Unlock the secrets to a thriving wedding business and a balanced life as we welcome Heidi Thompson, the bestselling author behind "Clone Your Best Clients" and the mastermind of Evolve Your Wedding Business.
Discover how the upcoming Wedding Business CEO Summit on the 17th February can transform your work weeks from exhausting marathons to sustainable journeys.
Heidi shares her unique motivation for creating a free, accessible space where wedding professionals can focus not just on booking more weddings but also on nurturing their personal well-being. With specialized sessions like Caitlin Blair's on ADHD-friendly workflows, this summit is designed to meet diverse needs and help you create a business that fits your lifestyle.
Join us on an exhilarating global journey as Heidi and I explore the excitement and challenges of embarking on worldwide tours.
Together, we delve into the transformative experiences that come with such ventures, and I express my enthusiasm to join her remarkable podcast as a guest. Heidi's contribution as an inspiring speaker at our event is invaluable, and she leaves us with insights that resonate deeply.
Don't miss out on the opportunity to learn from 45 incredible experts, and be sure to secure your free ticket using the link in the show notes. This episode promises to be an empowering and enlightening experience for anyone in the wedding industry.
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Episode Transcript
We are thrilled to welcome back Heidi Thompson to
the Wedding Empires podcast inthis very special bonus episode.
Heidi is the bestselling authorof Clone your Best Clients and
the powerhouse behind Evolveyour Wedding Business, where she
helps wedding professionalsattract more of their ideal
clients and build profitable,sustainable businesses without
(00:24):
the burnout of their idealclients and build profitable,
sustainable businesses withoutthe burnout.
She's also the creator of theupcoming Wedding Business CEO
Summit, where Heidi is going tohelp thousands of wedding pros
worldwide level up theirbusiness.
This summit kicks off on the17th of February and it features
an incredible lineup, includingmyself, and, best of all, it's
absolutely free to attend.
(00:44):
So I'm going to catch up withHeidi now and get the down low
on what is happening at thishuge event kicking off next week
.
How are you darling?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I am great.
I'm excited.
We've got thousands of weddingpros signed up for this event
and I'm excited to just dive inand nerd out about stuff next
week.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
So this isn't your first wedding business CEO
summit, is it?
Speaker 2 (01:11):
No, no, I've done.
I think I stopped counting itlike 10 of these, but I've been
doing them yeah.
I've been doing them for thepast five years, so Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Excellent, All right.
So what, I guess?
What inspired you to kick itoff in the first place?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Well, I knew I wanted to create some sort of an
online conference and the twobig things people come to me for
is first, how do I book moreweddings?
So we created Book More WeddingSummit around that, but then
inevitably what happens ispeople walk right off the cliff
into the next problem of how doI run this business, how do I
(01:53):
grow this business in a way thatdoesn't kill me, that doesn't
take 80 hours a week, thatallows me to make the money I
want to make, do the work I wantto do with the people I want to
do it with, and still havefreedom and flexibility.
So Wedding Business CEO Summitis really focused on helping
(02:13):
people, yes, book more weddings,but in a way where they're
escaping long hours, because,quite honestly, I don't care how
many weddings you're booking, Idon't care how much money
you're making If you haveabsolutely no time to enjoy your
life.
That just sounds miserable tome, and our industry is like we
(02:34):
are, so for better, for worse,like hard workers, and it's
really easy to get pulled intothis whole 60, 80 hour week
cycle and just normalize it, andI really want to change that
because I've certainly seen overmy years in my business that
(02:55):
that is the default.
It's what we stumble into, butit's definitely not the way it
has to be.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Hearing about burnout is so common, so common in all
of our groups and all of ourdiscussions.
And you know, it's all theother stuff, it's not the
creative wedding stuff, it's allthe.
You know the admin, thecontracts, the calls, the
chasing leads, all of that.
You know there's plenty ofsoftware and things out there.
But definitely being able tosort of achieve that work-life
(03:25):
balance that so many of us want,but also, I think, prepare your
business to be able to scaleright and be sustainable, it's
also that as well.
So why is this summit differentfrom any other sort of industry
events or conferences?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
So it's different in a couple of ways.
First off, it's free to attend.
