Today I am chatting with Lauren Smith. Lauren is a passionate event planner, connection creating expert, and lover of all thing’s events + travel.  Lauren helps busy entrepreneurs create in person connection with their online community so they can strengthen their relationships, provide incredible value and turn their community into raving fans. With over 10 years of event planning experience working with Canada’s largest financial institutions, Lauren brings countless unique and innovative ideas, and an impressive tool-box of skills to the table for her clients, spanning from an unmatched ability to pivot on the spot, to killer negotiation skills and the creative ability to think outside the box.

Key points addressed were  

• The particulars of the event planning industry and how her company uniquely addresses the requirements in the industries she conducts events with

This podcast series is hosted by Patricia Kathleen and Wilde Agency Media. This series is a platform for women, female-identified, & non-binary individuals to share their professional stories and personal narrative as it relates to their story. This podcast is designed to hold a space for all individuals to learn from their counterparts regardless of age, status, or industry.

TRANSCRIPTION

*Please note, this is an automated transcription please excuse any typos or errors

[00:00:00] In this episode, I speak with event planner and founder of Modern Collective, Lauren Smith. Key points addressed were the particulars of event planning industry and how her company uniquely addresses the requirements in the industries she conducts events with. We also examine some stereotypes of the event plannings, industries past and how Lauren endeavors to redefine some of these attributes in the future. Stay tuned for my informative chat with Lauren Smith.

[00:00:32] Hi, my name is Patricia Kathleen, and this podcast series contains interviews I conduct with women. Female identified and non binary individuals regarding their professional stories and personal narrative. This podcast is designed to hold a space for all individuals to learn from their counterparts regardless of age status. For industry, we aim to contribute to the evolving global dialog surrounding underrepresented figures in all industries across the USA and abroad. If you're enjoying this podcast, be sure to check out our subsequent series that dove deep into specific areas such as Vegan life, fasting and roundtable topics. They can be found via our Web site. Patricia Kathleen ARCOM. You can also join our newsletter. You can also subscribe to all of our series on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Pod Bean and YouTube. Thanks for listening. Now let's start the conversation.

[00:01:30] Hi, everyone, and welcome back. My name is Patricia and I am your host today. I am excited to be sitting down with Lauren Smith. Lauren is an event planner and founder of Modern Collective. You can find out more about it on her Web site. W w w dot. Modern collective dot. S.A. Welcome, Lauren.

[00:01:50] Thank you so much for having me. I am so excited to be here.

[00:01:53] Absolutely. I'm excited to unpack what you're doing, too.

[00:01:55] We've had a lot of audience and listeners reach out over the past year, actually, and talk about wanting me to talk with speak with the founder regarding what you do and your industry with events and things like that. And so I'm really excited to help unpack it all for everyone listening as well as for my own education. Before I get to unpacking everything with Lauren, for those of you who have not listened to before, I will give you a quick roadmap of today's podcast and then I will read a bio on Lauren. Before I start peppering her with questions. Today's podcast will follow the same trajectory as all of those in the series. Our inquiry will first look at her academic background and professional life. And then we will start unpacking everything that is based on a modern collective. We'll get into the logistics for those young entrepreneurs out there who, what, when, where, why, how. As far as when it was founded, funding all of those co-founders questions. And then we'll turn into the ethos and the populations and some of the industries that Lauren's company serves. And we'll then look towards future goals and endeavors that she hasn't. We'll wrap everything up with advice that Lauren has for those of you who are looking to get involved or perhaps emulate some of her success. A quick bio on Lauren. As promised, Lauren Smith is a passionate event planner, connection creating expert and lover of all things, events and travel. Lauren plays busy, helps Ari learn, helps busy entrepreneurs create in-person connection with their online communities so they can strengthen their relationship, providing credible value in turn their community into raving fans. With over 10 years of event planning experience working with Canada's largest financial institutions. Lauren brings countless unique and innovative ideas.

[00:03:37] And an impression, too impressive tool box of skills to the table for her clients, spanning from an unmatched ability to pivot on the spot to killer negotiation skills and the creative ability to think outside the box. So I love the idea of modern collective learn. I know you've been in the game for quite some time. But before we get to that, I'm hoping that we can start off with you describing a little bit about your academic and professional life that brought you to founding it.

[00:04:10] Yeah, totally.

[00:04:11] I love it. OK. So I remember when I was choosing a profession or degree to go into when I was entering college. My dad always said to me, I don't really care what you do, I just want you to do it for yourself.

