19: From Overwhelmed to Intentional: Planning Events That Work with Heather Black

What if your next event didn’t have to feel overwhelming? What if it could actually be aligned, intentional—and even profitable?

Heather Black is here to show you how.

She’s the founder of Phoenix Collaborations and has spent 25 years in the event world, helping solopreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits turn events and speaking gigs into meaningful, money-making opportunities.

In this episode, Heather shares her signature S.O.P. method for event planning, breaks down what it really takes to host events that work, and gives practical advice for those of us who are already feeling maxed out. If you’ve ever wanted to share your message on a bigger stage—but the logistics have held you back—this is your starting point.

From Chaos to Clarity

Heather knows how easy it is to get lost in the weeds of event planning. With so many moving parts, it's no wonder people give up before they even start. But she believes events don’t have to be chaotic. With a clear strategy and a plan that fits your goals, events can become a major part of your business growth.

“Event planning is easy if you give yourself the right runway. But if you try to take a Boeing 747 off on a runway for a Cessna 180, it will not be pretty.”

Try this: Map out what a successful event looks like for you—what would you want people to walk away with?

Bonus idea: Write down your biggest fear about hosting or speaking. Then write a plan to work around it.

The S.O.P. Method

Heather’s signature approach helps mission-driven entrepreneurs move from idea to action using three key steps:

• Strategic – Align the event with your goals and create a clear plan.
• Organized – Use checklists and timelines so you know exactly what to do and when.
• Profitable – Make sure it’s actually worth your time and energy by tracking expenses and revenue.

Try this: Think of your next event idea. What would make it feel more doable?

Bonus idea: Break it into phases—planning, promotion, delivery—and focus on just one at a time.

The Power of 1:Many

Whether it’s hosting your own event or speaking on someone else’s stage, Heather is a big believer in the power of connecting with many people at once. It’s a visibility tool, a trust-builder, and a major income generator when done well.

“When it comes to being a speaker, I kind of break the speaking engagement down into three phases: the spark phase, the flame phase, and the ember phase.”

Try this: Make a list of 3 topics you’d love to speak about. These can turn into workshops, talks, or even content for an event.

Bonus idea: Reach out to one podcast, community, or group you’d love to speak to. Just start the conversation.

Why Events (Still) Matter

In a world where we’re all glued to screens, events offer something different—connection, presence, and real-time transformation. But it doesn’t have to be fancy. Heather reminds us that even small, focused gatherings can make a huge impact.

“Just be your authentic, fun self, whatever that looks like. Don’t get in that box that says we have to do it this way.”

Try this: Think small. What’s one micro-event you could host—online or off?

Bonus idea: Invite 3–5 people to a mini workshop or Q&A. Keep it simple, and focus on connection.

Quick Recap:

• Events don’t have to be overwhelming when they’re aligned with your goals.
• Strategy, organization, and profitability are the...

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
When you realize you don'thave to know everything.
And it doesn't matter whetheryou believe in the universe or the
God or whatever your beliefsare, it doesn't matter.
Whatever you fill in yourheart that you're supposed to do,
you don't have to have thewhole blueprint to do it.
Just take the first step, andthen from there, you'll see what
the second step is and thethird step.
And that's how you achieve big goals.

(00:21):
That's how you start your own business.
That's how you write books.
That's how you do anything that.
That how you run marathons.
Any journey of a thousandsteps starts with the first one.
So just take the first step.
Welcome to the StandoutCreatives, where making money and
creating meaningful work gohand in hand.
You're already passionateabout what you create.
Now let's turn that passioninto a standout business.

(00:45):
Marketing.
Your work doesn't have to be overwhelming.
It can actually amplify your creativity.
I'm your guide, Kevin Chung,and this podcast is your roadmap
to creative business success.
I'll show you how to turn yourunique talents into a business that
truly represents who you are.
Let's get started.
What if your next event didn'thave to feel so overwhelming?

(01:07):
What if it could actually beclear, intentional, and even profitable?
That's what Heather Black isall about.
She's the founder of PhoenixCollaborations, and she's been in
the event game for over 25years, helping solopreneurs and small
business owners take theirideas and turn them into experiences

(01:28):
that actually work.
In this episode, we talk aboutwhat it really takes to pull off
an event or speaking gig thatmoves the needle.
If you've got a message toshare but you're already maxed out
on time, this one's for you.
Now, onto the episode.
Welcome to another episode ofthe Standout Creatives.

(01:49):
Today I'm on Heather Black.
Heather is the driving forcebehind Phoenix Collaborations, where
she helps solopreneurs, smallbusinesses, and non profits turn
events and speaking gigs intoserious income and impact.
With 25 years of eventplanning experience, she's a master
at cutting through the chaos,crafting profitable strategies, and

(02:10):
making sure every event andspeaking opportunity actually moves
the needle.
Heather, that's a reallyawesome thing that you're doing.
Can you tell us a little bithow you got into the work you're
doing and some of the stuffthat led up to it?
Yeah, so I kind of stumbledinto the career of event planning.
I actually graduated with adegree in public relations.

(02:33):
Had never heard of eventplanning or meeting planner jobs
and just kind of stumbled intoit by accident and kind of found
my, my gift is organizing allof those details and making sure
that all the logistics in theback of the back of the house kind
of situation is handled.
And started my own businessabout two years ago just because

(02:57):
I was looking to make a biggerimpact and help more people and get
out of the 9 to 5 grind.
Looking for some more time andmoney freedom like most people that
start their own businesses.
And so over the course of thelast two years, one of the things
that I have found and is thatwhat a lot of solopreneurs, small
businesses and nonprofits aremissing when they start using events
and speaking to grow theirbusinesses is they're missing a strategy

(03:23):
behind that.
Right.
They're just like, okay, I'mjust going to do an event.
And they don't have anystrategy of how it aligns with their
goals or what they're doing ortheir why or any sort of long term
plans for it.
And they're not reallyorganized, they're just figuring
it out as they go and thenthey are really not looking at the
numbers and so they're not profitable.
So I kind of created asignature process that helps them
get strategic, organized and profitable.

(03:44):
So we kind of put all thosepieces into place so that they can
be successful.
It is moving the needle andthey know, they don't feel overwhelmed
or chaotic with what they're doing.
Awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What did you do before whenyou were like growing up?
Did you have any inkling ofthis being a potential possibility?

(04:05):
No, not an inkling.
Like when I was a kid, Ithought I was going to be a lawyer.
And then the, that was likeway too much school.
And then I thought I would bea child psychologist.
And then I was like, well, Iwould probably end up beating somebody
up.
So that's probably not a good.
Very much an empath and very sympathetic.
And so I was like, that'sprobably not going to be good.

(04:27):
And it's a lot of school.
And so I ended up in public relations.
You know, like, like a lot ofpeople, I changed my, my degree for
or five times and ended up inpublic relations.
And I loved it, right.
And had no, had never heard ofmeetings planners, event planners,
coordinators or any of that.
And so when I landed a job ina communications department in a

(04:48):
nonprofit, I shared an officewith a meeting planner.
And that was my first exposureto that as a career.
And when she left, because wehad shared an office, people Thought
I knew what she did.
And so they're like, hey, can you.
Can you help us fill in?
And I was like, sure.
You know, first job out ofcollege, you're not going to tell
the boss no.
Right.
And so I just kind of fumbledalong and figured it out and found

(05:12):
that it was really something Iwas interested in.
Then I got married and movedand had to find a new job.
And I found a job that kind ofcombined both.
It was a little bit of amarketing as a little bit of public
relations, and it was a littlebit of event planning.
And so I was like, okay, I'lltry this some more.
And ended up being a lot ofevent planning, a lot more meeting
planning than I expected asthe role.

(05:32):
And that worked out because Ijust really love that piece of it.
So what made you choose public relations?
Public relations.
So I had gone intoadvertising, and it was a very cutthroat
program.
It was very competitive andvery difficult.
And so I was like, I don'treally think that this is for me.

(05:53):
I'm not just.
I'm not going to step on otherpeople to get to the top.
And so aligning with that veryclosely was marketing and public
relations.
And so I just kind of shiftedover into that program, out of the
advertising program.
So.
And I love to write.
I'm very creative.
I love to write.
And creating public relationscampaigns can be a lot of fun, and
there's a lot of writing involved.

(06:14):
So I just kind of honed in,leaned into those skills and went
in that direction.
Can you talk about not knowinghow to do event planning and being
just tossed into it?
Like, what were some of thetasks that you had to do?
What were some of the mistakes?
Would you learn?
Yeah.
So, like, I started my job ona Monday in my.
And when I landed the job,that was really a lot of event planning.