You can get a free ticket to it.
It is a full conference lineup.
We have 45 incredible expertsthat you'll learn from, as well
as a bunch of different livesessions with wedding pros from
around the world.
We have people from everywherejoin us for this.
(04:03):
So the fact that it's free is ahuge differentiator.
But I see a lot of focus onbooking more weddings.
Getting more sales, like whichI get, yes, is important and I
care about and I spend a lot oftime with my clients working on.
But you know, to what I wassaying earlier, like, at the end
(04:26):
of the day, does that matter ifyou don't have time to spend
with your family and yourfriends and live the life that
you want to live?
Stuck in this cycle for years,decades, and realize that's all
(04:47):
they've really done, is likejust work and hustle and they
don't have a ton to show for it.
So the emphasis on doing thisin a sustainable way, in a way
that's not going to burn you out, in a way that's not hey, do
this and do this and do this,like more and more and more, is
definitely different and notsomething.
(05:09):
I see that often in the industryBecause yeah, don't get me
wrong, I'm all for booking moreclients, but we got to do this
whole thing in a way that makessense for you and your life and
where you're at Like, do youhave young kids, Do you want to
travel more?
Like what is it that you wantto do?
And then building the businessaround you.
(05:31):
That's what I really getexcited about, and so that
really makes this a differentapproach.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Can you give us a hint of some of the you know
sessions that you're going tohave and who they're with, of
some of the you know sessionsthat you're going to have and
who they're with there, any thatyou're particularly excited
about?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I have a few in front of meright now.
There are, they're all so good.
This is like picking myfavorite children, right.
So we have Caitlin.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Blair is talking about ADHD friendly workflows to
convert more leads, which needsto go to that.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Oh my God, so many of us.
I was so excited when I foundout that, like, this is
something that she talks aboutbecause you know we can look at
like, oh yeah, I could do itthis way, I could do it this way
, but if it doesn't work foryour brain, you know that
doesn't actually make anydifference.
You know you're not going toget any we have a session about.
(06:32):
We have actually a couplesessions that talk about using
texting as a means for morestreamlined follow up, but also
a better way to close leads.
Right now, we have AdrianaMcDermott talking about why
couples don't trust weddingvendors right now and six steps
(06:52):
that we can take in order to fixit, because if people don't
trust you, you know they're notgoing to hand you several
thousand dollars for the best,right?
Uh, we've got Rick Listontalking about automating and
delegating.
We have a couple of financialtopics that I'm really excited
(07:14):
about, because they're things wedon't talk about much in our
industry.
Whether that is yeah, I meanthere's like the taxes part of
it, and Braden Drake isphenomenal and is talking about
that.
But also we have, you know,alexandra Dennison talking about
financial literacy in yourbusiness, making sure that you
are in a good financial position.
(07:36):
We have Matt Mitchell talkingabout figuring out your
retirement.
What does that look like?
What does that look likefinancially for you?
So we have these five differenttracks where everything falls
within, and it really is a rangefrom things that are going to
streamline your workflows,things that are going to allow
(07:59):
you to be more profitable,things that are going to allow
you to attract and book moreclients, get out of overwhelm
and master your mindset.
So we're coming at this from alot of different angles, and
then, of course, we have yourpresentation.
Why don't you tell people a bitabout it?
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Mine's very simple, but it's something that's
absolutely transformed ourbusiness the Wedding Academy,
which is creating your owncustom GPT.
So taking it that next levelwhere you know you're creating
your own GPT that intimatelyknows your business.
So I created a questionnairewhich basically the attendees
(08:43):
can download and fill out, andit's going to prompt them to
give the GPT all the informationthat it needs to truly
understand the brand, the voice,ideal client.
You know how the copy shouldsound, all of those things.
So when they go forward everytime that they're getting their
GPT to do a task, it's going tohave all that in its brain.
(09:04):
So it's simple, but I thinkit'll change.
It'll just make customers youknow ChatGPT so much more
streamlined and with their brandin mind, with everything that
they create.
So a little one, but a powerfulone.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yeah, and it's one of those things that, like, once
you get it up and running, it'sone of those things that you can
be using on a daily basis.
