This Week in Weddings

Getting all the things checked off the to do list, staying focused for extended periods of time, and wrapping up at a decent hour feeling completely accomplished and successful... sounds like a perfect work day, right? But most entrepreneurs aren't running their businesses that way and could take small steps to make each day more productive. In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're talking to a business coach lets us in on how block scheduling can be game changing for productivity, focus, and intention.

About our guest:

Heather Vickery is an award-winning business owner and global leader with over 20 years as an entrepreneur. She leverages her entrepreneurial skills and expertise to coach individuals towards greater personal and professional fulfillment by helping them leverage their fear into intentional bravery. Heather says “When we choose bravely, on purpose, we choose bigger, have bigger successes and it’s contagious. A celebrated public speaker, Heather inspires audiences and empowers attendees with the tools they need to live bold and successful lives through creating balance, time management, mindfulness, as well as countless systems, strategies, and boundaries. 

She’s the author of Gratitude Journal: Shift Your Focus and Grow Grateful: A Gratitude Journal for Kids and Families. Heather is also the host and executive producer of The Brave Files Podcast.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Heather's background in the wedding industry and her transformation into coaching
• What block scheduling is and how it works
• Why block scheduling helps you get things done more efficiently
• Best practices for planning out your day
• Tips for managing your email on a schedule
• How block scheduling and boundaries go hand in hand
• Heather's tips for starting and ending your day in order to increase your intention and productivity
• Heather's podcast The Brave Files
• Commit to Three app for daily goal setting

Want to connect with Heather?

• Online: www.vickeryandco.com 
• Instagram: @vickeryandco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VickeryandCo/

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.

It's certainly not uncommon for weddings to be planned by more than one person – bride and groom, bride and mom, groom and groom, bride and her bff! And when you're a wedding pro trying to sell, it's challenging to know who you need to actually sell to. In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting with Sam Jacobson about the best ways to sell when there are multiple people in the room, checking out your website, and potentially reading your email responses.

About our guest:

Sam Jacobson helps event pros book more couples with science-backed sales approaches honed over 15 years in the wedding industry. He focuses on how to guide the buyer’s journey, discover couples’ real needs, and create sales proposals that sell themselves.

Sam’s led companies in venues, catering, planning, design, décor, and floral. He’s personally responded to thousands of inquiries, and booked hundreds of couples for millions in revenue.

He knows how and why couples make decisions.

Sam founded Ideaction four years ago with his wife, Katy. Since then, their team of seven has worked 1:1 with nearly 200 clients.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Sam's background in the event industry and how his company, Ideaction Consulting, helps wedding pros with the sales process
• Sam's first episode on the podcast - Episode 11: The Four Types of Business Personas
• The potential decision makers that wedding pros are simultaneously selling to – brides, grooms, moms dads, and more!
• The importance of determining who the actual decision makers are and what their needs and concerns are before trying to sell
• How to use your website to speak to multiple people involved in the buying process
• Questions to ask during the discovery phase of the sales process to better determine the clients' pain points
• Tips for working with wedding planners when they are part of the sales process and therefore one of the decision makers

Want to connect with Sam?

• Online: https://www.ideactionconsulting.com/
• Instagram: @ideactionconsulting
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sellweddingslikeapro

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.

In this casual episode of the This Week in Weddings podcast, Kimberly, Annie and Lance chat about the episodes from 2020 that they are most thankful for. If you haven't listened to every single episode, this quick catch-up will point you in the direction of the episodes that have been the most impactful for the trio so far this year.

Weddings are so personal. And in business, we have the choice to focus on the transaction of booking clients or the relationship we're building and experiences we're creating. In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting with a DJ who has made a shift from playing a numbers game to an experience and relationship game. Listen in as we hear how making that shift has given him more job satisfaction than ever before.

About our guest:

Dan is a Dallas-based DJ, Musician & Educator who specializes in weddings and creating very personal entertainment experiences for clients. 

With a background in engineering and international sales, Dan left his tech career in 2014 to throw himself 100% into music and events, and has since found himself doing things he hadn’t thought of at the time.