[00:04:23] So pick a field that you love that inspires you. And just figure out what that path looks like for you. So I've always been quite sociable. I love experiences. I love creating connection with people. So the event industry of just like popped up on my plate and I was like, you know, I think I'm going to explore this, but I need the business background to it as well. So I took a business management program with a specialization in event planning, management and marketing through that. I went to it was a three year program. We learned literally everything behind the scenes of events. We had internships of all of the stuff that you do when you were in college, university. And then I from there went and worked for a financial institution where I started as coordinator. And within two years, I worked myself up to director and then got promoted to V.P. right before I left. And I was running all of the events for this brand who actually had three brands in total nationally across Canada. So that meant incentive programs, golf tournaments, conferences, owner meetings, kind of everything that they had to do with events is what I would run. And it was so fun. It was traveling the world with these beautifully big budgets that I could really do what I wanted with and explore the world with, quite literally. And then when I left there, I went and worked for Scotiabank. I was high level management, same thing running events, marketing and customer experience in one of their large divisions. And I was only there for about six months until I realized that. The corporate world wasn't me. I really wanted to follow that entrepreneurial path. And I knew what I wanted at this point, and that's kind of when I jumped and went on my own.

[00:06:14] Nice. That's cool. So sounds like you had. I like the idea of playing with big budgets in my career path. Past when I the larger the budget.

[00:06:23] I think that the smaller the budget, it creates a creativeness and a, you know, feistiness that one needs. But the larger the budget actually allows you to play around with what exactly that? More power, larger budgets, bigger scales. And it can be unnerving. And so it's a great way to kind of get your feet wet into still keeping some of the core concepts from smaller budgets that you need. You know, getting the best bang for your buck and making sure that you're really pushing all of the budgeting aspects. You can spend a lot of money on events, you know, with food or with venue or just different things like that, and really funding out per industry where you want to add per event where you want to spend money works at a larger scale with bigger budgets. So what pushed you into starting? Let's start with the logistics. When did you launch Modern Collective? Which year? And did you have any co-founders? And did you have any startup capital?

[00:07:16] Yes.

[00:07:16] So I I launched the idea, bought the Web site, did the domain sort all the branding in 2016? So that would have been four years ago now. And I knew that that was my fallback plan. But being young, traveling the world, I had moved my whole life out west to live in Vancouver. I was still living that gypsy life. I wasn't yet ready to leave that secure income until I actually just hit my one year mark of completely being on my own, running my own company. So Modern Collective officially launched in April of twenty nineteen. And no co-founders, no starting capital, just me and a belief in myself. And I just quit one day and made it happen.

[00:07:58] How did you start with your client acquisition? Was it people you'd known before? How did any of that work?

[00:08:06] So quite a few of the clients were people I'd known before who had said to me throughout my entire career. When are you going to go in on your own? I can't wait to work with you like it's a dream come true to be able to work with you now that you have capacity. And then the other half of them came. I also run a women's networking group in Toronto where we focus on supporting female entrepreneurs in business by giving them the tools and resources that they need to be successful. So quite a few of my clients came through there because it was just such a natural fit that the people I was serving were perfect with people in my community.

[00:08:38] Nice. And so did you relocate relocate from Vancouver to Toronto when you went full time for yourself? And if so, what? Was there any business reason for the geographical change?

[00:08:48] So I'm from Toronto. Naturally born and raised, my whole family is here in my early twenties. My dad actually suffered a stroke which took away his ability to speak. So from twenty one into twenty five, I was a full time caregiver. I gave up the early 20s that all my friends tied with the backpacking through Thailand and doing all that stuff to really stay home and support my dad in his stroke recovery. So with that, when I hit twenty five, he was healthy. Life was feeling a little bit more stable. So at that point I said to my parents, like, I need to go and do something for me and I need to to be a kid. And the head office of the company I was working for at the time was in Vancouver. So they packed up my car and drove out west and worked up there and lived out there for a couple of years. And then things started to go south with the company and it was ready for me. Ready? I was ready. Sorry to come home. So it kind of just like transitioned. I transitioned home in twenty seventeen while I was still working for Scotiabank. So the entrepreneurial journey didn't come until after I had already moved on.

