Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello, my beautiful friends,welcome or welcome back to the
wedding CEO podcast.
And in this rebrand series I am.
I while I lost my voice.
So if it goes out, if I soundlike Miley Cyrus a little bit,
it's cool.
We're just gonna roll with it.
I have said this to many people.
So if you are in my circle,you're probably tired of hearing
(00:20):
me say this, but I have been on10 calls a week for the past
three weeks.
And guess what?
Your girl finally lost hervoice.
So I'm going to explain a littlebit about what that looks like
and why, because I have hired Ithink over like I've had made
over 10 investments, whetherit's strategists.
Whether it's done for you workto finishes rebrand because
(00:43):
that's how much I heavily.
Value strategy.
And I want this rebrand to lastme a minute.
I don't want this to be like,oh, I'm gonna rebrand every
year.
No, I want this to last me, likeat least two years.
And maybe a refresh, butessentially I I want this to be
like it, And as a serialrebrand, or I think I invalid in
(01:05):
saying that.
What have I been working onthese past two weeks?
I had recently, I always sharepost-it notes of people who have
joined wedding CEO because Ilove cursive.
It's something that's alwaysbrought me joy as a child.
I've always loved cursive andhow fancy the letters looked.
And I don't really follow therules.
I do cursive my own way.
Like I don't follow the actual,like vintage cursive workbook
(01:30):
and I should know it was, Ibought it for my daughter and I
got stressed out.
I was like, I do not do curse itthis way.
I just pick when I want to doit, and then I do it.
Anyway.
After writing cursive andposting post-its of all the new
girls who have joined theprogram.
People were like, whoa, I wouldbuy your handwriting if it was a
font.
And then someone was like, youneed to use this in your
rebrand.
Ken, your handwriting also be afont that you use on your
(01:52):
website.
My mind absolutely exploded thejoy because for one.
And my email footer, my XOAllura is handwritten by me.
And I think I scanned it.
Guys, I'm so old don't make funof me, but like I made that
signature years ago.
I think I wrote it on a piece ofpaper.
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And then I screenshot it onGoogle docs.
And then I remove the backgroundin Canva.
And guess what it has served mefor decades.
So here we are.
And my brand designer, Madelinesaid that she actually
downloaded a software to get myhandwriting as a font.
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And it would obviously be like,an accent font.
Cause you know, my handwritingis not that legible.
I am left-handed and life hasjust been very hard for me.
I've been told my handwritingwas chicken scratch and is a
mess.
And I'm so used to myhandwriting going up and.
Getting smudge on my wrist.
That's the life of a left-handedperson, if DME, because you're
(02:56):
not alone, but we are the 3% ofthe world guys, so cool.
So been working on that.
And I finally, this weekend, Igot on a call with my business
mentor and we mapped out.
The entire.
Program.
That wedding CEO is now wechanged the name.
It's pretty similar, but alsosome kind of different.
(03:16):
And it's going to be a nod toall the intentionality that I
have behind this rebrand.
When I was talking to mycreative director separately.
And she was like, what is theinspiration?
Like, why are you all of thesethings?
And I was just like, oh mygoodness.
Like everything that I havedone.
That was incredible.
Has always been in Detroit, likedowntown Detroit weddings, back
when I was growing up, I wasn'teven allowed to go to Detroit
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guys.
My mom was like, you can't go toDetroit because it's dangerous
and you really can't go toDetroit.
After the sun goes down and medoing weddings until midnight,
like crazy.
Anyway.
Yeah, Detroit is where Iactually discovered fancy ramen.
It was this place called urbanramen.
And I would always go there onSundays.
I would go there and actuallyeat ramen before a shoe before
(04:02):
and encourage the session.
It was like my treat me selfkind of gift to myself.
And that's where I foundlavender lattes.
I actually met one of my weddingbesties over a lavender latte
and it changed my life.
I actually bought a lavenderlatte creamer from Starbucks
because.
That's how basic I am, but it'sjust so good.
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And the thing about great lakes,coffee, which is now closed and
urban ramen is also closed, butthey made their own like
signature lavender latte syrupand is just so good.