(06:37):
And it wasn't just filling infor somebody was my job.
And we had an event out oftown Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
And so that weekend, and thenthe next weekend there was another
one.
And so my boss was like, I'mgonna go with you to the first one,
and then the next one, you'reon your own.
And I was like, what?
Yeah.
I was like, wow, okay, we'regonna just throw me into the deep

(06:58):
end.
And a lot of times that'sreally the best way to learn, but
it can also be very costly.
And so in those cases, most ofthe work was already done.
It was just a matter ofshowing up and making sure that things
happen the way they weresupposed to happen.
But the next ones, you know, Iwas in charge of making sure this
stuff happened.
And there are things you don't know.

(07:18):
Like, one of the biggestmistakes that I made was when I was
setting, and this is why I'mso passionate about budgets, because
I've made serious mistakeswith budgets is I didn't know when
I was picking out the menu.
When you look on hotel venueMenus, you see $30 for breakfast,
plus plus.
Right.
I didn't know what the plusplus was and I didn't ask.

(07:40):
And so.
So my $30 breakfast becamelike a $39 person per breakfast.
And I kind of worked thebudget on that event because I didn't
know that the plus plus wastax, gratuity, service charge.
And it equals about, you know,in some cases, 25 to 30%.
I've even seen some that up to 40%.
So learning without knowing,because you don't know what you don't

(08:04):
know.
And that can be very, verydangerous, particularly when you're
talking about things that cancost you a lot of money.
So, you know, I've made hugetypos on ginormous signs before,
and I approved the proof andjust missed it.
You know, like, there.
There is no.
There's no event that I haveever done that was perfect.

(08:24):
And I always tell people, if Iever have a perfect event, it's time
for me to retire every single it.
That's just the way it is.
Nothing is ever going to go perfect.
It's never going to be flawless.
The key is to plan in such away that when whatever happens, that
is the unexpected, you candeal with that.
And you're not trying to dealwith how is my room supposed to be
reset?

(08:45):
What are my menus?
Right.
You're not planning themeeting on site.
You're just dealing with whatdidn't go the way it was supposed
to.
Yeah.
I think regardless of whatevent it is, there's always an uncertain
element to it because there'sso many moving parts to throwing
an event.
So any part of that could go wrong.

(09:05):
And it's not.
It might not even necessarilybe your fault.
It could be somebody else'sfault or, you know, there's just
so many things that that couldpotentially happen.
So many things that can happen.
Absolutely.
And the thing that is excitingand scary about events is that you
are not in full control.
You do not have full controlover the weather.
You do not have full controlover the staff that you have to work

(09:25):
with.
You don't have full controlover Your speakers.
Like there are a lot of thingsthat are just out of your control.
And when you, those piecesthat you don't have control of, that's
where the unexpected is goingto happen.
So you have to control thethings that you can control.
What.
Which is making sure thatyou've given clear instructions,
that you've communicated whatneeds to be done and when it needs
to be done so that when theunexpected happens, it doesn't send

(09:46):
the whole event off the rails.
Yeah.
I think the best thing we cando is be prepared and deal with whatever
happens as it happens.
Because obviously nothing isgoing to go exactly the way that
you plan it.
No.
One of the things I've learneddoing this is I have what I call
the bar method.
When things don't go accordingto plan and it is not, I go to the
bar and get a drink, Ibreathe, I assess, and then I react.

(10:10):
Because a lot of times whathappens when things don't go according
to plan, and this is greateven in life is we just tend to react
right.
And it's really important thatyou just take a moment and pause
and just take a breath and belike, okay, how bad is this?
Who do I need to call?
What do I need to do?
And then you can react from aplace of calm and a place with a
plan.

(10:30):
So anytime things are goingoff the rails, just use the bar method.
Unless somebody's having aheart attack, then just call 911,
you know, like a medicalemergency or real emergency.
Don't do that.
But you know, in most casesthat's not the case.
And you can just take a momentand breathe.
Yeah.
There's an interesting storythat Questlove talks about in his
book Creative Quest where he'sat a concert and the next guest is

(10:55):
not there yet.
So they like, oh my gosh, whatam I supposed to do?
So when he said he's, he'slike, stop, think about it and what
can I do with the tools that Ihave at this moment?
So he just brought on somebodyelse that he knew was already in
the crowd to fill in some space.
So you can always assess themoment and figure out the best thing

(11:15):
to do instead of panicking,which is oftentimes the thing that
is the worst thing.
You can do, that is oftentimesthe worst thing you can do because
you're not going to make agood decision.
And, um, those knee jerkreactions usually will bite you in
the behind later on down the road.
Yeah.
So just take a couple, like abreath or two.

(11:36):
Yeah.
Something will come to you and something.
Will come to you.
Yeah, just, just centeryourself, take a moment to pause
and let your brain clear outthe adrenaline that just brushed
through your body and thenyou'll be able to react from a good
place.
Yeah, that's like any, likeyou said, like any situation, especially
things that make you angry orfrustrated, that's I think, the best
time to just take a moment andjust assess everything.

(12:01):
Absolutely.
Can you talk about the momentwhere you decided that you wanted
to, to leave your 9 to 5 andcreate a business?
What was, what was the sparkor I guess leading up to this moment
and then what was the actualspark of it?
Yeah, that's a great question.
In fact, I've kind of posted avideo on my social media a little

(12:22):
bit about that today, so.
So I'm a very heart centered,spiritual Jesus girl.
I call myself a Jesus girl.
And in 2020, when, you know,the world shut down and I got the
opportunity to work from homeand not have to work 50, 60 hours
a week anymore because Ididn't have events all the time,
it was a nice little pause andI was like, wow, I could really get

(12:44):
used to this.
And so at that point, God kindof started planting the little seed
that I was going to start myown business.
And I was like, yeah, no, Idon't think so.
I think you have me confusedwith a woman in Minnesota.
But thank you sharing the idea.
Right.
And so fast forward to Aprilof 2021.
And it was still back there.
I had still thought about it,I had still looked at it, but I was

(13:06):
still like, no, that's not for me.
That's not for me.
And he literally put a pigeonin the road.
Like, literally a pigeon that.
He told me to go get out ofthe road.
And so I'm going to get thispigeon out of the road.
Seriously, no box.
No, I'm just walking to getthis like, I'm crazy person, right?
What are you doing?
And I'm like, what am Isupposed to do with this pigeon?

(13:27):
Like, I don't have.
What am I going to do withthis pigeon?
He's just get the pigeon outof the road.
And so when I get to thepigeon and I still don't know what
I'm going to do with this pigeon.
But I'm like, okay, I'm goingto get it out of the road and we'll
go from there.
And when I touched the pigeon,the pigeon flew away.
It just flew away.
And I was like, what the heckjust happened?

(13:48):
And.
And so he was like, you don'thave to know all the steps, you just
have to take the first step.
And I said, you mean like withthis business?
And he was like, exactly likethis business.
And so I was like, okay.
So at that point we startedgetting serious about what was that
going to look like and how wasI going to leave full time employment

(14:08):
and, you know, focus on thisand do these things.
And it still took anotheryear, almost a year and a half before
I was actually able to leavefull time employment and go to work
part time and get seriousabout launching the business.
But at that moment, when yourealize that this is what you're
supposed to do, you're goingto figure out a way to do it.
And when you realize you don'thave to know everything and it doesn't
matter whether you believe inthe universe or the God or whatever

(14:32):
your beliefs are, it doesn't matter.
Whatever you fill in yourheart you're supposed to do, you
don't have to have the wholeblueprint to do it.
Just take the first step andthen from there you'll see what the
second step is and the third step.
And that's how you achieve big goals.
That's how you start your ownbusiness, how you write books, that's
how you do anything that, howyou run marathons.

(14:55):
Any journey of a thousandsteps starts with the first one.
So just take the first step.
Yeah, that's advice that youhear so often.
You're like, until it's yourturn to do it.
Right, right.
And it really is easy for,it's easy for me, you know, to sit
here and say that, but itreally is what you have to do.
You have to get out of yourcomfort zone because that's where

(15:19):
growth happens.
And I don't like it any morethan anybody else does.
But if you're going to fulfillyour biggest goals, if you're going
to achieve your biggestdreams, you have to get out of the
comfort zone.
You're going to have to dothings that are uncomfortable.
And the best way to do that isto just take, take a baby step today,
take another baby steptomorrow, and just keep.

