Meet the Team | Bri Waldrop | Assistant Coordinator

Hi my name is Brianna Waldrop and I am from Simi Valley, California. I am currently a senior at TCU, studying Communication, Child Development, and Psychology. I am also a member of Delta Gamma here at TCU. I love crafting and taking on various DIY projects I find on Pinterest, whether it be room décor or delicious recipes that are trending. Growing up, my family has always shared great excitement in event planning and design. I thought it was completely normal to redo living room and bedroom décor every couple months and to plan birthday parties with outrageous themes. Every time there was a birthday party in my household, it resulted in some sort of performer with wall-to-wall decorations and outfits to match. I have always had a knack for party planning whether it be family barbecues, holidays, birthdays, or any other event that I can celebrate with friends and family. I love expressing my creativity in a way that everyone around me can share and enjoy.

            I have always known that I want to be involved in a creative industry where I can do what I love and also give back. Wedding and event planning does just that. I am able to share ideas for design, meet incredible people, and be a part of the most significant days in people’s lives. I am constantly learning and cannot wait to help make people’s special moments come alive.

I met Ashlee through a friend who heard about her new business and knew how eager I was to get into event planning. Ashlee is so outgoing and welcomed me to her team with open arms. Seeing her passion for such a great cause and hearing the story behind Treasured Heart Events made me more excited than ever to get involved. The unique aspect of this company and Ashlee’s constant desire to give back to the community is what makes it so fun to work with her. I am so grateful and excited to be a part of Treasured Heart Events this fall. Working with this team this past summer was such an incredible experience and I learned so much. There is no better feeling than sharing this passion with a team of individuals who also can’t wait to make a difference in the lives of others.

            

Meet the Team | Brett Nicholson | Operations Assistant

About Me:

My name is Brett Nicholson and I am the Operations Assistant for Treasured Heart Events. I graduated from Texas Christian University (TCU) with an Accounting and Finance double major. I am currently working on my Masters of Accounting Degree at TCU. I am originally from Aledo, TX, but have always considered Fort Worth, TX my home. There is nothing I love more than tailgating and watching the Horned Frogs play football on Saturdays. In my spare time I love to golf and watch the Texas Rangers play baseball.

Why I like working for TH Events:

I met Ashlee about three years ago when we were both working at the TCU Recreation Center. She came up to me with this idea of starting her own event/wedding planning company and I immediately loved the ideas that she had. She is typically outgoing and very energetic but what I loved most about her ideas was the passion that she communicated with about the subject. This was an entirely different person when she talked about how she wanted to change people’s lives. She wants to be with them on some of their most important days and continually stay in touch with them like they are family. She genuinely loves what she does and wants to make a profound impact on the world around her. It is very easy to join a company like this because of the impact she is making and how she is doing it.

How is TH Events Helping Me:

For my position within the company I love working with numbers and projections so naturally a start-up company is very appealing to me with all of the background data that is needed to implement competitive financial strategies in a market. I really like how I can use the knowledge that I have obtained from college and directly apply it to a company that is trying to grow and make a mark in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. As an Operations Assistant I will primarily be involved through a consulting role in helping shape the company to exactly what Ashlee’s creative imagination can think of.

What do I want to do in Life:

I have signed a contract with BDO, the fifth largest public accounting firm in the world, and will be working for them full time starting after my Masters of Accounting Degree is completed in May 2017. I would love to stay at BDO – Fort Worth and ultimately become a partner in their audit practice. I will continually help Treasured Heart Events in every capacity that I am able to for as long as they can use my help.

Meet the Team | Kati Sizemore | Design Intern

Education: University of Texas at Arlington majoring in Marketing + Management

Background + Focus: Studied design at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts

Title: Design Intern

Hey guys! I'm Kati. I am a yoga enthusiast and student who is currently enrolled at UTA where I am pursuing a dual major in Marketing and Management. After practicing yoga for 6 years, I finally decided to become a certified instructor, earning my yoga teacher training certification in February of 2016 from the Dallas Yoga Center. In my classes, I border an Ashtanga practice with little sprinkles of flow sequencing to build strength, improve flexibility, and have a relaxing class. I am highly motivated by helping others achieve long term goals to continue to expand my knowledge of yoga and share my passion with others. I spend a lot of time practicing yoga, running, hiking the trails in Texas, and baking healthy snacks (as me about healthy brownies!)

