May 12, 2025 • 25 mins
Ever feel like your wedding business is running you instead of the other way around? You're not alone.
Meet Becca Mai, the unapologetic "SOP Queen" who transformed her decade-long wedding planning career after an MS diagnosis forced her to create boundaries in her business. What emerged was a revelation that would benefit every creative entrepreneur: standard operating procedures aren't just for corporate teams—they're the secret weapon for wedding pros who want to scale without sacrificing their sanity.
"Standard operating procedures are the black and white lines of your business, and hospitality lives in the gray," Becca explains. Without clear boundaries, you're navigating an undefined space that makes growth nearly impossible. The fear that systems will create robotic client experiences keeps many wedding professionals from implementing them, but Becca dispels this myth with practical wisdom: optimize, don't just automate.
From separating your workflows into sales and operations categories to knowing which touchpoints require a personal approach versus which can be automated, this episode provides a roadmap for creating systems that serve both you and your clients. Discover why couples actually crave structure during their planning journey and how providing it elevates their confidence in your abilities.
Whether you're struggling with burnout, looking to scale, or simply want to reclaim the joy that brought you to this industry in the first place, Becca's approach to business systems offers a refreshing perspective. Ready to transform your wedding business from consuming your life to supporting it? This episode is your first step.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Wedding Empires.
Today's guest is someone veryimpressive from the United
States.
Her name is Becca Mai.
She's an inclusive weddingplanner, system strategist, an
unapologetic SOP evangelist, andshe's got a decade in the
wedding industry.
With a background inhospitality, becca knows
(00:20):
firsthand that burnout isn't abadge of honor.
After being diagnosed with MSand walking away from her
traditional nine to five job,she has built a business that
was designed to support her life, not consume it.
In this episode, we're going todive deep into why standard
operating procedures aren't justfor corporate teams.
They're the secret weapon forcreatives who want to scale,
(00:42):
breathe and actually enjoy theirbusiness.
So, from inquiry workflows toclient onboarding, becca's going
to break down exactly howstructure is actually going to
set you free.
I love this.
Thank you, becca, for joiningus.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
I'm super pumped to dive intoall this with you and, yeah, I'm
ready to get started, are you?
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Fun fact for you prior to being, like you, a
wedding planner, I skirted inand out of the aviation industry
, so I love a good SOP becausethat's ingrained into me, even
as far back as being an AirForce cadet back in the day.
So I definitely applied that inmy business.
But I think a lot of peopledon't.
I think a lot of people canreally do with this episode and
(01:25):
think about those sort ofrepeating operating tasks.
Yeah, I think let's start withyou first about your journey and
I know that you went fromrestaurant GM to wedding planner
and business coach.
So tell me about that journeyfirst.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah.
So I started in the industry ata relatively kind of young age.
The hospitality industry kindof took me.
I was in restaurants for manyyears and I actually became.
I kind of did essentiallyeverything that you could think
of in the restaurant and builtall the way up to being a GM.
And I just really realized thatthat wasn't really the path
(02:05):
that I wanted to go, because thetrajectory from there is, like
you know, being a director ofoperations and then getting into
the executive world, and itjust didn't feel right for me
and so I decided to actuallytake a step back and start in
events, which was a prettydecent pay cut, but I knew that
(02:25):
in the end it was going to bethe right path for me.
And shortly into my event careerI started doing weddings and I
just fell head over heels inlove with it and have been doing
it for over a dozen years sincethen and literally just love
essentially everything about it.
Everyone's like, oh my gosh,you must love love and you must.
(02:47):
You know like it must be such areally fun job to be, you know,
a wedding planner.
And I'm like, yes, I do lovelove.
I mean, who doesn't?
Especially, you know, being inthe industry, but for me it was
actually more about the constantgo, go, go and like every
single second is timed out to aT, and it really involves this,
(03:08):
you know, very elaborate teamthat all work together for one
main goal, and so to me that'swhat really like got me really
into it and into weddings wasthat it was just this constant
go, and I really love that.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
It's definitely fast paced and it's different every
day, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Oh for sure.
I literally say that, likebeing in the wedding industry,
you either love it or hate it.
There's no in between theweddings.
It's like a drug, because likewe are full of adrenaline and
like leading up to it, and likethere's this big buildup leading
up to it, and then all of asudden, the day of it's like
(03:51):
this go, go, go, mentality forbig high that we're on, and then
at the tail end of it we getthis drop, you know afterwards,
which is our wedding hangovers,and then we're like scratching
at our necks like okay, when'sthe next one?
