Tag: business growth

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 196 – How Chelsea Brooke Started Her Wedding Business with Styled Shoots and Daily IG Posts

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Chelsea Brooke reveals her biggest lessons as a wedding planner on this week's wedding industry insider podcast

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Starting your wedding planning business from scratch? You’re going to need a good marketing plan – something that showcases the kind of work you want to do while drawing in your ideal clients. 

This week on Wedding Industry Insider Podcast, we sit down with Chelsea Brooke, a wedding planner and designer who specializes in weekend-long, nature-inspired events. Today, Chelsea is a respected pro whose business supports her lifestyle. But in 2016, she was starting from nothing… and she had 3 Instagram followers to prove it. 

Tune into this fantastic interview to discover Chelsea’s earliest marketing plan, which included 9 styled shoots and a daily Instagram flow. We’ll also discuss Chelsea’s other business ventures, her descent into burnout, and how she reinvented her business and lifestyle, complete with a risky name change and a slimmed-down client list. 

Read More “WII 196 – How Chelsea Brooke Started Her Wedding Business with Styled Shoots and Daily IG Posts” →

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 189 – Dana Kadwell Has Wedding Planning Down to a Science

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Dana Kadwell on the inspiration for her company Hustle & Gather, which helps wedding and event pros better run their businesses

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What happens when a scientist becomes a wedding planner? They operate with strong SOPs and make decisions based on data. Today on Wedding Industry Insider, we’re talking about how you can run your business like a scientist.

Our guest Dana Kadwell has a degree in chemistry and physics, and a background in education. Still, when she changed careers to wedding planning, she had problems finding balance. Her son’s early life is a blur because she was so busy. She got burnt out as her business grew. And in Dana’s words, her business became her god. 

But it didn’t stay that way.

During this heartfelt interview, Dana is walking us through her journey as a wedding planner and the changes she made to find balance and joy in her business. And a lot of it comes down to science. 

Read More “WII 189 – Dana Kadwell Has Wedding Planning Down to a Science” →

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 186 – A Special Conversation with Eddie Babbage

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Eddie Babbage is the guest this week on Wedding Industry Insider Podcast.

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Yes, you read that right – our guest on Wedding Industry Insider is Eddie Babbage! As founder and longtime host of the podcast, Eddie offers so many glimpses into his values and journey as an entrepreneur. But this week we’re getting more than glimpses! We get to hear the full story of how Eddie became the CEO of Timeline Genius, and his many failures, wins, and lessons along the way.

As an entrepreneur, Eddie seeks to serve and solve problems using technology. And as an individual, he has so much wisdom and encouragement to share with us. 

Read More “WII 186 – A Special Conversation with Eddie Babbage” →

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 184 – What Annette Naif Learned Making Negative $57 Per Hour

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When Annette Naif opened her event planning business at the age of 46, she had one big secret: she had no idea what she was doing. She knew how to plan events, and she was good at it. But when it came to running a business, she was clueless, and she didn’t want anyone to know. 

This was despite having a degree in business, a legal background, and commercial experience. Everyone has to start somewhere. And for Annette’s first wedding, her starting pay was negative $57 per hour. 

Over the course of her career — with help from coaches, her network of support, and a lot of dedication and learning — Annette grew to be a successful event planner with a thriving business. And now she’s sharing her hard-learned lessons with wedding pros like us. 

Read More “WII 184 – What Annette Naif Learned Making Negative $57 Per Hour” →

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 166 – Krisy Thomas on Why Experience Isn’t Enough for Wedding Planners

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When you first started as a wedding planner, what advice did you get from others in the industry? Did they tell you to go out and get experience? 

For wedding planners, learning only through experience seems to be the go-to route, but it could be harming your business and the industry as a whole. 

Today on Wedding Industry Insider Podcast, we’re highlighting a better way to level up your career, no matter how much experience you have. 

Read More “WII 166 – Krisy Thomas on Why Experience Isn’t Enough for Wedding Planners” →

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 163 – Colleen Carswell on Growth That Feels Good

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Colleen Carswell on Wedding Industry Insider podcast

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Growth: it’s probably one of the major goals you have for your business. And even if you aren’t reaching your growth goals yet, you still need to set up your systems now so that you scale the right way. 

But what is the right way to grow your business? 

According to Colleen Carswell, growth should feel good to you. And to feel good while you grow, you need to be in energetic alignment. 

Colleen is this week’s guest on Wedding Industry Insider Podcast, and she’s talking all about tapping into your pillars of energy to grow and succeed as an entrepreneur. Colleen is the founder of Structured to Scale, a fractional COO company that helps businesses “create sustainable, scalable operations that free business owners to focus on what they love while increasing profitability, productivity, and impact.” 

Read More “WII 163 – Colleen Carswell on Growth That Feels Good” →

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 150 – Emily McMahon Shares The Secrets to Building a Team

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It’s time to create a team! This is such a great milestone as your business grows, but it’s also one of the most nerve-racking leaps you’ll take. 

Emily McMahon has been there, and on this week’s episode of Wedding Industry Insider, she’s sharing the lessons she learned and how she found success as the owner of a team-based wedding planning company. 

Emily owns Soirée, a wedding planning company that serves Iowa City and beyond. Today, Soirée is a thriving business with a team of talented planners and assistants. But there were some growing pains getting there. 

In this great interview, Emily talks about her early days rejecting events she couldn’t do herself and how she eventually learned how to hire, train, and maintain wonderful employees. 

Read More “WII 150 – Emily McMahon Shares The Secrets to Building a Team” →

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 145 – How Tara Guérard Thrives With 8 Weddings Per Year [Rebroadcast]

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What if you could work less and make more money? It’s any wedding planner’s dream, but for Tara Guérard, it’s her reality. And she’s sharing her journey and hard-learned lessons for getting here.

This week on Wedding Industry Insider, we are looking back on our fantastic interview with Tara, who is the owner and creative director of Tara Guérard Soirée. If you were a listener when we aired our 100th episode with Tara, then this is a great chance to revisit her incredible insight. And newer listeners are in for a real treat this week!

These days, Tara exclusively works with lavish, six-figure weddings, but she talks about business finances in a way anyone can relate to. After all, she once booked 40 weddings a year and is thriving while only taking on eight weddings per year.

Read More “WII 145 – How Tara Guérard Thrives With 8 Weddings Per Year [Rebroadcast]” →

Wedding Industry Insider Podcast

WII 140 – How Lisa DiBenedetto Grew From Free Party Planning to 6-Figure Weddings

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If you’re in the early stages of your wedding planning business, you may feel like you’re a long way off from planning luxury weddings and offering expert-level mentorships. 

But focusing on the right aspects of your business could get you closer to your goals than you think. 

This week on the Wedding Industry Insider Podcast, we’re talking to Lisa DiBenedetto all about how she grew from a no-charge party planning hobby to a thriving wedding planning business.

Read More “WII 140 – How Lisa DiBenedetto Grew From Free Party Planning to 6-Figure Weddings” →