[00:09:54] I picture it being something that, you know, it would be helpful to have like a lot of contacts and networking and colleagues, but it sounds like it worked well for you to come back in and within a couple of years launch. I want to climb into it. First of all, when I hear events that we and I talked a little bit off the air before we started about this, but when I hear events and event planning, it's just such a massive industry and end back in the day. You know, you'd say events and people immediately thought wedding planning, massive events, personal events and then corporate corporate events, corporate retreats, all sorts of things like that.

[00:10:31] And it sounds like you've had you've spanned those genre are the industry and the different aspects of it while you were working for corporate. What does the term events mean for your your company modern collective as it is right now? And do you have areas that you specialize in, specific events that you specialize in, or a profile of client that you help with their events?

[00:10:53] Yeah, I do. So I will not touch a wedding with a 10 foot pole. I have trusted friends and colleagues that I will hand off any wedding, whether that's a travel destination, wedding, intimate wedding or like a big one. I just it's not it's not what makes me happy. And that's not going to serve my client in the long run. I have friends, like I said, that are incredible wedding planners that I would very gladly hand that off to. I also don't typically do PR events, so I won't do a red carpet. I won't do social events from that perspective. My happy place and my my skills are really best to use when it comes to corporate retreats, incentives, conferences, meetings, and then supporting female entrepreneurs in doing similar events to corporate. But obviously on the entrepreneur budget. So I just did a retreat in Bolly for a female owner and we really worked together on building the entire program, budgets, all that stuff to serve her her clients. So it's a little bit of both. A lot of it is female entrepreneur focused. I love supporting women doing incredible things. But then I also still have that side of me that loves the large corporate unique events, the trouble, the incentive program. So it's twofold. I do female entrepreneur events that are mostly retreats and then large corporate incentives and conferences.

[00:12:11] Nice. So what do you what falls under the purview of an event planner? And how does that. Is it a widely accepted understanding of the curriculum or does it change per event planner? So for everyone listening. What? Like you just mentioned, budgets and things like that. I know that some event planners don't work with that aspect or they only work with the aspect of the budget in so much as certain things where they have people under their umbrella that work within it. So what all falls in under the purview or the umbrella of event planning for you?

[00:12:43] Yeah. So again, it's an it depend on the program. Let's see. As a female entrepreneur, for example, who's building a retreat, I will take her literally from IDEO all the way through to execution. So we will build the budget. We will build the ticket pricing. We will talk about transfers, gifting their sponsorship, build out. Really, everything that encompasses the event is something I want to support them with because I love the control of it. I don't want me to be working on one aspect of the event and someone else be working on another. I just think for events like that small, it's not cohesive and is going to get dropped or I'm better managing the entire aspect of it and then having someone on my team help me with the logistics of it. And then from like call our corporate conference, you're gonna have your in-house planner who has done the budget, who has really worked through what those numbers look like. And then I'm just executing on the numbers that they've given me. So for me and for my company, we do it all. That being said, I have some other people in the industry that I know are event managers. So you're not doing the full buildout. You're just fully executing. You're not hands in, you're kind of just like data. So for me, like I said, it's it's all. Management of the program. But for others, it might just be Dave.

[00:13:59] Yeah, absolutely, and I think that's the discrepancy that I'm thinking about as well. There are a lot of people that don't have their hand in that. And then you're gonna need someone else to communicate. An event manager would need to communicate with an event coordinator or budget or something like that. So I'm curious, with moving into it, you have like this you have a clientele that you are working with, you know, this some kind of describing who you prefer to work with, female entrepreneurs and things like that.

[00:14:27] It kind of begins to take on an ethos of a branding. And you think a lot about how your branding events and things of that nature. And I'm interested to see how people like that kind of take it and flip the mirror on themselves. How have you chosen to brand yourself as a company, especially as you've kind of honed into your niche markets and things like that with that kind of plays into the ethos of the philosophy of of who you are and your brand for your clients.

[00:14:52] Absolutely. So the big thing for me is I want my brand to feel comfortable. I want people, people to look at me from your Instagram. I want to get to know me personally. I have this very genuine and authentic feeling, and I wanted my brand to represent that. It was super important to me that when people saw my brand, what does it matter what background you come from, your skin color, your religion, none of that stuff. I wanted them to immediately feel comfortable and like they wanted to have me in their corner. So in coming up with my branding, it was a warm feeling. It was an inspirational feeling. So there's you'll see lots of troubled photos and lots of funny quotes, because that's also who I am. I'm a little bit goofy and I really want people to feel comfortable with me. And I kind of pulled off of a lot of the feelings when I was corporate. A lot of the things I'm so proud of and that draw people to work with me. Used to be things I would get in trouble for. And I found that once I started to, like, follow that authentic and not real vibe in that real part of who I am. My people started to find me. So my clients are people that I end up becoming really good friends with because it is such an intimate experience and they become some of my closest friends. And that's what I wanted in in building my business was I didn't want it to be a cold and not personal experience. It's quite the opposite. It's warm and it's funny. And we're talking all the time and we're literally traveling the world together and building these incredible experiences that people will remember for the rest of their lives.

