Alumni Spotlight
Olivia Miley

By Kathryn Miller, PR student intern

Hattiesburg native, Olivia Miley, graduated from Mississippi State University in just three years with a bachelor’s degree in communication and a concentration in public relations. Guided by Dr. John Forde, she strategically lined up her courses to finish quickly while still excelling academically. 

During her time at MSU, Miley worked throughout college managing a landscaping company, serving as Foundation Ambassador President, and later working as a student at the MSU Foundation. Balancing jobs, classes, and Greek life wasn’t easy, but she stayed focused on her goals throughout her college career, something she has pulled into her career as a business owner and wedding planner.

After graduation, Miley worked in corporate administration while planning her own wedding. Years earlier, during a senior capstone course with Instructor Meaghan Gordon, she had purchased the domain oliviamiley.com. She didn’t know exactly the plan for the website but she said, “One day I'm going to use it and I'm going to use it for something big.” That foresight paid off when she decided to launch her own business, Olivia Miley Events. Within a year, she was showcasing her work on the site and growing what has now become a successful wedding planning company serving couples across the region.

At the heart of Miley’s work is her mission of being a marriage-focused wedding planner. “I love a great party, and all of those aspects of a wedding reception are so much fun,” she explained. “But that’s not why we’re here. We come to celebrate the start of a family, the start of a marriage. My favorite part is helping my couples and their families stay focused on that purpose—through the planning and on the wedding day itself, which moves so quickly.”

Today, Miley manages the fast-paced world of wedding planning, working most weekends and coordinating with clients and vendors throughout the week, while also embracing her roles as a wife and mother. She credits her communication background for shaping how she manages clients, vendors, and details: “Every single wedding that I do is one big group project,” she said. “When you’re a business owner, you’re in charge of everything–marketing your own business, running it day to day, and communicating with clients–and my PR degree continues to shape much of what I do.”

How do the skills you learned in PR help you in the wedding industry?
Everything I do for a wedding, whether it’s timelines, vendor details, or layouts, it’s all written and organized, and that comes straight from my communication background. When you’re a business owner, you’re in charge of everything: marketing, branding, and client communication. Even our photography class helps me connect with photographers, because I understand a little bit of their world. My PR degree was just general but specific enough to shape so much of what I do.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I love spending time with my family. I have an almost four-year-old daughter, and my husband and I have been together since we were 15, so anything I can do with them is my favorite thing. We’ve got a great group of friends in Hattiesburg too, and we’re very super involved in our church, where I grew up and thankfully can have my daughter grow up there as well.

What is your best piece of advice for college students post-graduation?
The biggest thing I would say is you have to stay focused. There’s not going to be any path that’s easy—every single thing takes hard work, and if it doesn’t, it’s probably not worth having. Don’t compare yourself to other people. Your path doesn’t have to look traditional. Make the next best decision for you, even if it only lasts a year before changing again—that’s okay.

To learn more about Olivia Miley Events, visit her website.