We're like, we're like, know,wedding crack addicts.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yeah, I agree.
I agree.
I'd like to know.
I know that you were diagnosedwith MS.
Could you sort of talk methrough like how that's kind of
played a part in shaping how youapproach business today?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah for sure.
So I was diagnosed in thesummer of 2019 while I was still
working as a director of eventoperations at a pretty renowned
wedding venue in DC and in theStates, and so it was definitely
a whirlwind and it reallyopened up my eyes to, you know,
(04:37):
life in general and that life istoo short and we really need to
kind of live it, you know, upto the fullest.
And it also made me realize,too, that I needed to put in
stricter boundaries for myself,and I've always been known as
kind of this SOP queen.
Throughout my entire career,every venue that I worked with
or catering company that Iworked with, I was always the
one that was implementingstandard operating procedures
(05:00):
into their business.
So I was like, okay, well, whatare ways that I can modify my
life to still do what I love todo just a little bit differently
?
And so that's actually how Istarted.
My business was one I lovedactually SOPs.
I really love them because Ineed to know my barriers and my
(05:22):
lines in order to operate.
That's just how my brain works,and so I also realized, too in
the industry that a lot ofwedding professionals they don't
get into the business that theyhave because of actually
running a business.
They get into it to becreatives, and so a lot of times
the business side kind ofdoesn't always line up and
(05:44):
they're amazing at what they do.
It just may not be thesmoothest from a client
experience, and so I reallywanted to bring that to the
table while still doing weddingplanning, because I can't let it
go.
I just I love it so much.
I just modify my life around it.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I guess, for anyone who doesn't know saying SOPs,
standard operating procedurescan you explain in your own
words what they are and I guess,why do us creatives tend to
resist them?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah.
So standard operatingprocedures, I like to say, are
the black and white lines ofyour business, and then
hospitality lives in the gray.
Okay, so if we don't have thoseboundaries or those lines,
those black and white lines,then we're just in this gray
abyss of just like trying tomove along with hospitality but
not knowing where to go.
(06:33):
So these standard operatingprocedures really become the
foundation and the backbone ofyour business.
It's literally what you doevery single day, day in and day
out, just with structure andit's having these lines so that
you can either build your teamor build your client experience,
or both.
And it enables you to actuallybe able to grow and to really
(06:55):
realize where maybe certain gapsmight be in your business that
you didn't realize before, andtrying to elevate that client
journey with, you know,hospitality in mind.
I really feel that, like a lotof wedding creatives, they seem
to shy away from it becausethey're like, oh, it's going to
take away from my clientexperience or, you know, I don't
have time for that, or allthose you know kind of excuses.
(07:19):
In my opinion, but for me it'sthe way that you need to know
how to operate and like how toknow where you're at at any
point in time, because how canyou get through your business if
it's all in your head and beable to explain that and build
out a team if it is all in yourhead?
That just doesn't really work.
(07:39):
So that's why standardoperating procedures are clutch.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I think that is a big hold up for people is that,
when do I have time to sit anddo these things?
I was lucky I had COVID.
Covid was like the perfectexcuse for me, where it was like
let's redo the copy on thewebsite, let's redo our
contracts.
You know let's templatizehowever we want to word it the
things that we do and you knowour procedures.
But but yeah, I think thatthat's definitely something that
(08:05):
people need to start reframingand prioritizing in that, yeah,
it may take up some time thisweek or this month, but you know
, in the long run, it's going tosave you and streamline your
business so much.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Oh my gosh, yeah, cause it's always one of the
things where everyone's likewhen am I going to have time to
do this?
And it's like, in reality, youcan carve out time.
And it doesn't have to be thislike overwhelming thing.
Like with any project and withanything, you break it into
smaller chunks.
I mean, think of us, as whenwe're wedding planning, we don't
just do all the things at once.
(08:38):
No, we break it up into phasesand then, within those phases,
we have sections and processesof like okay, before we, you
know, can reach out to vendors,we need a budget.
Okay, and before we do that,you know, reaching out to
vendors, we need to know, kindof, what style and what vision
they're going for.
So it's the same way that youwould go about the standard
(08:58):
operating procedures too.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
So we're both wedding planners by trade, but I'm sure
this, you know this will applyto most kinds of wedding vendors
.
What do you think are the keythings to kind of get started?
What are the first things thatyou need to implement if you
have no SOPs in place?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, yeah, where do you start?
Definitely want to first breakit up into sales versus ops.
So sales is anything frominquiry all the way up to the
client booked, and then ops isanything from your onboarding to
offboarding your couple.
