5 tips for prolific living {via Elsie}

elsie {of a beautiful mess} is one of my favorite finds of 2010. her outlook on creativity, life and business reflects much of what we are striving to achieve!

she posted yesterday about tips to leading a prolific (and full) life. i certainly noted the basics, but you should read the entire article with her thoughts on each tip.

2011 is around the corner and what better time than now to start setting goals and following through? i really take these tips to heart and will bring them up often to myself {and spunk. readers} in the coming year. these are applicable to anyone! so get busy ;)

who's ready to take on the new year? shall we cheers to the great journey ahead? i think so! *clink, clink*

xoxo
kat

turn can'ts into cans

Our friend, jacin {lovely little details}, blogged this inspirational image yesterday and i couldn't help but pass it along.

via {here} : source unknown

2011 has BIG things in store for all of us! great, wonderful, scary changes are on the horizon and i'm trying to remind myself to enjoy the ride :)

i hope you all will take 2011 by the reins and hang on! it's going to be a wild ride...

big thank you again to jacin for sharing this!

xoxo,
kat

life's too short...

via {here}

A lovely tweet this am, from the lovely Alison, of The Knotty Bride...food for thought! Being planners, it's difficult for us to not be critical of every little detail. However, I think this is excellent advice for the everyday situation. If we sweat the small stuff, we'll all go insane. And well, we don't want that, now do we? :)

xoxo,
Kat

we said you'd see some cameos...

this is chewy! as he should be, he is getting plenty of rest over the holidays. now it's my turn!

<3 mal

unexpected inspiration

at my parents' home, i've been helping around the house and had TLC's What Not To Wear on the television in the background. stacy and clinton were doing their thing helping someone find their voice in their style. they were working with someone who was having difficulty articulating exactly what that new point of view when stacy said, "you have to let go of whoever you were and let yourself become who you are."

i love it! i think there's a lot to be learned from reflecting with this statement. i'm excited to see what it might mean in my life!

<3 mal

change for the better

via {here}

The lovely Marissa Kloess shared this today on Twitter :)

xoxo,
Kat

vlog #3: on a mission

vlog #3: on a mission from Katherine Hollander on Vimeo.

in our research, we found an article that lists three keys to a meaningful mission statement.

• Pass the Mother Test: A mission statement must be a concise paragraph describing what your company does and for whom. Show your mission to your mother, if she does not understand it, start again. (julie & jennifer, we fully intend to see this through...get ready.)
• Self-Igniting: Your mission is for you and your business. It does not have to be an earth moving statement. It can be whatever inspires you. (for the record, we plan on moving the earth.)
• Value Alignment: Forget the money. A meaningful mission goes beyond the dollars and cents. If your small business is creative, focus your mission on creativity. Try to be what your core competency is. (in these financial times, we have no choice but to focus on our creativity - so that works out!)

we also listed some of the top values we want to express through our mission statement. 

• energy
• detail
• passion
• creativity
• believe
• collaboration
• captivate

here's a draft of our mission statement. again, please repost, retweet and share with EVERYONE! we value ALL opinions. get our your red pens and hold nothing back!

"To collaborate with energy, map out the vision and bring a captivating event to life!" 

 thanks!

mal & kat 

clarity

feeling a great sense of clarity and rejuvenation this morning on beech mountain. sometimes when i am feeling stuck in a pattern, the best thing to do is get the heck out of town. change your view. change the perspective you have on your surroundings. breathe in NEW air. happy weekend!

xoxo,
kat

"let it dough!"

beautiful creativity!

check out the rest of this hilariously doughy and creative post at the ny times

top ten by preston bailey

if you don't know who preston bailey is, well i must say you're missing out. he is a force to be reckoned with! preston is one of THE top event designers...in the world...ever. okay, you get the picture. i've heard before that if you want to be the best at what you do, you must learn from the best. preston bailey is someone that i try to emulate in my professional career and in my life. you can learn more about preston's awesomeness {here}.

this past week, on his personal blog called "inspirations & transformations", preston posted each day about his Top Ten! i want to highlight some of the ideas that struck a chord with me.

