At 29, Ciara Daykin has built an empire. Firefly Occasions, a Canada-based event-planning business specializing in weddings, is on track to hit the million-dollar mark this year. Always finding herself drawn to event planning, whether it was for pubcrawls and student trips in college or her own wedding, Ciara knew that her passion lay within planning activities for others. She understood that she was inspired by happiness and the smiles on the faces of the people as she helped make their visions come to life.After college at the University of Calgary, she moved to Ontario and landed a job with the Canadian Academy of Recording Sciences. While working with CARS, Ciara joined the production team for the Juno Awards, Canada’s Music Awards televised live to more than 1 million viewers.
Although Ciara was gaining hands-on experience, she made the decision to move back to Calgary with her future husband, Simon, to take a job that paid her double what she was making. After moving to Calgary and starting her new job, Ciara and Simon got engaged. Working together to plan their own wedding turned into the spark that lit a fi re within her to start her own business doing the same for others.
FEELING STUCK
When Ciara moved back to Calgary, she began work as an oil and gas software marketing manager. She was successful at her job, but there was a lack of passion in her work. Ciara would constantly think about how she wanted to be an event planner and not only how much joy it would bring her, but the joy she could bring to others.
After a short stint trying out the real estate business, she realized that she was making no money and was not going to be able to pay the bills. All the while, she was trying to build her wedding planning business,
Firefly Occasions.
Ciara had to swallow her pride and go back to her old company to ask for her marketing job back. Luckily, Ciara was able to get her job back with stable income,but here she was again – stuck. She was working at the same corporate job, wanting to plan events, and she also still had three homes listed to sell on the market!
Three jobs at one time spread Ciara too thin to be successful at any one thing. “I had such a backward way of thinking about it. I really was buying into that you can’t make money doing what you love, that you have to have something else to support it. I know now that is so not true.”
LEAPING INTO THE UNKOWN
After realizing how unhappy she was and how burned out she was getting, she knew she had to make a dramatic change. She wanted to be an expert and she quickly grasped the reality that without focusing on one area, she would never be an expert at anything. Ciara quit her real estate job and set an exit date for her corporate job. She had recently attended a seminar that taught her about e-zines. She thought an e-zine would be a creative, fun way to get her wedding planning business rolling.
Her e-zine’s market was brides, and within three months her business, Firefly Occasions, had a growing list and was receiving positive feedback from those who were subscribing. The feeling Ciara got from positive feedback from subscribers assured her that she was on the right path. Today, her list has grown to more than 10,000 brides.
Although Ciara’s following was getting bigger, she quickly realized that she needed to prioritize balancing her life if she was going to be able to build the business she desired.
BALANCING ACT
At the beginning of her journey, Ciara was newly married, had just moved back to Calgary and was starting a new business. Her life was easily consumed by her passion. She was constantly pulling all-nighters and not spending enough time dedicated to her husband and pets.
Striving for balance in her life, Ciara came up with a visual to remind her of this. She thought through the top three things of importance in her life and came to the conclusion that she wanted to balance her business, friends and family, and herself.
Ciara and Simon became business partners. This would be a new transition for them, but they knew they wanted to do it together. Today, Simon heads up the design portion of the business while Ciara is the main choreographer. They delegated bookkeeping to an outside source, understanding that Ciara needed to focus on growing her business. She thought she had balance down pat until last December when she found out she was expecting. Notonly did she have to balance her relationships, business and herself, she would soon have to balance welcoming a newborn baby.
SUCCESS!
Once reality set in about Ciara’s pregnancy, she and Simon decided to move the business they had built working out of their house to an office space in Calgary. Ciara and Simon have given the baby a nickname, “Forced Delegation.” They knew that with the baby on the way, Ciara would not be able to continue handling all of her responsibilities.
Ciara now has a team of nine working for her. She has set up her business like an agency. Ciara has positioned associate planners to sell events at a mid level price. She is able to work only with clients who want the Daykin experience and are willing to pay top dollar to experience it. Ciara has put systems and processes in place that can be used by her associates.
One would think that with all the success Ciara has accomplished at her age, she would be content growing her empire. Although she is happy, she desires more. She hopes to write a book, have her own reality TV show and someday be able to go on vacations and travel where no work is involved!
By Allyson Beckerle
Tags: Allyson Beckerle, Business, Ciara Daykin, Entrepreneur, Firefly Occasions, Shutter Sugar Photography, Simon Daykin, Star-prenuer, Starpreneur
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