(15:40):
And those baby steps will,they'll add up.
So what was the actual daythat you, you left your job and what,
what did you have planned out?
Because I think you probablyhad a plan when you were leaving
and then how you're gonna start.
Kevin thinks I had a plan.
No, I mean, so In July of2022, I went part time in my job.

(16:06):
And then by April 16th of 2023was my last day working for someone
else.
And I went full time in my business.
And at the time, my plan was Ihad a few clients, or actually I
had one client and then I gotthe second client right after I left
them the full time employmentor part time employment.
And the plan was, you know,I'm just gonna land these little

(16:29):
clients and they're all gonnasend me referrals and this is just
gonna be great.
And within a year I'm gonnahave my full time income replaced.
Right?
That was my plan.
What happened was I did get afew more clients and then they went
on their way.
And some people have somereferrals and some didn't.
And I realized I really neededto do more marketing and networking
if I was going to get myselfout there.

(16:49):
And I really had to startgetting uncomfortable.
And the plan is still evergrowing and changing.
You know, last year in Octoberwas when I really realized that the
people I was working with thatthe, the gap that they had was being
strategic, organized and profitable.
So.

(17:09):
So I've only been working withthat model for about, well, less
than six months and reallyhoning in that, that's what I help
people with.
That's where they, I need tofill in the gap.
Because they can do all thework themselves, right?
If they have somebody thathelps them and tells them and you
know, guides their hand, helpsthem figure out what their contracts

(17:31):
even need to say and what theyeven need to think about.
But what they really need issomebody to help them figure out
what event I should even behaving right now.
Because so many people arestarting too big and they can't fill
that event and it's costingthem money or people are too afraid
to even start because theydon't know where, right?
And so I can come in and helpthem figure all of that out and help

(17:51):
them do it in a way that isfinancially and emotionally and mentally
good for them and their business.
Did you start the event andspeaking at the same time or did
you pick one after the other?
No, I kind of started working.
My very first client was amotivational or.
Well, he still is amotivational speaker and still is

(18:13):
a client.
So my very first client was a speaker.
And I always wanted that to bepart of my journey because I have
sat in the seat of the meetingplanner and I know what is a good
partner for a meeting planner.
I know what they're looking for.
I know how to help speakers bethe person that they're going to
call right when they need aspeaker on the Fly.

(18:37):
So I really wanted to use thatskill set and help other people understand
what they need to do to get onthose stages.
A lot has shifted since COVIDand it used to be you would go online
and you would find lots ofconferences that were accepting proposals,
and you would fill it out andcross your fingers and hope and that
you would get the, you know,the gig.

(18:58):
And that has.
Has changed.
It's really more now aboutworking your network, being a good
partner, being a valuableresource to those meeting planners
so that when they're calling,you're actually providing value to
them before you're even onthat stage.
So I love being in that seatwhere I can share my knowledge and
experience from being on theother side of the table and help

(19:19):
people get on those stages.
So they were both hand.
They both go hand in hand.
And for most speakers, one ofmy recommendations, you need to have
your own stages anyway,because you need to be in control
of who's on the stage and whatthe message is, and you're in control
of who's in the audience.
So they really do go hand in hand.
That's a perfect model whereyou can help people on both ends,

(19:42):
because oftentimes it's one orthe other.
And I think if you do both,you're leveraging everything.
You're leveraging both yourability to speak and your ability
to bring people together.
Right.
Can you talk about gettingyour first client or handful of first
clients and how you helpedthem in the beginning and how that

(20:07):
led to referrals?
I guess, yeah.
So my very first client, oddlyenough, was a speaker that I met
at a conference that I helped organize.
And he inspired me to reallytake the plunge and do the thing.
His talk was so power aboutgetting up out of the seat and just

(20:30):
doing the thing.
Just do it.
Just stop thinking about it.
Stop.
Just do it.
And I was like, okay.
Wow.
And so I really felt like inthat moment that that was, like,
the push.
Right.
That I needed.
And so I went up to him afterthe conference and introduced myself.
I said, I just want you toknow that your.
Your talk really has changedmy life, and this is what's going

(20:51):
to happen now because of you.
And so he was like, really?
Oh, my God, that's so amazing.
Thank you.
And then when I.
He does a lot of.
At the time, he did a lot ofthings here in Las Vegas, and he's
not.
He doesn't live here, but hedid a lot of events here.
And so when I finally got mybusiness launched, I just reached
out to him, I was like, hey,you remember meeting in April?
I just want to let you knowthis is really happening.

(21:12):
If you ever need any help withevents in Vegas, you know, let me
know.
And so he emailed back, oh,I'm a one man band, I got it all
covered, blah, blah.
And I was like, oh, okay,well, that's not unfortunate, you
know, right?
Like, oh, shoot.
And so then about two weekslater, he emailed me back and he
was like, you know, I've beenthinking about it and I think there
are some things that we couldwork on together.
So let's have a call.

(21:33):
And so he literally.
I booked him the very firstday I was officially launched as
a business.
And then from there they were just.
I just continued to dooutreach and I continued to work
my network and got some other clients.
And here we are today.
I think one of the things thata lot of us are afraid of is networking.

(21:58):
So can you talk about how tobest approach the idea of networking?
I know networking is such aicky term for some people, so I think
it's more about relationship building.
I think we should probablyjust reframe it.
No, I agree with you, Kevin.
I think networking is very oldschool and I think that that word
needs to be changed and weneed to call it something different.

(22:20):
And I do.
I dread networking.
I'm an introvert.
And so it just takes all myenergy to do the networking calls
sometimes.
And it's like I really have towork myself up to it.
But I think that part of it isjust a mindset thing that if you
go into it with the mindsetof, I'm gonna meet some phenomenal
people today and maybe we canwork together and maybe we can't,
but maybe we can help eachother in some way as opposed to,

(22:43):
I'm going into this to get a client.
Right?
Because you're probably notgoing to get a client just from one
networking call.
Right?
Because it really is aboutbuilding relationships and building
a referral base and findingpeople to add to your network that
are going to support you andcheer you on, regardless of whether
they're a client or referralor just, hey, I love what you do

(23:03):
and I'm cheering for you.
Right?
And so it's really about justchanging that mindset of going into
it.
What can I provide a value tothe people that are in this room
today as opposed to what am Igoing to get out of it?
I'm not here to get a client.
I'm here to provide value andshowcase my personality and Who I
am.
Yeah.
The funny thing is that we metin a networking group, Laura Livingston.

(23:27):
And it's.
I think the best thing to dois like, find the right group of
people because she's builtsomething very powerful and I think
just the people that attend.
So you have to create thesetting, just like when you're doing
events, right.
Create the setting wherepeople who want to be there are there
and connecting in a way thatmakes sense to them instead of, you

(23:50):
know, just throwing a bunch ofpeople together and hoping something
happens.
Yeah, absolutely.
And there's.
There are.
I've been in a lot ofnetworking groups that were the wrong
room for me, and you justdon't go back to those.
And so you, you might spendsome time, particularly when you're
first getting started, puttingyour head in some rooms that just
aren't the right fit.
But you learn as you go whichrooms you need to be in, where are

(24:10):
your people, which rooms feel good.
Right.
Because it really is about thehost and what they've cultivated
and the people that are in theroom that bring the energy and make
it and a successful or a. Oh,I really didn't like the way that
felt, you know, like, I'vebeen to a couple BNI events, you
know, I've been to a couple ofthose type of referral, not even

(24:30):
just bni, but to a couple ofthose referral type networking events.
That is not the place for me.
That is not.
Those are very transactionaland that is, I'm not about that.
So those aren't the rightrooms for me.
However, for a real estateagent or someone who does, you know,
cleaning of buildings andcleaning of houses, that might be
the right room for them.
So you really have to justkind of check out some things, go

(24:54):
in, put a smile on your face,bring your A game if you can, and
showcase who you are and seeif it's the right room for you.
Yeah.
Having the right mindset andthen knowing whether or not it's
a right fit are both like,very important because it could,
you could have the rightmindset and it's still not a good
fit, or it could be a reallygood fit.

(25:15):
But if you don't have theright mindset, it's also not gonna
work.
So it's just not gonna work.
You have to be fully preparedin networking, whatever we wanna
call them now spaces, and justlike be fully aware of what you're
trying to accomplish, right?
Yeah, absolutely.

