Insider to Insider: Teresa A. Lee, Owner of Rex & Regina

Why did you start your business?

The idea came to me after helping at my best friend’s sister’s wedding. I was there that night just to be an extra set of hands but it turns out that they needed a lot more than that! By the end of night I had played the role of a Day-of Coordinator, server, bartender, busgirl, and more. I was beyond exhausted and could barely walk on my blistered feet after I got home, but despite all of that, I turned to my husband and said, “I just had the time of my life.” I started my firm a month later.

I launched the firm even while I was still working full time as a vice-president at a major Fortune 500 company. While I loved my job, the 24-7 work, the long commute (3 hours round-trip each day), and the incredible stress and pressure were overwhelming. The idea of combining my 15-years of event-planning experience with my passion for hospitality AND being my own boss was too appealing to pass up. I took the plunge three and a half years ago and I have never looked back.

What book do you recommend to new business owners?

A lot of the knowledge I brought to the business came from working in Corporate America for so many years. But if I had to suggest a good reference for those just starting out, I would recommend Harvard Business Review’s Classics. It’s a great series of little monographs—quick reads on discrete topics like marketing, persuasion, managing oneself… They are short and easy to digest and are a nice reference to turn back to at times when you feel you might be getting off course.

Do you have any cool goal-setting tips to share with us?

Sharing my goals with others—going “on record” with them—is a great motivator. Once you’ve publicly stated, “I want X# clients this year,” or “In five years I want to have five associates working with me,” it becomes harder to slack on working toward those goals.

What do you find to be the biggest challenge as a business owner?

My biggest challenge is motivating myself to do administrative tasks like filing, inputting my T&E, updating my tracking spreadsheets… I suppose it’s similar to working out—I don’t like gearing up for it, but once I’ve done it, I am glad I did. I eventually get everything done, but I need to be my own motivator and cheerleader along the way.

If you were starting your business all over again, what would you have done differently?

I would have tracked more data from the start. It wasn’t until I was a year or more into the business when I realized the value of tracking EVERYTHING. For instance, one thing I wish I would have tracked from the start is the total number of hours I work per client. Tracking work just like an attorney tracks billable hours would have been helpful in figuring out early on a fair price for my services. In addition, it would have helped explain the kinds of services I provide to my clients, and given me a better idea of how to make myself more efficient in my job.  I am thankful now for the data that I have since collected and am a firm believer in the benefit of tracking, tracking, tracking.

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