Throughout my life I’ve had many jobs to get by, a few of them fairly forgettable and a few of them fairly lucrative but when you are young and struggling you often take what you can get in order to survive.  Sometimes your career paths are based on necessity rather than choice.  Our work ethics weren’t pulled out of a hat- we’ve always had to work hard in order to pay the bills.

 Since I’m frequently asked “how did you get here?”  Today I will travel back in time to give you an idea of the journey I shared alongside my twin sister sharing the triumphs and tragedies that this adventure called life handed is and how we used our experiences and adventures to get from there to here.

My first job was as a nurses aid at 15 which is why I had a drivers license early.  Working at a nursing home with no previous experience of being around elderly people gave me the gift of compassion but I knew the path of nursing school previously traveled by so many of my cousins and aunts wouldn’t suit me due to my inability to give an injection and the sight of blood.

My second job was at Pizza Hut alongside my twin sister.  Although we were hired as waitresses and paid waitress wages, we were dishwashers and even though we consistently asked when we could get on the floor in order to make tips to add to our 2.25 an hour wages, the manager abused our naivety by continuing to make empty promises which is why we quit.  We learned a valuable lesson about “chasing a carrot” that we would never catch. The day we quit we were asked to give back our logo shirts, we took them off and left in our bras.  Were we enbarassed?  Not at all, we had been working for months cleaning and cooking while getting ripped off on our pay checks so by the time we left, giving back our shirts wasn’t a big deal.

 We’ve worked as maids, salespeople, gardners, waitresses, telemarketers, brand reps,  clothing models and dog walkers to get by because we had to but at 24 years old finally figured out that the real money was in commission sales!

From selling furs to jewelry to Cadillacs & Hummers, I’ve sold just about anything under the sun because I believed in the product and I never sold anything that I wouldn’t buy myself. 

 Choosing to go into the wedding and events industry was a big decision for me due to the investment of time and money along with the possibility of failing. Working for another company gives you the security of knowing that someone else is paying the bills.  

But, after my son’s wedding, I decided to take a chance and after my husband and I sold our Dream Home, I finally had the money to try something new for the first time in my life by working for me rather than working for someone else. 

 My first couple were as interesting as many other clients over the past 5 years and funny.  My client base is like a box of chocolates because I never know what I’m going to get and my clients are as unique and varied as you can imagine because they come from all walks of life.

The Pawning Planners clients often tell us their trials and tribulations in an effort to explain why they have no money for a Dream Event.  Ironically, job loss, wage cuts and health issues are often to blame for the financial issues these consumers face when trying to plan or afford a wedding, baptism, estate sale, anniversary party or other event that is important to them. 

    
 Did I ever imagine that networks and production companies would take an interest in our story?  No, it never occurred to me but within months of my first website going live- folks started contacting me to learn more about “our story.”

While we are currently under contract, I’m keeping a list of everyone contacting me through this website and will interview you when our current contract expires.

Finishing a book detailing every event and every adventure isn’t an easy task- as I try to put all of my thoughts on pages and adequately describe the joys along with the disasters- my blogs on all sites give me a history of events to refer to.

There have been the fiascos of everything going wrong and the exhilaration of everything going right while on location with my entire family by my side. Everything we’ve accomplished was by blending personalities and individual traits that helped us succeed year after year because failure was never an option.

Giving things 150% wouldn’t be easy but it would be a journey for my family and I to share as we continued to help families who came to us for help.

Who knew that trying something new would work?  Who knew that by taking trades my business would double?  The economy and need for low cost or bartered services is huge and as I prepare to attend another rehearsal and meet my next client- I’m glad that trying something new came at a time in my life when I was ready for a change and time to spend with my own family while “changing the wedding and events industry one barter at a time from Fort Worth, Texas.” 

Wendy M Wortham