty and thanks to my keen eye for design, I also offer stationery services to my couples. They have the benefit of getting an all-inclusive package if they book my planning & stationery design package.
What were you like growing up?
I was a tom boy growing up. I definitely didn’t play dress up with dolls, instead, you would typically find me playing soccer or arm wrestling with boys my age. I was very involved in sports growing up, I played soccer, ran track and cross country and that’s why I have maintained my physique to this day; even though it’s been quite challenging to stay on track at the gym these days, we all know how that is! The thought of me ever becoming an event planner was nonexistent! Born and raised in Nigeria to an accountant as a dad and a teacher for a mom, I was definitely brought up in a strict family background. I moved to the United States at the age of 14 where I attended and graduated from Frisco High School and went off to the University of North Texas to pursue Business Management. Being raised in a Nigerian household, there was the expectation for kids to either become a doctor, lawyer or an engineer. If your career path didn’t align with those, you were considered a rebel or looked upon as a failure. After attempting to major in Biology, hoping to pursue a pre-med degree, I quickly realized that Physics and Chemistry was not for the faint heart lol and immediately switched to Business. It used to be said that Nigerian kids who studied business were just taking an easy way out of college, but I am here to say that getting a business degree was a challenging but rewarding experience. Today, that business degree has helped out so much with running the business side of things and it’s not something to be taken for granted.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.touchofjewel.com
- Phone: 972-244-3708
- Email: info@touchofjewel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/touch_of_jewel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TOJEvents/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Toj_Designs
- Other: https://www.weddingwire.com/reviews/touch-of-jewel-events-designs-dallas/8872ec5d864daaed.html
Image Credit:
Bomaone Photography
Damell Photography
Malekfoto Weddings
Temi Coker Photos
Olu Jr Photographer
Films by Roy
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