In addition to helping produce 40-50 weddings and a handful of other events each year, Dan is a Pro Educator for The Knot Worldwide, a Columnist for DJ Times Magazine, has been an invited speaker and performer at The NAMM Show and Wedding MBA, and in 2016, founded OontzKids DJ Academy- an initiative focused on summer camps and after school programs that teaches kids, teens, and even adults how to DJ and Produce Music. 

He lives in the Dallas suburbs with his wife, 4 kids, 2 dogs, a cat, and a backyard full of wildlife. He can always be found cooking family dinner by late afternoon, even while dialed into a TWIW Book Club Zoom Call.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• How Dan got started in the wedding industry
• How shifting from a numbers game to a people game changed Dan's business, including his own job satisfaction
• How Dan builds relationships with his clients leading up to the wedding day
• Dan's use of social media as a marketing tool with clients and potential clients
• How Dan continues the client relationship after the wedding day is over
• The next TWIW Book Club: Get Rich Lucky Bitch

Want to connect with Dan?

• Online: www.dqbentertainment.com
• Instagram: @dqb_entertainment
• Facebook: DQB Entertainment

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.

Being an excellent accountant might not be one of your biggest strengths, especially for those of us who consider ourselves creatives. But if you're running a business of any sort, you have to at least understand your numbers and not be afraid to look at them! In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting with stationer turned business coach about a few simple steps wedding industry entrepreneurs can take to get more comfortable with their books. With the end of the year quickly approaching, now is a great time to become BFFs with your books.

About our guest:

Emily Roach, the founder of Biz BFF, is a community leader, speaker, business coach, and professional best friend. Through her online community and group coaching program, The Hive, Emily empowers small business owners to show up authentically, think creatively, and act courageously to make their wildest effing dreams come true! When she’s not teaching her rule-breaking business and marketing strategies to entrepreneurs all over the world, Emily’s reveling in the messy middle of life with her family, their bus, Hank, and an absurd stash of yarn in Portland, Oregon.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• How Emily got started in the wedding industry and then transitioned into coaching
• Emily's recommendations for accounting software if you're looking for alternatives to QuickBooks
• Suggestions for getting over the fear of looking at your finances and getting pumped up for finance days
• Emily's Money Making Magic Playlist on Spotify
• How often you should be looking at your business banking accounts and budgets
• Creating a budget to better see where you're spending
• How Profit First by Mike Michalowicz helped Emily get better control of her business finances
• The Soul of Money by Lynn Twist
• Make sure to listen to the end as we reveal the next This Week In Weddings Book Club book related to money and mindset

Want to connect with Emily?

• Online: www.bizbff.com
• Instagram: @biz_bff
• Facebook: facebook.com/mybizbff

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.

When the pandemic began causing the shutdown of weddings and events across the country, many of us thought it would be a short-term situation. Not having new wedding images to post on social media seemed like no problem... for a few months. But those few months have turned into nearly nine. How can wedding industry entrepreneurs still showcase their talent on social media without current wedding images? In this week's episode, we're chatting with a marketing expert about the best way to stay active on social media in spite of the lack of new images to show off.

About our guest:

Aleya Harris, CPCE is the founder and owner of Flourish Marketing, an agency dedicated to helping wedding, catering, and event professionals reach their full potential through fresh, cutting-edge marketing strategies that get and keep a consistent stream of clients. She is a firm believer that business owners should make good money doing what they love and she spreads this message through her role as a thought leader in the industry.

Aleya has made it her personal mission to support catering and event businesses in their growth and help them to reach their definition of success. Her decade-plus long career as a chef and catering company owner, paired with her wealth of expertise in marketing, are matched with a remarkable work ethic, providing her clients with an engaging and interactive experience that inspires them to take action. As a professional speaker, she fosters valuable discussion about actionable marketing strategies and profit-driven storytelling in an effort to inspire her audience to take charge of their businesses’ financial futures.