[00:16:17] Yeah, absolutely. And to that end, kind of pulling on that thread further. You talked about, you know, becoming close with your clients, new client acquisition, new business development. Do you find that a lot of it comes to you or are you developing it through social media like Instagram? How are you kind of developing new business?

[00:16:33] A lot of it is is me. I don't have a sales team that really sells events for me yet. That is definitely on the plan for the future. Honestly, a lot of it right now is people that have said to me, working with you is on my vision board. And I followed you on social media. I followed your journey. And I really genuinely just would love to create something incredible with you, which has really benefited me. I've literally not really had to put money in ads or any of that type of stuff. It's all been word of mouth. Someone so knows a person. They introduced me. And it has kept me completely at capacity since I launched, which is so cool.

[00:17:11] Nice. I'm wondering, like you talked about a story where a vision board. I think about storyboards with design and things like that. When you talk about an event, truly beautiful events that I have attended over the past few decades have been one that was the thoughtfulness is conveyed. And I think that comes through with them, you know, kind of developing a storyline and a theme and a thread. And it sounds like you you you do that like you consider it and you do things. What is that process like? Were you taught it in your career, in your corporate life? Did you teach it to yourself? Did you develop like this kind of mold or boilerplate that you bring everything to that you can kind of unpack it and follow like a proper outline? How does that all work?

[00:17:57] So a lot of it is very much a brainchild of mine. So when I first have a client, come on, we'll hop on a call and I'll say, what's your vibe? We use Pinterest quite a bit. I have Instagram folders saved on my phone. So if I'm scrolling and I see something that I think might be the vibe of one of my clients, I'll just shoot over to them and say, like thinking about this for your retreat. And they're like, yes, you've nailed it. So through conversations like that, I start to understand what they want. We also get very specific on our first couple of calls. What are huge no knows what our dream brands that you want to collaborate with. Talk to me about sustainability. Talk to me about colors and vibes. And let me see your sales page. Let me see your branding. And let me help you build out this experience for you, because it is such a personal and one off experience. I don't really put it through. I mean, I do have a process that my team goes through, but it's more so than me letting my creative brain explore and build these really cool things out for people. The other thing I like to do is how would I feel attending an event? What would make me feel special? What would make me say, oh, my God, this was a one off experience, which in turn reminds me of who was with me during that experience. So my end goal for clients is for when they're their clients. Think of Bolly, they think of the client because it was this incredible experience that they gave them. Then they'll refer to them. So when I'm thinking of things, it's not just from a beautiful experience. It's how is that experience going to directly affect my client and make their business stronger?

[00:19:33] Yeah, absolutely. So you going to expand with your like your head count? How many can you take on at this point if there starts to become more of a damn demand?

[00:19:45] Will you grow your business? And if so, do you foresee any issues in managing teams underneath you?

[00:19:52] Great question. So I actually just did a huge restructure of a client clients, we're taking on what it looked like after one on one planning and I cut it in one quarter. Twenty five percent of the Americans I was bidding for is who I am taking right now, because I will to give those clients that tailored experience. That being said, if someone wants company so involved, but not from a Wannna active, I do have a coordinator that she's incredible who can work with me for about six months now. She understands my process and she often will come to me with ideas that I've already had and we work really well together. So from one of my perspective, I've actually gone back. But going forward, we will be expanding our team to facilitate the increase in onboarding of clients.

[00:20:42] Yeah, absolutely. I was wondering when there's a growth because you have such a, you know, founder's fingerprint on what you've done so far and people who have thought about it. Sometimes it's a seamless transition and sometimes it's a little bit of a growing pain, you know, because so much of what you're providing right now is you and and things like that, when you even when you have the initial intake or you develop the ad structure and have someone else implement it. It can be tricky. And that's one of the handoffs that a lot of young founders find to be, I think, seamless because they thought so much about it and they're concerned with it or, you know, a little bit of a growing pain and a hiccup. I'm curious, what are the most difficult aspects? So this is reaching into a lot of we had a lot of people write in regarding my speaking with event planners and and people of that industry. And we kind of collated all of their questions. And so I'm just going to kind of rapid fire them at you. And so one of them is what are the most difficult aspects of event planning that the person, just the lay person or someone outside of the industry doesn't know about from the outside?

