My name is Rachael Romig, and I was born in Allentown, actually! I always thought I was full-on born and raised in Reading but nope! My parents lived in Allentown for a short time before moving to Berks County. From grade school and up I always lived in Berks County. I went through the Fleetwood school system and then onto college in Berks as well. While I grew up here, my dad lived in Georgia so my brother and I were there every summer and every other major holiday. The life there was totally different. We lived at least 20 minutes from town and spent all our time at the lake catching bullfrogs and fishing, walking in the forest, and playing with our goats, dogs, cats and sometimes even chickens. At night you could hear everything that made noise – all bugs, the wind, and it was amazing how many stars you could see. While the experiences with my father weren’t in fondest memories, the night sky in Georgia always will be.
I am naturally passionate. By day I plan, execute, and oversee 100+ events annually for the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance (GRCA) as their Senior Director of Events & Special Programs. I direct the initiatives of the Women2Women program with the mission to develop women leaders by connecting women from diverse backgrounds to learn and share ideas. I’m constantly searching for new ways to create spaces for women to empower and learn from one another to better themselves professionally and personally. But through my work with the GRCA overall, I get to create these spaces for everyone, not just women.
By night I’m the owner of Just Breathe. Weddings & Events, an event and wedding planning company, working with clients locally, nationally, and internationally. I create joy daily and wouldn’t have it any other way. Coming from a background of sales, marketing, and interpersonal communication, my work has shifted over the years to a heavy focus on educating others on the benefits and necessity of diversity in the workplace, cultivating your network, building your personal brand, and creating true joy for yourself and others around you.
I am the extremely lucky mama of two sunshine-souled babies, Henrik and Penelope, with my husband Zach who has helped me to look at things in new lights (he is rational – I am whimsical) and better define the person I am.
What advice do you give people who would like to start their own business?
Do all the research!! I had no idea what I was doing when Just Breathe. became an idea. So, I looked online, found PA small business manuals, researched my competitors, downloaded templates for business planning, finances, marketing. You name it, I found it. And found it for free. There are so many resources at our fingertips, and you can do ANYTHING. Because my business was not a brick-and-mortar location but really just ME, I didn’t have an extensive setup. But I still researched and financially planned out what it would all look like. There are also amazing resources like the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) that will help you for free; whether you are just starting, want to expand, or change your business model. And I keep researching options for the next step of business. Should I sell? Should I transition to a different service? Do I need an office? You just need the time to sit down to figure it all out and put pen to paper.
Are there times when you feel it’s too much and need to Just Breathe?
Yes, of course. And that is the answer to “when you feel it’s too much.” Yes. I have two small children, a full-time role planning events and programs with the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance (GRCA), and own a wedding and event planning business. Oh, and I also love to hang out with my family, go to dinner with my friends, spend quality time with my husband, then children separately, then all together family…And let’s not forget cleaning the house, maybe/just maybe reading a book I pick, sleeping, aspiring to be more. For women, it’s ALL too much. Always.
Have I learned to just breathe? Yes, to that too, but only within the past year. It’s amazing what a slow and deep breath can do. Take it in, hold it, let it out. Let your brain slow down, close your eyes too. I have been breathing more purposefully lately, and it really does give clarity at that moment. In overall life? I’ve let some things go…but only because I’ve been forced to. I love being busy, but it’s too much to manage. So, to the side, it falls, and I just can’t care about it right now.
How do you, yourself, take a break?
Well, this is the perfect follow-up question to what I just expressed! I actually have to schedule time for myself. Just like I schedule my meetings, and kid schedules, and date nights with my husband and girlfriends, I have to schedule for me. Because let me tell you, something else will fill that space on your calendar. My therapist recently told me (YES – FIND A THERAPIST RIGHT NOW) that I shouldn’t feel bad for putting time for me, my husband, etc. on the calendar because I do it for work for important things, and MYSELF, and my husband, are important. Plus, there are two kids now. I am prioritizing myself just like I would prioritize an important meeting. It’s on the calendar: it is permanent and something that I cannot move. Am I great at scheduling time for me? No. But I’m working on it. Oh, how I remember the days I could just hop in my car and drive to Vermont…or sleep on the couch without a tiny human drooling on me.
If you could give women advice, what would it be?
Two things…
You can have it all. But you cannot, I repeat, cannot have it all at one time. Trust me, I’ve tried. Tried hard actually. And there is always something slipping. And then there is me beating myself up for not keeping it all together, but come on, I was trying to keep like forty-two balls in the air. Of course, one (if not more than half) falls. I can be an amazing business owner when I’m in the business mindset. I can be a great volunteer when I dedicate time to it, and I can be a wonderful and giving partner when I give time to that alone. But I can’t do them all at the same time, and no one should be expected to. Don’t beat yourself up all the time.
The second is that you should always be sculpting your personal brand. This is good for you both personally and professionally. Your brand is what people think of you when you’re in the room, when they see you on social media, and then what they say about you when you leave the room. You have to figure out who you are to have this reflected in your brand. Try new things, find your passions, figure out what you truly believe in and what YOU stand for. How do you want to make people feel? You need to share this far and wide, everywhere you can, and with every single person, you meet. This is also called being authentic. People are drawn to “real” people. As you develop your personal brand, they’ll know you before they meet you, they’ll offer you the job based on your reputation, and you’ll be more in sync with who you really are. Once I started figuring my personal brand out, I exploded in nothing but positive ways.
Rachael Romig
Greater Reading Chamber Alliance
Just Breathe. Weddings & Event
610-698-6366
justbreatheeventsco@gmail. com
Justbreatheevents.co