I just, I wish you could govisit, but.
Unless they decided to bring itback.
A lot of places closed duringCOVID, but I will never forget.
And also the library in Detroitis absolutely gorgeous.
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And if you go to the secondfloor where you can see the
mural, when you go up the stairson the left, it's absolutely
gorgeous that room.
The murals, even in thehallways, the marble staircase.
It's just a work of art and ofcourse the DIA, which everybody
knows, and I have shot therebefore and I do love it.
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But there are some really goodgems that are overlooked and
yeah.
That is a hint at the directionwe're going in.
And but there's just so muchdepth to it.
And I did not realize HavingRoberto's great.
Like just having one, just tohave one, but going this deep
into like my roots and who Ibecome and what I experienced
and what I love.
(05:26):
It took me through my own brandstory.
So I'm like going through mybrand personality, which all the
things I just told you about,like ramen laminar, lattes and
the library and coffee shops andcafes and all, especially the
hotels in Detroit, too.
The architecture of everybuilding.
I could go on and on guys.
Seriously.
I really can.
Can you say obsessed?
(05:47):
I'm trying, I'm working on it.
But yeah, that's yeah, my brainpersonality, but also the kind
of like street style, like theday to night vibes, just, I
don't know, everything that I'mlike thinking about.
And it's wow, this has alwaysbeen me.
And I think when I launched.
The Allura Rochelle brand afterleaving a lower Rochelle
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weddings.
I went in a complete differentlike direction, because that
felt like a fresh start for me.
I was like, okay.
I'm going to go full on modernand that's fine, but I'm just
learning more and more thatthere's so much work to be done.
And you're always evolving andchanging.
Or you're just like the same.
And going back to who you reallywere.
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I was on a strategy call todaywith a student.
And she was just saying like onethat she was looking through.
What'd she say she was wafflingthrough a bunch of different
educators before she chose me.
And I'm honored, of course,every time a student enrolls in
the program, I'm like your lifein business are really about to
change.
I'm not just saying that we aregoing to help you.
But also she said, it's you feellike you need to do what
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everybody else is doing.
And you feel like you can'tthink out of the box, like it's
too scary.
But when you do think out of thebox and you do listen to that
feeling, that's maybe I shouldtry this even though no one's
doing it.
Maybe I should be the first one.
It is so scary to do, but whenyou do it, you just lean into
yourself.
And I think that's what happenedis out of nowhere.
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I feel like I have stepped intoa Laura.
3.0 4.0, I don't even know atthis point, but the best version
of myself.
And my word of the year, thisyear is flourish and I feel like
everything that I'm touching isturning into gold and I'm not
even kidding.
You.
Like every person I talk toevery strategy I give to
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somebody.
I'm like they're booking awedding, they're raising their
prices.
They're booking a wedding attheir raise prices.
They're going to be charging 10K at the end of this year
because of this strategy.
And I've also learned that.
I have to say I know that salesis my secret sauce, but I
definitely think it's like thepsychology of sales and the
psychology of pricing andpositioning and packages.
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And Just knowing buyer behavior,why people buy, how they buy,
how they make decisions, evenwith the way that you position
your price, your prices, andwhat you put inside of them is
telling them what package theyshould choose.
Every single thing is alwaysintentional, which is why I have
been doing so many of theseintensives.
(08:16):
And they've been getting resultsin a day or two, or even by the
end of the week.
Because it just takes one smalltweak that's intentional, but
that also is rooted in salesthat actually gets your
customer.
And then also too.
I spoke on a friend's podcastabout this, but like your energy
behind, the booking, theprocess, your confidence level,
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that plays a huge part too.
If you come with this needyenergy and constantly sending
reminders for them to sign thecontract, like that's just.
I just, I don't like.
I don't like the vibe.
I just don't think somebody whois a high end photographer would
do that.
It's like you booked me or youdon't and the next person in
line is going to get your date.
Versus oh, I need to book thisweddings.
(08:59):
I need to make money.
If you do, that's fine, but yourclients don't need that energy.
And it's the worst feeling whenyou know that somebody needs
your money.
Okay.