[00:21:51] So when the issues when something goes wrong, so I always give the example that an event planner is very much like a duck on the surface. We're super calm and collected in life. Just looks beautiful. But underneath we're pedaling so quickly to try and make something happen or not cover up a mistake. But when I'm onsite with a client and something goes wrong, I do not want my client to worry or stress or think that I don't have the situation under control. You're coming up very quickly with a solution to this problem. And then once the problem has been solved, then you presented to the client, hey, this just happened. I want you to be in the loop. It's been completely covered. Nothing to stress about. But this did happen, and I think you should know about it. That is one of the hardest parts of the job because you still have to have that smile on your face and be your fun, goofy self on program. Meanwhile, someone could be in the hospital and you're trying to manage what that looks like. So people think event planning and then especially travel event planning is that it's all beautiful in this. I'm on a beach drinking margarita all the time when really that problem only happens one percent of the time. And that misconception, I think, is the hardest thing to manage.

[00:22:57] Yeah, absolutely. And enjoying that margarita when you're still working is a little bit different. Even being on addict locations when you're there working, I think that's no better way to kind of ruin, you know, the idea of a vacation, depending on what you think vacation is, I suppose, to top things to keep in mind when planning an event of any size. So we do a lot of people reach out and say they wanted to know kind of how to vet event planners. You know, there's what questions to ask.

[00:23:27] And one of them was saying, like, what are some some areas to really keep in mind for what the event planner is paying attention to versus not. That helps them decide who they'd like to go with.

[00:23:39] I think the biggest thing is going to be asking that flat question of, hey, when have things gone wrong and events and how did you handle them asking for referrals to their past clients if they're comfortable. It's gonna be a huge thing. And then the other thing that I think is so important is have them actually do a little assignment for you. So this is a little bit unconventional, but it's how I practice all of my either hiring a team member or working with a new company is OK. Okay, here's the situation. Let's say here's a budget that I want to work with or here's a destination I want to go on. Can you just send me a mock idea of what this might look like? And then through that process, you'll see how they think about things. You'll see how their problem solving your transportation, or you'll really start to see what they think about and the questions that they come back to you with. So if they say, yes, no problem, here it is. And they have it to the next day, I might raise some concerns that there was no questions asked if there was no deep diving and getting to know the client at the end of the day before they they jumped in and started making all these these plans and expectations for the client without actually getting to know to know them.

[00:24:48] Interesting. Yeah. Absolutely. I'm asking questions back. Sounds like it would be a major one, especially in getting able to pitch the correct aspects. So I'm wondering what's unique about your team and your event planning, like aside from this thoughtfulness that we talk about and things of that nature?

[00:25:08] When you think about your business and you compare it to other event planners that, you know, what kind of aspects do you think about that really set you apart that are unique with you?

[00:25:18] I think the biggest thing is I'm not in it for the sale. I don't need to pad my bank account any bigger. I just want my client and them to really genuinely have an incredible experience. So that for me is something I've learned throughout my career working for other third parties, working corporate, as everyone just seems to go through the process so quickly. And it's OK, we're done. This event, what's the next one look like? But for me, it's more how is that experience? How can we make it better next time? How can we build on that and start to increase the client experience or customer experience at that point? Another thing is, I'm super, super goofy. I'm professional. And I'm all that stuff, but I'm always laughing. I think being polite and being nice to your service staff, to your suppliers, to everyone involved in the event is what sets any event planner apart. And it's actually the thing I pride myself on the most is any venue, vendor or supplier service. I've worked with has always thanked me for being so nice, which confuses me because I feel like everyone should just be that gracious and nice and understanding that issues are going to happen. And it's not how or is not when the issue comes up, it's how you deal with it that is going to set you apart. So I think that's something I'm super proud of, is that I don't yell at people. I'm not mean. I'm just really nice and fun to be around. And I like to set the stage for the experience. So I'm fine. And I'm always dancing and laughing and like really making people feel welcome and like that. This is about to be a once in a lifetime experience.

