Welcome to our “Day in the Life” series! We feature wedding and event planners from around the world with many different levels of experience. If you would like to be featured, download our questionnaire here and email your responses and photos to info@plannerslounge.com. We are excited to feature Linda Fondulas of Odyssey Events.

Name:   Linda Fondulas

Business Name & Location:  Odyssey Events

Years Working in the Event Industry: 40

Years Owning Your Event Planning Business: 5

Website: https://www.odysseyeventsvt.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/odysseyeventsvermont/

Additional Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/odysseyeventsvt/

What is your typical day like?

I work from home, and though I know it’s not “best practice,” sometime around 7:30 AM, the first thing I do—after a few exercises, downing a nutritional beverage, feeding the kitty, and grabbing a cuppa—I check email for new inquiries and/or answer client-based mail. Unfortunately, I’m a grazer, so I pick all day, and if my chef-husband decides to make lunch, I eat that as well!

How did you get started in the industry?

For almost all of our lives, my husband and I have worked together managing or owning restaurants. We met in a college Shakespeare class, and because we wanted to become writers, we thought being in a transient business would afford us the opportunity to travel and gain fodder for our writing. Our first jobs were as servers, but we can’t help ourselves, so we ended up managing restaurants, and finally owning a restaurant for 29 years. A hurricane put us out of business.

What inspires you?

Having no children of my own, I love being around young people! It helps me stay (or at least feel) younger. At the other end of the spectrum is Martha Stewart, who has been a role model for me.  I can’t stop reading all about wedding trends, do’s and don’ts— and whether or not I agree, I read for different perspectives.

What are your favorite online resources for your business?

Planner’s Lounge was instrumental in my segway to wedding planning! Since I also work with my husband in his business teaching cooking, I don’t have the time I would like to indulge in blogs, etc., but Pinterest is always a go-to.

Aside from wedding and event planning, how do you spend your time?

Cross-country skiing in winter and hiking the rest of the year are my main activities. We have a large property, so there is never a downtime in land maintenance. In addition to property maintenance, gardening in the shoulder seasons and wildcrafting for mushrooms in our forest are other enjoyable pastimes. Though we don’t travel as much anymore, the south of France, Italy, and the West Indies were favorites. I try to read in-between activities, but it’s hard to find time…. Creating table-scapes for invited guests or for cooking classes has always been a love.

Linda, thank you so much for sharing your story and a day in your life. If you are a wedding or event planner and would like to be featured, download our questionnaire today and email it to us along with a photo. If you aren’t sure about being featured, take a few minutes to read how it can help your business.