November 17, 2025 • 36 mins
Join Misty Lynch and Lora Weaver as they break down the realities of event-driven businesses and share actionable strategies for entrepreneurs and small business owners. This episode covers practical advice on building memorable experiences, money management, and the power of authentic connection.
Websites: happilyeverexpo.com and herconnected.com
Instagram: @happilyeverexpo and @itsherconnected
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lorawe
Where to find Misty
Websites:
- How Lora Weaver transitioned from dance competitions to founding Happily Ever Expo and Her Connected conference
- The financial realities and money beliefs entrepreneurs face when starting and growing an events business
- Strategies for maximizing vendor and attendee engagement (even with a limited budget)
- Smart approaches to vendor mix, pricing, and keeping conferences relevant to today’s trends
- Common mistakes small business owners make at expos—and how to stand out and maximize ROI
Websites: happilyeverexpo.com and herconnected.com
Instagram: @happilyeverexpo and @itsherconnected
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lorawe
Where to find Misty
Websites:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the demus Defying Money podcast, where each week
you will hear unforgettable conversations with expert guests about success, money, business,
and small steps you can take to elevate your life
and wealth. Now here's your host, Misty Lynch.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello everyone, Thank you so much for joining me for
today's episode of Demastifying Money podcast. I'm Misty Lynch and
I'm joined today by my friend Laura Weaver. She is
an event strategist, producer and founder.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Of All Event Weaver LLC.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
She has more than ten years of experience in large
scale event production under her belt, and now she creates
high impact expos such as Happily Ever Expo and her
Connected that bring together engaged couples, new parents, business vendors,
and purposeful results driven settings. Her signature focus is crafting
live experiences where attendees can feel seen, vendors can get booked,
(00:54):
and her communities can grow long after the lights go down.
Thank you so much Laura for joining me today.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah, of course, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
This episode of Demystifying Money with mis Dy Lynch is
proudly sponsored by Soundview Financial Advisors. Visit www dot Soundview
financial Advisors dot com to learn more.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
So I love events. I don't do too many of
them in my business, and I think about them sometimes.
But I think, you know, a lot of a lot
of business owners, a lot of people are thinking about
how they can maybe be at events use events in
their business, especially now that people are getting back to
the office, getting back together in groups and really you know,
(01:39):
maybe feeling that need for connection and networking in that way.
That kind of went dark for a little while. So
tell me a little bit more about you, and you
know what made you want to get into this line
of work.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Sure, So I actually started in events right out of college.
I planned and produced dance competitions and conventions all over
the East in Midwest. So I did that for about
ten years, and at that point I got engaged myself
and I was attending all of these planning events and
expos and I saw a need for something. So I
(02:16):
started to kind of transition my mind frame. The dance competition,
convention events business was not my own. I was an
employee there, so I really wanted to start something of
my own, and so I saw.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
The need for this.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Kind of events business planning for when you're planning your
weddings with more of an experience, and I saw a
lot of them were run by you know, they've been
doing it for fifty years or whatever, run by older
guys in the industry, and I felt like I saw
a need that I could connect to current couples in
(02:54):
this day and age planning their weddings. So I took
my experience and I launched Happily Ever Expo. Of course,
I launched Happily Ever XO on March first of twenty twenty.
That was my first event. So we had this amazing event.
There was I think four hundred people in attendance, and
then two weeks later, the whole world changed, as we
(03:14):
all know, and so I kind of navigated my way
through the pandemic with doing events on a smaller scale,
you know, going by all the guidelines that were in place,
and I made it through and now we're on the
other side. And Happily Ever Expo was really running like
(03:35):
a well oiled machine where I have it down pat
where I'm getting high quality couples in front of vendors
that can offer them their services to plan their special day,
their wedding day. And it's something that people were really missing,
Like you said, kind of went dark for a little while.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
We did do virtual events, that's just not the same.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
People like to be face to face and you can
share more of your personality. I think when you're face
to face, when a bride and groom walk into a
big event like that, it can be really overwhelming. So
the vendors have the opportunity to really distinguish themselves in
their business and give them a little bit of insight
(04:22):
of what they can do for them on their wedding day.
So that's why I'm all about creating these events that
are about connection and bringing people together. And while I've
done this over the last six or seven years, I've
found that I've become the mentor for a lot of
(04:44):
these vendors and wedding professionals that are attending happily.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Ever Expo, and I really enjoy that part of it.
We get on calls with each other, or they'll.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Text me random images that they want to use on
their promotion materials or banners or whatever they're doing to
set up or create their setup for the events. And
I found that I really kind of come out of
my shell when I'm doing that, and it really just
(05:18):
makes me happy and it excites me. The branding part
of it, and the other piece of the puzzle is
I'm a woman, I'm a mom in business, and I
love helping other women and moms and small business owners.
And that's kind of where a light bulb went off.
I don't know, maybe earlier this year, earlier in twenty five,
(05:41):
I realized that that was kind of my passion in
addition to Happily Over Expo, was really building up other businesses,
getting creative, giving them strategy. The one comment that I
get from a lot of other businesses is that my
branding for Happily Expo was so on point.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And so recognizable.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
And I poured a lot into making that happen, and
it's something that I'm really passionate about and I want
to be able to help other businesses do that. And
so I had this light bulb moment where I realized
that I am kind of the expert in that and
I like to be that mentor. And I wanted to
(06:22):
build something that didn't exist again because I did it
with Happily Ever Expo, and I wanted to do it
for women in business. So that's where her connected comes
into play. And this is a two day conference and
networking experience for women in business leadership roles, female entrepreneurs, mompreneurs.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
All of that. And it's all going.
Speaker 5 (06:52):
To be intentional. So from the moment you walk in,
you're going to check in as an tendye of the event,
and you'll get you'll get a game a game card
that will help you figure out who you should kind
of match up with and who you should start having
conversations with, and it will also be kind of your
(07:14):
ticket to where you're going to be seated that day.
