An Interview with Meredith Staggers, Owner and Creative Director of Cake & Confetti

You know those Instagram feeds that are simply, well, perfect? You don’t want the feed to end because every picture is beautiful and so well done? You know the ones I’m talking about! Well, today’s interviewee is actual Instagram goals, guys. Meredith Staggers, Owner and Creative Director of Cake & Confetti, is a girl boss if I ever saw one. She is a photo stylist, event consultant, and content creator, and, most recently, she’s expanded her business into helping others with their Instagram feed and to teach how to best utilize it. Aside from Meredith being insanely cool, creative, and inspiring, this girl works HARD. She is the first one to say that she’s not an overnight success (in fact, she doesn’t even believe in said term). She went down many different roads, tried many different things, and even considered shutting down Cake & Confetti at one point. Well, good thing she didn’t, because her business is thriving, and it’s been so fun to follow along. Keep on reading for the story behind Cake & Confetti, her favorite shoots she’s ever done, her #1 piece of advice for a great Instagram feed, and MUCH more. Enjoy! 

How long has Cake & Confetti been around?

Technically 2013, but I went full-time at the beginning of 2015!

Why did you decide to start Cake & Confetti and what were you doing prior?

I started Cake & Confetti as a creative outlet after I fell in love with event planning during the whole wedding planning process. I was working full-time for an advertising agency, but I wanted something more creative to do on the side. Honestly, I never intended it to turn into a “real” job! The first couple years I planned and designed a dozen or so weddings and a lot of smaller celebrations like birthdays, baby showers, etc. But after one too many late nights spent crafting until 3am or assembling favors for a birthday party, I decided I no longer wanted to plan events.

I spent a lot of time on Instagram, but wasn’t making any money from it. So, at the beginning of 2016 I hired a business coach to help me figure out the future of C&C and I have to say this was the best decision I ever made. She pulled me out of the comfort zone and this was when I started believing in my styling abilities and the idea of making a business out of it. Of course, there’s a lot more ups and downs than that, but moral of the story is my journey looks more like a maze than a highway. 

Did you always know this is what you wanted to do? If not, when did you have an ‘aha’ moment (if you had one) and realized THIS was your passion?

I consider 2015 and 2016 my discovery years! I’ve tried a lot of different things, changed directions more than I can count, but I wouldn’t be where I am now if I didn’t fall down all those times.

I get messages a few times a week wanting to know how I grew my business so quickly, which couldn’t be further from reality. I love this quote by Richard Branson: “There are no quick wins in business – it takes years to be an overnight success.”  This couldn’t be MORE true. The second half of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 have been pretty successful for my business, but before that point, I had years of barely breaking even and I came really close to quitting several times. If you’re in that season of your business, keep going. It’s always the toughest before things fall into place!

What is your favorite part about your job? Most rewarding? Most challenging?

My favorite part is styling photos and sharing on Instagram. I’m sure it’s obvious that I put a lot of time into this aspect of my job. I’m a perfectionist by nature and I never post something just to post. I always want to make sure I’m putting out really creative and original content.

The most rewarding is teaching others how to use Instagram to grow their businesses.

The most challenging is the business side of have a small business. I typically struggle to set aside time to work on the not-so-fun side of having a business (i.e. invoicing and bookkeeping – basically anything involving numbers)!

You recently launched The Confetti Concept, which is SO exciting. Can you talk a little about that?

Yes! I started getting a lot of the same questions from people about Instagram and my thoughts on how to use it for your business, so I created this so I can help others in a small group format, and I’ve loved it so far!

It’s a four week group consulting course covering everything from styling photos, curating your feed, growing your following and ways to monetize the platform. We have a one-on-one call before it begins and an accountability call about four weeks after our last session to help answer any questions they have, but also hold them accountable to apply the learnings to their business.

I’ve purchased multiple Instagram and styling courses that were prerecorded and delivered into my inbox. No one was checking in to make sure I was watching the videos (there’s a good chance I wasn’t), reading the information or applying it to my business. I created The Confetti Concept to be the opposite! 

Walk us thru a day in your life!

Oh man, every day is different! I’ve tried to consolidate photo shoots to one day a week and the others I spend bouncing between writing blog posts, emails, pitching collaborations, meetings, consulting calls and editing photos. I’m trying to create more balance so I spend at least a half day a week going to lunch with friends, meeting other creatives for coffee, going to a workout class or running errands. I find when I get too caught up in work I ignore certain aspects of life that really make me happy!

What’s been your favorite shoot, to date, that you’ve done? I imagine it might be difficult to pick just 1, so feel free to choose a couple!

It’s so interesting because every shoot I style becomes my new favorite! I’m constantly trying to improve and find new inspiration so I’d like to believe my skills keep getting better and better. My shoot with Brit + Co was definitely a pinch me moment. We were shooting an online styling course you can find here and it was a legit photo set. It was a huge step up from my screened porch, where I usually take all the photos! But other than that, the Valentine’s shoot I just styled was pretty fun. Any excuse to go over the top on pink is fine by me!

Your Instagram feed is 100% one of my favorites. It is so cheerful and, of course, beautifully styled! #instagramgoals!  Without giving away too much, as I know that’s part of what The Confetti Concept is for, what’s your #1 tip when it comes to curating a beautifully styled feed?

Be consistent! Pick a few things that you love and work with your brand and share those 90% of the time. For me, you’ll primarily see sweets, cocktails and balloons because my brand is built around the idea of inspiring people to find a reason to celebrate. Now people associate me with all of those things. Of course, I post other things I like but I make sure they all tie back into the reason behind the brand. I think when people share too many different things, your audience has a hard time “buying in” to your brand because they don’t know what to expect. 

What advice would you give to someone wanting to break into the world of photo styling?

Take photography and Lightroom classes! This is the most time consuming part of my job. It’s really valuable to know basic photography as a stylist because things look much different on camera than they do in real life. Also, practice is equally as important! Styling is a trained skill that you have to keep practicing. Don’t be afraid to style a bunch of different photos just for fun and look through to see what you like and don’t like about them. 

What’s in store for C&C? Anything you can share?

Yes! I wrapped up my first round of The Confetti Concept earlier this month and I fell in love with sharing my knowledge to help others grow their businesses. My goal is to host one session per quarter and continue to move into different offerings to help educate! I have a few requests for mentor sessions, but I honestly feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants 90% of the time so I haven’t gotten there yet!

What motto/quote do you always try to live by?

“Supporting another’s success won’t dampen yours.” 

Thanks so much, Meredith! 

Be sure to follow Meredith on Instagram and Facebook here.

See past interviews here.