What started out as an internship with Treasured Heart Events turned into an opportunity to exercise my passion for design and give back to the community. I love events....I have been assisting in event planning since 2009 and have worked with Girls Inc. Tarrant County, AIDS Outreach Center, American Cancer Society, and Wicked Wine Run 5K. Needless to say, I was very excited to get to work with Ashlee at Treasured Heart Events to get some more event and wedding experience! This fall semester, I am so excited about my involvement with TH Events! "Event planning and management is more than just smooth transitions. It's our job as designers and managers to create a lasting experience to every guest attending and exceed the expectations of our clients." In short, I can't wait to help design your dream wedding!!

Meet the Team | Harrison Hummel | Marketing Director

I am a 5^th year senior at TCU, graduating in December, 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with a business minor. I am currently pursuing a Critical Care Residency Registered Nurse program in Seattle, where I grew up. I love and will miss Texas, but am very excited to be returning home. Seattle is where my parents, life-long friends, and dogs live, where I can work in a stable job industry, and lastly, enjoy the beautiful scenery with lots of opportunities for outdoor adventures.

Last spring, Ashlee Kautz and I were golfing when she told me about her new startup company, Treasured Heart Events. I started asking lots of questions about the company and how she was expanding it, while also adding little pieces of marketing advice from my past work and leadership experiences. A couple of summers ago I had a marketing internship at a hospital in my hometown of Seattle, where I worked in the community outreach and service department. I learned strategies for branding, as well as partnering with other organizations to achieve mutual goals.

After talking with Ashlee for about a couple months, I asked her if I could join her team as her Marketing Director. She enthusiastically agreed for me to join the team. It has been a pleasure helping Treasured Heart Events grow, especially building our social media presence, acquiring new partners, and finding newly engaged couples to serve!

Treasured Heart Events is a fantastic company since we offer a more affordable wedding planning service than most other planners. But on a deeper level, I love how Treasured Heart blesses others; we strive to bless our partners and missionary families around the globe.

Meet the Team | Erin Mulkey | Financial Director

Hi y’all, I’m Erin Mulkey and I am so excited to be the new Financial Director at Treasured Heart Events! I was born in Russia, but I got to Texas as fast as I could.  I was raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and I am now a senior at Texas Christian University studying Accounting, Finance, and Leadership.

At TCU, I have been involved in several leadership organizations throughout the past three years on campus. I joined the Student Government Association my first week of Freshman year when I applied for Frog Aides. Since the wonderful day that I discovered how amazing SGA was, I have served on SGA’s Executive Cabinet for two and a half years, as Chief of Staff and Frog Aides Director. I am also entering my third and final year in the BNSF Neeley Leadership Program and I now serve as Ambassador Chair, which essentially is corporate event planning (although, I think weddings and special events are more fun to plan!). Being on Cabinet for both of these organizations has taken a lot of my time, but it’s been my favorite part of college. While spending 10 - 20 hours a week studying and practicing leadership was a huge commitment, it never felt like work because I loved what I was doing everyday. I also worked at the Rec for two years and that’s where I met Ashlee! From these experiences, I have discovered that I have a passion for people. I love hearing people’s unique stories and figuring out what makes them who they are. There’s nothing I love more than developing others and working with other people for something that is bigger than ourselves. This passion is why I am so excited to work at Treasured Heart Events. I want to hear people’s stories and help be a part of their big moments!

With just four months until graduation, I no longer wish to pursue the typical career of an Accounting major. I like playing with numbers, but I want there to be a purpose behind what I am doing. TH gives me the chance to be my nerdy finance-loving self, but it also allows me to be creative and work with other people who truly inspire me.  I am extremely extroverted and I thrive on other people’s positive energy. If you asked my friends and family what truly gets me excited to wake up each morning, they would tell you that I really believe that any day can be magical. I have found that sometimes the greatest days of our lives happen completely unexpectedly. And for the days that we know will be special - whether it’s just a Friday, a lazy rainy Sunday, or your wedding - I love seeing people’s genuine happiness and joy. I love that every day has the potential to be amazing and life changing. I can’t wait to work at Treasured Heart Events because I get to be a part of the magic.

Meet the Team | Addi Greene | Assistant Coordinator

Addi Greene: full time cat-lover and procrastinating extraordinaire. Ashlee is a friend turned boss turned roomie, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s a spark plug and a joy to do life with. I’m so excited for what this year will bring! My interests include Jesus, boating, traveling, and Erin Condren planners. My talents include brunching, petting dogs, and watching an excessive amount of Netflix in a very short amount of time. I hail from New York, but believe I was destined for Texas in that I don’t remember a time when “y’all” was not in my vocabulary.  