And there will just be so many little pieces to
the puzzle like that. There will be keynote speakers, and
there will be different displays and sponsor experiences, and I
(07:36):
want to create all of these things to be this
two day experience, two day event, getting people together, connecting
them and letting them walk away with new relationships or
new things that they can implement into their business. So
(07:57):
it's going to be educational but also relationship building networking,
and that just kind of all goes under the realm
of events, right, But there's so many different types of events.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, so this is kind of combining all of it. Okay, cool,
I think that's exciting.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And I think sometimes we, you know, as business owners,
we start doing one thing and then that kind of
turns into something new or different, And I think it's
it's good that you, you know, were talking about ways
to kind of incorporate that into what you're doing. A
lot of times we'll get another new idea and we'll
think we need to burn everything to the ground and
start over.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Or we love to do this.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
We like to coach, we like to mentor where sometimes
keeping you know, the things that are going, Like you said,
something that's operational that you've done several times moving so
you could start to pull in those new ideas and
thoughts can be really helpful. I'm curious, you know, you
you've built a business that really relies on creating experiences.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And this can be emotional, can be expensive, and it
can be unpredictable. So how do you manage your own
relationship with money working in an industry like that's pretty
high charged with the people and the vendors you're working with.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Yeah, it's it's really stressful, honestly, because whenever you have
an event, there's like a moment of panic, like what
if people don't show up, or what if I don't
get enough vendors signed up, or what if not enough
brides and grooms attend and the vendors don't book enough
couples out of it, Because the only way I can
(09:27):
build relationships with vendors and have them keep coming back
is if they are seeing an ROI from attending happily
ever xbow. So yes, I have to create the event
and the experience, and I do it kind of with
a production lens, kind of from my dance background. So
I think that's really part of the puzzle that makes
(09:49):
it unique and different. But it is stressful and it's
scary because there's always the what if. But you just
have to kind of fight that what if and think
of what actually you've done over the past few years,
and you know, there's solid history that's showing that, you know,
X amount of couples are going to show up, X
amount of vendors are going to show up, depending on
the size of the venue and the location and time
(10:11):
of year, and they do they.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
End up showing up.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
Yeah, But there's you know, there's a science behind it.
There's the marketing strategy behind it, and there's the way
that I've built up the business behind it.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
So there's so many pieces that go into that, but
it can be scary.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, are there any money beliefs that you had to
unlearn when you started your own company.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
That's a really great question. Well, it is hard.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
It was hard originally because when I started my business,
I came from an established business where you know, we
kind of had that budget for marketing, and so it
wasn't so much a belief, but it was a kind
of a practice that you know, we could do, we
could spend what we needed to spend. But when I
(11:00):
started Happily over Expo, I I had that established mindset,
so I had to kind of retrain my brain to
be a little bit more creative in the beginning, and
so I did a lot of outreach myself and things
that didn't cost a lot in the beginning, and I
did I budgeted so that I was doing a few
(11:25):
expenses that were like my high ticket marketing items, and
then the rest was really like boots on the ground,
getting myself out there, networking, face to face talking to
people about what I was doing so.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
That I could kind of get the ball rolling.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
And then you know, once I was more established, I
have that marketing budget to kind of rely on year
after year.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I think that's something a lot of people when we
go into like especially when we're leaving an established business
or core or like you know, you used to have
a budget or you know, money that you could use
for or whatever you needed, or you'd have a team
of people you go to or you send problems to
this team or that team, and then you realize that
this is all yours. And so I think it's smart
to have you know, your high ticket, your your things
(12:11):
that you really want, and then maybe to have a
plan for when money comes in, this is what I'd
like to do next in marketing, or this is where
I'd like to put that money next, so you know
what those next steps are, because it can be really
a shock when you're like, how do I do all
the things that I want to do? Why do I
get people to notice me? And a lot of it
is going to be a lot of bit of the
boots on the ground type of work and figuring out
(12:34):
ways to get creative and get your eyes and your
you know, people to notice what you're doing and to
show up in your business. You serve both consumers and vendors.
Do you like structure your pricing and your partnerships differently, Like,
you have a lot of people that you have to
figure out how to make sure that they benefit financially.
So do you have to learn about a lot of
different businesses in what you do? Yeah, so.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
It's kind of so first of all, I'm the genius
that decided I needed to start a business where I
needed to target to completely separate avenues. So it's like
now I'm not only having a marketing budget, but it's
like two separate marketing budgets because we've got to get
the couples and we've got to.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Get the vendors.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
So yes, to answer your question, we do have to
learn about a lot of different businesses and a lot
of different kind of categories we call them. There's so
many different professionals that would benefit from being at a
wedding expo, and then there's the traditional wedding vendors. So
we kind of that's my major focus, right would be
(13:37):
the businesses that are categorized as a wedding professional, so venues, caterers,
wedding photographers, videographers, DJs and entertainment companies, wedding dress shops,
that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
And then in addition to.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
That, we always trickle in other things that other businesses
that can benefit from meeting people who are newly engaged,
like financial advisors or real estate companies or mortgage brokers.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
And.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
We've had like electric home energy type of companies things
like that, and I don't love doing that, but again,
I am a business and those will kind of help
fill in the gaps if I have empty spots for vendors,
then for like the wedding professionals, I'll try to trickle
(14:33):
that in and I always do it in a good
mix though, so that it's primarily wedding professionals. Kind of
the layout of the floor plan as well to make
it have a nice flow. Yeah, there's so many different
businesses to learn about, and in terms of pricing for that,
it gets tricky because the ticket, the pricing for attending
(14:56):
Happily ever, expos a vendor can be kind of costly,
and it kind of fluctuates because there's the beauticians and
hairstylists that you know, they would maybe not make the
same amount of money from bookings that like a wedding
venue would get. It's kind of a wide range and
there's so many things that go into it.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
It's interesting and I think it's great that you you know,
have kind of looked at all of the different ways
that people can you know, all the things that they need,
primarily weddings, but other things they could kind of you know,
maybe they'll be looking for it, or maybe it'll pumpt
something in their heads and it's kind of like, yeah,
making the room complete and full. So definitely very smart.
But I'm curious because you mentioned before established businesses and
(15:37):
expos that were run by like you know, maybe older
men or people have done it for a while. How
do you, like with your vendors, are you still keeping
like you must have to keep track of like what
people want today because when I got married, you know,
sixteen years ago, fifteen years ago, it might be different.