So first you want to breakthose two SOPs into two separate
(09:36):
buckets and then from there,then you need to create a
workflow.
So this workflow is literallywhat you do day in, day out,
getting through the clientjourney and the client process.
Just go ahead and write downyour sales process.
Just be like boom, boom, boom.
This is what I do when aninquiry comes in.
This is what I do.
So take it section by sectionand I would say literally carve
(09:58):
out 30 minutes of your day, 30to 45 minutes of your day when
you first start.
Don't leave it to the end,because then you won't do it,
but 30 to 45 minutes at thebeginning of your day.
Just dedicate it to justwriting it down.
It's really pulling fromwhatever's in your brain and
putting it down on it's reallypulling from whatever's in your
(10:20):
brain, and putting it down onvirtual paper is what I like to
say.
So either put it in a GoogleDoc or a Word doc and just start
there, and then you'll reallyfind that it's just a snowball
effect after that, because thenyou think, oh, I need now a
template for this, and now, withthis workflow, you know, I need
(10:40):
to add this piece of collateraland like keeping things going.
And that's really what it'sabout, and I think having that,
having that set in your mind.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I know with the Wedding Academy, quite often,
like most of my crew, we're allall over the world and remote
workers and on different times,and so we lean on Loom a lot to
sort of create a video trainingand share that with the person,
knowing that like, okay, that'sactually going to be really
useful for someone else.
Let's record that in a way thatwe can put it in our SOPs and
(11:10):
share that as a resource forpeople down the track.
Just having that you know I'mgoing to the bother of training
this person in this.
I'm sure I'm going to have todo it again, so just having that
thought, I think, is reallyhelpful as well.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah, exactly, and I say like these workflows that
you create, then become likeyour training manuals.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, so can you explain the difference between a
process that's automated versusone that's optimized?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah, so here's the difference, and I use my
terminology just a little bitdifferent than anyone else.
So really I would say youshould optimize your wedding
business, not automate it.
There are certain things thatdo need to get automated, but
then there are a majority ofthings in your workflows with
(11:54):
your wedding couples that shouldnot be automated because they
require a personal touch.
So I always say that anythingthat are like reminders or
things that you've alreadypreviously communicated, like
when the invoices do, and thosetypes of things, those can be
automated, which are literallyyou put on a schedule date and
(12:14):
it'll automatically send thatout.
That makes sense.
But all of those human touchpoints of when to connect for
the final details, meeting, youknow when to talk about, you
know the design deck and thosetypes of things, those are human
touch points and those need tobe optimized, not automated,
because you shouldn't just hit ahit a button and expect it just
(12:37):
to go, because that's not theway the wedding industry is.
The wedding industry is verypersonal.
These couples, these clients,they're spending thousands and
thousands of dollars on the daythat's the most joyous for them
and to celebrate their love, andso you can't go about it
robotic-like and everyone knows,when they get an automated
(12:58):
message or anything like that,they know that that's a robot
talking to them.
So it should never be that wayor should feel that way.
But there are ways that you canstreamline things and optimize
things to quicken the day-to-daytasks.
So that way it's not, you know,like flying by the seat of your
pants all the time you know andyou really feel that your
clients, your pants all the timeyou know and you really feel
(13:19):
that your clients are beingtaken care of, but you're still
staying on target and on taskwith everything.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
So for.
So, for the tasks that we cankind of get help with, you know,
by a software, what kind oftools would you recommend, like
what are your favorite at themoment?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah, I mean.
Here's.
The thing is that there's not aone size fits all when it comes
to these platforms and theseprograms.
You know, I always say that ifa platform or program can
fulfill 80% of your needs, thenthat's the right one for you,
because then you're able toactually get you know what you
need out of it.
(13:55):
So some of my favorite tools,though, are actually optimizing
your inbox and your cloudstorage.
Believe it or not, If youactually organize those based
things, it'll make your life alot easier.
I always say treat your inboxas like real mail.
You're not just going to throwmail everywhere.
Any important notes that youget, you're going to keep those
(14:16):
aside.
You're going to keep thoseaside.
You're going to file those away.
You're going to store them thatway.
If they're physical, Then foryour cloud storage, think of
that as like a virtual filingcabinet.
You're not just going to throwthings in there.
You're going to organize it,you're going to create folders
and tabs, and that should be thesame way.
So optimizing that, because alot of people neglect their
(14:37):
inbox and their cloud storage.
But that's actually what we usethe most, to be honest, out of
all of the tools that we use, sothat one should be your top one
that you optimize.