{monday} tips for getting clients: number seven is an idea mal & me have voiced about a thousand times already in our planning. "Make it your business practice to call back all your clients after each event and ask them what you could have done better. This can be your best learning tool, not to mention giving your clients a chance to vent."

{tuesday} best ways to market & promote yourself: both being journalism majors, marketing is a part of the business we both find extremely important. number seven on preston's list builds strong relationships with local media groups. "Once you identify what market you are in and who your clients are, create a promotional campaign. This could be as basic as calling your favorite local magazine or newspaper once a week and offering them three special ideas or designs to publish."

{wednesday} what to leave behind in 2011: number eight on preston's list, mal and i are already finding to be very important while putting together goals. Leave behind "Creating unreasonable deadlines to accomplish your dreams. For instance, you'll only get that huge first wedding when someone is actually getting married, not when you want it. So, patience plus action is the key to your dreams."

{thursday} mistakes in business finances: number nine on this list is something i'm sure we will come across down the road. "Never and I mean NEVER, give a price to your clients before completely understanding what you are committing to. Regardless of whether a potential client is pressing you to give them a price on the spot, if you are not sure, tell them you will get back to them. And, of course, do this sooner rather than later."

each of these lists are chock full of amazing advice and information for people just like us! one of the reasons i am so excited to get into this industry is that the majority of professionals are out to lend a hand to and support other professionals. i firmly believe preston's business tactics could be applied to many industries aside from weddings or events. preston's posts this week have been a huge guide for us! we hope you will check out the rest of his top ten posts {here}. who do you look up to most in your industry? tell us in the comments! :)

xoxo,
kat

branding competition

we've got a name...now comes the fun part! branding! as a first step to finding a brand, we're looking for a)inspiration, b)design services that meet our budget (which, as of now, is non-existent) and c)great folks to work with! 


in an effort to really come out with a bang, we've both submitted into a competition to win a mini-branding session with lara casey and emily ley! it would be complete with a consultation session with lara and then the creation of a brand board with emily. we're incredibly excited about this opportunity and it would be a dream if we could work with them! 


check out my submission below to see what we're going for! 

<3 mal


Live The Dream. That's what I want to happen in 2011! 

My business partner and I have been working on a business plan for a few months now, but we have been training for this business our entire lives. With lots of individual experience in our back pockets (and even more energy), we are ready to work in cahoots! 

We're excited to jump in (head and feet first) to the event planning industry on our own. Just this evening, we came up with a name for our business(!!!) but we've decided to keep it tip top secret until we can make sure it's paired with a great branding. Both graduates of a school of journalism, we understand just how much a brand can make or break a business and we want to make sure that we take extra care to create one that tells people who are and what we stand for. We have lists and lists of exciting adjectives and phrases we could use to represent in our brand but haven't quite figured out how to integrate it all.

Our latest goal-setting session for 2011 included developing a brand, making it out to industry trade shows, exploring our (and our clients'!) creativity, polishing our business plan and mission statement, and building relationships with potential clients and our local business friends.  We would love for one our first relationships to be with the two of you and even more, we'd love to show you just how far we will take our new brand! 

Here's to a new year full of exciting opportunities! 

be true.

via {here}

inspiration for today? check!

xoxo,
kat

keepin' it classy

as tempting as it was, no, "keepin' it classy" is not the new name of our business.

i'll tell you what though, choosing a name is really difficult! there are so many things that we wanted our business name to convey: what we stand for, creativity and fun but also dependability, the ability to work with lots of event types...and so much more!

what we discovered when we started to brainstorm is that a majority of words we were interested in are used by other companies or we already had strong images already associated with them. we tried to use stream of consciousness to get great ideas from the depths of our minds, but when it came down to it, we were stuck!


that's where our great friend kate kryder came in! we needed a friend who could help us sort out the good ideas from the bad ones and who could push us along in our search for a name.

kate, who happens to be a fabulous co-worker of mine, has a mean creative streak! we appreciate her time, her brain, and of course her willingness to help, you can see her pictured to the right with her sweet new pretty pony reusable tumbler (we are big fans of the reusable tumbler around the office)!

thanks, kate!