Like I'm always in GPT, like itmakes my life so much easier
and makes things so much faster,and I'm sure, with the process
you went through of creatingyour own custom GPT that you
talk about, you've definitelysaved a ton of time as well.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Oh yeah, I mean we have a few.
We have a wedding academy, wehave a Wedding Academy one, a
Wedding Empires one, a JackBowie one, a Problem Solver one.
There's quite a few.
So what can attendees expect interms of format?
So how are these sessions kindof structured?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, so all of the presentations are pre-recorded.
They all come out each day at9am US Pacific time, which is
Los Angeles time.
They're available for 24 hours,so no matter what time zone
you're in, you have 24 hours ofaccess to them for free.
You can upgrade to one of ourupgrades if you want to get
lifetime access and some otheramazing bonuses as well, but
(10:24):
each day they come out, they'reavailable for 24 hours.
You can pick and choose, watchthrough whichever ones you like,
and then we also have some livesessions happening each day,
whether that's, you know,something like a networking
session or a speaker panel orhot seats, q&a really everything
(10:44):
you would expect at anin-person conference, plus the
ability to head over into theFacebook community and ask any
of the speakers any questionsyou have about you know any
specific situations, like howwould I apply this for this
specific situation?
I think sometimes people are alittle nervous to do that, but
(11:07):
we love that.
Like yes, take what we taughtyou and run with it.
Let us help you do that.
So it is as flexible and timezone agnostic as it can be.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Excellent.
Have you heard any stories frompast attendees that have really
been able to implement thingsthat they've learned at Summit
and transformed their business?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Oh, my god, yes, I have like the biggest folder of
screenshots.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Messages.
I've seen a few of them on thewebsite.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
yeah, it's really incredible the kind of impact
that this makes, even if youtake one thing and go and apply
it, one thing and go and solve aproblem in your business.
I mean, we've seen peopleclients during the summit using
things that they've been taught.
We've seen people you knowstreamline their business free
(12:00):
up 510 hours a week during thesummit so that you know every
week going forward, things aregoing to be a million times
easier for them.
So, yeah, this is definitelylike an action taking event,
because if you can take anything, you learn and go and implement
it like that immediately startspaying you dividends, and I
(12:22):
love seeing it.
That's my favorite thing is tosee people be like oh my god,
this thing just happened.
And it's always amazing to seepeople actually like go take
action, because we, you know, wetalk about this stuff all the
time and it's great to talkabout it, but ultimately we want
you to go change your businessfor the better.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
I love it.
I'm excited.
You're going to be very busynext week, aren't you, with all
these sessions and stuff well,that's why all the presentations
come out at one time.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
So it's like, okay, that's one area where I'm not,
you know, tempting the uh, thetech gremlins to come and mess
things up I must say, you'revery organized, you know you
kept on my tail.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
I had some tech issues of my own getting mine
working, but um it was it wasalways the way it is.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
I mean, like, like, it's funny, like these summits
have made me more organized,just because there are so many
moving parts.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yeah, oh, it's going to be very exciting.
So I am going to put the linkto the summit in the show notes,
because I've got a specificlink that I want to share with
everybody.
But if you are wanting to bethere for the Wedding Business
CEO Summit, make sure you are,you know, registering well
before the 17th of February andyou can make the most of the
(13:41):
whole time that it's running.
Also, if you'd like to connectmore with Heidi, she can be
found onevolveyourweddingbusinesscom and
, of course, she's got her ownpodcast, which is awesome, and
I'm waiting for my invite.
When's that coming?
I've got you.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I have this list Like these are people I need to get,
and you are 100% on that list.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I think I think we might need to catch up and talk
about these crazy worldwide tourthat I'm about to do for
starters.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yes, yeah, I want to hear all about that, because
that sounds like an incrediblejourney.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yeah, yeah, I know I'm going gray just thinking
about it.
Well, it's been an absolutepleasure, heidi.
Yes, as I said, the link to goand register for your free
ticket will be in the show notesfor this episode.
But take care, heidi, hope itgoes really really well and we
will catch up soon, thank you,and thank you so much for being
one of our amazing speakers.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I can't wait for people to learn from you.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You're welcome.
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