Yes, unfortunately more than once.
The good news is that as my company grew and we gained better experience, it happened less and less.
One of the issues of taking on new design challenges is just this: at times, no matter what you do, you are not going to make your clients happy.
This, for me, was a very humbling realization.
I always thought that once I paid great attention to my clients, I’d be able to design exactly what they want and more. WRONG.
Years ago, when I was first fired, I was devastated. My client wanted to re-create a French garden with very simple lines.
Of course, my idea of a French garden was nothing but dramatic and this was where I went wrong. She was actually quite nasty about it. She managed to successfully push all my insecure buttons of not being educated enough to know what a French garden should look like.
Well, to this dear client, I say thank you. Since then, “French gardens” have been a great source of inspiration in many of my events.
I have learned to be aware of my egotistical “beast” in thinking that I can design for everyone. It’s completely unrealistic to think we are right for all clients. In my experience, thinking this way has always cost me sleepless nights and money.
Have you ever been let go from a job? Why? Have you ever had the gut feeling that a client is not right for you? What about the client gives you this alarm?
George Bernard Shaw once said: “You see things and say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” That quote embodies how Preston Bailey approaches every event.