Then moving into schedulingtools, so like Calendly, acuity,
those types of things to beable to keep that back and forth
at a very, very minimum thanCRMs or PMs.
(15:01):
So CRMs are client relationshipmanagement software and then
PMs are project managementsoftware.
So CRMs have the ability toautomate, so send out those auto
reminders.
They have the ability to haveworkflows and portals and those
types of things.
And then project managementtools.
Those are more taskless,focused in getting the client
(15:25):
through a journey.
There's really not a lot ofautomation in there.
So those are like the twodifferent aspects that you can
go with.
So examples of those CRM islike HoneyBook and Dubsado.
Project management tool is like, for us as wedding planners,
ioplanner or Trello or NotionBasecamp.
Those are PMs.
(15:45):
So having one or both of thosetools become helpful.
But if you don't have thepieces to add to those tools,
then the CRM.
You're working for the CRMrather than the CRM working for
you.
So just keep that in mind whenyou do go to that one.
Those will be kind of thethings that you kind of can't
(16:07):
really have your businesswithout.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
So how have some of these systems help you manage
your health while running abusiness?
They help you when it comes tobalancing that well?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean I have really modifiedkind of my life so that way, you
know, I'm able to operate mybusiness and maintain my health
boundaries.
So the biggest things is bykeeping you know my clients on
target and on task has beenextremely helpful because if
they fall behind then that putsout a pressure on me which puts
(16:40):
undue stress on me, which meansthat could potentially cause a
flare up and it's just not worththat.
So having these systems in playhave really kept my clients on
target and me on target fromgetting behind and then adding
to that stress.
Great.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And I think everyone needs to learn about boundaries
and making.
You know I'm trying to think ofthe words, but you know like
for me there's probably acertain day of the week where
I'm well-suited to admin andgetting that stuff done and I
seem to achieve more if I groupit all together than you know.
Spread it out over the week, sofiguring out boundaries like
that, that sort of work withyour body, and you know.
(17:17):
Spread it out over the week, sofiguring out boundaries like
that, that sort of work withyour body, and you know what I
mean with.
You know what's the words I'mlooking for.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, I mean here's.
The thing is.
You know, sops are boundariesif you really think about it,
like boundaries are literallyjust a rule that you place into
things.
So that's literally standardoperating procedures is
boundaries and it's setting youup for success and your clients
up for success.
(17:45):
So one of the boundaries that Ilike to say is communication.
You know what I mean For me.
I always tell all of my couplesI'm like look, email is for
work, texting is for fun.
I literally have that on likemy welcome guide to them and
letting them know.
My communication process isthat here are the tools that
(18:06):
we're going to be using.
Oh, here's when you canactually get me, here's when I'm
available, here's links toschedule calls, all of that.
Those are literally standardoperating procedures, but that's
a communication operatingprocedure you know, and that's
not just what channels, it'salso, you know exactly you.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
You know I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Like I put in sleep mode, forexample, on my phones.
I would set up a WhatsApp groupfor my clients.
Usually and if there'ssomething there that went in
there at 10 past nine and I wentto bed, then you just set up
those realistic expectations.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Exactly so.
I think this is prettystraightforward, but how can
these SOPs actually improve theclient experience and not feel
robotic?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Oh yeah, I think that's one of the biggest fears
is that you know wedding pros,when they get into certain
aspects of the business they'relike you know, I really don't
want to automate or optimizebecause then it's going to feel
super robotic and that's one ofthe big fears.
But there's a way to automateand there's a way to optimize
(19:14):
with keeping hospitality 100% inmind.
So if you have that mindsetwhere, as I mentioned before,
reminders and things that you'vealready communicated can be
auto-sent but any human touchpoints cannot, so that needs
personalization and kind ofkeeping that.
But it elevates your clientjourney significantly.
(19:36):
Because I'm going to tell youwhat, when you have SOPs in
place and structure, people lovestructure, they crave it.
Look at us.
We crave authority, we craveknowing our boundaries and our
rules and like think of schoolor social life too.
I mean, that's that's why wehave you know, police officers,
that's why we have you knowpoliticians.
(19:58):
We love having somebody kind oflet us know how we're supposed
to operate as a society, as ahuman.
Even our wedding couples, youknow, they even crave it.
They're like what am I supposedto do?
You know what's normal, and sothey are the ones that are like
okay, I want to know what'shappening.
(20:19):
And the way that you do that isby having clear, concise,
standard operating procedures toelevate your client journey,
because they're going to craveit and they're going to like,
applaud you for it.
They're going to be like thisprocess, this planning journey,
was so easy.