(15:58):
So how do you kind of stay on top of
all of those trends to make sure that your conference
stays fresh and is appealing to those people today.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Yeah, that's actually a really interesting fact and it kind
of goes along with everything we're talking about. But you
don't have to be, you know, in your twenties or
thirties to be getting married. Yeah, but the twenties and
thirty year olds are really craving experience, so they want
to spend their money on experiences. And the way I
(16:28):
keep up with learning about the trends and everything is
really just following other brands on social media, like the
wedding planners and that type of informational accounts that help
people plan or start coordinating excuse me there, start coordinating
(16:49):
their wedding. And so as the years go by, yes
there are shifts and what we're offering, but when it
comes down to it, if you're going to have a
traditional wedding, you still need those traditional vendors. So everybody
needs a place to get married. Maybe they're going to
(17:12):
do it in their backyard, but nine times out of ten,
you're probably going to need a place, so the venues
are not going anywhere. And then most people want to
have it photographed, so that's like a traditional wedding.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Photography category always sells out.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
I cap the categories just to keep it fair and
keep it not super overwhelming for the couples in attendance,
So there's only so much room for each category. So
I know that those types of vendors are going to
be repeats over the years, or it can kind of
(17:49):
depend on those to always be around, but then new
things trickle in, like all of a sudden, This permanent jewelry,
I feel like, is a new thing. That's that's an
experience that people would do and they could do that
for their wedding or they could do that for a
bachelorette party or things like that.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
And so it's there's also.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
Decor that kind of ebbs and flows, like I'm sure
you've seen them at some events.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
There's like the four foot lit up letters.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
There's multiple companies now that offer that, and when I
started happily Ever X, I think there was one, and
now it's really trending and people want that all across
the board at their events, and so it's kind of
our job as happily Ever Expo to showcase, in addition
to those constant vendors, the new and trending and giving
(18:47):
new ideas and inspiration. Like I love when bride and
grooms come to the events and they say, oh, I
didn't even know that existed, and now we want to
have it at our wedding.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
So that's something to focus on too.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
It was kind of keeping the constants that are always
going to be a part of wedding days and then
introducing those new experiences that couples who are newly engaged
and haven't really focused on planning a wedding until now
didn't even know was available. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
No, I think that that makes sense. The things that
you know you're going to need, and also the fun
things are the things that might be a little different
or that you see online, and making sure that those
people are there front center so that they can, you know,
grow their businesses and then the couple can have what
they're looking for. Are there any financial mistakes you see
small business owners or vendors make when they participate in events,
(19:38):
Like if say, you've never done events, but you're looking
to get your booths in there or something. Is there
anything that you think that people should either focus on
or avoid when it comes to having a really successful
display or booth.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Exhibiting at expos can be expensive. The materials can be pricey.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
So if you're trying to do it on a lower budget,
there are ways that you can do things and simplify it.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
And I think people get scared of doing expos because
they do see it as an expense. But you don't
need to have the most elaborate display You don't need
to spend you know, thousands of dollars on your display.
You could get one banner and have some signage on
your table. That can be simple frames from like home
Goods or the Dollar Store. And I always tell people
(20:26):
like just put a couple balloons or something to spice
it up or bring some dimension to your.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Table, or a bouquet of flowers or something like that.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
So I think the biggest mistake would be if you
spend so much money on your actual display without spending
the time to plan and prepare, practice your elevator, pitch,
figure out how you're going to follow up with people
after the event, because going to the event is only
one part of it. It's planning for it, being on
(20:57):
site of the event, and then following up after the event.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
The fortunes in the follow up.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, so that's true. I agree with you on that.
And I feel like I've seen and I'm a financial
planner right and an investment advisor, and I've seen some
of us at events and our tables are sad. Occasionally
they're sad. It's like and then I you know, I've
thought about, like, you know, ways to get people engaged
or wanting to come up with you, right, because that
(21:24):
follow up. And then sometimes you'll walk by a booth
or a vendor and the person will have their head
down in their phone and it looks like they don't
want to engage with you at all, and I'm like,
why are you?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Why are you doing this?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Are you?
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Like?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
So those things they kind of stand out to me,
But I feel like there really is probably ways to
make any industry engaging if you get creative, yeah, not
having to spend too much on having the best.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Like swag or whatever.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
I think there could be lots of ways. And there
was one coach I think she was a life coach
that I know, and she just had a chair and
a sign that said, tell me what sucks about your life,
and people would sit and talk to her, and then
she would follow up with them. And I swear she
must have paid for like literally just the space itself
and nothing more.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
It's kind of genius, and hey, it works.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
So I guess if you've got people to engage with you,
or if you get an opportunity to be at these
events and you're running your business, get comfortable talking with people,
it's true, and realize that they're here to learn something,
they want to buy, they're interested. It's it's it's just
important to take advantage of that, right.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Yes, And it's I.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Don't like when people are on their phone. I don't
like when people are sitting behind their table. That becomes
a poor reflection on me because after the event, they're
going to come back and say, well, we didn't book anything.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
And I'm not.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
Going to say, well, here's what happened. But I do
everything to set you up for success. So I send
you a sheet beforehand which all lists out all of
kind of my tips and tricks for success that I've
learned over the years, and I spell it all out
for them.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
And I don't provide seats at at your exhibits.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
There's no seats available, and I tell them we're comfortable
sneaker or comfortable shoes, and put.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Your phone away.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
Because if you're sitting behind your phone and you're looking down,
you're right, you're completely unapproachable. People are not going to
want to be they're not gonna want to bother you
to help you.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
But I then like, you're right.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
I do something different, and I don't want to give
all my secrets away, but I do something different for
the vendors, I give them a bingo game, So every
vendor has a logo and it's on our bingo game.
And then the brides and grooms will go around the
room and they'll play this bingo game. So and we
give prizes for filling your Bingo card. So it entices
them to even if the if they just go up
(23:46):
to a booth and say, hey, can I grab a sticker?
And then they're like, oh, this is cool, like do
you want to take a swag or whatever, and it opens.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Up for conversations.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
So I kind of I force that interaction in a
comfortable way, and that opens doors that may not have
been opened otherwise. For example, if you are an engaged
couple and you're like, oh, our friend is gonna photograph
our wedding, then they're just gonna skip the photographers, right,
they think they're saving.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Money on it. They don't.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
They feel like they don't need to engage with those photographers.
But now with this Spingo car, if they want to
win a prize, then they'll go up and they'll talk
to that photographer. Now that photographer has an opportunity that
otherwise wouldn't have been there.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Wouldn't have been there at all. Yeah, And I think
that that's you know, weddings in general are one of
you know, I see it from some of my clients
who are financing their children's weddings or couples that I
work with, and it is, you know, there's a lot
of money, there's a lot of you know, thought that
goes into these events and the planning. So I think
(24:50):
it's good, you know, for people to maybe have to
engage with different people or think about things in a
way because you want to make sure that you know,
you're not skipping, You're not you know, having the blinders
on when it comes to other options or people out
there that you could work with. And so I think
it's cool to kind of, you know, encourage people even
if they feel like, no, I'll do my own makeup, like.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
Oh, well maybe you want to talk right exactly, and
it kind of it's kind of full circle to her connected. Also,
that was another reason why I wanted to create this
experience for women in business, because women need to connect
with each other and there are only so many platforms
(25:31):
that you can connect a lot of them are online.
There are some opportunities in person, but I wanted to
create this opportunity for conversation, which is why everything I'm
doing is so intentional with her connected, So I'm I'm
setting people up for successful relationships, connections, conversations on site
of her Connected. And so I learned a lot from
(25:54):
Happily Over Expo that will be put into play at
this new two day event that I'm running.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Do you ever, you know when it comes to this
this event and this two day, like is there you
know a point where you felt like, really confident with
that amount of like work that you've done in the
past and all this to really put on an event
that will get other business owners you know, like you
in the room too, you know, to be able to
have that experience, because you've talked about creating an experience
(26:23):
and a lot of us just don't really know how
what that means or what we just feel it when
we know we were at something good, right, So how
has that, you know, how has your your work kind
of helped you build that confidence to say I could
put on a good and get good people in the
room and make sure that everybody walks away thinking that, oh,
I shouldn't have been at work, I should have just
gone home, I should have done something different because were
(26:46):
you've picked a busy target market.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah, yeah, I know, just one.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
So how do you how do you kind of you know,
tried to make sure that you're orchestrating that experience that'll
be helpful for those entrepreneurs that said, come, yeah, that's.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
A really great question. You bring up a really good point.