[00:26:44] Absolutely. Listen, let's get into Kovar talk. You know, you hear events, you think, wow, that's going to be an industry that was heavily impacted. Have you been asked or approach to kind of curate an online event?

[00:27:01] And is it something that you would consider kind of pivoting and looking towards? And how has that covered 19 pandemic affected you? Have you had. Have you encouraged people to delay until there is a vaccine? How has how have you kind of navigated through all of those waters?

[00:27:19] Yes. So when Cauvin first hit, I had a couple of clients with massive events for this year. We had one scheduled for June one for August one for October. And I remember sitting down with my client and this would've been like early March when we were having the conversation and they didn't know what was going on. I didn't know what was going on. But as a professional in this situation, I had to come up with a plan and make them feel comfortable that, you know what? Nobody knows what's happening right now, but we're going to navigate it the best that we could. So. Right. Right off the bat. Hundred percent. We had events to reschedule. Cancel. Have those conversations with venues. I think that's also what's going to set an event planner apart from someone who likes to say their event planner. And I'm not saying that you just disrespect, but I know some people that say, oh, I'm an event planner, but you've been doing it for a year because he planned your wedding. And that's completely different than someone who's been doing it for 10 plus years, went to school for it knows the lingo is is dealing with these suppliers. There's such a difference. And I can't I can't stress that enough. And it all came out during coalbed. So negotiating these contracts for my clients. There was one client. I got them out of a fifty thousand dollar contract that they would have been out of pocket for, but they couldn't sell tickets. So it literally would have been a personal expense. And through experience and relationships and all that stuff, we were able to push it to next year. Which is what they wanted to do. So Kofod hit and it was super scary for the industry. And obviously we're still recovering and we will be for years. But I think it kind of weeded out a little bit of the people that we're putting on that face that they knew what they were doing when they kind of were defined by the seat of their pants in terms of online events. Yes. One hundred percent. We're launching an online event in the fall for that collective that I also run for the women's events and community. That's a whole other ballgame, but it's also a good thing because you can reach more people, you can reach bigger sponsors, you can really increase your revenue that way. Of course, you're gonna be missing that in person connection. But there's definitely ways to do that online that you couldn't even do before in person. So it's an interesting time for sure to be in the event space. But I'm quite excited about what the future looks like. It's going to be a transition. It's not going to happen tomorrow, but it is going to get better. And I think we'll come out of this stronger.

[00:29:38] Yeah, absolutely. And I agree. I agree. If what you said across all industries, I think that one of the things that has happened is that people who you can stay in the industry and are the ones that ought to you know, it's shaking up out of people with mediocre talent and leaving the ones here around.

[00:29:54] I think that our expertize at what they do. I'm curious looking towards the future, because things have kind of changed a lot. Everyone's had a new conversation, given the pandemic about where the future goals are headed. And it sounds like we've already talked about a little bit about this, about you cutting back down 25 percent things of that nature. But do you have any other future goals for the next one to three years for where you'd like to see your company and skills headed?

[00:30:19] I do, I do, and this is such an exciting question for me, because I have been having this on my vision board for for probably over five years. I've always wanted to launch and add another arm of my business that is a boutique, high end travel agency. I currently have to partner with another travel agency because the law is that I can't if I'm not licensed, I can't book flights and I can't collect money for travel unless I'm I'm licensed as a travel agent. But the way I run my business and with the retreat's and all of that really intimate type of events, it's so hard for us to make that seamless transition when partnering with an outside travel agency. So I have always wanted to become my own troubled agency story and just make that experience a very incredible high touch in-house experience. So I'm running my test this week and that is going to be launched fully in the fall. And then with that, obviously, comes the build out of hiring on other travel agents and really making that kind of its own standalone travel agency as well. So that's a big one. That's coming up.

[00:31:26] Does that change? And are you based out of Canada? Does that change for working with clients who are based other parts of the world? I'm in the States. Would that change for someone in the United States as to what you can provide them with? Or how does that work?

[00:31:43] It will only get better from here on out. So the event space is one of those industries where it depends who you ask and how how you run your business. There's loopholes for sure. And a lot of things I'm there are very transparent person. I would rather spend an extra year and an extra ten, ten thousand dollars in school to be able to do it right and provide that experience for my clients. So it's more so based on where I'm based and the services that I can provide. So by doing all this testing, I will then be able to provide services worldwide, legitimately.

[00:32:15] That's exciting. So we are ready.