(25:35):
And don't, don't worry if youdon't have your 30 second commercial
or your elevator pitch orwhatever they call it.
If you don't have that naileddown, don't worry.
You know, one of the things Iwish somebody had told me earlier
in when I started my businesswas to how important networking was
going to be and that I hadstarted earlier.
I wish that's something that Ihad known because it really takes

(25:56):
time to.
I mean, unless you werealready on a platform and you already
had a brand and people alreadyknew who you were, it takes time
for people to learn who youare and what you do.
And I wish I had startednetworking probably six months before
I did.
And so don't wait until youhave all the pieces in order and
you know exactly what yourpackages are and all that.
All that's going to changeover the course of time anyway.

(26:18):
So just get out there, startputting yourself out there.
Find the right rooms and getin the right mindset that you're
there to provide value and tofind the right people.
And you'll do.
You'll do well.
Yeah.
I think what prevents almostall of us from doing those types
of things is like, oh, I'mwaiting for the perfect moment.

(26:39):
And if you do that, you'lljust, like, go to the grave with
your perfect moment, right?
Yeah, Yeah.
I mean, the perfect moment'snever going to.
It goes back to the pigeon inthe road.
Right.
You got to take the first step.
Just take it.
Just take it.
And even if it is a disaster,you can learn from that and not do
it that way.
Okay.
Never go back to that room,because that was embarrassing.

(27:01):
And then you can go on to thenext room and do better.
And you just continue to learnand refine as you go.
And one of the things I'velearned in the last two years of
being in business is what Ithought I was going to be doing two
years ago is not what I'mdoing right now.
And your business is going toever be changing.
It's not something you're evergoing to stop working on until you're

(27:23):
ready to close it and retireor sell it or whatever it is that
you're going to do for thatnext phase.
And so don't wait.
Take the first step.
Now get out.
Get out of the road.
Right.
That's why my mom tells me allthe time now, because of the pictures.
She was.
Just get out of the road.
Just do the thing.
Okay, Mom, I will.
Thanks.
Yeah.
Everything is alwaysconstantly evolving, and especially

(27:46):
in a space like what you're doing.
This could change at any moment.
Just like during COVID itCould like completely change your
whole business model.
So you have to be willing,able to adapt or be prepared to make
some sort of changes.
So yeah, it's crazy in theevent space, particularly in hospitality
industry, like things reallycan change on a dime.

(28:08):
Covid really put us on, youknow, turned us on our ear.
That was not something that wehad ever seen anything like that
before.
And I had been just about lessthan four weeks before shut down.
I was on, on site at a fourday conference for 15,000 people.
And so to find out four weekslater that we're all going home and

(28:29):
the world shut down, I waslike, wait, what, what happened?
So you really do have to beable to just roll with it and whatever
your business is, it doesn'tmatter if you're in events or you're
a real estate agent, whateveryour business is, you've got to be
able to pivot and roll withwhatever you.
Today, because it might bedifferent tomorrow.
Yeah, there's no perfectsituation just because life, life

(28:51):
is life.
Right.
So life is gonna life, that is.
You have no control overalmost everything in the world happening.
So the best thing you can dois control yourself, your outlook,
the actions that you take.
Absolutely 100% that's theonly thing you really can control
is how you respond, yourattitude and yeah, that's the rest

(29:13):
of it.
You just gotta let it go.
Can you talk about helping thefirst person with their event that
you're gonna help them throw?
Yeah, so my, the first eventthat we did was.
And it actually ended up not happening.
We actually had to cancel itbecause of a conflict with the venue.

(29:34):
But we were doing a kind oflike an appreciation event.
And so my client, he goesaround sporting arenas around the
world and performs.
He throws T shirts and doescrazy dancing and stuff.
That's what he does.
That's his job.
He's the king of cheer.
And that's.
It's like the most amazing,it's like the only person that does

(29:56):
that.
So we were doing thisappreciation event and it really
was just about planning outthe venue and what time and what
we were going to serve.
And he wanted to have someguest speakers so coordinating those
kind of things and when theywere going to be on stage and what
the, the run of show was goingto look like for the event.

(30:17):
And we got probably about twoweeks from it when some things just
shifted with their, with thevenue schedule and his schedule and
we weren't able to pull itoff, unfortunately.
It's really hard when you getthat close and you're like, okay,
okay.
That's how that works out sometimes.
And that's.
That's just the nature of events.

(30:38):
But the key is when you'redoing an event is to just make sure
that you're constantly movingit forward, right?
You can't assume thatsomething's going to change and it's
not going to happen.
You have to be prepared and doall the things.
And so it's just so much funfor me to really think about and
sit down with my clients andbe like.

(30:59):
They're like, okay, I want todo this event and be like, okay,
well, you need to think about this.
We need to plan for this.
We need to plan for that andreally put in place for them the
things that they need to takeinto consideration.
And because a lot of timesthey don't think about.
Oh, I didn't think about, youknow, I had a call with a client
yesterday and she's doing avirtual event in June.

(31:19):
And I was like, okay, well, weneed to think about what happens
when they register, right?
What are they going to get?
How are you going to keep themengaged from the time they sign up
until the time that the event happens?
What's going to be the processfor that?
And she was like, oh, I hadn'tthought about that.
I said, okay, we'll do somethinking about it, right?
Because it's just one of thosethings that when you get into this
industry and when you startdoing these things, these are things

(31:40):
that you've probably signed upfor and you've gotten it, but you
don't think about what goesinto the back end of that to make
it happen.
Right?
And so it's really bringingthat to the top of mind of this are
the kind of things that nowyou have to think about and put into
place to make sure that itruns the way it's supposed to.
Right?
What are the major aspects ofthe event?

(32:02):
So if you could categorizethem into different areas, like the
registration you mentioned,the venue, the pricing, all that
kind of stuff.
So you need to think aboutwhere you're going to host it out
where there's going to be virtual.
In person.
You need.
If it's in person, you need tothink about hotel rooms.
Are they going to.
Do they need somewhere to stay?
Do you need to provide transportation?

(32:24):
Marketing is a whole notherpiece that you have to think about
the whole thing.
That whole thing.
That's a whole thing overthere, right?
And so you need to think aboutif it's in person, food and beverage,
you need to think about againthat process of what happens from
the time they register untilreally the events over, what happens
all the way through that process.

(32:45):
One of the first questions Iask my clients is why are you having
this event?
And it's the first questionyou need to answer is why?
And it can't be, oh, because Iwant to make more money.
Well, of course, we all do.
But let's get into the why.
Why what?
Why are people going to come?
Right.
What is going to happen whenthey come?
And so from there, that'sgoing to answer a lot of your questions

(33:06):
as you go forward.
But you know, food andbeverage is a whole thing.
Sleeping rooms, hotelaccommodations are a whole, you know,
if you break it down,transportation signage, it sounds
overwhelming when you starttalking about, wow, she said, I had
to think about all that.
But you're not, you're notgoing to think about it all today.

(33:27):
Right.
So in most cases, particularlyfor in person events, you're going
to be on a 12 month or longerplanning cycle because you want to
get your venue booked and so forth.
And if you're doing virtual,if you're doing a three day summit
or you're doing whatever,you're probably going to be on a
six month planning cycle.
And so you're going to havesix months to plan all of this out.
And you're going to do eachpiece in a, in a logical fashion.

(33:50):
Right.
So you're not going to have todo it all.
And we're going to start withwhat it's going to look like and
then we're going to plug inyour marketing because that's going
to be a key piece.
Right.
When do we start?
What do we need to do?
Where are we going to market it?
And then we'll start pluggingin those logistical pieces.
Yeah.

(34:10):
First thing is recognizing allthe stuff that goes into it.
And then it's not impossible, obviously.
So it's how, how do you tackle it?
Piece by piece until everypiece is in place, the best that
it can be.
Yep.
It's basically a thousandpiece puzzle or 500 piece puzzle
depending on the size of your event.
And we're going to take allthose pieces and we're going to build
your border and then we'regoing to start filling in.

(34:32):
But we're going to do it in away that is not overwhelming and
is not chaotic.
Hmm.
Do you have the people thatcome to you run their own events
before?
Are they usually the ones thatcoming to you for the first time
just so they.
Because they have no idea whatthey're doing.
I've had some of both.
I've had some that have cometo me and they, they had done events
and they weren't verysuccessful and so they're looking
to figure out why.

(34:53):
And then I have some that istheir very first, you know, event
out the gate and they're like,I don't know what I'm doing, so can
you please help me figure it out?
You know, and some of themreally want to do events and they're
not quite ready.
So those are conversationsthat I've had a couple of times like,
well, I want to do thisretreat in November.