And we all are so busy, but with the right
connections we could maybe be a little less busy. Like
right now, people are so concentrated on, you know, fighting
for business or trying to get new clients, where if
we can just get a room full of women together,
(27:22):
there's so much opportunity for us to kind of help
each other there. Like I feel like if people come
to this event, they're going to walk away with not
only key pieces of things to simplify in their business,
but actual business that they've made connections that can turn
into revenue and.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
In terms of confidence.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
I've been doing events like this for seventeen years. Dance
competitions and dance conventions are on another level and I
always think back in my mind, if I can do that,
I can do anything. The events were days back to
back to back Friday, Saturday, Sunday, sometimes Thursday night. Then
(28:05):
we would have national events, which were week long events,
so we were planning every minute, was planned from seven
am to ten forty five eleven o'clock at night, and
a lot of times in the beginning, I was working
all of those hours because we didn't really have the
staff that we could trust to run those events without
(28:27):
someone there. So there was the owner, there was me,
and then there was everybody else, so we were always everywhere.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
And I loved all.
Speaker 5 (28:36):
Of that, like scheduling things and planning things, out booking
the big names in the dance industry to be there
to teach classes, so all of those things. They're not
the same, but they're similar, and it kind of bring
I can bring that experience over into happily Ever Expo,
and especially into her connected and I know that it's
(28:58):
going to be an amazing event, so excited about it,
and women who attend are going to walk away just
like you said, knowing like, oh, I did the right
thing by going there, taking the time to put myself
in a position that's only gonna make me grow and
connect with other people.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Now, I think that, and I like that you didn't
just think I have this experience in dance. I can
run a good dance competition. My life should be running
dance competitions. It's it's it's important for everybody, as you,
you know, especially our entrepreneurs, to look at all of
the experience you have. And I see people being like, oh,
I've only been a waitress, I've only done this, I've
only done that, And it's like, what can you take
(29:37):
from all of these different things in order to create,
you know, a business, or that confidence to help you
go out there and get business, to get clients. And
so I think it's really important that, like, I can't
even imagine how stressful the dance competition is. I just
watch like TV shows about it, and my friends are
like Irish dancers with their kids and they're constantly traveling
the country in these costumes and these hair and I
(29:58):
just I I'm I'm a valet person. I can't even that.
Like we have run like a half day tournament and
that's our excitement. But it's crazy and it's stressful. But
I feel like those skills you build, you build those
skills and those reps and all of those the work
that you put in for the seventeen years to make
a really exciting event. So how can people find out
(30:21):
more about her Connected and more about you if they're
thinking that this is something they want to take some
time to attend or if they want to follow you
for future events.
Speaker 5 (30:28):
Yeah, of course, So I have happily ever expo dot
com and her Connected dot com. There's all the information
about attending as an engaged couple or attending as a
vendor on that website or you can email me. My
direct email address is Laura l O r A at
happilyeverexpo dot com. And her Connected is powered by happily
(30:53):
ever Expo, so that all goes to me, And then
on the website for her Connected, which is her Connected
dot com, there's a link to view all of the
ticket options and also if you want to partner from
a business perspective in terms of any speaker opportunities or
(31:15):
sponsor opportunities. I'm still filling some last minute spots for that,
just to kind of build the best event possible.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
That's great, tell us a little you know a few
people that are going to be there, right I know
I'm going to plan to come to the event as well.
I'm excited about it. It's nice and local to me,
but you've got a couple other people, So any anyone
else that you know is going to be there that
that you think will make this event really really special.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
So Christina the owner of Boston Businesswoman and Moroccan Magic,
she is going to be our keynote speaker on day
number one, so Thursday, December fourth. And Brittany Betts, who's
a local inspirational visionary speaker, she's going to be our
keynote on the second day, so Friday, December fifth. And
(32:06):
we have a few panels happening there, which actually I
think you'll find very interesting. One panel is going to
be turning Creativity into Profity Profitability, and Hailey Denker of
Hailey Dnker Marketing, she's going to be a part of that.
There is a company called Naps which used to be
(32:29):
Boston Naps. Now they've dropped the Boston and their concentrating
on virtually nationwide. And the two co founders of that
will be there doing guest appearance, So I'm excited to
have them there. And there'll be some more surprises as well.
(32:52):
DJ Kim Collins, she's a local woman DJ who it's
kind of far and few between that our women in
that industry, so she's gonna be doing the music and
m seeing. And then we also have our host, Jackie Roby,
who I'm really excited to partner up with. She has
(33:12):
a local consulting business and she's just got this presence.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
I'm so excited to kind of share her with everyone.
Speaker 5 (33:20):
But of course all of our speakers will be on
our website. There's headshots and bios about everybody so you
can learn and yeah, I'm so excited to have you
there to talk on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I think it's I think, you know, it sounds like
you've got a lot of great people in the room.
And one of the things I love about women's conferences.
I've been to a ton of conferences. I've been to
financial service conference for years, compliance conference, everything. I've noticed
that the more women we have on panels and the
more diversity, the more the better the content is. Nobody's
(33:55):
winging it, nobody's done this a million times, and they
everybody is put in their best ideas, their takeaways. They're
making sure that like everybody walks in and that was
just you know, because I think this is an opportunity
that a lot of us feel like we haven't always had,
you know, we don't always get those big panels, those
big stages, and so it's really cool that you're putting
this together and I'm sure it's going to be an
(34:16):
absolutely outstanding event, and I love that you're kind of
focused on, you know, putting you know, putting everything together
to make it the best experience for people who come.
So remind us again what the website is and where
people can follow you on social media if if you
put out more information there.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
Okay, So for her Connected, it's her Connected dot com.
And we have Instagram and TikTok under it's her Connected
and then happily ever Expo dot com and both Instagram
and Facebook is at happily Ever Expo. And then if
you want to reach me directly, you can email me,
(34:55):
which is Laura l O r A at happilyever expo
dot com.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Thank you, Laura, thank you so much. Good luck with
the event. I'm looking forward to seeing you and spending
some time with you that day. And if you've been
listening and you're thinking about how you'd like to figure
out a way to expand your small business and maybe
bring in some events and make sure that there's some
budget in your business or financial plan. Head over to
mister Lynch dot com. I'd love to talk to you
(35:20):
about your goals and your opportunities that maybe can help
you get more eyes on your business. And if you're
getting married, absolutely a good time to do a financial
plan with your new partner because it's a business deal too.
