I loved catching up with Diana for this interview. After thirty years building a successful career in marketing, she made a bold career change, and it’s been wonderful to watch her put those decades of experience to such good use in her new practice as a celebrant. Her story is a good reminder that the skills we build in one career rarely go to waste, they just find a new home. Here’s what she had to say.
A Career Change Inspired by a Difficult Day
What was it that made you look at celebrancy as a career?
After 30 years of working within marketing I reached a stage when I wanted more control of my life and to work in a happy environment. At my father’s funeral we had a service led by a celebrant which I was quite underwhelmed by which got me thinking about what it would take to become a celebrant.
The Skills Diana Brought From Her Marketing Career
What skills do you think you brought to the work and how have they already helped you?
- A good communicator who is curious, compassionate and sincere
- Professionalism – I’m punctual and diligent, someone who likes being organised and working within set deadlines
- Integrity – people find me a loyal and dependable person who is conscientious and empathetic
- Passionate – I’m a kind, thoughtful person who looks for the ‘fun’ in life, don’t expect the normal with me!
- Calm under pressure – some say I thrive on drama, to me it’s just a case of being proactive and practical in the moment!
Why Diana Chose Wedding Celebrant Training with CCTA
You completed our Wedding Celebrant Training, what did you most enjoy about the course?
For me I enjoyed the flexibility of working with Dinah as it fitted around my personal circumstances including the death of my mother and my second hip replacement! I really enjoyed having 1-2-1 sessions so that we could explore certain topics in depth.
Once I started the business it was great to see how everything I’d learnt with Dinah and all the modules completed slotted into a ready made business, thank you!
A Surprising Discovery During Training
Was there anything that surprised you in the training?
The breadth of ceremonies that I could offer, I’d initially only considered weddings but Dinah made me think about lots of other ‘celebrations’ and ceremonies.
The Weddings Diana Loves to Create
What type of wedding are you most looking forward to creating?
I want to create fun, memorable services for couples more interested in marriage than a wedding production. To celebrate a couple’s love story by weaving in bits of their story into a ceremony.
Diana’s Advice for New Celebrants: Using AI Tools in your Marketing
You’ve had a very successful career in Marketing over three decades. One of the areas many new celebrants struggle with is their marketing. What one piece of advice would you share with them?
Make use of the AI tools around now and be smart how you use them! When I fed some information into Chat GPT about who my ideal client was I was astounded how quickly it created their persona, including information around their values. It was a fantastic start and realistically would have taken me several hours to outline it. By having a template to work from based around my ideas I could quickly hone it to what I needed. Once you regularly use AI and train it about you and what you want it is an invaluable tool for your marketing.
Can you share five things about Diana, the person, not the celebrant.
- Loves travelling and meeting new people
- Enjoys cooking and experimenting with new recipes or just seeing what can be made with the contents of the fridge/freezer/store cupboard
- Has had two hip replacements – so likes to keep active swimming, playing Padel tennis, yoga and weight training, and cycles to work 3 days a week
- I am a Mum to two kids – and so proud of them! My daughter is a physiotherapist whilst my son is just starting on an accountancy grad scheme.
- Has just celebrated 25 years of being friends with ladies I met at anti-natal classes in Bristol