An Unexpected Journey
I bet you all look at our Meet the Dream Team page on our website and think, “Wait… how is this girl DR. Laura Cardiel??? Is there a doctorate in wedding planning?” No, there isn’t. “Is she an actual (medical) DOCTOR?” No, I’m not. “So… what’s the deal?” Well… let me tell you the story about how I spent the first half of 2023 finishing out a doctoral program, living a career as a full-time executive director at a college, taking care of a parent, and started a wedding planning business, all at the same time.
Let me start by saying, I’ve always considered myself an ambitious person. I strived to be the best I could be in whatever I was doing. I had dreams of achieving a doctorate, moving up in leadership at the college I worked for, and making a name for myself as a scholar in the world of higher education administration. At 32, I was an Executive Director at one of the top 4 largest community colleges in the U.S. I was making a salary of just over $100k a year, which was a goal income of mine for most of my life.
One day, back in 2022, I had a conversation with a new supervisor who told me she felt I was limiting myself working in the educational field. She said that people doing my job in the private sector were making double or more than I was making at the college. I’ll spare you the details but know that the conversation left me feeling like I really needed to do some soul searching. I needed to figure out how I wanted to advance from that position, and for the first time, I was considering the possibility of leaving higher education. However, at this point, I was in my dissertation phase of the doctoral program I completed, and didn’t see a reason to quit that.
Fast forward to September 2022, when I attended a retreat with a group of ladies I work with selling health and wellness products (shameless plug: get at me for the highest quality collagen and weight management products on the market). The retreat was called Breakthrough Bootcamp… And let me tell you… what a breakthrough I had. My mentors in this group shared their stories of entrepreneurship and how they achieved their success. These women were involved in multiple business areas and were making half my annual salary in a month, and they had WAY more free time than me. I thought… If they can achieve this, why not me??
I didn’t know the complete answer to this question, but I knew that spending over 40 hours a week working at the college and working weddings part-time was not going to get me there. I had to commit to creating my own new pathway to success. I started reading books about mindset and learning about energy leadership with a life coach. I had countless conversations with my (now fiancé) about the possibilities that came with moving into starting my own wedding planning business rather than having it as a part-time gig.
In January 2023, I did all the things to officially start Cardi Elegant LLC, and I promised myself that I would build it out to become one of the premier wedding planning companies in the state of Texas. That’s right… in the STATE OF TEXAS. This was also the start of my final semester in the doctoral program. I scheduled to defend my dissertation on 3/30/2023, and that’s when I became Dr. Laura Cardiel - the doctorate of education who was calculating when to leave the field. Although I loved my team and purpose of my position in the college, I knew I needed a better schedule to be able to take care of my dad and live a better life for myself.
In April 2023, I told my supervisor I would be leaving in June. She was sad about it, but she has had a long career as an entrepreneur herself and understood my reasons for wanting to leave. After all, it was she who planted this idea into my head in the first place. I was so scared to leave, but I knew this was the only way I would be able to acquire clients and truly give my clients the attention they deserved.
Now, in November 2023, I’ve achieved reaching a monthly salary goal I made for myself, expanded my services and my team, and have booked 43 events between 2023 and 2024. I have had the BEST clients to work with and have loved every minute of my work. I am able to be home more and spend more time with my dad, dog, and amazing fiancé, who have all been extremely supportive of my choice to make this change. I am looking forward to looking back from January 2024 to reflect on the growth we’ll have made since the establishment of Cardi Elegant. Our team will definitely deserve a celebration!
I share all this to say, Cardi Elegant was created out of a burning desire to live a more fulfilling life while helping others create and carry out plans for some of the biggest and most cherished moments of their lives. We are so lucky to do what we do for people and do not take our work lightly or for granted. My educator heart yearns for helping others in this space learn how to be successful, as well! That’s the whole purpose of this blog: to teach our readers from our experiences. That means you can expect A LOT of storytelling that will evoke a range of emotions from “HAHAHA’s” to “awww’s” to “ugh’s.”
Hopefully from this first post you’ve taken away 2 key things: (1) it’s never too late to make a change to better your life, and (2) you should definitely stay tuned into this blog :D
With all the joy…
