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Katasha Butler

K Sherrie + Company Planning Atelier

Katasha Butler is the Lead Planner and founder of K Sherrie + Company Planning Atelier, a full service wedding planning boutique for the discerning and style-conscious bride. She also operates a creative and inspiring wedding blog: The Wedding Workroom. After graduating from Danville High School, she studied Chemistry at Spelman College and went on to obtain her Doctor of Pharmacy at Butler University.

So, how did she end up in the wedding industry? It was always in her blood! She planned parties and weddings of classmates and family while in pharmacy school, many times during class. She always stayed current on the fashion trends and new ideas in the wedding industry, so much so that one of her Therapeutics professors started calling her “Glamour Girl.” She always had her head in some type of fashion or wedding glossy, alternating with Principles of Drug Action textbooks. She planned her first full- service wedding from start to finish during clinical rotations. The couple she planned for was extremely pleased and that sealed the deal! After working 9 years in the pharmacy industry, Katasha has truly cultivated her skills for organization, expert planning and meticulous attention to detail. All things considered—at least the decisions that she now makes planning events can’t potentially kill someone! Although formally educated in the areas of mathematics and science, she has always possessed an artistic flair, an eye for style and details, and a creative mind. After consistently being called upon to plan parties, organize professional benefits and fundraisers, and design weddings for friends and family after graduation, she began laying the groundwork to start her own boutique wedding planning firm in 2006. She went back to school, took some business classes, became a certified wedding planner and interned under a successful wedding planner in Indianapolis. Among other things, in the free time that she has left, Katasha enjoys mentoring young ladies as a Girl Scout Cadette troop leader and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Rosebud Mentor for Alpha Mu Omega Chapter. She also is a member of the Circle City Chapter of The Links, Inc. and serves on the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, United Way Youth As Resources and Shalom Health Care Center in Indianapolis.

K Sherrie + Company Planning Atelier is a full service wedding planning firm. The best service that they offer is a stress- free planning experience for your special celebration. They save you time and ensure that you get the best possible services for your money. They are not here to make decisions for you, but to guide and assist you in making informed decisions. Their training, knowledge, expertise and experience allows them to take your dreams and execute them to your specifications. They want you to host an event designed to your personal aesthetic, where you kick back, relax and have a great time! Let them use their imagination and creativity to design an unforgettable party! They specialize in all encompassing full service planning and design to partial planning, down to our extensive “Month-Of” coordination. You should know that planning your wedding with K Sherrie + Company Planning Atelier would be a luxury and couture planning experience with unparalleled service that produces a matchless event. Their websites include: www.ksherrieco.com, www.eventologyconference.com, and www.theweddingworkroom.com.

What advantages do you think you have as a single solo business owner that married people don’t have?

TIME! Being single gives you time to work on all of the many facets of your business. As someone who takes marriage and family very seriously, I don’t think I would be able to devote as much time as I would need to my company with a husband and/or children. As a current single person, time is still a precious commodity. You would have to have a very, very understanding spouse in order to make it work, but I don’t necessarily think it would be fair.

What about disadvantages?

Lack of resources is a disadvantage. Because I have to eat, live, and take care of myself, it is not as easy for me to quit my day job (as a professional pharmacist) to pursue my business full-time. I’m not quite sure that I would even want to do that, but not having a spouse that could potentially take care of the household takes that decision off the table.

Do you think business ownership has led you to remain single?

No. But I think it causes me to self-select. I meet a higher caliber of people by virtue of being a business owner. Only men with a little more to offer stay in the running because they think I’m very driven.

Did you, or are you running your business as a part-time or full-time venture? Why?

It is a part-time venture, but the hours it takes to do it successfully are full-time!

What would it take for you to consider taking on your business full-time?

In order to take the business full-time, I would have to have a large enough stash that would support me at my current lifestyle AND I would need the business to be able to make at least the same income that I enjoy as a pharmacist. I would really need to put in more work and more hours to build up enough staff and clientele to reach that benchmark.

What advice would you give another single woman who is thinking about starting a business?

With careful planning, prayer and supplication—you can do it! There will be highs and lows, ebbs and flows, but it will all be worth it in the end if you are truly doing what makes you happy. Another added bonus: you become an inspiration for others! I did not plan to be a business owner to be an inspiration to other people, but it is really humbling to hear men and women tell you that you’ve inspired them.

What about being a single WOMAN business owner?

Do you think it is easier, the same, or harder than being a single man starting a business?

I think it depends on the field that you are entering. Being a woman in the wedding planning industry has been good for me. Maybe I would have more street credibility if I was married—I don’t know!

What was the best training you received to prepare you as a business owner?

The best training I received was, and is, networking with other wedding planner colleagues. Many people have traveled this road before me, and I can learn from their mistakes. Everything that I am doing, I didn’t have to reinvent myself. During the first twelve months of my company, KSCo, I was a total sponge—learning all that I could from planners outside of Indianapolis.

BUT—you also must be a help to your colleagues. You can’t always take, take, take—you have to give ideas as well. That was the founding principle for Eventology Conference that I produce annually for start-up wedding planners and other wedding vendors. Eventology is an intimate, collaborative and intensive business conference designed especially for wedding professionals that brings real-life, applicable marketing and business information to enhance their wedding business.

Did you take on a partner in your business at any time?

I do not have a partner. I think I would hire employees before I would ever take on a partner.

If you had to start another business, what have you learned that you might do differently—either about yourself, or about how to run a business in general?

In the next business that I want to start, I would probably have to get additional capital, as I would be offering products instead of cognitive services. That would involve more people (investors) in the business. I’m not sure if I would do other things differently—whatever mistakes or missteps I have faced have all been learning opportunities and a chance to do it better next time.

How important were mentors in your entrepreneurial career?

I didn’t have a specific mentor when I opened the business, but I did work for women who were business owners while I was in pharmacy school. I carefully observed how one in particular ran her business. Susan was very meticulous, paid careful attention to detail and how her company was represented, and she was extremely successful. That had a major impact on me. I always pay attention to the small things, the branding of my company, and how my business is portrayed. I think this sets my company apart from others. Although it is a part-time venture, I present in a way that makes clients think it’s the only thing that I do. I learned this from her.

Did you start your business with your own capital?

I started KSCo with my own capital. I did not try to obtain capital from others.

How important are your social and personal networks to the success of your business?

My social and personal networks are extremely important to the success of my business. No amount of marketing can do for me what word of mouth referrals can. People who intimately know me, my character, my style and how I operate are my best business ambassadors. They also give me the needed push when I am going through my ebbs and lows.

What is your personal definition of success, and have you achieved it?

Being happy with your life and what you’re doing with it is my definition. It’s not about things and accolades and perceived success—it’s truly about being happy. Yes, a comfortable living helps with this, but I think there’s more to it than money. It’s the people you share your life with, the impact you have on others, and the way you steward what you have.

I am happy right now, but I have not achieved the pinnacle of my happiness. It’s coming!