I know it's romantic and you're the experience person and
it's so fun, but oh my goodness, if you could
start out on the same page, things can end up really,
(35:42):
really beautiful in that picture. So head over to missy
Lunch dot com to find more episodes, or to reach
out to me if you'd like to work directly. Thank
you again, Laura, I'll be seeing you soon. And thank
you everyone so much for listening. I'll talk to you
next week. Thank you, thank you for joining us on
another insightful episode of Demistifying. If you enjoyed this episode,
please subscribe, rate, and leave a review. Stay tuned for
(36:04):
more engaging conversations on our next episode, and remember knowledge
is the key to financial empowerment.
Welcome to the demus Defying Money podcast, where each week
you will hear unforgettable conversations with expert guests about success, money, business,
and small steps you can take to elevate your life
and wealth. Now here's your host, Misty Lynch.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello everyone, Thank you so much for joining me for
today's episode of Demastifying Money podcast. I'm Misty Lynch and
I'm joined today by my friend Laura Weaver. She is
an event strategist, producer and founder.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Of All Event Weaver LLC.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
She has more than ten years of experience in large
scale event production under her belt, and now she creates
high impact expos such as Happily Ever Expo and her
Connected that bring together engaged couples, new parents, business vendors,
and purposeful results driven settings. Her signature focus is crafting
live experiences where attendees can feel seen, vendors can get booked,
(00:54):
and her communities can grow long after the lights go down.
Thank you so much Laura for joining me today.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah, of course, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
This episode of Demystifying Money with mis Dy Lynch is
proudly sponsored by Soundview Financial Advisors. Visit www dot Soundview
financial Advisors dot com to learn more.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
So I love events. I don't do too many of
them in my business, and I think about them sometimes.
But I think, you know, a lot of a lot
of business owners, a lot of people are thinking about
how they can maybe be at events use events in
their business, especially now that people are getting back to
the office, getting back together in groups and really you know,
(01:39):
maybe feeling that need for connection and networking in that way.
That kind of went dark for a little while. So
tell me a little bit more about you, and you
know what made you want to get into this line
of work.
Speaker 5 (01:52):
Sure, So I actually started in events right out of college.
I planned and produced dance competitions and conventions all over
the East in Midwest. So I did that for about
ten years, and at that point I got engaged myself
and I was attending all of these planning events and
expos and I saw a need for something. So I
(02:16):
started to kind of transition my mind frame. The dance competition,
convention events business was not my own. I was an
employee there, so I really wanted to start something of
my own, and so I saw.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
The need for this.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Kind of events business planning for when you're planning your
weddings with more of an experience, and I saw a
lot of them were run by you know, they've been
doing it for fifty years or whatever, run by older
guys in the industry, and I felt like I saw
a need that I could connect to current couples in
(02:54):
this day and age planning their weddings. So I took
my experience and I launched Happily Ever Expo. Of course,
I launched Happily Ever XO on March first of twenty twenty.
That was my first event. So we had this amazing event.
There was I think four hundred people in attendance, and
then two weeks later, the whole world changed, as we
(03:14):
all know, and so I kind of navigated my way
through the pandemic with doing events on a smaller scale,
you know, going by all the guidelines that were in place,
and I made it through and now we're on the
other side. And Happily Ever Expo was really running like
(03:35):
a well oiled machine where I have it down pat
where I'm getting high quality couples in front of vendors
that can offer them their services to plan their special day,
their wedding day. And it's something that people were really missing,
Like you said, kind of went dark for a little while.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
We did do virtual events, that's just not the same.
Speaker 5 (04:01):
People like to be face to face and you can
share more of your personality. I think when you're face
to face, when a bride and groom walk into a
big event like that, it can be really overwhelming. So
the vendors have the opportunity to really distinguish themselves in
their business and give them a little bit of insight
(04:22):
of what they can do for them on their wedding day.
So that's why I'm all about creating these events that
are about connection and bringing people together. And while I've
done this over the last six or seven years, I've
found that I've become the mentor for a lot of
(04:44):
these vendors and wedding professionals that are attending happily.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Ever Expo, and I really enjoy that part of it.
We get on calls with each other, or they'll.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
Text me random images that they want to use on
their promotion materials or banners or whatever they're doing to
set up or create their setup for the events. And
I found that I really kind of come out of
my shell when I'm doing that, and it really just
(05:18):
makes me happy and it excites me. The branding part
of it, and the other piece of the puzzle is
I'm a woman, I'm a mom in business, and I
love helping other women and moms and small business owners.
And that's kind of where a light bulb went off.
I don't know, maybe earlier this year, earlier in twenty five,
(05:41):
I realized that that was kind of my passion in
addition to Happily Over Expo, was really building up other businesses,
getting creative, giving them strategy. The one comment that I
get from a lot of other businesses is that my
branding for Happily Expo was so on point.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And so recognizable.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
And I poured a lot into making that happen, and
it's something that I'm really passionate about and I want
to be able to help other businesses do that. And
so I had this light bulb moment where I realized
that I am kind of the expert in that and
I like to be that mentor. And I wanted to
(06:22):
build something that didn't exist again because I did it
with Happily Ever Expo, and I wanted to do it
for women in business. So that's where her connected comes
into play. And this is a two day conference and
networking experience for women in business leadership roles, female entrepreneurs, mompreneurs.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
All of that. And it's all going.
Speaker 5 (06:52):
To be intentional. So from the moment you walk in,
you're going to check in as an tendye of the event,
and you'll get you'll get a game a game card
that will help you figure out who you should kind
of match up with and who you should start having
conversations with, and it will also be kind of your
(07:14):
ticket to where you're going to be seated that day.
And there will just be so many little pieces to
the puzzle like that. There will be keynote speakers, and
there will be different displays and sponsor experiences, and I
(07:36):
want to create all of these things to be this
two day experience, two day event, getting people together, connecting
them and letting them walk away with new relationships or
new things that they can implement into their business. So
(07:57):
it's going to be educational but also relationship building networking,
and that just kind of all goes under the realm
of events, right, But there's so many different types of events.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, so this is kind of combining all of it. Okay, cool,
I think that's exciting.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And I think sometimes we, you know, as business owners,
we start doing one thing and then that kind of
turns into something new or different, And I think it's
it's good that you, you know, were talking about ways
to kind of incorporate that into what you're doing. A
lot of times we'll get another new idea and we'll
think we need to burn everything to the ground and
start over.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Or we love to do this.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
We like to coach, we like to mentor where sometimes
keeping you know, the things that are going, Like you said,
something that's operational that you've done several times moving so
you could start to pull in those new ideas and
thoughts can be really helpful. I'm curious, you know, you
you've built a business that really relies on creating experiences.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
And this can be emotional, can be expensive, and it
can be unpredictable. So how do you manage your own
relationship with money working in an industry like that's pretty
high charged with the people and the vendors you're working with.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
Yeah, it's it's really stressful, honestly, because whenever you have
an event, there's like a moment of panic, like what
if people don't show up, or what if I don't
get enough vendors signed up, or what if not enough
brides and grooms attend and the vendors don't book enough
couples out of it, Because the only way I can
(09:27):
build relationships with vendors and have them keep coming back
is if they are seeing an ROI from attending happily
ever xbow. So yes, I have to create the event
and the experience, and I do it kind of with
a production lens, kind of from my dance background. So
I think that's really part of the puzzle that makes
(09:49):
it unique and different. But it is stressful and it's
scary because there's always the what if. But you just
have to kind of fight that what if and think
of what actually you've done over the past few years,
and you know, there's solid history that's showing that, you know,
X amount of couples are going to show up, X
amount of vendors are going to show up, depending on
the size of the venue and the location and time
(10:11):
of year, and they do they.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
End up showing up.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
Yeah, But there's you know, there's a science behind it.