I love being really involved in my church community here in Fort Worth! McKinney Church has become my home away from home, and a true blessing in my life. Moving 1700 miles away from my friends and family was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. After getting involved in the McKinney family freshman year second semester, I didn’t know how I got through first semester without them! 

I am really excited to be diving into Treasured Heart Events this semester because I love the amazing heart behind it. It also doesn’t hurt to receive three credits for doing really cool stuff with really cool people in place of a tedious MWF class. I am a senior Strategic Communication major at TCU, with little to no idea what I want to do after I graduate in approximately 270 days, give or take. With that being said, having this internship will put me in contact with a lot of people I wouldn’t have met other wise. And we all know that in today’s world: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. So I’m looking forward to the upcoming opportunities that will allow me to network with vendors and professionals.

Event planning has always been my thing. I was always the friend that everyone else would look to and ask, “What’s the plan?” Whether it was game nights, formals, parties, or the holidays, I was the glue holding the event together. This ended up finding its way into my college career. I came to TCU as an Interior Design major, and did three semesters before I realized it wasn’t the path for me. I quickly assessed my options and I found that Strategic Communication would be the most beneficial route for me. One of the avenues Strat Comm majors take is event planning, and I believe having this internship with Treasured Heart Events will allow me to establish where life will take me after college!  

Meet the Team | Ashlee Kautz | Owner + Creative Director

Hey y'all!! If you don't know me yet, my name is Ashlee, and I am the head-honcho over here at Treasured Heart Events!! I am a spunky, energetic, caffeine-addicted gal that gets excited about just about everything! I love talking with anyone and everyone...meeting new people is one of my favorite things to do! I have a german shepard/lab puppy named Rosie....and yes, I am one of those people that calls their dog their child (and yes I absolutely celebrate Mother's Day!!). I am a TCU Horned Frog down to the core! I bleed purple and live for college football. In just three short months, I will be graduating from the best college on this earth with a degree in Mathematics and a double minor in Business and Communication Studies. The most important thing that you need to know about me, though, is that I am a daughter of the King! As soon as I got to college, I knew that I wanted to do something in my life that was going to make a difference...something that would make people feel loved and cared for...something that would make an impact on the world for good!

So, you might be asking, how on earth did a Math Major get into wedding and event planning?! Great question! At the end of my freshman year at TCU, my sister got engaged, graduated, and signed a contract to move to Dubai...all in the same week!! Needless to say, I took over her wedding planning process as she moved halfway across the world to work. I fell IN LOVE with the details, the late nights of researching finding the best deals, looking for vendors, making personal decor, and every small moment of making my sisters dream wedding come to life! It was invigorating!! Meanwhile, I landed an internship with Christine Alexander at Best Day Ever Events! And let me tell you...I was so blessed to work for someone who was so stinking good at planning weddings! Christine took me under her wing and taught me everything I could have ever wanted to know, and even trusted me to plan my own styled shoot to put the BDE name on!! Last Fall, Christine and her husband decided to relocate to California and continue her company there (rebranded as Alexander Event Co. **yall need to go look at their beautiful website and show them some social media love too!! I promise, you won't be sorry!) At that point, I was at a loss...what was I going to do when I graduated?!

All throughout college, I went on mission trips, and fell in love with the families I worked with! I loved what these families did, their hearts to see other's lives changed forever, and how devout they were to sharing the Good News! I knew that I wanted my life work to support them...but I didn't quite yet know how!

**Now to the good stuff!!** In January, I decided to pull the trigger on starting my own company! I knew I wanted my company to stand for something bigger than just planning an important day, so I figured, why not combine my two biggest passions in life into one?! After lots of planning and help from friends and my super supportive family, Treasured Heart Events came to life! TH is devoted to sending 10% of all our fees right back out the door to one of the incredible missionary families that we support! I wanted to create an atmosphere that let my clients feel like they were getting support a cause that tugged on their heart as a couple, so all of our clients choose where their 10% goes! In my mind, there isn't anything better than knowing your most treasured moments get to impact hearts for a lifetime!!

So, now, standing here in September, just 7 short months after opening TH, we have donated almost $1,000 to missionaries that are making a difference all over the globe!! I am constantly amazed that I get to do my dream job, with some of my best friends in the entire world, while changing lives!!! I love seeing priceless wedding day moments go further than the bride and groom driving away...I love that my lifes-work is going to get to change the world!

If you can't tell yet...my team and I cannot wait to meet you!

Photography: Nathan Rowe Photography