Her in-depth knowledge about social media marketing, branding, sales conversions, and effective marketing tools have earned her spots and top rankings on stages across the nation, including The Special Event and Catersource. She also serves as the marketing committee chair for NACE National and is a StoryBrand Certified Guide.  Aleya recently received The Certified Professional in Catering and Events (CPCE) designation to add to her list of accolades

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• How Aleya got started in the catering and events industry, including the famous musician for whom she was a private chef
• The purpose of social media as both a marketing and relationship building tool
• The importance of captions on social media and why they are just as important as the image itself
• Using captions to connect with your ideal buyer and their problems
• How to share your unique business and process in social media captions
• Why showing your face on social media is important if your business is also a personal brand
• Aleya's social media services through Flourish Marketing
• Aleya's Social Media Collective membership
• Get 20% off Aleya's Social Media Collective for the first month through November 13th using the discount code: TWIW20
• Get 10% off Aleya's Social Media Collective after November 13th using discount code: TWIW

Want to connect with Aleya?

• Online: https://www.flourishmarketing.co/ 
• Instagram: @aleyaharris
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aleyaharrisgrowth 

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.

"A rising tide lifts all ships" the saying goes, and in entrepreneurship, that means surrounding yourself with people who will help you improve and grow while also challenging you. An accountability group can do just that. If you've heard the term before but don't exactly know what an accountability group entails or how to start one, this week's episode is one you won't want to miss. We're chatting with two members of a wedding industry accountability group that credit their peers for not only supporting them in business, but helping them grow theirs.

About our guests:

Beth Bernstein is the owner and creative director of SQN Events in Chicago. Beth founded SQN in 2009 and along with a push from and the support of her accountability group, added a small weddings arm, Essential I Dos, in 2020.

Valerie Gernhauser is a New Orleans based wedding planner for ten years. She owns three companies: Sapphire Events, Ruby & Pearl Events, and Minimal Matrimony, and is also a wedding industry educator for profitable pricing and processes through her course, The Valerie Gernhauser Method.

Beth and Valerie met at Engage in December of 2012 and became fast friends. While they stayed in touch between conferences, their friendship grew deeper in 2017 when they, along with three other planners, formed an accountability group. Within a year, the group grew to seven members and they have been planning world domination ever since.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Beth Bernstein's original podcast episode #86 - "Getting Ghosted by Potential Clients" 
• Valerie Gernhauser's original podcast episode #87 - "Weathering a Drought in Business"
• How their accountability group got started three years ago
• How they added members to the accountability group
• The structure for the accountability group, including how frequently they meet
• The benefits of being in an accountability group with people in your same field but different markets
• The extreme levels of trust required amongst the group
• How to tell if an accountability group might not be right for you

Want to connect with Beth?

• Online: https://www.sqnevents.com/ 
• Instagram: @sqnevents and @essential.i.dos

Want to connect with Valerie?

• Online: https://sapphireevents.com/ and https://minimalmatrimony.com/ 
• Instagram: @sapphireevents and @minimalmatrimony

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.

Just when you think you have Instagram mastered, they change it up! The new Reels feature launched in August of 2020, and just like all things social media, there's a bit of a learning curve to figuring out how to make it work for you. But we're here to help! In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting all about Instagram Reels, how to use it, and how it's different from Stories and the feed.

About our guest:

Millie is an Online Educator and YouTuber who teaches entrepreneurs the latest strategies and trends on social media to help them skyrocket their brand. 

Millie has been studying the creative space for a little over 10 years now. Applying the concepts she's learned from being a real-life Project Manager in the corporate world and now growing and managing her own personal brand the past three years, Millie has found her passion in helping others create stability, structure & strategy within their business. From landing brand collaborations to figuring out the ever-evolving Instagram algorithm with Reels, she has figured out the secrets to increase efficiency, simplicity and stand out among the saturation—all because she believes: 

Running a successful business doesn’t have to be confusing and complicated. IT IS POSSIBLE to make your dreams a reality.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Millie's background and her experience with online education and content creation
• What the Instagram Reels feature is
• How Instagram Reels differs from the feed, Stories, and IGTV
• A work-around for business accounts to get the music option on their Reels
• Why posting to Reels is ideal for reaching new followers
• Tips for posting to Instagram Reels, including things to avoid
• Millie's YouTube tutorial on Instagram Reels - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOGT4ktjhZc&t=1s

Want to connect with Millie?

