Not My Timeline
Not My Timeline is hosted by MaKela Allen, a widow, solo mom to two, celebrity wedding planner, and CEO of Andre Makena. In each episode, she shares unscripted reflections on grief, rebuilding, and putting herself back together. The show offers an honest, unpolished look at loss and starting over without a perfect ending.
Episodes
What I Charge to Plan Million-Dollar Weddings (And Why)
There’s a big conversation in the wedding industry about how planners should charge. Flat fee or percentage? My answer is somewhere in the middle.After 14 years in the industry, I've gone from planning $1,000 weddings to managing million-dollar wedding budgets. And one of the biggest things I've learned is that pricing isn't just about what you charge. It's about understanding your
How I Told My Clients My Husband Died
In the wedding industry, we’re taught that our personal lives aren’t our clients’ problem. But what happens when your life changes overnight and pretending everything is fine is no longer an option?At 29, my husband died by suicide. I had a one-year-old, a three-year-old, a business to run, and a calendar full of weddings, including one just two weeks away.In this episode, I share the exact messag
My First Date As A Widow
The last first date I went on, I was 21. So when I found myself dating again as a widow, I was terrified. I didn't know what I wanted, who I was outside of being a wife, or how to answer a question as simple as, “Why are you single?”This week, I'm talking about my first date after loss and everything dating taught me after it. The “10 men, 10 experiences” mindset, learning the difference b
The Other Side of Suicide Prevention Month
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and I have complicated feelings about it.When you’ve lost someone to suicide, the conversation around awareness and prevention can feel very different. Especially when you were close enough to the struggle to have asked questions, had hard conversations, and still be the person left trying to make sense of the loss.This episode is an honest conversa
What My Six-Year-Old Knows About Our Life
My first guest had to be Andre. He's six, has a lot to say, and apparently knows a lot more about my life than I realized. We talked about what he thinks I actually do for work, me traveling and being away, why Mommy goes to the gym, kindergarten, making good choices, and the kind of man I hope I'm raising him to become. We talked about respecting boundaries, protecting people you love, an
Stop Networking. Make Friends
Fourteen years in the event industry, and I can honestly say I never built my career by “networking.”I built it by making friends.In this episode, I’m talking about how I went from venue sales to private planning, what working on both sides of the industry taught me, and the relationships that ultimately changed my career. The people I once looked at as industry icons became the people I call when
The Most Personal Thing I’ve Ever Said in a Professional Room
What does it actually look like to leave your kids for 3 weeks when you’re their only living parent, while also knowing that your career requires you to get on the plane?In this episode, I’m taking you behind the scenes of my most recent work trip. How I prepare my kids before I leave, how we stay connected while I’m gone, the guilt that still shows up, and what we do as a family to reconnect and
The Day I Found My Husband Took His Life
Trigger Warning: This episode discusses domestic abuse, alcoholism, suicide, and grief. If you or someone you know needs help, please contact suicide prevention here and domestic violence here.This is the hardest part of my story to tell.I’m sharing the truth about my marriage to Michael: the love that existed alongside domestic abuse and alcoholism, the boundaries I had to set, his decision to ge
The Real Cost of a $1.25M Wedding Breakdown
We are jumping in with two feet and covering real timelines. Today we will talk about the numbers and budget transparency of a real $1.25 million wedding budget for 215 guests, a Northern California resort, and every dollar accounted for. I walk through where the money actually went: $300K on florals, $124K on entertainment, six-figure photo and video teams, and why I tell couples to triple their
Welcome to Not My Timeline
I've spent my career designing perfect timelines for other people's biggest days. But nothing prepared me for the day my own timeline shattered when I became a solo parent to my two young children after my husband died by suicide.In this debut episode, I pull back the curtain on the parts of my story I used to hide behind a smile: a marriage marked by domestic violence and alcoholism, the exhausti
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