February is Black Futures Month and in celebration, we’re spotlighting some of the incredible Black business owners in the Dallas wedding industry. Brittany McKinney of Southern Affairs is no stranger to the wedding planning industry, joining the Southern Affairs team in 2017 as an assistant planner. Her talent and detail-oriented nature led her to become not only a principal planner with the company, but she is now co-owner of Southern Affairs with founder Robyne Swink. While the duo specializes in weddings, they have expanded their business into planning all kinds of life events worth being celebrated.
Q: Can you tell us how and when you got interested in your field and how you got started?
“I’ve been with Southern Affairs since 2017 but the company has been around since 2014. I joined the company as an assistant planner, and now I currently own half of the company.” –Brittany McKinney
Q: What inspired you to start with the company?
“I got started doing my own wedding planning; I met a lot of vendors that I liked, and I got to see first hand what goes into a wedding. I first began at a small venue where I learned a lot about the business, and then I went to work for an actual wedding planning company—so I got to work under a few planners in the DFW area before I decided to start doing this full time.” –B.M.
Q: What does your company specialize in, and how does it distinguish itself from others in the industry?
“We are one of the smaller wedding planning companies in DFW. Currently, we only have two lead planners on staff, which would be myself and Robyne, so every event that comes through our office touches both of our hands. I mainly take on the planning details and Robyne’s niche is designing— which she loves to do. We’ve had national recognition for best wedding planners two years in a row. We specialize in everything timeless, romantic, and classic.”–B.M.
Q: What makes you love what you do?
“I think getting married is one of the biggest moments in someone’s life. Overtime, we get to build relationships with the clients because typically a client is going to be with us anywhere from six months to two years. We’ve done baby showers, birthday parties, and other events for past clients. Our clients tend to stick with us and become a part of the family. This is another reason why we like to stay small, and we only take on so many events per year.”–B.M.
Q: Who or what has motivated or inspired you?
“My family is a big motivator for me. My husband and I have a four-year-old daughter, and she really drives me to succeed. Working here has given me time to be present for her. I also love when I get to sit down and talk to couples to see what their thoughts are so I can make their process as stress-free as possible.”–B.M.
Q: What has been your experience as a Black business owner in this industry?
“We are very thankful and very blessed to be where we are as Black business owners. The market in this area has changed over the most recent years, and we love that. However, sometimes things are a little bit harder when you’re a Black business owner because people tend to go with what they’re comfortable.”–B.M.
Q: What are some difficulties you have had to overcome?
“I think that a few more doors can be opened for Black business owners, and we have the potential to execute events at the same level as everyone else. Sometimes the opportunity is just not given, which is another reason we’ve been blessed to be able to work in different markets when some of our other business owners are not—though I think they deserve to be, just as much as anyone else.”–B.M.
Q: What are your long-term goals for yourself or your business?
“We want to keep pushing forward, stay very active, and continue to grow the business. I think another goal for us eventually would be to bring on another full time planner as the business grows. We’d also like to strive to travel a little bit more on events, get to see a few different places. We’ve been able to do events in Oregon, but I would like to do something out of the country too.”–B.M.
Q: What is some advice you have for those wanting to pursue the same career?
“It’s super important to study and follow people that you admire, especially by taking training courses or getting a mentor. I advise people to learn by interning or working beneath someone. That would be the biggest piece of advice that I could give. Weddings are beautiful as a finished product, but you never know exactly what goes into it until you have to do it yourself.”–B.M.
