Besties Business
in
Trevor Maddox and Stephanie Footman, owners of We WOW-U Events and Wedding Planning, discuss what its like to be in business with your best friend, how they got started, and the hard work that takes place behind the scene.
By: Kimi Johnson The name of your business is We WOW-U Events and Wedding Planning. Tell us what does We WOW-U mean to you? It’s just as the name implies. Once a client hires us, we want the impact to be beyond their expectations, over the top, extraordinary, so that the first word that comes out of their mouth, at first glance, is WOW! Which means our work speaks for itself. Whose idea was it to make We WOW-U an official business? It was mutual agreement. Was event planning something you both saw yourself doing?
We both have an eye for beauty, exquisiteness and glamour. However, while we always talked about it, we never acted on it. Trevor is a meeting planner and has always had the desire to expand to the more creative side of events and wedding planning. I have always had a creative mindset. How did you get your start planning weddings and events? We started out doing small events when friends and fami-
ly would come to us for help regarding events planning. The more we helped, the more we thought about doing it as a business—getting paid for what we’re good at and enjoy doing. How is it running a business with your best friend? We started out as friends but now we see ourselves as sisters. We have a very close and special relationship and it has been that way for almost 30 years. Never a harsh word, never “fallen out” over anything. We agree to disagree. We have the same thoughts, sometimes that’s scary. I mean really scary! When it comes to planning and formulating our thoughts and ideas, we think the same things and it’s so hilarious, it’s like we’re twins. Sometimes, we speak the same thing at the same time. And our response is “Get out of my head” in unison. The irony is, we were raised in completely different environments. Trevor is a city girl, born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey. I am a Southern girl, born and raised in Florida. We’ve heard before that friendship and business should not mix. That doesn’t apply to us. Having a bond that’s beyond friendship, doesn’t affect our business relationship.