There's the marketing strategy behind it, and there's the way
that I've built up the business behind it.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
So there's so many pieces that go into that, but
it can be scary.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Yeah, are there any money beliefs that you had to
unlearn when you started your own company.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
That's a really great question. Well, it is hard.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
It was hard originally because when I started my business,
I came from an established business where you know, we
kind of had that budget for marketing, and so it
wasn't so much a belief, but it was a kind
of a practice that you know, we could do, we
could spend what we needed to spend. But when I
(11:00):
started Happily over Expo, I I had that established mindset,
so I had to kind of retrain my brain to
be a little bit more creative in the beginning, and
so I did a lot of outreach myself and things
that didn't cost a lot in the beginning, and I
did I budgeted so that I was doing a few
(11:25):
expenses that were like my high ticket marketing items, and
then the rest was really like boots on the ground,
getting myself out there, networking, face to face talking to
people about what I was doing so.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
That I could kind of get the ball rolling.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
And then you know, once I was more established, I
have that marketing budget to kind of rely on year
after year.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I think that's something a lot of people when we
go into like especially when we're leaving an established business
or core or like you know, you used to have
a budget or you know, money that you could use
for or whatever you needed, or you'd have a team
of people you go to or you send problems to
this team or that team, and then you realize that
this is all yours. And so I think it's smart
to have you know, your high ticket, your your things
(12:11):
that you really want, and then maybe to have a
plan for when money comes in, this is what I'd
like to do next in marketing, or this is where
I'd like to put that money next, so you know
what those next steps are, because it can be really
a shock when you're like, how do I do all
the things that I want to do? Why do I
get people to notice me? And a lot of it
is going to be a lot of bit of the
boots on the ground type of work and figuring out
(12:34):
ways to get creative and get your eyes and your
you know, people to notice what you're doing and to
show up in your business. You serve both consumers and vendors.
Do you like structure your pricing and your partnerships differently, Like,
you have a lot of people that you have to
figure out how to make sure that they benefit financially.
So do you have to learn about a lot of
different businesses in what you do? Yeah, so.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
It's kind of so first of all, I'm the genius
that decided I needed to start a business where I
needed to target to completely separate avenues. So it's like
now I'm not only having a marketing budget, but it's
like two separate marketing budgets because we've got to get
the couples and we've got to.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Get the vendors.
Speaker 5 (13:14):
So yes, to answer your question, we do have to
learn about a lot of different businesses and a lot
of different kind of categories we call them. There's so
many different professionals that would benefit from being at a
wedding expo, and then there's the traditional wedding vendors. So
we kind of that's my major focus, right would be
(13:37):
the businesses that are categorized as a wedding professional, so venues, caterers,
wedding photographers, videographers, DJs and entertainment companies, wedding dress shops,
that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
And then in addition to.
Speaker 5 (13:54):
That, we always trickle in other things that other businesses
that can benefit from meeting people who are newly engaged,
like financial advisors or real estate companies or mortgage brokers.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
And.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
We've had like electric home energy type of companies things
like that, and I don't love doing that, but again,
I am a business and those will kind of help
fill in the gaps if I have empty spots for vendors,
then for like the wedding professionals, I'll try to trickle
(14:33):
that in and I always do it in a good
mix though, so that it's primarily wedding professionals. Kind of
the layout of the floor plan as well to make
it have a nice flow. Yeah, there's so many different
businesses to learn about, and in terms of pricing for that,
it gets tricky because the ticket, the pricing for attending
(14:56):
Happily ever, expos a vendor can be kind of costly,
and it kind of fluctuates because there's the beauticians and
hairstylists that you know, they would maybe not make the
same amount of money from bookings that like a wedding
venue would get. It's kind of a wide range and
there's so many things that go into it.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
It's interesting and I think it's great that you you know,
have kind of looked at all of the different ways
that people can you know, all the things that they need,
primarily weddings, but other things they could kind of you know,
maybe they'll be looking for it, or maybe it'll pumpt
something in their heads and it's kind of like, yeah,
making the room complete and full. So definitely very smart.
But I'm curious because you mentioned before established businesses and
(15:37):
expos that were run by like you know, maybe older
men or people have done it for a while. How
do you, like with your vendors, are you still keeping
like you must have to keep track of like what
people want today because when I got married, you know,
sixteen years ago, fifteen years ago, it might be different.
(15:58):
So how do you kind of stay on top of
all of those trends to make sure that your conference
stays fresh and is appealing to those people today.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
Yeah, that's actually a really interesting fact and it kind
of goes along with everything we're talking about. But you
don't have to be, you know, in your twenties or
thirties to be getting married. Yeah, but the twenties and
thirty year olds are really craving experience, so they want
to spend their money on experiences. And the way I
(16:28):
keep up with learning about the trends and everything is
really just following other brands on social media, like the
wedding planners and that type of informational accounts that help
people plan or start coordinating excuse me there, start coordinating
(16:49):
their wedding. And so as the years go by, yes
there are shifts and what we're offering, but when it
comes down to it, if you're going to have a
traditional wedding, you still need those traditional vendors. So everybody
needs a place to get married. Maybe they're going to
(17:12):
do it in their backyard, but nine times out of ten,
you're probably going to need a place, so the venues
are not going anywhere. And then most people want to
have it photographed, so that's like a traditional wedding.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Photography category always sells out.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
I cap the categories just to keep it fair and
keep it not super overwhelming for the couples in attendance,
So there's only so much room for each category. So
I know that those types of vendors are going to
be repeats over the years, or it can kind of
(17:49):
depend on those to always be around, but then new
things trickle in, like all of a sudden, This permanent jewelry,
I feel like, is a new thing. That's that's an
experience that people would do and they could do that
for their wedding or they could do that for a
bachelorette party or things like that.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
And so it's there's also.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
Decor that kind of ebbs and flows, like I'm sure
you've seen them at some events.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
There's like the four foot lit up letters.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
There's multiple companies now that offer that, and when I
started happily Ever X, I think there was one, and
now it's really trending and people want that all across
the board at their events, and so it's kind of
our job as happily Ever Expo to showcase, in addition
to those constant vendors, the new and trending and giving
(18:47):
new ideas and inspiration. Like I love when bride and
grooms come to the events and they say, oh, I
didn't even know that existed, and now we want to
have it at our wedding.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
So that's something to focus on too.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
It was kind of keeping the constants that are always
going to be a part of wedding days and then
introducing those new experiences that couples who are newly engaged
and haven't really focused on planning a wedding until now
didn't even know was available. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
No, I think that that makes sense. The things that
you know you're going to need, and also the fun
things are the things that might be a little different
or that you see online, and making sure that those
people are there front center so that they can, you know,
grow their businesses and then the couple can have what
they're looking for. Are there any financial mistakes you see
small business owners or vendors make when they participate in events,
(19:38):
Like if say, you've never done events, but you're looking
to get your booths in there or something. Is there
anything that you think that people should either focus on
or avoid when it comes to having a really successful
display or booth.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Yeah, So.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Exhibiting at expos can be expensive. The materials can be pricey.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
So if you're trying to do it on a lower budget,
there are ways that you can do things and simplify it.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
And I think people get scared of doing expos because
they do see it as an expense. But you don't
need to have the most elaborate display You don't need
to spend you know, thousands of dollars on your display.