(35:13):
And I'm like, it's July, we'renot doing that.
Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna do it.
And so all I can do at thatpoint is give them the timeline that
they can, what they have to doto do to be successful and then hope
and pray that it works out for them.
But I'm a big believer in notusing the cross your fingers, pray
to the little baby Jesus andthe major method of event planning.

(35:36):
I'm a big believer.
And set yourself up for success.
Get yourself a timeline that works.
Because for an in personevent, a multi day in person event,
you are going to have tocommit 120 to 150 hours to execute
from the minute you have theidea to the minute it's over at a
minimum.
And so you need to be able tohave the time frame to put that amount

(35:58):
of work in.
So if you want are alreadybusy in your business, busy with
your family, and you only havethree or four hours a week to work
on this, that's a longplanning time.
Right.
It can still be done, butyou've got to give yourself the Runway
to do it.
Yeah, I mean it's pretty mucha full time job for people.

(36:18):
So the, the, the fact thatpeople think that they can do it
in less than a year's worth oftime is just like, not really.
It's, it's possible, I guess,but I don't think it's going to lead
to the best chance of success.
It will not.
And a lot of that is just miss.
It's just a misconception, Isuppose that could you go to an event

(36:43):
and you see it and it goes sowell and you're like, I could do
that.
That was so great.
I could do that.
And you can.
But what you don't know is theamount of work that went into it
for months and months andmonths beforehand.
What you didn't see was thepeople Running around behind the
scenes, taking care of all thethings to make it flow so easily
for you.
And so I really want to bustthe myth that event planning is easy.

(37:07):
Event planning is easy if yougive yourself the right Runway.
But if you try to take aBoeing 747 off on a Runway for a
Cessna 180, it will not be pretty.
Right.
So, you know, give yourselfthe Runway that you need to be successful,
and you're going to be muchmore successful if you try to take
your Cessna 180 off on aRunway designed for a 747.

(37:31):
So let's get you the Runwaythat you need.
That gives you plenty of timeto be successful.
And then you can the next timeyou be like, okay, I didn't need
quite that long.
And you can start shorteningthose time frames because you're
going to know exactly what to do.
But give yourself room to maneuver.
Yeah.
What do you.

(37:52):
What are the biggestchallenges that most people don't
anticipate?
Is it usually just thetimeline or are there other aspects
that people overlook?
The biggest aspects are thetimeline and the budget.
A lot of times what happens isthey don't really know what they
need to include in the budget,or they don't.
So they don't budget.
Right.
Like, I don't really know.

(38:13):
So I'm just gonna look at itat the end.
I'll see what I spent and seewhat I brought in and do some math.
Right.
And what.
You really don't just do mathat the end, and that usually doesn't
work out.
What you really need to do islook at what you're going to spend
and what you want to make, seta profit goal, and then look at what
you need to charge to.

(38:36):
To achieve that goal.
And is that amount that youneed to charge.
Right.
So if you come out and youneed to charge $4,500 to achieve
your profit goal, and youraudience isn't going to spend more
than 2,000, we have a problem.
Right.
So you really want to belooking at those numbers and being
really clear about what yourexpectations are.
And particularly for thosehigher ticket luxury items, those

(38:59):
luxury events with the highticket registration fees, you want
to give people time to budgetfor that, to split it up into payments
or whatever.
So again, it goes back intothat timeframe that you need.
And the other thing that I seepeople don't do is they don't budget
for their time.
Right.
They don't include in the budget.
Okay, I'm going to spend 120hours on this this is 120 hours that

(39:23):
I'm not doing revenuegenerating activities, 120 hours
I'm not billing for andgetting paid for.
So I need to budget that intothe budget so that I'm paid to plan
this event.
And there are, there areevents that you'll have where maybe
you're not budgeting forprofit because the profit is going
to come from sales on, on theback end after the event.
Right.
You're going to sell them intoa program, you're going to sell products

(39:44):
or services beyond and that's fine.
But if you don't look at thatand figure out where the revenue
is coming from, where is theprofit coming from?
And you didn't budget for yourtime, you're not making a profit,
you're making a salary.
And so when I tell peoplethat, they go, oh yeah, because even
if it's a smaller event andit's only going to take you 40 hours,

(40:06):
if you bill $100 an hour,that's $4,000.
You got to have that in your budget.
So timeline and budget, thoseare the biggest things that cause
people to fail.
Yeah.
Let's talk about the other twoSOP points since you already talked

(40:27):
about the profit portion of this.
Yeah.
So getting strategic about it,the first thing you want to do is
figure out your why and youwant to be sure that you are aligning
what you're doing with yourgoals and where you are in your business.
So if you are just now gettingstarted with events, you're probably
going to want to start with anhour or a two hour event.

(40:48):
And if you're a long term girlis a seven day international retreat,
you're probably going to be ona four or five year planning cycle
to get to that.
Right.
And there's going to be,you're just going to gradually step
up and you're going to have,as you grow your business and adjust
your strategy, you're going tohave goals and benchmarks that we're
going to achieve together.

(41:08):
And that's how you're going tohit that big goal that you want to
set.
Right.
But it really needs to be verystrategic and planned out.
This year I'm doing this, thisand this.
Next year I'm going to dothis, this and this that.
You're always moving towardsthat long term goal and you always
know where you are and whatyou need to be doing.
And then the O is organized.

(41:31):
Right.
And so it really comes down tomaking sure that you have that clear
timeline of what you need todo a Year out or six months out,
or whatever your time frame isand that.
So when I work with myclients, we do a comprehensive timeline
and checklist and it reallytells them, breaks it down for them
every single week, what theyneed to be focused on, what they

(41:54):
need to be working on.
And then when we meet once ortwice a month, we go through it.
What did we not get done, whatdo we need to adjust?
Where are there obstacles orpain points or blocks that we're
having that we need to work on?
So that you are constantlymaking sure that what you're doing
is moving that needle.
You're achieving yourstrategic goals, you're being organized

(42:17):
and hitting the top, thebenchmark dates that you need to
hit for your event and thatyou're bringing in the money that
you need to be bringing in topay for the event.
It's a great structure becausemost people are like, oh, I just
want to throw an event becauseit sounds like.
A fun idea and it is a fun idea.
Yeah, absolutely, you should.
But let's do it in the rightway and not in a way that causes

(42:39):
overwhelm, burnout.
And you know, you can veryquickly lose your shirt and your
sanity and we don't want to do that.
What are the aspects of themost successful events?
So the most successful eventsare usually they're very engaging.

(43:01):
People want to come, they wantto be engaged, they want to be around
this, they're building community.
Most of them are going to havesome sort of lasting impact, whether
they're doing some sort ofcommunity service project or they
have some sort of ongoingprogram once the event is over.
Because again, it's aboutengaging that community and providing
value to them.

(43:21):
Most of them have some sort ofaspect where people feel like it
was designed just for them.
Right.
You're keeping it verypersonal and the bigger you get,
the harder that becomes.
Because obviously it's reallyhard to be personal when you have
a 15,000 person event.
But the way you do that isjust through training your staff,

(43:41):
when you get to that level ofevent, to make sure that they're
using people's names becauseit's on their name badge, right.
To make sure that they'rehaving those one on one interactions
with people.
But you really want to haveyour events feel very personal and
that's what's going to keeppeople coming back.
It's not about the food, it'snot about the av.
Yes.
You want your content to be onpoint and to be of value.

(44:02):
So they go home and theyimplement what they learned but you
also want them to feel like,wow, that was really just for me
and I feel really great that Iwas there.
Yeah.
I think one of the interestingthings is that when you go to these
types of events, you don'tremember a single thing about the
keynote that you saw orwhatever it is you.

(44:24):
It's more about the feelingthat the thing brought to you versus
a very specific person talking.
Because most of those are justvalue lessons that you just kind
of absorb and keep in the backof your mind.
They're there, but they're,they're not like, oh, this was a
sticking point, or unlessyou're doing something interesting
and out of the ordinary.

(44:45):
Yeah.
It really is about the, theenvironment that you create that
allow people to feel safe andto feel like this is their community
and that they're part of it.
And, and that they matter.
And, and that comes fromcultivating your audience.
That comes from making surethat the people that are in the room

(45:06):
are people that are going tofill that vibe for you.
Whatever your audience vibe is.
Right.
And the more creative you canbe, the better because people will
remember that too.
But nobody's going to rememberthe food.
Nobody's going to rememberwhat speaker said.
Exactly.
What they'll remember thenuggets that they learned, but they

(45:27):
won't remember who said what.
You know, and, and five yearsfrom now, the events that stand out
the most for me is not whatabout the speaker or the food, it
was about how I felt when Ileft the room.
Just like you said.
That's what it's really about.
Yeah.
One of the most memorableevents that's no longer being thrown
is called World Domination Summit.