[00:32:18] So the end of the podcast and I get to ask my favorite question that I always ask, and that is if you were at a safe social distance at a park or a garden tomorrow and someone walked up to you and said, Lauren, I'm so glad I caught you.

[00:32:32] I am. I've been hanging out. I went to school for I love events, planning. I was in corporate for several years. I had these huge budgets. I really garnered and gleans a lot of information. I think the time has come for me to branch out on my own. What are the top three pieces of advice that you would give? Let's say this person is a female female identified or known by an individual, one of the top three pieces of advice you would give them, knowing what you know now.

[00:33:02] That's a good question. I would say jump before you're ready, because if you wait until you're ready, you'll never do it because they'll always be an excuse. Well, I can't do it now. I have to save money. Like there's so much that we tell ourselves. That keep us from doing what we want. So I'd say just do it scared. The second thing is invest in a business coach. I could not do what I have done and I would not be where I am without my coach literally being my my greatest support and guiding me through the process. Because here's the thing. I can I can run an amazing event and I can put together an incredible budget and get all this incredible sponsorship. But if you talk to me about email funnels and building a business, it's just it's like a foreign language to me. But the opposite goes for my coach. She is incredible at that. So I do what she tells me to do and I don't fight back. I literally will do exactly what she tells me to do. And it works like the first three months in business. I had already hit six figures because of what she had told me to do. So invest in a business coach. As your first thing to do and then the third thing, I think you have to be your own biggest cheerleader. There's been days when I don't want to get out of bed because Cauvin happened and I'm like, what is going to happen for my business? How am I going to show up for my clients right now? I'm scared. I don't understand what's going on. But you just have to do it. And. I don't see this to be insensitive, but being a business owner, you have to be able to get through the tough days. There are days when I don't believe in myself and I don't think that it's possible, but I do it anyways. And I think that some people get scared of that. And they're like, well, I don't believe that I can push myself through it. And that's the biggest thing is learned to be your biggest cheerleader and show up when you don't want to show up.

[00:34:42] Nice. I like that. As far as the investing a business courage, I just saw another little question there I want to grab before I let you go.

[00:34:50] For people, I've I've heard this a lot. And then we've had feedback from audience. And I'm always mean to ask, how did you find yours and how again, how did you get a business coach?

[00:35:01] So I do not recommend Googling business coach, finding one right away and purchasing whatever they have to offer. I think your business coach very much needs to vibe with you and who you are and your goals and your values and and who you are at the core. So my business coach, I actually found her through Instagram. She's Tronto based as well. And I started to digest her content about eight months before I actually hired her. So I downloaded her freebees. I joined her email list. I engaged with her through Instagram, responding to her stories. And I really wanted to feel how she was going to interact with me, because if she was just going to blow me off just like whatever, like this girl's not paying me, so I'm not going to provide her any of my time or attention. She wasn't the fit for me. But throughout the process of us engaging, we actually became quite good friends. She spoke at an event for me, and then she's actually one of the ones that helped me. Be ready to jump and do it on my own. I had the belief and I knew and I was ready, but I knew that having that support in my back corner that I couldn't fail. So it was about eight month process of figuring out what that looks like and don't just narrow in on one. Like if you think that there's three or four that you might enjoy, engage with them. Download older stuff. See if their content actually works for you. Like some coaches might teach in a way that you're not going to understand. So take the time to get to know them. And Instagram is a beautiful thing and ask people for recommendations. If you see someone that has a business, folks, just ask them, hey, what do you think? I'm thinking about it. I have questions. Were you effective here or were they effective there? Be open and ask as many questions as possible, because it is a very important relationship that you're going to get into.

[00:36:39] Yeah, absolutely, I agree. And the right ones everyone swears by, you know, they always make these top three pieces of advice. All right. So I have no one jump in before you're ready. No. To invest in a business coach, as we just talked about.

[00:36:51] Number three, be your own cheer squad and love that. That's so perfect. Lauren, we are out of time, but I want to say thank you so much for giving us all of your information and relaying your story today. I really appreciate it.

[00:37:04] Chris, thank you for having me. This was so much fun.

[00:37:06] Absolutely. For us, too. So for everyone listening, we've been talking to Lauren Smith. You can find out she's an event planner and founder. You can find out more about everything we've been talking about online. It's w w. W w. Modern collective. Dot. C, a..

[00:37:20] And thank you for giving us your time today until we speak again next time. Remember to stay safe and always bet on yourself. Slainte.