You could get one banner and have some signage on
your table. That can be simple frames from like home
Goods or the Dollar Store. And I always tell people
(20:26):
like just put a couple balloons or something to spice
it up or bring some dimension to your.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Table, or a bouquet of flowers or something like that.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
So I think the biggest mistake would be if you
spend so much money on your actual display without spending
the time to plan and prepare, practice your elevator, pitch,
figure out how you're going to follow up with people
after the event, because going to the event is only
one part of it. It's planning for it, being on
(20:57):
site of the event, and then following up after the event.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
The fortunes in the follow up.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, so that's true. I agree with you on that.
And I feel like I've seen and I'm a financial
planner right and an investment advisor, and I've seen some
of us at events and our tables are sad. Occasionally
they're sad. It's like and then I you know, I've
thought about, like, you know, ways to get people engaged
or wanting to come up with you, right, because that
(21:24):
follow up. And then sometimes you'll walk by a booth
or a vendor and the person will have their head
down in their phone and it looks like they don't
want to engage with you at all, and I'm like,
why are you?
Speaker 3 (21:32):
Why are you doing this?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Are you?
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Like?
Speaker 2 (21:34):
So those things they kind of stand out to me,
But I feel like there really is probably ways to
make any industry engaging if you get creative, yeah, not
having to spend too much on having the best.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Like swag or whatever.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
I think there could be lots of ways. And there
was one coach I think she was a life coach
that I know, and she just had a chair and
a sign that said, tell me what sucks about your life,
and people would sit and talk to her, and then
she would follow up with them. And I swear she
must have paid for like literally just the space itself
and nothing more.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
It's kind of genius, and hey, it works.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
So I guess if you've got people to engage with you,
or if you get an opportunity to be at these
events and you're running your business, get comfortable talking with people,
it's true, and realize that they're here to learn something,
they want to buy, they're interested. It's it's it's just
important to take advantage of that, right.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Yes, And it's I.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Don't like when people are on their phone. I don't
like when people are sitting behind their table. That becomes
a poor reflection on me because after the event, they're
going to come back and say, well, we didn't book anything.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
And I'm not.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
Going to say, well, here's what happened. But I do
everything to set you up for success. So I send
you a sheet beforehand which all lists out all of
kind of my tips and tricks for success that I've
learned over the years, and I spell it all out
for them.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
And I don't provide seats at at your exhibits.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
There's no seats available, and I tell them we're comfortable
sneaker or comfortable shoes, and put.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Your phone away.
Speaker 5 (23:11):
Because if you're sitting behind your phone and you're looking down,
you're right, you're completely unapproachable. People are not going to
want to be they're not gonna want to bother you
to help you.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
But I then like, you're right.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
I do something different, and I don't want to give
all my secrets away, but I do something different for
the vendors, I give them a bingo game, So every
vendor has a logo and it's on our bingo game.
And then the brides and grooms will go around the
room and they'll play this bingo game. So and we
give prizes for filling your Bingo card. So it entices
them to even if the if they just go up
(23:46):
to a booth and say, hey, can I grab a sticker?
And then they're like, oh, this is cool, like do
you want to take a swag or whatever, and it opens.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
Up for conversations.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
So I kind of I force that interaction in a
comfortable way, and that opens doors that may not have
been opened otherwise. For example, if you are an engaged
couple and you're like, oh, our friend is gonna photograph
our wedding, then they're just gonna skip the photographers, right,
they think they're saving.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Money on it. They don't.
Speaker 5 (24:15):
They feel like they don't need to engage with those photographers.
But now with this Spingo car, if they want to
win a prize, then they'll go up and they'll talk
to that photographer. Now that photographer has an opportunity that
otherwise wouldn't have been there.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Wouldn't have been there at all. Yeah, And I think
that that's you know, weddings in general are one of
you know, I see it from some of my clients
who are financing their children's weddings or couples that I
work with, and it is, you know, there's a lot
of money, there's a lot of you know, thought that
goes into these events and the planning. So I think
(24:50):
it's good, you know, for people to maybe have to
engage with different people or think about things in a
way because you want to make sure that you know,
you're not skipping, You're not you know, having the blinders
on when it comes to other options or people out
there that you could work with. And so I think
it's cool to kind of, you know, encourage people even
if they feel like, no, I'll do my own makeup, like.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
Oh, well maybe you want to talk right exactly, and
it kind of it's kind of full circle to her connected. Also,
that was another reason why I wanted to create this
experience for women in business, because women need to connect
with each other and there are only so many platforms
(25:31):
that you can connect a lot of them are online.
There are some opportunities in person, but I wanted to
create this opportunity for conversation, which is why everything I'm
doing is so intentional with her connected, So I'm I'm
setting people up for successful relationships, connections, conversations on site
of her Connected. And so I learned a lot from
(25:54):
Happily Over Expo that will be put into play at
this new two day event that I'm running.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Do you ever, you know when it comes to this
this event and this two day, like is there you
know a point where you felt like, really confident with
that amount of like work that you've done in the
past and all this to really put on an event
that will get other business owners you know, like you
in the room too, you know, to be able to
have that experience, because you've talked about creating an experience
(26:23):
and a lot of us just don't really know how
what that means or what we just feel it when
we know we were at something good, right, So how
has that, you know, how has your your work kind
of helped you build that confidence to say I could
put on a good and get good people in the
room and make sure that everybody walks away thinking that, oh,
I shouldn't have been at work, I should have just
gone home, I should have done something different because were
(26:46):
you've picked a busy target market.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah, yeah, I know, just one.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
So how do you how do you kind of you know,
tried to make sure that you're orchestrating that experience that'll
be helpful for those entrepreneurs that said, come, yeah, that's.
Speaker 5 (27:01):
A really great question. You bring up a really good point.
