Community Highlights: Meet Jahiya Jeter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jahiya Jeter.

Jahiya, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m an event designer in Central Fl. I create beautiful spaces to celebrate so you don’t have to. I started event designing shortly after my wedding in 2012. I’ve always been a creative person so naturally I was a DIY bride. I created everything for our wedding from the centerpieces to my bedazzled shoes. I mean I literally remember not be able to play some of my bridal shower games because I was too busy beading the necklace I wore. I became so focused on making sure every detail was on point and aligned with my vision that I missed out on these beautiful moments.

After the wedding I had time to reflect and listened to all the great feedback and I realized everyone else enjoyed my wedding more I had, and that was a problem that didn’t sit well with me! I was so consumed with creating this beautiful wedding that I did not get the chance to actually be present and live in the moment like I should have. I honestly felt robbed of those moments and no bride should ever feel that way. This is the reason I created Distinctly Beautiful which is now Designed by Jahiya, because I wanted to gather all the little details a bride needs to see at her wedding and created the vision for her. This way she can actually enjoy her big day. From that point I really had to take time and figure out the role of a designer and what that looks like. Many people confuse it with wedding planning but I didn’t like the planning side and event designers/stylists were new at that time. Fortunately from the start I worked alone side my sister who owns is the lead planner for Whitney Brown Events, she handled all the planning and I was able to hone in on creating designs.

I took my first master class with Preston Bailey one of the top wedding designers in the world. And I was able to see a clear path for designing. I gained so much clarity and a new love for designing with florals while taking that class after that I was ready to move forward. There were a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, but we just patched them up took it as leaning experiences and kept pushing. This industry is forever changing so we are always finding new ways to innovative. Covid also helped to pushed me it taught me how to evolve. Instead of designing large events I found myself styling small more intimate event events, which I really enjoy. Covid also forced me to be creative in other ways, I started creating masks and custom t-shirts and it went well but my business became known more for clothing and the event designing side started to get lost. I had to branch off and create 2 separate entities. I decided to continue Distinctly Beautiful as a small boutique and I created Designed By Jahiya for everything event designs. Today people just want to live again. Events my not be as big as they once were but gratefully they are still keeping me busy. I’m aways challenging myself with floral and designs learning new skills to keep up with this industry.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Charging my worth has definitely been a challenge along the way. It’s so scary sometimes to charge your worth, I have fallen into the imposter syndrome so many times questioning myself as if I’m not worth it. Designing is hard work physically and mentally draining it’s so easy to get burnt out. I don’t do this as a hobby it’s a business and I had to be ok with telling someone no if they don’t see my worth.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Designed by Jahiya is a wedding and event design company specializing in creating beautiful floral arrangements and customized design details according to our clients desires. It’s more than a business it’s personal, my company was built off my experiences as a bride. And it’s always my mission to make sure your vision is executed with very little effort on your end.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Just jump! Even while working my event business I kept a full-time job training new skills or new hires for a hospitality company. I considered it as my backup plan, but when covid hit all training stopped and I was one of the first that got furlough. It forced me to jump, and those same hours I was pouring into another I poured into my own business. I was designing micro events here and there, started creating masks and t-shirts which really was booming but I had to hustle and get creative. You can’t sit down you have to work it but the results are a beautiful thing. It’s was mind-blowing I felt so free, I was force to jump but the universe caught me.

Contact Info:

• Email: hello@designedbyjahiya.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designedbyjahiya/, https://www.instagram.com/distinctly_beautiful/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designedbyjahiya

Image Credits
View House Weddings
Lindsey Vanderwal Photograpraphy
From Within Arts