We had the good fortune of connecting with Jasna Boudard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jasna, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I always knew I wanted to do two things with my life: travel and create.

I’ve been an artist and a world traveler my whole life, but in order to live that reality sustainably I had to choose the right career. I tried several options before finding the perfect fit, including teaching english abroad while developing my travel photography portfolio. After attending a wedding in Bangladesh, I fell in love with the intense cultural immersion and decided I wanted to be a wedding photographer.

From what I understood about the wedding industry, it was important to serve a local market as most of the business comes from word of mouth. I really wanted to shoot weddings but did not want to limit my travel and cultural opportunities, so I decided to start my own business named Travel Weddings. The dream was that I would continue my international journey while documenting weddings of all cultures. But while this fulfilled my dream, I was not addressing the biggest component to running a business: What do people need? How can I be of service to them?

So I decided to pivot and specialize in multicultural weddings.

What should our readers know about your business?
I learned that the best way to serve a target audience is by focusing on what they don’t have. I wanted to celebrate diversity and the fusion of different cultures coming together, as this naturally aligned with my values. By specializing in multicultural weddings in an industry that typically showcased “traditional American weddings” or “traditional Indian weddings”, I manage to stand out and serve those who resonated with my brand and mission. Ironically, by growing in my local niche, I started booking more and more destination weddings where I could also put my travel expertise to good use.

It’s been quite the journey as I had to reinvent my ideas over and over and truly believe in my mission. It was not easy but it was the most rewarding hard work of my life and I learned so much along the way. Ultimately through having my own business I get to do the two things I want: travel and create.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
People joke that I should be a travel agent or tour guide as a side hustle since I do it naturally! I love showing people around where I live, or even places I’m visiting myself! I do a lot of research ahead of time and save places on my google maps or lists. I think of Dallas as a food capital and typically take people to have unique and delicious meals, or to all the pretty spots in town (I am a photographer after all).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband for supporting me and not letting me give up on my dream when things got tough (running a business is hard work and takes a long time to work out!)

Website: https://travel-weddings.com

Instagram: travelweddings

Linkedin: Jasna Boudard

Facebook: travelweddings

Image Credits
all me

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