How a Millennial Wedding Planner's Pivot Became an Instagram-Famous Business

One of the keys to success when launching a business is to find a problem and solve it. HerDressJamaica founder Chrisan Hunter shares her top tips for doing just that, including the importance of strategic team building, tapping your network for help, pivoting, and more.?

By Brandi Fowler

Magic can happen when you pinpoint an industry gap and find a creative way to build a business around it.

That is how Jamaica native Chrisan Hunter founded the fashion photography company, HerDressJamaica, months after the pandemic began. The company suits up its clients in dreamy vibrant dresses for glam photo shoots on beaches in Jamaica.

The 28-year-old creative started with just a handful of local clients and has now worked with over 1,000. Most came from other parts of the world.

“I think it's very important to find a solution to a problem,” Hunter said. “That's the first thing. Because [in 2020], the problem was nobody could go anywhere. [But] people still wanted to celebrate whatever thing that they were going through in life, whether it was maternity or [birthdays]. But they had nothing to do. They couldn't go anywhere. So I solved it by creating an experience for them to celebrate the day and still have pictures for the memory of it.?

“If you want to start a business, try to find something that will solve a problem. That way, it's easier for you to start up because then you know that people will want it. And niche down. Don't try to be doing everything. Just find the problem and niche down. Find something that you can specialize in and you can cater to that one thing and make it your baby.”

Find the Industry Void and Fill It When Developing Your Business Idea

Hunter’s story is a blueprint for how to capitalize on problems that need to be solved or met, then turned into a money-making machine.

The 28-year-old businesswoman worked as a wedding planner in Jamaica for five years before being laid off in early 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As she tried to figure out her next career move, she had an epiphany that led to a life-changing pivot.?

“I always wanted to start my own business, but I had no idea that it was going to happen this soon,” Hunter told LinkedIn News. “I thought about it and I was like, ‘I'm going to try something that is not here in Jamaica.’ And I decided to try HerDress.”

Photo shoots Hunter saw on Instagram in Santorini, Greece, where people wear massive colorful dresses shot against picturesque backgrounds, inspired her.

“[I thought] that is something I could bring to Jamaica because there was nothing like that,” Hunter said. “I [also thought] this would fix the solution of trying to fit a dress in your closet that you no longer need. [We] have everything taken care of for you. We'll provide the dress, the photographer, makeup artist, everything you need.”

Her idea was golden.?

Tap Your Network When You Start a Business?

As Hunter fleshed out her idea, she started building her team by reaching out to her network in Jamaica. She also used her savings to fund the business.

“Andre Designs was one of the first photographers,” Hunter said. “I actually worked with him before with weddings, so I brought the idea to him. I was like, ‘Hey, this is what I think I want to try.’ And he said, "Let's try it.’

“Then there was 1Peace Photography. I basically knew [Mikhail Nation] from college. So I was like, ‘I love your work. We're going to work. Let's work together." He was the second one. And then the other two, we worked on a shoot together. Originally, I was just renting the dresses and people would book their own photographer. And I go to the shoot, I see their work and I'm like, ‘Yeah, I want you on my team.’ Sometimes I would find them based on seeing their work and I say, ‘Hey, let's collab.’ It’s a mixture of working with them and also collaborating.”

With the help of a local seamstress, Hunter created three dresses.?

“I brought the design to her,” Hunter said. “I just showed her the vision. And we went through so many dresses before we got the perfect length and sizing and everything. I bought the fabric from Jamaica. I have a seamstress here in Jamaica. Everything that we provide is all Jamaicans.”

After creating the dresses, Andre photographed them and Hunter launched her company on her sister’s birthday, Aug. 6th, 2020, which is also Independence Day in Jamaica.

“I wanted a big day where everybody [would] be on the internet,” Hunter said.

The strategy worked. She started with mostly local clients. Then her base quickly grew because of local press and social media.

“I believe our first international clients were around October of 2020,” Hunter said. “But we got a feature from a local television station here in Jamaica. They're big. I grew up watching them and that's when a lot of locals started to know about us. Because they had never seen anything like this. It was innovative and fresh.”

Hunter’s entire local team has grown since the company’s inception From her siblings who assist during the shoots, makeup artist Nikae Cosmetics, to videographer Yanic Barrett, and her five photographers, Andre Young, Donavan A. Morrison, Rodcliffe Hume, Adrian Smith, and Mikhail Nation, they create professional content that is magazine editorial-worthy.?

“I feel like my journey throughout life, I was meeting all the right people,” Hunter said. “So when it was time for me to start my business, I already had everybody or more, even, for example, my driver, the make-up artist, even my siblings, my entire family. They are so supportive. And if I need somebody to jump in, I can always call and say, ‘Hey, jump in.’ They are with me every day. It is a whole lot of wonderful support.”

Hunter said she encourages every business owner to carefully select their teams because of that.?

“[Your team] can make or break your business,” Hunter said. “I'm lucky enough to have the best set of people to work with. They are a blessing.”?

Be OK With Pivoting As Your Business Grows

Hunter shifted to accommodate changes mandated by business growth. She advises other business owners to do the same.

“You don't have to have it perfect when you're starting out, but as you grow, as your business grows, you need to grow with your business too,” Hunter said. “Because that is how you are going to pivot. You want to always keep ahead of things, because I have even more competition than when I started out with. So you have to keep ahead of the game and keep people intrigued and wanting more of your business.”?

Hunter said her goal is to “make women feel special.” She added, “A lot of the time, as women, we don't make the time for ourselves, especially Black women. We are giving so much to everyone else, and we don't take the time for ourselves. So coming to the shoot, we want you to just be how we say in Jamaica, we say, ‘You're full of yourself.’?

“We want you to just feel your beauty and just exude all of that. And we want to bring out your confidence and we want you to leave feeling amazing and special and feeling wholesome again.”?

Next for Hunter and HerDress: expansion.?

“The goal is to expand to the entire Caribbean,” Hunter said. “I want people to be able to travel to all the islands and be able to experience HerDress. And I feel like we're going to get there pretty soon.”?

Editor's note: Brandi Fowler booked and paid for a HerDressJamaica shoot during a recent trip.

Top Takeaways

How a Millennial Wedding Planner's Pivot Became an Instagram-Famous Business

• Find an industry void and build your business around solving that problem.?
• Tap your network for connections and help.
• Your team can make or break you. Choose wisely as you add people to it.?
• As your business grows, grow with it. Be OK with pivoting.