On a late-June evening, two distant friends asked me to be their bridesmaid... 

I came home and vented to my roommate about being “always a bridesmaid” and my roommate said to me, “Jen, you’re good at this and everyone knows that. You’ve become a professional bridesmaid.”

That’s when I had this “lightbulb” moment. In the $300 billion wedding industry, why is there no one whose job it is to be there, really be there, for the bride?

Since I was good at being a bridesmaid, and had done it more times than I could count on my hands (and toes), I wondered if I could do this for strangers?

I gulped down courage and turned to Craigslist, where I posted an ad offering my services as a bridesmaid for hire. Two days later, I received 250 responses from people all over the world who wanted to hire me for their weddings.

Many people called me crazy for doing this. People called this social experiment a joke. But I decided not to prove those people wrong. Instead, I decided to go off and prove myself and my idea right.

In June 2014, I officially started Bridesmaid for Hire.

The head-turning company provides professional bridesmaid services to those getting married and to maids of honor. In the past 8-years, we’ve worked with hundreds of clients, had over 100,000 people apply to work for us, hired a team of professional bridesmaids, and even started a training program to help people start their own unique wedding business and make money.

I've also found myself telling my story on a lot of TV shows, like the TODAY Show, where Hoda Kotb gave me the warmest hug; Good Morning America, which came with me to video my very first wedding as a professional bridesmaid in Minnesota; and Fox News, where an anchor called my job the "weirdest ever." I share my wedding and bridesmaid expertise and unique perspective as a recurring guest on TV shows, podcasts, and in news articles on a weekly basis.