• Online: https://modernnmilliee.com/ 
• Instagram: @itsmodernmillie
• Millie's YouTube Channel

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.

Who would have thought way back in 2019 that virtual events would be a thing? You guys... it's a thing, and they don't seem to be going away anytime soon. In this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting about virtual events, some tips to know if you're trying to take them on, as well as what vendor categories in the wedding industry are best suited to get in on the action. 

About our guest:

Amy Nichols has been planning bespoke weddings and celebrations for over a decade. Born and raised on an avocado and lemon farm in Southern California, she has always had a love of nature, design and entertaining! After graduating from Middlebury College, she began her career in finance in New York City and quickly realized that passion for celebrating life’s moments could be a rewarding and fulfilling profession. From there, she made her way back to California and founded Amy Nichols Special Events, where her affinity for details and welcoming personality have earned her a sterling reputation.

Amy believes that life is full of reasons to celebrate. She cherishes the role she gets to play in the lives of her clients, serving as both a close confidant and a trustworthy advocate as she works tirelessly to execute the refined, effortless events for which she is known. Amy understands that the little things in life – the perfect glass of wine, a stunning sunset over an exotic beach, or that first mouthwatering bite of an extraordinary meal – should be revered, and she brings a deep appreciation for these fleeting moments to every event she designs.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Amy's background and how she got started in the wedding and event industry
• The inherent challenges of live broadcasts and why they aren't as easy as many people like to think that they are
• Technical tips for moving from in-person events to virtual events
• Ideas for how various vendor categories that can take advantage of virtual events, including stationers, videographers, DJs, hair and makeup artists and planners
• Thinking through pricing for virtual events 

Want to connect with Amy?

• Online: www.amynichols.com and Intimate I Do's by Amy Nichols Special Events
• Instagram: @amynicholsse and @intimate.i.dos

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.

Getting found by potential buyers is key for any business, and the wedding industry is no exception. Being in business means being a marketer, and in this week's episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting all about marketing, what it means, and tips for doing it successfully. Our guest is not only in the wedding industry, but joined it with an extensive background in the corporate world and an MBA. Listen is as she shares her advice for marketing your business effectively.

About our guest:

Courtney Wolf is Invision Event’s principal planner and a founder of Educate | Empower | Encourage, a private, members-only online learning community for high achieving creatives - the dreamers and the doers. A business and life coach wrapped up in a wedding planner’s body, she's been dubbed a “personal trainer for your small biz” and a “small business therapist”. Her background includes a degree in Marketing as well as her MBA and with this lens she views our industry objectively and runs all things operational and client facing for Invision.

Together alongside Julie Bunkley, Invision's owner and creative director, they serve couples from coast to coast and are known for their refined and tailored aesthetic as well as their thoughtful and intentional approach. Featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, People, The New York Times, Fortune, BRIDES, In Style and Bridal Guide, they've been named by Southern Living as one of the South's Best Wedding Planners.

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Courtney's background and how she got started in the wedding industry
• The 4 P's of Marketing
• How Courtney tracks client inquiries in order to determine what channels are the most effective
• The importance of understanding your ideal client, including where they shop and how they celebrate
• Looking through the lens of your client vs. your own
• Why cutting marketing isn't the first thing you should do during a downturn
• The value of networking and relationship building

Want to connect with Courtney?

• Online: http://www.invision.events/ and https://www.educateempowerencourage.com/
• Instagram: @invisionevents / @courtney_invision
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/invisionevents

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SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Have you gotten value from This Week In Weddings? If so, it's time to pay it forward! Your contribution of as little as 10-cents a day will help us offset our costs, like file storage, web hosting, and editing. Plus, a larger donation gets you perks, like access to a private Facebook group to discuss each week’s episode!

Check out the ways you can contribute to the show.