Girl Crush x Veronica
GIRL CRUSH x veronica
Owner & Event Producer of Veronica Joy Events
Girl Crush goes virtual! Check out the interview video here!
Due to the pandemic and current circumstances that we are faced with, I decided it was the perfect time to give Girl Crush her virtual debut. While I wish I could be sitting at a bar or on a couch with these sweet girl crushes of mine, drinking a glass of wine and having these conversations face to face, under the current circumstances this is the best and safest option we have right now. We’re staying safe in our homes, in front of our computers and diving into all the things that make these amazing women true girl crushes.
I had the pleasure of doing my first virtual Girl Crush with Veronica Polce! Veronica is the owner and event producer of Veronica Joy Events. With more than a decade of wedding, social and corporate event experience, Veronica’s company specializes in making sure that the month and day of her client’s wedding is planned to perfection and seamlessly taken care of.
If you have the pleasure of meeting Veronica, you’ll instantly feel like you’ve known her for years. She is down to earth and an incredibly hard worker which is evident by the wedding planning business she has built over the last three and a half years, all while working full time as a corporate event planner. I am so thrilled I finally had the chance to sit down with her and get all the details on how she crushes it on the daily.
Veronica and I met 15 years ago when we were in high school. We each attended an all girls Catholic school in northern New Jersey and met through mutual friends. Fifteen years later, we both found ourselves living in Hoboken, working in Manhattan, and having a whole lot in common. I am so impressed by Veronica and her story that I knew I had to share it with all of you.
Planning events is something that comes natural to Veronica. Ever since high school she was planning proms and as she likes to call it, “wheeling and dealing with a DJ at the young age of 17!” In college Veronica was the social chair of her sorority and once again found herself planning mixers and formals, never thinking that a career could actually come of all the work she was doing and it’s awesome to see that it absolutely has.
Veronica’s first internship was with a wedding planning company in NYC, where she first fell in love with weddings. After college she recalls feeling the pressure that so many people face, that they have to get a “good job” in order to succeed. So she did what she had to do, but always found a way to pursue weddings on the side. After a few years she landed a full time job where she could primarily focus on events, working for companies like The New York Times and Discovery, Inc, but her passion for wedding planning was never put on pause.
After a few years of crushing it in her full time job, Veronica found herself in the midst of a financial situation that left her with two choices: she could either accept that she was going to be in debt or she could figure out a way to pay it. Despite friends and family offering to help, Veronica decided she was going to figure things out on her own. She knew she was passionate about events and weddings and decided to take a leap of faith when she started Veronica Joy Events.
In order to start a business or side hustle you have to ask yourself questions that aren’t always easy to answer. What are you good at? What do you like doing? How do you spend most of your time? What do you want to be doing? It might sound easy, but oftentimes it requires you to dig deeper into yourself. It was through answering these questions that showed Veronica exactly what she should do.
Veronica’s story is unique because she didn’t wait until she was “ready” to start a company or until she had enough money in the bank. Instead she found herself in a situation that required her to make a decision that would set herself up for a financially stable future. She turned the negative into a positive and used it as fuel to change the trajectory of her life. She looked at what she was good at, where she had made connections in her professional life, and most important she prioritized what she loved to do, building a company from the ground up.
LIFE IS 10% WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU
& 90% HOW YOU REACT TO IT.
In the midst of the current pandemic one thing that Veronica says should be a lesson for all of us is to find a way to earn multiple streams of income. “Everyone wants to pay for safety and convenience. If you can come up with something that can help other people and you can still make money and get to be creative, that’s the key!”
Veronica continues to pivot her business through the pandemic because she has been able to adapt. Before CO-VID19 Veronica called an intimate wedding with one of her clients as having around 185 guests. However in our current circumstances, Veronica now calls an intimate wedding just two people. With all the uncertainty that is swirling around us, she was able to pivot her business and come up with a way to make sure couples could still get married even if it wasn’t the exact way they had been planning.
Nearest & Dearest is the latest service that Veronica Joy Events has started to offer. What I love most about Nearest & Dearest is that it puts the emphasis on the couple and the people closest to them. It doesn’t strip anything away, instead it highlights the most important parts that can still be celebrated. It’s personal and intimate, and a beautiful reminder that love always wins.
“With all of the uncertainty going on right now, Nearest and Dearest makes couples feel excited again about their wedding day.”
By offering this service, Veronica is able to adapt her business while keeping her clients happy and everyone focused on the positive. “So much of the time, when it comes to weddings, the couple is actually thinking about everyone else. This is a chance for them to think about what is important to the two of them. I’m able to help them celebrate the day, just in a different way, but still giving them the ceremony and celebration they deserve.”
When I asked Veronica what she was most proud of with VJE, it was an emotional moment and it was clear just how much she had to overcome in order to build her business into what it is today. What started out as an unfortunate financial situation to be in, Veronica turned into a company that she is beyond proud of and rightfully so. “It’s a very proud moment for me to be able to work really hard and to have gotten myself out of a financial situation. I’m proud that I did that for myself and to see what it’s evolved into, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
You can’t control how the other person is going to receive it, react to it or respond to it. So if it works for you, it works.
It’s no surprise that Veronica and I both have a major Girl Crush on Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx! What we love the most about Sara is that she built her company based off a gap she saw in the market and she did it all on her own.
The last question I ask during every Girl Crush interview is what are three things you are grateful for right now. It might seem like a simple question, but when you stop to think about all that you are grateful for, the list is usually longer than you think. Veronica is grateful for her tight knit circle of family and friends, her health, and her job. She is grateful that she gets to do what she loves and that her work doesn’t feel like work.
Veronica has been such a joy to work with throughout this entire process. If you are planning a wedding, especially in the middle of a pandemic, I encourage you to take some of the stress out of the process and let Veronica make your day even more special than you could have imagined. You won’t regret it.
I can’t thank her enough for her openness in speaking with me and her honesty in sharing her story with all of you. Be sure to check out the full interview on video here! Thank you to all of you for the constant support and love for Girl Crush. Take care, stay home & stay safe.
VERONICA POLCE
owner & event producer of VERONICA JOY EVENTS
IG @VeronicaJoyEvents