And we all are so busy, but with the right
connections we could maybe be a little less busy. Like
right now, people are so concentrated on, you know, fighting
for business or trying to get new clients, where if
we can just get a room full of women together,
(27:22):
there's so much opportunity for us to kind of help
each other there. Like I feel like if people come
to this event, they're going to walk away with not
only key pieces of things to simplify in their business,
but actual business that they've made connections that can turn
into revenue and.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
In terms of confidence.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
I've been doing events like this for seventeen years. Dance
competitions and dance conventions are on another level and I
always think back in my mind, if I can do that,
I can do anything. The events were days back to
back to back Friday, Saturday, Sunday, sometimes Thursday night. Then
(28:05):
we would have national events, which were week long events,
so we were planning every minute, was planned from seven
am to ten forty five eleven o'clock at night, and
a lot of times in the beginning, I was working
all of those hours because we didn't really have the
staff that we could trust to run those events without
(28:27):
someone there. So there was the owner, there was me,
and then there was everybody else, so we were always everywhere.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
And I loved all.
Speaker 5 (28:36):
Of that, like scheduling things and planning things, out booking
the big names in the dance industry to be there
to teach classes, so all of those things. They're not
the same, but they're similar, and it kind of bring
I can bring that experience over into happily Ever Expo,
and especially into her connected and I know that it's
(28:58):
going to be an amazing event, so excited about it,
and women who attend are going to walk away just
like you said, knowing like, oh, I did the right
thing by going there, taking the time to put myself
in a position that's only gonna make me grow and
connect with other people.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Now, I think that, and I like that you didn't
just think I have this experience in dance. I can
run a good dance competition. My life should be running
dance competitions. It's it's it's important for everybody, as you,
you know, especially our entrepreneurs, to look at all of
the experience you have. And I see people being like, oh,
I've only been a waitress, I've only done this, I've
only done that, And it's like, what can you take
(29:37):
from all of these different things in order to create,
you know, a business, or that confidence to help you
go out there and get business, to get clients. And
so I think it's really important that, like, I can't
even imagine how stressful the dance competition is. I just
watch like TV shows about it, and my friends are
like Irish dancers with their kids and they're constantly traveling
the country in these costumes and these hair and I
(29:58):
just I I'm I'm a valet person. I can't even that.
Like we have run like a half day tournament and
that's our excitement. But it's crazy and it's stressful. But
I feel like those skills you build, you build those
skills and those reps and all of those the work
that you put in for the seventeen years to make
a really exciting event. So how can people find out
(30:21):
more about her Connected and more about you if they're
thinking that this is something they want to take some
time to attend or if they want to follow you
for future events.
Speaker 5 (30:28):
Yeah, of course, So I have happily ever expo dot
com and her Connected dot com. There's all the information
about attending as an engaged couple or attending as a
vendor on that website or you can email me. My
direct email address is Laura l O r A at
happilyeverexpo dot com. And her Connected is powered by happily
(30:53):
ever Expo, so that all goes to me, And then
on the website for her Connected, which is her Connected
dot com, there's a link to view all of the
ticket options and also if you want to partner from
a business perspective in terms of any speaker opportunities or
(31:15):
sponsor opportunities. I'm still filling some last minute spots for that,
just to kind of build the best event possible.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
That's great, tell us a little you know a few
people that are going to be there, right I know
I'm going to plan to come to the event as well.
I'm excited about it. It's nice and local to me,
but you've got a couple other people, So any anyone
else that you know is going to be there that
that you think will make this event really really special.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (31:42):
So Christina the owner of Boston Businesswoman and Moroccan Magic,
she is going to be our keynote speaker on day
number one, so Thursday, December fourth. And Brittany Betts, who's
a local inspirational visionary speaker, she's going to be our
keynote on the second day, so Friday, December fifth. And
(32:06):
we have a few panels happening there, which actually I
think you'll find very interesting. One panel is going to
be turning Creativity into Profity Profitability, and Hailey Denker of
Hailey Dnker Marketing, she's going to be a part of that.
There is a company called Naps which used to be
(32:29):
Boston Naps. Now they've dropped the Boston and their concentrating
on virtually nationwide. And the two co founders of that
will be there doing guest appearance, So I'm excited to
have them there. And there'll be some more surprises as well.
(32:52):
DJ Kim Collins, she's a local woman DJ who it's
kind of far and few between that our women in
that industry, so she's gonna be doing the music and
m seeing. And then we also have our host, Jackie Roby,
who I'm really excited to partner up with. She has
(33:12):
a local consulting business and she's just got this presence.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
I'm so excited to kind of share her with everyone.
Speaker 5 (33:20):
But of course all of our speakers will be on
our website. There's headshots and bios about everybody so you
can learn and yeah, I'm so excited to have you
there to talk on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I think it's I think, you know, it sounds like
you've got a lot of great people in the room.
And one of the things I love about women's conferences.
I've been to a ton of conferences. I've been to
financial service conference for years, compliance conference, everything. I've noticed
that the more women we have on panels and the
more diversity, the more the better the content is. Nobody's
(33:55):
winging it, nobody's done this a million times, and they
everybody is put in their best ideas, their takeaways. They're
making sure that like everybody walks in and that was
just you know, because I think this is an opportunity
that a lot of us feel like we haven't always had,
you know, we don't always get those big panels, those
big stages, and so it's really cool that you're putting
this together and I'm sure it's going to be an
(34:16):
absolutely outstanding event, and I love that you're kind of
focused on, you know, putting you know, putting everything together
to make it the best experience for people who come.
So remind us again what the website is and where
people can follow you on social media if if you
put out more information there.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
Okay, So for her Connected, it's her Connected dot com.
And we have Instagram and TikTok under it's her Connected
and then happily ever Expo dot com and both Instagram
and Facebook is at happily Ever Expo. And then if
you want to reach me directly, you can email me,
(34:55):
which is Laura l O r A at happilyever expo
dot com.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Thank you, Laura, thank you so much. Good luck with
the event. I'm looking forward to seeing you and spending
some time with you that day. And if you've been
listening and you're thinking about how you'd like to figure
out a way to expand your small business and maybe
bring in some events and make sure that there's some
budget in your business or financial plan. Head over to
mister Lynch dot com. I'd love to talk to you
(35:20):
about your goals and your opportunities that maybe can help
you get more eyes on your business. And if you're
getting married, absolutely a good time to do a financial
plan with your new partner because it's a business deal too.
I know it's romantic and you're the experience person and
it's so fun, but oh my goodness, if you could
start out on the same page, things can end up really,
(35:42):
really beautiful in that picture. So head over to missy
Lunch dot com to find more episodes, or to reach
out to me if you'd like to work directly. Thank
you again, Laura, I'll be seeing you soon. And thank
you everyone so much for listening. I'll talk to you
next week. Thank you, thank you for joining us on
another insightful episode of Demistifying. If you enjoyed this episode,
please subscribe, rate, and leave a review. Stay tuned for
(36:04):
more engaging conversations on our next episode, and remember knowledge
is the key to financial empowerment.
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