(45:49):
And some of the interestingthings that they did were they were
trying every year to break atleast a few Guinness World Records.
So it's like the longest highfive line or something like that.
That's always interesting, memorable.
And then the other aspect wasthere were smaller community driven

(46:10):
groups that were led outsideof the main programming, which helped
people come together.
So it's like, right, you don'tneed to control every aspect of it,
but they're, you can creatememorable things while doing it.
And you can also fostercommunity by just having the community
like meet with themselves andlike kind of build rapport outside

(46:31):
of you necessarily needing tobe there.
Yeah, absolutely.
And when people build thoserelationships, I did a retreat for
Costa Rica in October of 2023and we had a WhatsApp group where
everybody was kind ofcommunicating beforehand.
Oh, my plane's delayed or oh,I'm at this.

(46:52):
Wherever, wherever.
And a year later, there's.
That group is stillcommunicating in that WhatsApp group.
Right.
They're still sending messagesto one another of support.
Hey, I've got this coming up.
I could use some support.
Hey, I've got a new podcast.
Can y', all, you know,subscribe or whatever?
And so that's what the powerof events is, is building a community

(47:15):
that supports.
Supports you well past thetime of the event's over.
You know, years later, thereare people that you're still going
to have in your community thatare supporting you.
Yeah.
It's about being a connector,for one thing, and having that memorable
experience, and they'll.
They'll always remember that.
And if they.
If you're offering somethingthat they need again, obviously that

(47:37):
reminds them that you arethere for them.
Yep, absolutely.
Talk about the other end of the.
How to be like a betterspeaker, I guess, and how to find
these speaking events and thatkind of aspect of your work.
Yeah.
So when it comes to being aspeaker, I kind of break the speaking

(48:02):
engagement down into three phases.
And the first phase is thespark phase.
And that's really where you'regoing to be working your network
to build relationships andoffer value so that when those speaking
opportunities come up, you canreach out to that person and be like,
hey, I saw that you have suchand such conference coming up.

(48:22):
I would love to be a speaker.
What is your process to apply?
Right.
And so you really want tocultivate those things.
Really be clear on who youwant to be in front of speaking.
Right.
Because you don't want to beon every single stage.
You want to be on the stagesthat are going to bring people into
your business.
So get really clear on whothat is, so then we can identify

(48:42):
where they're going to be andlook at those organizations, those
associations and those placesfor those speaking engagements.
And then start working yournetwork to really build relationships
with those event planners,with those industry leaders, with
the people that are going tomake those decisions about who's
going to be on that stage infront of that person.
Right.
And not just hit them up onLinkedIn and be like, hey, I want

(49:06):
to come speak for you, but bewilling to provide some value.
Like, be like, hey, I saw thatyou have this event coming up.
I would love to share thiswith my audience.
And how do you become aspeaker for this?
Right.
Here's a free article thatI've done that you might want to
share with your audience inyour newsletter.
Right.
Really provide some value andcultivate a relationship with those
people because that in thelong run is going to get you more

(49:28):
speaking opportunities becausethey're going to be become a referral
source for you.
And then once you have yournetwork that's constantly funneling
you speaking engagements,right, they're going to be sending
them to you and you're goingto be speaking on.
The more you speak, the moreyou're going to be able to speak.
Excuse me.
Then once you get booked, thenyou're going to move into that, what

(49:50):
I call the flame phase, right?
And this is where you're goingto really be a good partner with
the event planner.
And you're going to make surethat all of your deliverables, your
contract, your invoices, yourheadshot, your collateral, your headshot
bio, the things that they'regoing to need to be able to do their
job, are delivered to them on time.
So make sure that you're veryaware of what your deadlines are

(50:11):
and that you're not justmeeting them, but you're getting
it there before they'relooking for it, right?
Like, if your deadline istoday, don't send it today, send
it last week so that they'renot like, did I get that?
Where is it?
Do I have to remind them?
Right?
Just be that person that'sahead of the game and make sure that
when you're preparing yourtalk, you're operating off the 80,

(50:34):
20 rule, right?
80% of your talk doesn'tchange, but 20% is going to be geared
towards whatever is thataudience, whoever's in that audience.
You're going to tweak it tothat industry, to that association,
to that corporation, right?
So that those people feellike, oh, wow, they prepared this
just for us.

(50:54):
And they're going to be ableto connect and engage with you on
that level.
And then once you're throughthe speaking engagement and you step
off that stage, then we'regoing to move into what I call the
ember phase.
And this is the phase that alot of speakers drop.
They just move on and that's fine.
But sometimes an ember willspark back up into a flame.

(51:16):
So you really want tocultivate the relationship further
in the ember phase by makingsure that all those people that came
up to you at the end of theevent, that you connect with them,
right?
And you enter them into thatspark phase and you start cultivating
those relationships that yousend a thank you card and a gift
to the meeting planner.
Even if it's just.

(51:37):
I just, I spoke last week andI sent Her a card and a sticker that
I thought she would, you know,that she would like.
It's not, it doesn't have tobe some elaborate gift, right.
Just a little note sayingthank you so much for having me in
your audience, you know, onyour stage and sharing my knowledge
with your audience.
Right.
And then making sure that youare consistently have some sort of

(51:59):
system for follow up with,with everybody that has ever booked
you to speak.
Right.
Don't just thanks and you moveon and you never talk to them again.
You're going to continue, youknow, if you find somebody that would
be great for their stage,introduce them.
But hey, I met so and so andthey would be great for your audience.
I thought you might like tomeet them, be a referral source for
them and they will be areferral source for you.

(52:22):
So it really comes down to notjust having a great message because
you want.
That's a minimum, right?
Bare minimum.
The bare minimum is to have agreat message and be able to deliver
your talk, but to really be agood partner and be willing to provide
value above and beyond themessage that you are delivering.

(52:43):
Hmm.
Yeah.
I think that's so importantbecause what we're really looking
for, especially since you'veseen both sides, is you just want
to be treated the way that others.
It's like the golden rule,kind of.
But like how instead of howyou would treat others, it's like
how you would want to be treated.
Right, right.

(53:04):
That's exactly right.
You know, and I tell people Isaid this last week when I was speaking
to a group of speakers andtalking about how to get strategic,
organized and profitable withtheir speaking.
And I said, you know, sittingin the meeting planner seat, I know
what it takes for, for you toget a referral from me.
And I know what it takes forme to want to put toothpicks under

(53:25):
your fingernails.
So you decide which.
Right.
Because I've had thosespeakers that it's like, oh my God,
how many times do I have toemail you and ask you for your headshot?
I cannot promote you, I cannotpromote your talk until I have this
information.
So please don't make me workharder for it.
Right.
You know, so they just kind of laugh.
But it's true.
Like, you just don't want tobe the person.

(53:47):
You don't want to be thesqueaky wheel when it comes to being,
working with a meeting planner.
And the people that are makingthe decision, don't be the squeaky
wheel because they willremember you, but they will not refer
you yeah, it just goes.
Back to like that samenetworking piece where you're.
You just want to have the best presence.
Right.

(54:07):
Just so that you're memorableand people want to help you.
It's like, not that they haveto, but they want to because you
were helpful for them makingtheir jobs easier, right?
Yes, yes.
They want to help you becauseyou made their jobs easier.
That's the perfect way to say it.
I'm going to steal that.
Yeah.
I mean, that's just the waythat relationships work.

(54:28):
Right?
You, you want to help thepeople who are good to you, who are
kind to you, make a difference.
And that's the type of personyou need to be in order to, to make
connections beyond the single stage.
Yes, absolutely.
That is exactly.
You know, be the kind ofpartner that you would want somebody

(54:49):
to be with you.
Right.
Provide that value, providethe support.
And it's not transactional.
It's not about what I'm goingto get out of it.
It's about what I can do for you.
Yeah.
If you were gonna throw yourown event, what kind of event would
you throw?
And like, how would youprepare for that?
I don't know if you've thoughtof this yet.

