Monday, Feb. 7, the Alpha Phi Chapter of the Zeta Phi Eta National Professional Fraternity in the Communication Arts & Sciences hosted their first event since the organization reestablished itself in fall of 2021. Alumni Night was an hour-long event aimed to give students a chance to hear about the professional experiences of Stacy Argue and Jaffe Wojcik. 

“It was our first time doing an event like this, so it was pretty new,” said Chapter President Logan Komprood. “Just hearing some of their tips for how they handle their career life was pretty helpful to me.”

Wojcik’s wedding planning business is called Graceful Events, serving the Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois areas. Wojcik started her business as a way to work while still having time to spend with her three children and husband. Today, Graceful Events has planned over 1,000 weddings.

One point Wojcik shared with students in attendance was her “formula for success.” She created this list around her experience as a wedding planner and business owner but says that students can apply it to their passions in life. Wojcik said her formula is as follows:

“First, I identified a problem people were having. Second, I assessed the competition in the market to see if there was space for me. Third, I created a detailed plan to creatively solve the problems people were having. Fourth, I created a business model that served our clients, but also provided great opportunities for my staff. And fifth, we delivered exceptional customer service.” 

She finished her presentation by sharing information about an available internship with her company. No experience is required – she is looking for the right person to fill the position most of all. 

Argue is a UW-Whitewater alumna who most recently worked in healthcare consulting after successful careers at UW Health as a learning and development manager, and at American Family Insurance as a leadership development specialist. 

“I graduated from UW-W in 2004 and have come back to be a guest speaker almost every year since. I am always filled with excitement when I come back. I love the positive feelings of nostalgia, while also seeing all the progress the university has made over the years,” said Argue. 

One topic Argue explored during her 30-minute speech was the difference between being a manager and being a leader. They aren’t always the same person. 

“Sometimes there’s a manager, but there is somebody else on the team who is the leader. The go-to person, or the person who can scan the environment and respond very well. Leadership and management take two different forms. A leader is somebody who people are going to, that they count on,” said Argue.

Zeta Phi Eta’s first event while back on campus had an engaged audience eager to ask questions of Argue and Wojcik alike. Students of various communication majors attended such as corporate and health communication, public relations, advertising, broadcast/print/web journalism, electronic media and international journalism. 

“We were hoping students would learn how the real world works when it comes to their careers. I think there’s only so much we can do in the classroom, but being able to talk to people that do some of the careers we are looking to be a part of is a huge thing,” said Komprood. 

In the future, Komprood says Zeta Phi Eta will be planning more events for students in the Department of Communication. 

If you are interested in the internship with Graceful Events, contact [email protected] or find their Instagram at @graceful_events_weddings. For more information about joining Zeta Phi Eta visit https://blogs.uww.edu/zetaphieta/ or email [email protected].