<3 mal

vlog #2: 2011 goals + a secret!

vlog #2: 2011 goals + a secret from Katherine Hollander on Vimeo.

sometimes you just need a kick in the pants

it's amazing how much of a motivator dissatisfaction can be! today i was caught off guard by a couple of things and started to get upset. after phoning a friend and blowing off a little steam, i took a second to reflect. sure, i need to take some time to make things right, but i also need to use this as a reminder of just how much i want our business to succeed!

we've got to always be looking forward; not getting caught up on things that will hold us back. harness the energy that your life gives you for improvement! 

today - the song that is bringing me forward is "Daylight" by Matt&Kim. it's got such a positive, powerful energy. the lyrics are great and in the music video, you can see their spirit and excitement beaming out. i love it!

thanks for the inspiration, Matt&Kim!

<3 mal

taking risks

{Capri, Italia}

have you ever had one of those days when you were so happy and fulfilled you felt like your heart was bursting at the seams? a day when you were nervous beyond words, but knew you had what it takes? and it turned out you did!? a day when you felt like you took a risk and paid off, ten-fold? these days are the reason we have passion.

yesterday was one of those days. i took a big risk. i put my faith in my hard work and it totally paid off. i felt elated, relieved, nervous and now more excited than ever! then i called mallory to share the good news. turned out we both had wonderful, goal-reaching moments today!

i shared the news with my mom too and she reminded me, "remember this day when you're further down the road and working so hard you can't see straight. it will make you appreciate it all the much more..." this struck a major cord with me. i was in the middle of reveling in my moment and realized it will not always be like this.

taking risks and leaping is part of growing. it's part of realizing your potential. it's part of stretching abilities and pushing your goals higher than you thought even possible. these risks are wonderful, but we all need to remind ourselves of our own successes when times are difficult.

i will continue to remind myself of yesterday, for the rest of my life. my heart is full. i believe we are BOTH excited to make yet another leap toward our goals.

the picture above is a portrait i took of my friend emily when were traveling abroad in 2007. we took risks everyday that summer and this picture encompasses that sense of elation i've been trying to convey.

“man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” - andre gide

xoxo,

kat

visions, goals and plans, oh my!

on saturday, we had an incredible (six-hour!) meeting to discuss our goals. after reflecting on what we need to feel fulfilled as individuals, we dove right into what would be great for our event production endeavor (and saw in just how many places the two intersected!).

after this process, katherine and i left our meeting so fully energized! this blog itself is a product of that meeting - - our overflowing excitement had to be channeled somewhere.

so here, i'd like to share a few of the goals we created (and some sweet tunes, to boot). this is only the tip of the iceberg and we are excited to share more!

the vibe

- embody a positive, can-do attitude

- be a company full of fun, creativity and passion

- make our office feel like home

- provide the best and most inspiring tools to get the job done

it's business time

- know the business inside and out

- be your go-to company for events

- help client wishes come true

- have employees with a diversity of experiences

the event

- help every client see their event's full potential

- work hard to provide an inspiring product

- know who to call for anything (you need a unicorn? we have a unicorn guy!)

this is our life.

via {here}

the Holstee manifesto has been making its way around the internet waves for weeks, maybe months, now. and there is a wonderful reason for that! this collection of thoughts reflect everything that Spunk. is all about. it is a reminder to us, each and every day, that life is short and you should follow your heart! we hope you will print this out, tape it to your wall, put it in your dashboard, sticky-tack it to your forehead...whatever it takes, remind yourself to trust your gut and make sure your heart is full.

xoxo,

kat

vlog #1: what is spunk?

vlog #1: what is spunk? from Katherine Hollander on Vimeo.

hello!

we're a little excited about spunk. can you tell?

the beginning!

test of our very first post!

how exciting!!!!!!!

this is going to be a great adventure. 

here we go! :)