(55:10):
I have not thought and I havenever been asked that question.
So kudos to you for asking aquestion I've never been asked before.
I think if I were going tothrow my own event, I would throw
some sort of masquerade ball.
Right.
Where people can dress up andthey can come and I would probably
have like a silent auctionkind of thing to support a non profit

(55:35):
so people can come and wewould be giving back to the community
and we would have food and wewould have drink and we would all
be dressed up in, have ourlittle masks and maybe there would
be a reveal thing at the endand maybe there'd be prizes for costumes
and.
Yeah, that's what would happen.
You haven't thought about it though?

(55:56):
I haven't.
So I just like, I just planneda whole event.
That's kind of how my brain works.
Like, okay, so what would we have?
We would have food and beverage.
We would have this.
We would have so, you know,silent auction and we would support
a cause.
So that's just.
Yeah, because I think thatwould be fun.
Yeah, I mean, you know how tomake it happen.
So like, oh, now I'm kind of excited.

(56:17):
What are we doing?
You can make that happen atany point, right?
I could make it happen at any point.
Like I'm seeing this hugeballroom with the stage, with the
Band like I now.
See now, Kevin, now I'm gonnahave to plan a masquerade ball.
Yeah.
It doesn't have to.
Obviously you need at least a year.
So you got years to plan this.
I got a year.
Yeah.
Maybe we'll do it for MardiGras next year.
Oh.
So see, there you go.

(56:39):
Done.
Done.
Okay.
That would be fun.
That would be fun.
And then you can invite allyour event speakers.
You can invite your event throwers.
Yeah.
People that you work with.
Absolutely.
It would be a great.
That would be a really fun event.
And we just have to find a nonprofit to support.
That would be the hard partbecause I care about so many organization

(57:02):
which one is, which one would win.
Maybe we would split it threeways or something, you know?
Right.
Like do more than.
More than just one.
Or you could always have theauctions to, you know, different
things and those charities getproceeds from auctions.
Split the.
Split the money.
Split the money.
Yeah.
All right, now.

(57:22):
Now I've got a task.
Okay.
Now I have to figure out whatI'm gonna dress up.
I've got to figure out what mycostume's gonna be.
Oh, yeah, that's also veryimportant, especially if you're going
to be the host, right?
Yes, yes, absolutely.
What fun.
Okay, I like that question.
What's the most interesting ormemorable event that you've been

(57:43):
to?
Probably I had the privilegeof working for an organization that
does education for veterinarians.
They do like hands on training.
And every year we did an Aevent for the vet techs, which are
basically nurses in that.

(58:05):
In that world.
And they were a super fun group.
And so it was always themed.
And so we got to one year do aHarry Potter themed event.
And I got to be the mc and Imade up these.
I did.
My character was Heather,Heather Lovegood, which was Luna's

(58:26):
more fabulous cousin.
And so I had these crazy wackyoutfits and I crocheted a couple
things to go with it.
And I got to create the gamesthat we had three teams and I got
to create the games that thethree teams played every day to whoever
was going to win got to go tolunch first, which was a big deal

(58:49):
because 100, you know, 20, 30something year old kids, I say kids
because they're way youngerthan me, you know, to get to lunch
first, that was a big deal.
So that was a lot of fun.
I love being creative andbeing able to do that.
But our staff just had a lotof fun working on it together and
it was just a really joyfulevent that I got to work on for a

(59:11):
couple years.
So that was fun.
Awesome.
Yeah.
It's all about making thosememorable experiences.
Like we said earlier, where'sthe way that you can make your event
fun and interesting as opposed to.
Okay, speaker, speaker,speaker, break, lunch, speaker, speaker,
speaker.
Like that.
Okay.
Yeah, that's nice.
But when you can gamify it,when you can get people engaged and

(59:34):
actually participating inwhat's going on, the experience is
going to be elevated to adifferent level.
And that's really what youwant to do.
Yeah.
Make it as memorable andinteresting as possible so that people
will want to do it again.
Absolutely.
Unless you don't want to doanother event.
You realize you don't.
You didn't do any events.

(59:54):
Right.
And you want them to not onlywant to do it again, but you want
them to bring their friendnext time.
Right.
If your plan is to grow andbring that business back to yourself,
those are the kinds of thingsthat you have to think about.
Absolutely.
Awesome.
A few more questions left.
Okay.
Do you know anyone personallywho also runs a standout creative

(01:00:15):
business, and what do they doto stand out?
Yeah.
So I know several creativebusiness owners, but one of my favorites
is Rachel Lee.
And so she's a brand expert,and she creates people's.
Helps them create a brand thatis unique to them.
And she is just super fun andsuper creative.

(01:00:38):
And I met her in a networking call.
She sent me a couple referrals.
She's a super.
What I call super connector.
She will just.
She will send you referralafter referral after referral without
expecting anything in return.
And she's just a super, superfun human being.
And I love her work.
In fact, she's.
She's in the middle of arebrand herself right now.

(01:00:58):
She's rebranding her own business.
Um, so check out Rachel lee.
She's on LinkedIn andInstagram, and she's just got some
super fun, super creativethings going on out there in her.
In her business.
That's awesome.
I think one of the things thatwe can all do better is just be more

(01:01:19):
of ourselves.
I think that's the best wayto, to kind of make it through the
crowd, because anyone can be generic.
Yeah, right.
Absolutely.
And I think it's hard forcreatives sometimes to.
To be themselves because we'reso worried about fitting in and we're
worried about what people aregoing to say.

(01:01:40):
And the thing that I havelearned over the course, because
I've.
I've been down that road, youknow, but I Don't want to be in a
box.
Right.
I'm going to be myself.
And so one of the things thatI've really struggled with is being
authentic to my own quirkylittle personality and showcasing
who I really am.
And so one of the things I'vestarted doing now that I'm finally

(01:02:01):
doing videos, because I didn'twant to do videos because I was like,
you know, But I was like, if Ican showcase my personality.
So I have been wearing allkinds of fun sunglasses in my videos
to showcase my personality.
And I think that when we cantry stay true to who we really are
and be authentic, like yousaid, that people, the right people

(01:02:22):
are going to resonate with you.
And the people that don'tresonate with you, they're not your
people anyway.
So just be your authentic, funself, whatever that looks like.
Don't get in that box thatsays we have to do it this way.
You know, we don't have to doit that way.
Do it your way and you'llattract the right people that way.
Yeah.
One of the funny things iswe're all worried about what these

(01:02:44):
other people are going tothink, and we don't want those people
anyway.
So it's like, what are we soworried about?
That it's like, it doesn'tmake any sense.
No.
Why do we.
Why do I care?
I wouldn't work with themanyway, so why do I.
Why do I care so much whatthey say?
Because I spent months workingmyself up to do these videos and
talking myself out of doing itbecause I was afraid somebody would,
say, make an ugly comment.

(01:03:06):
So what if they do?
What?
What's gonna happen?
Like, nothing.
So just put yourself out thereand the people that like it, like
it.
If you get a troll, guess what?
You've reached a whole newlevel of success on the Internet.
Right?
Yay, you have a troll.
Move on.
Like today I posted a videothat's not the best video.
There was some editing issuesand I was like, you know what?

(01:03:26):
I don't have another 30minutes to sit here and re record.
I'm just putting it up the wayit is.
This is it.
This is real.
This is what happens in my.
In my world.
Just be authentic and real andpeople will connect with that.
Yeah.
I think the funny thing is,like, people.
When people do blooper reels,you love it.
But when we do it ourselvesare like, oh, no, I could never.
I could never put that up.

(01:03:48):
I just stumbled over my work.
The number of times that I've stopped.
Start over Stop.
Start over today.
I was like, I don't have timefor that.
We're going to one take.
We got one take and we got to go.
Yeah, we're all people, andthat's something that we often forget.
Especially because if you'retrying to run a business, you want
to be as professional as possible.
But also everyone's kind ofjust human.

(01:04:10):
So, yeah, we're all kind ofjust human.
I'm feeling that, too.
What's one extraordinary book,podcast, documentary, or tool that's
made the biggest impact onyour journey?
Two books that I wouldrecommend that's made a big impact
on me are Atomic habits andthe 12 week year.

(01:04:31):
And I would read them in thatorder, probably.
And because it really doeshelp you hone in on how to really
change your behavior so thatyou can take those baby steps and
start making the changes thatyou need or want to make to achieve
your biggest goals.
They're both excellent sourcesand excellent books.

(01:04:53):
And if you read the books andyou implement the strategies, you
will see growth and change in.
In whatever avenue of yourlife that you're looking for growth
and change.
You're the second person thatI've heard 12 week year.
So I guess I'll have to checkit out.
You should check it out.
And as people think that it'sabout cramming a year's worth of

(01:05:14):
work into 12 weeks, it's not.
It's really about, instead oflooking with annualized thinking,
where we set our goals inJanuary and then in October when
we realize we haven't done anywork on them, we kind of like, we
get really, oh, okay, I gottado all this work, right?
And we.
We get that intense feelingthat we need to work on it.
And all it does is create thaturgency throughout the whole year.

