Can We Please Remove the Word 'Vendor' From The Wedding Industry?? And: Why I Blog
Hello, lovelies!!!! Today I am bowing down to the wedding industry professionals who get up every weekend and do what I did yesterday ... You people are AMAZING!!!! Truly. I had a photo shoot yesterday ... I was up at 3:00 am (by my child's choice, not mine) and was on my feet all day until 5:00 pm when we wrapped the shoot. I could barely walk my ass out of the venue we had the shoot in and went home to immediately pour myself a drink ... YA'LL WORK HARD!!!!! Give yourself a pat on the back real quick!! You deserve it!!
During the shoot, as I watched all the incredible wedding professionals on the team I created, I grew a newfound respect for all the different 'pieces' that make a wedding happen ... I think I forgot what it's like to be in the midst of creating these events! I was a wedding coordinator for 4 years before I launched Style Unveiled in 2008 ... so from 2008 until just recently (April 2015) when I retired as a blog editor I just got to see the 'end product' ... the pretty ;) And while it never escaped my mind that people work their asses off to make this sh*t happen, I forgot the physical feeling of it ... and boy is it strong!!!!! And it made me want to remove a word I already loathe from the wedding industry entirely:
>> VENDOR <<
Do any of you actually like being called a wedding vendor?? Just say the word 'vendor' to yourself out loud a few times ... vendor, vendor, vendor ... does that really justify all of ^^ that listed above?? We are not vendors. You are not a wedding VENDOR. You are a savvy business owner, entrepreneur, creative professional ... you have a craft that you kick ass at and none of that is relayed when using the word VENDOR. Sorry, not sorry ... so let's ban together and change this up! Be gone, word 'vendor' ...
Ok, now that I got that off my chest I want to chit chat about why I blog on The Editor's Touch. There was a post that infuriated some people a few days ago ... here is that link ... the comments were interesting to me because when I write my posts I am not trying to go on the 'attack' as these commenters accused me of. I want to address this now:
I have been writing stories since I was old enough to hold a pencil. My mom was a teacher (a great teacher) and each time I wrote a story she would laminate it and bind it together to create a book. I still have them today. My creativity started early and I thrive on being who I am through my written words.
When I started The Editor's Touch in May ish of this year it started as just a blog ... a place for me to write and share my thoughts ... it developed into a business shortly after. I blog to write. I don't have an agenda to gain business from my posts each and every time ... I write because words pour out of me and I have thoughts in my brain. Some of you may be going 'yeah, Heather, duh' ... Yes, duh. Why else would I blog?? Right??
I am not shy. I don't always 'play nice' with my opinions about running a business ... I am pretty 'in your face' with my ideas and thoughts ... but I believe that is why people come to this place. To my blog. I have a market ... and it's targeted to people who want to cut through the bullsh*t and get the facts ... who want to get advice ... who don't need it all prettied up with excuses and reasons to just be mediocre. Don't like it?? Don't read it! :) And I mean that with ZERO defensiveness :) My blog is not for everyone.
But I do want to say this: to anyone who took my post a few days ago as tailored for them, it truly wasn't. I start blog post sometimes MONTHS in advance ... I get thoughts in and out, as most creatives do, and I jot them down as drafts in this blog ... sometimes it's just a few days that go by until I finish a post ... sometimes, like in the case of that particular post, it's months that go by before I have time to complete and publish it. I love blogging ... I won't be changing the way I blog ... this is me in the buff. And I love it.
XO~ Heather