Same kind of like for I thinkthat's why car salesman gets
such a bad rep is because, theyneed the commission.
With everything that they'resaying, they're going to be
upselling you because, they wantto cap that commission.
And so it's so funny because I'mfive, two, I'm small, I'm
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petite.
And so I think a lot of timeswhen I go places and I go to
these experiences and men hardsell me, I already know what
they're doing.
And so I just, it's so funny.
I'm just okay, yeah, you'redoing this, you're doing that.
And you think I'm going to dothis?
And then I do the opposite andthey're just kinda like what?
And I was like, no, I don'tknow.
I don't need that.
I'm good.
Actually, I would prefer this.
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And then it just throws them offevery time, because I know that
there's like this weird biasthat like, Women are dumb and
women don't know sales and womenwill just, ask their husband for
more money.
And I'm like, you know what?
I'm going to change the stigmaon that because.
I disagree, like powerful women.
Can be in control.
(10:03):
Can be in control of the salescall, the sales process.
And we can have power andauthority, but still be
feminine.
I want to embody the bougie, butalso relatable.
Girl, next door, probablyputting on a rice mask with her
daughter, which I did a coupleof weeks ago.
If you ask me guys on Instagram,real chase, a rabbit really
quick.
If you use leftover rice and adda little bit of water and blend
(10:26):
it, you and then add some honey.
You just made a rice mask.
And I would keep blending ituntil it's like really gooey,
but it's a gentle exfoliant.
And if the Koreans are doing it,guys, we got to do it right.
So anyway, back to the point isOwning into like authority, but
in a feminine way.
And just really figuring outit's so weird.
I get what my students are goingthrough in this rebrand process.
(10:48):
You really figure out yourself.
As you go through the process,not just, okay, what do I want
to do for my clients?
But why?
And the why I think is thesecret key of standing out in
the wedding industry in anybusiness.
But yeah, it's just, it's soeyeopening to be like why does
this matter to me?
Why do I want to help people?
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Why do I want to cultivate acommunity?
Why do I want, women doublingand tripling their prices?
It's because I was a mother.
Like my business took off when Iwas a mom.
And I was charging three K and Icould not sustain booking 30
weddings a year forever.
I literally launched myself intoburnout.
So I made a plan.
I was like, by the time I havemy son or baby number two, I
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want to be shooting 10 weddingsa year.
But we ended up with 12 and thenmy team was shooting weddings
and we still hit six figures, noproblem.
And it was so great and it waspeaceful, but I was also
charging 10 K and I was able todo that.
It was a beautiful business thatI had built while being a
mother, a stay at home, workingmom, mind you with a newborn.
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And my daughter was inpreschool, but still like it's
possible.
And I just want to help.
More people are saying, oh mygosh, I joined your program
because like we're planning onbuilding a family or I want to
be a mom, but I just don't thinkit's possible at the way that
I'm running my business.
And I'm just like, there isanother way.
And I've done it.
And I'm going to show it to you,but also we will tailor it to
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your business.
And I think that's a big thing.
It's like wedding CEO previouslywas just tailored to raise your
prices, build a team, launch arebrand, essentially what I had
done.
But now we're making this moreof a workshop where you can take
a training here and there andbuild your own business with the
trainings.
We'll hop on a one-on-oneintensive, I'll tailor
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everything to yourself, yourstyle, your brand story that you
come up with.
We'll put it in our GPTs andyou're ready to go.
And now you have 12 months ofongoing support.
And you have the community andyou can submit your wins and
know how much money you've madethis year.
Just joining this program.
My goodness.
It's insane.
So that's what I want.
I just want wedding seat.
(12:55):
You would be this no brainercommunity focused.
Women in power.
Group program rooted in salesand psychology.
And marketing and just I justwant more women to own a
business.
I even got off a call with mymom today because she owns a
business.
And I'm like teaching her how touse ads and everything.
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I'm just like, yeah.
We, as women need to learn howto do more So that is my goal.
And yeah thanks for listening tothis episode, I will see you in
the next rebrand series or inthe next podcast episode.
Thanks for hanging out with me.
Bye