(01:05:37):
So basically, one day becomesa week, and one month becomes a.
And one week becomes a month,one day becomes a week, and one week
becomes a month.
And so you Wait, how's thatworking again, Matt?
I don't know.
Sorry.
So basically you're just compressed.
You're only looking at whatyou're going to achieve for this

(01:05:59):
12 weeks.
This is what I'm going toachieve for this 12 weeks.
At the end of the 12 weeks,you have a week to celebrate, just
like you do at the end of.
Of any year.
And then you start a whole new.
And you don't worry about whatyou achieved or you didn't achieve.
You start with the.
You start fresh and you moveon from there.
So it's really just about.
Instead of working on 12months, you're working on 12 weeks.

(01:06:21):
How many 12 weeks years haveyou done?
I guess so I've done twodifferent groups actually with it.
And so at one point I had twogroups going at the same time.
So I guess I've done theequivalent of four 12 week years.
And at the end of the day,you're only as successful as your

(01:06:43):
systems and you're only assuccessful if you actually look and
do the work and make the progress.
So I've had 12 weeks where Iwas success successful and I've had
12 weeks where I'm not verymuch like you would with annual goals.
Right.
It's really about.
But when you break it downinto the 12 weeks, it becomes more
manageable.
And I don't feel like when Iget to June, like, well, I haven't

(01:07:03):
done anything, so forget it.
Right.
I can be like, okay, that was,that didn't work out the last 12
weeks.
I'm going to start over and dothis again.
So it really changes that.
Having to wait for Januarybefore I can start working on that
goal.
Which is really crazy thinkingif you think about it.
Yeah.
Why do we, why do we wait?
Right.
Why do we?
Well, I can't wait.

(01:07:24):
I can't set resolutions till January.
Who made up this rule?
I don't know, but it's justhelpful from that standpoint.
Yeah, it's.
That's why most people give upbecause, oh, I'm a certain way through.
The gyms are always packed inthe beginning of the year.
By March, there's nobody there.
Again, the number of people.

(01:07:45):
Right.
I used to be a gym rat and Iused to be at the gym three times
a day.
And I, I hated January.
I was like, look, I was herein December.
Where were all you people?
I should get first priority,first dibs on my treadmill.
First dibs, like just reserveit for me.
Gold's Jam.
You know, I'm coming at thistime every day.

(01:08:08):
But by March it would becleared back out and I could have
my treadmill anytime I wanted.
So.
But yeah, I mean, we, we what?
A lot of times what happens iswe set these goals and then we start
working for it.
We're really, we're really excited.
Right.
I'm gonna do this.
And then we don't see thatimmediate change happen because we
are immediate gratificationand then we stop.

(01:08:30):
But if we just kept going,we're right there, right.
We're right about to push pastthat, that zone where we're gonna
start to see the Improvement.
And that's the thing that withthe 12 week year is that you're not
looking to lose, you know, £80.
You're not looking to run a marathon.
You're just looking to be ableto run a mile.
You're looking to lose, youknow, £12.
It suddenly becomes much more manageable.

(01:08:52):
And if you don't do it, youknow, okay, well, I can, I did six
pounds, I lost six pounds, Iran half a mile.
Right.
So it really makes it more ofthat instant gratification that we're
looking for.
Yeah.
Just like earlier, baby stepstowards baby steps.
It really comes back to, tothe baby steps.
Taking the first baby step andcontinuing to take baby steps every

(01:09:15):
day.
What do you think makes acreative business stand out?
And what is one piece ofadvice you'd give someone based on
your experience on how to maketheir business stand out?
So I think it goes back towhat we were talking about, about
being authentic and being yourself.
I think that people resonatewith that.
I think consistently showingup, being consistent in whatever

(01:09:37):
you're doing helps peoplestand out.
If you're inconsistent withwhatever you're doing, people are
going to be like, don't knowif they can count on you or not.
Right.
Like, I don't know if she'sgoing to put that video out.
She promised a day.
I don't know if she's going tohave a class this month.
I don't know if they're goingto open at the same hours every day.
So whatever you're doing, doit authentically, be consistent doing

(01:10:00):
it and be in a place of service.
Right.
Have that heart of service.
How can I serve my clients?
How can I serve my customers?
How can I serve my audience?
Because those are the thingsthat people are looking for today.
They want to have thoseauthentic connections and build relationships.
So when you're open with aheart of service and it's not about

(01:10:21):
how much money are you goingto pay me this month, how much money
are you going to spend in mystore Right.
When you're there, how can Iserve you?
They're going to connect withthat and they're going to remember
you and they're going to comeback and they'll bring a friend.
Yeah, it's just, just likebeing the best person that you can
be.
Right.
Just like we're.

(01:10:42):
I think we're all just tryingto complicate things for ourselves
when the best thing that wecan do is be the best versions of
ourselves and help otherpeople be the best versions of themselves.
Through our work.
Right?
That's absolutely correct.
Be the best version.
Be the change you want to seeand you'll attract the people that
want that change.
Awesome.
Can you give the listeners achallenge that they can take action

(01:11:05):
on right away?
Yep.
I think it will go back to thetheme that's kind of ran through.
This is taking baby steps.
I challenge you to think aboutone big goal that you've had.
Something that's been on yourheart, been in the back of your mind
for a long time.
You just haven't.
Like, I just don't know if I'mgonna do that, take one step towards

(01:11:26):
that goal today.
So if your big goal is I wantto write a book, write one sentence
today.
Right.
If your big goal is I want torun a marathon, go walk for 15 minutes
today, whatever your big goal,if I achieved this, it would be heaven
on earth.
Whatever that burning desireis in your heart, figure out what

(01:11:49):
is one thing you can do todayand go do that.
Yeah.
Every life changing thingstarts with the tiniest of actions.
Right.
So.
Right.
I mean, you know, and theytalk about this in the 12 week year
and in atomic habits.
You don't achieve greatnesswhen you achieve the gold medal as

(01:12:10):
an Olympic athlete.
Right.
Like Michael Phelps is a greatswimmer, but he didn't achieve greatness
when he won however many goldmedals he has.
He achieved greatness when hestarted doing the things consistently
that he needed to do toachieve the gold medal.
We don't know about the hoursand hours and hours he spent in the
pool because we don't see that part.
Nobody talks about that.
So your greatness is going tohappen when you start taking those

(01:12:30):
baby steps and start doing thethings consistently that are going
to get you to that gold medal,whatever that gold medal is for you.
Yeah.
It's not about the Instagrammoments, it's about the moments that
live up to that moment.
That's exactly right.
Right.
So go have a non Instagrammoment and you know what?
Post it on Instagram becauseyou might inspire somebody else to

(01:12:51):
have their own.
Awesome.
Well, Heather, it's beenreally great talking to you.
I think you're helping a lotof people do great things with events
and speaking.
Can you tell the listenerswhere they can keep up to date with
your work or contact you?
Yeah.
So I'm on Facebook, Instagramand LinkedIn.

(01:13:12):
Instagram's effing its collaboration.
So when you post that nonInstagram moment, please tag me so
that I can celebrate it withyou and Facebook.
Heather D. Black or PhoenixCollaborations is my business page.
And then on LinkedIn.
I'm Heather D. Black, and Ihave a website, Phoenix collaborations.com
so.
And it has all my links.
I'm also on YouTube.
I just launched a YouTubechannel after all of my fear of not

(01:13:34):
doing videos.
So you can find me.
It's gonna be me, right?
It's rough, but my YouTubechannel is igniteyourincome, so I'm
on all the places.
Awesome.
Well, yeah.
Thanks again, Heather.
It's been great talking to you.
Thanks so much for having me today.
Kevin, it's been a pleasure.
Heather isn't just planning events.
She's helping creativebusiness owners rise above the chaos

(01:13:57):
and actually make money from ideas.
Ideas that they care about.
Now it's your turn.
What if your next idea didn'tfeel overwhelming, but aligned, intentional,
and profitable?
If you're ready to stopwinging it and start building something
that works, I'd love to help.
Head tothestandoutcreatives.com and book

(01:14:18):
a free strategy session.
Let's get clear, let's getorganized, and let's make something
wheel that actually moves the needle.
Thanks, and I'll see you next time.