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What It's About
A car rental executive says "I do" to a new career officiating weddings.
Words of Wisdom
For those looking to follow in her footsteps Maria suggests, “Practice your ceremony just like a professional public speaker and be well versed in different types of traditions so you can create a personalized ceremony that suits your couple.”
Fun Fact
Did you know…. global rapper/superstar Cardi B is also a wedding officiant?
Notes from Chris
Episode 1914
Life takes everyone on a different journey. And sometimes something monumental happens and we suddenly veer off to a whole new life. That’s what happened to today’s side hustler, Maria Romano. Several months after the death of her husband, Maria was looking to start over. She wanted to do something she enjoyed that had an impact on others. After she saw a friend perform a wedding ceremony, she knew she’d found a calling. She wanted to become a wedding officiant. A wedding officiant is someone who performs wedding ceremonies and can branch out to perform funerals, end of life ceremonies, and naming ceremonies for infants. You must be an ordained minister to perform weddings but receiving your ordination can be done fairly simply. It doesn’t mean going to divinity schools for years … in most cases, it’s much, much easier. When she started, her cost of licensing with the county and ordination was about $150 and her website was about $500 to get up and running. Being a wedding officiant began as a side hustle for Maria, but it eventually grew into one of her main sources of income. As a part-timer doing weddings 50% of her time, she made between $15,000 to $20,000 a year. Now she earns over six figures a year. Maria wishes she had a mentor all those years ago to help get her business started. So to help others just starting out, she’s created a training course that teaches budding officiants everything they need to know about licensing requirements, how to perform the perfect ceremony, and how to create a competitive fee structure. For her, all of these elements have combined into a rewarding second act.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Learn more about Maria at her website, trueloveknots.com.
- Chicago Psychotherapist Becomes Ceremonial Wedding Officiant: After being featured on TLC, a Chicago psychotherapist and marriage counselor becomes a ceremonial wedding officiant.
- Writing Duo Makes a Vow To Improve Wedding Speeches: Two freelance writers use their wit with words to write wedding vows for tongue-tied brides, grooms, and sometimes even the best man.
- Government Employee Becomes Flash Mob Marriage Proposal Consultant: After receiving a “lame” marriage proposal, this former contractor sets up shop helping others create memorable proposal stories. Last year, she made a lot of people happy… and she also made $450,000.
Quote of the Day
"Your reputation and your integrity say everything about you."
—Maria Romano #SideHustleSchool
