Not My Timeline

MaKela Allen
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Leisure
  • Updated Weekly

Widow. Solo mom to two. Celebrity wedding planner. CEO of Andre Makena. On Not My Timeline, MaKela Allen pulls back the curtain on grief, rebuilding, and putting herself back together one unscripted piece at a time no polish, no perfect bow. She goes there.

Episodes

  1. 3d ago

    The Man Behind the Joy: Grief, Depression & Choosing Life | Malike Adigun

    Some of the happiest people you know have fought battles you know nothing about.This week, I'm sitting down with my friend Malike Adigun, founder and CEO of Curate Entertainment. If you know Malike, you know he leads with joy, kindness, and a whole lot of heart. But this conversation goes well beyond the man most people see.We talk about losing his mother to cancer at 22, building a multimillion-dollar business, raising children while healing your own childhood wounds, and what happens when the person who brings so much joy to others is privately struggling.Malike opens up about his battle with depression, ADHD, and a moment in his life when he considered ending it. We talk about medication, asking for help, parenting through grief, and why sometimes choosing to get up and try again is the biggest win of the day.As someone who has lost a loved one to suicide, this conversation meant a lot to me. Not because we have all the answers, but because I believe we need to be having more of these conversations.We also talk about friendship, redefining success, protecting our families, and what it really means to lead with your heart.I'm incredibly proud of my friend for sharing this part of his story, and even more proud of him for choosing another day, every single day. 🤍*Content note: This episode includes discussions of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide.*This is a Media Socialites Production.

  2. Oct 13

    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 value, protecting your business, and building trust with your clients.In this episode, I'm sharing exactly how I structure my planning fees for luxury weddings, from the initial retainer and percentage-based estimates to establishing a flat fee once we understand the full scope of the event.I'm also talking about why I build flexibility into my contracts, how I handle major budget increases, and why I never want my clients questioning whether I'm recommending something because it's right for their wedding or because it increases my fee.And maybe most importantly, I'm talking about the confidence it takes to charge what you're worth. Because the amount you charge doesn't always reflect how hard you work, but learning to recognize the value of your experience and expertise changes everything.Whether you're a planner, designer, or another creative business owner, there's no one pricing model you have to follow. Build one that makes sense for your business, your clients, and the value you bring to the table.This is a Media Socialites Production.

  3. Oct 6

    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 message I sent to one of my couples at the time, why I chose to tell my client's before I told the world, and what happened when I stopped trying to separate the person I was grieving as from the planner they had hired.I also share the story of a wedding weekend that changed the way I see my role entirely, when a medical emergency during rehearsal meant the timeline, the venue, and everything we had planned suddenly didn't matter.This episode is about grief, professionalism, relationships, and why I no longer believe being great at your job requires hiding the human being behind it.Because some of the hardest things I’ve lived through personally have made me better at what I do professionally.This is a Media Socialites Production.

  4. Sep 29

    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 between someone who's fun and someone who could actually be a partner, and realizing how much I had normalized in my marriage.I share the question I now ask every man: Who are you on your worst day? Because I don't need someone to fix me. I want someone who has done their own work and can walk alongside me, including through the grief that will always be part of my life.And for the widows and newly single women, I'm sharing what I wish I knew: set your boundaries, be honest about what you want, don't fill an empty bed just because you're lonely, and let your standards evolve as you figure out who you are now.Turns out, dating wasn't just teaching me who I wanted. It was teaching me who I was.This is a Media Socialites Production.

  5. Sep 22

    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 conversation about what this month feels like from the other side of suicide loss, the language we use around it, and what I wish more people understood about the people left behind.If you know someone who has lost someone to suicide, check on them this month. Sometimes you don’t need the right words. You just need to remember them, too.Content note: This episode discusses suicide, suicide loss and grief.This is a Media Socialites Production.

  6. Sep 16

    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, and why I want him to be the boy who holds other boys accountable too.And then we went places I wasn't entirely expecting.Andre talked about his dad. The things he remembers, the things he misses, and even his memory of the last morning Michael dropped him off at school. We talked about Michael's alcoholism, the two and a half years of sobriety we are incredibly proud of him for, and what it looks like to let our kids remember all of their dad, not just how his story ended.And because apparently nothing is off limits when your six-year-old gets a microphone, we also talked about me dating again. There are dance breaks. There are very serious six-year-old opinions. There are moments that made me laugh and moments that completely caught me off guard.This is our life, according to Andre. And I think this might be my favorite episode yet. My FIRST guest to Not My Timeline is officially here and it's my six-year-old son, Andre. This is a Media Socialites production.

  7. Sep 8

    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 I need help, the people I trust with my clients, and eventually, the people who showed up for me when my life completely fell apart.We talk about learning that I deserved to be in the room, why I’m incredibly transparent with my clients about money, the freedom that comes from working with vendors you genuinely trust, and why I’ve learned to say no to opportunities that don’t feel right. Including, yes, saying no to Snoop Dogg.This episode is really about something bigger than events. Stop walking into rooms asking what someone can do for your career. Be yourself. Make actual friends. Build relationships with people you would still want in your life if there were absolutely no business attached.Because looking back, that has probably been the single most important thing I’ve done for my career. This is a Media Socialites Production.

  8. Sep 1

    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 reset when I finally get home.But this trip was bigger than just work. I was asked to speak on a national panel about parenthood in the event industry, and for the first time in a room full of my peers, I said out loud that I lost my husband to suicide. I talked about becoming a solo parent, navigating significant loss while continuing to build my career, and the very complicated reality of being incredibly proud of the life I’ve built while also acknowledging what it took to get here.There was a lot of networking. A lot of career highs. A lot of missing my kids. And a moment after the stage I don’t think I could have been ready for. This episode is about what it actually looks like to keep showing up. For my kids, for my career, and somewhere along the way, learning how to show up for myself too. This is a Media Socialites Production.

  9. Aug 25

    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 get sober, and ultimately, the day he took his life.I walk through that day, the impossible conversation of telling our children their dad was gone, and what the first two years of grief actually looked like.But this episode is also about what came after. Learning to carry complicated grief, raise my children through their own loss, find myself again, and eventually learn how to love the person I became on the other side of it. This is a Media Socialites Production.

  10. Aug 18

    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 food and beverage estimate post-COVID. If you're planning a high-end event (or just love seeing the real numbers behind the magic), this one's for you. This is a Media Socialites Production.

  11. Aug 11

    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 exhausting pursuit of a "perfect" life, and the moment I had to explain my husband's death to my kids. I open up about grieving while showing up for my children, returning to work in an industry built on celebration while carrying my own loss, and how letting go of perfection helped me find something better: authenticity. This is the start of Not My Timeline, a space for honest, unscripted conversations about weddings, grief, solo parenting, and dating. No polish. No perfect bow. Just the truth

  • 11 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Widow. Solo mom to two. Celebrity wedding planner. CEO of Andre Makena. On Not My Timeline, MaKela Allen pulls back the curtain on grief, rebuilding, and putting herself back together one unscripted piece at a time no polish, no perfect bow. She goes there.

Information

  • Creator
    MaKela Allen
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © MaKela Allen
  • Show Website
    Not My Timeline

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