They had everything right away.
Before I even had to reach out,they were already on it and
sending me things andquestionnaires and getting
(20:41):
things all together and thenthey had, you know, a portal for
me to go to that had everythingthere.
So if you can implement theseSOPs into your business, then
your clients will definitelyrespect it, they'll love it and
it'll literally take them to aplace where they feel like you
(21:02):
can then handle their day.
If your business isn't feelinglike it feels bumpy and clunky
and their client journey feelsclunky, they're gonna be like
how's our wedding day gonna go?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
yeah, they're gonna be like I also too it's.
It's creating consistency withthat process, like if they're
all, if you can be at an eventand just know in the back of
your mind they're getting theirreminders, they're getting their
welcome pack, contracts gone,you know what I mean.
There's so many of those thingsthat you can just kind of it's
not taking up that bandwidth inyour head anymore exactly
(21:34):
everybody's getting the sameexperience right for the onboard
, exactly.
It is so um.
I love that.
It's okay, so good.
So, becca, do you work withpeople to help build these
things like what, what do you?
What do you do?
Now, I know you do some sort ofcoaching, right yes.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
So I like to say that it's, you know, business
coaching on steroids, because Ialso help them with the kind of
implementation of it you know aswell.
So, yes, so I actually helpwedding professionals implement
SOPs into their business.
Um, and I have you kind of twopaths for my clients to take.
We can either have it like donefor you, which is kind of like
(22:12):
the five star conciergeexperience, to where you
literally can pull up thistraining manual and it literally
says exactly how you go througheverything to a T, or you know,
there's the guidedimplementation, which actually a
lot of my clients actually do,because us, as wedding creatives
, we like our hands in it, andso this is coaching and
(22:34):
mentoring them and reallyguiding them through how to set
up their SOPs and then they'reresponsible for building it out.
So that's kind of the processesthat I kind of help them
implement is both sales andoperations and really elevating
their client journey as well.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
So, guys, if you're needing help writing these SOPs,
building them, mapping out whatplatforms, save yourself the
heartache and the time, go andspeak to Becca.
Her website is wed2uco and youcan also find her on Instagram,
facebook, tiktok and LinkedIn.
(23:13):
Thanks so much, becca.
It's been a pleasure getting toknow you, and I wish I'd had
you about 10 years ago for mywedding planning business.
I think it would have been veryhelpful and saved me a lot of
time and heartache searching forall these different platforms.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Yeah, thank you so much.
It was such an honor and a joy.
We'll get you back sometime.
Thanks, darling, okay.
Welcome back to Wedding Empires.
Today's guest is someone veryimpressive from the United
States.
Her name is Becca Mai.
She's an inclusive weddingplanner, system strategist, an
unapologetic SOP evangelist, andshe's got a decade in the
wedding industry.
With a background inhospitality, becca knows
(00:20):
firsthand that burnout isn't abadge of honor.
After being diagnosed with MSand walking away from her
traditional nine to five job,she has built a business that
was designed to support her life, not consume it.
In this episode, we're going todive deep into why standard
operating procedures aren't justfor corporate teams.
They're the secret weapon forcreatives who want to scale,
(00:42):
breathe and actually enjoy theirbusiness.
So, from inquiry workflows toclient onboarding, becca's going
to break down exactly howstructure is actually going to
set you free.
I love this.
Thank you, becca, for joiningus.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
I'm super pumped to dive intoall this with you and, yeah, I'm
ready to get started, are you?
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Fun fact for you prior to being, like you, a
wedding planner, I skirted inand out of the aviation industry
, so I love a good SOP becausethat's ingrained into me, even
as far back as being an AirForce cadet back in the day.
So I definitely applied that inmy business.
But I think a lot of peopledon't.
I think a lot of people canreally do with this episode and
(01:25):
think about those sort ofrepeating operating tasks.
Yeah, I think let's start withyou first about your journey and
I know that you went fromrestaurant GM to wedding planner
and business coach.
So tell me about that journeyfirst.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah.
So I started in the industry ata relatively kind of young age.
The hospitality industry kindof took me.
I was in restaurants for manyyears and I actually became.
I kind of did essentiallyeverything that you could think
of in the restaurant and builtall the way up to being a GM.
And I just really realized thatthat wasn't really the path
(02:05):
that I wanted to go, because thetrajectory from there is, like
you know, being a director ofoperations and then getting into
the executive world, and itjust didn't feel right for me
and so I decided to actuallytake a step back and start in
events, which was a prettydecent pay cut, but I knew that
(02:25):
in the end it was going to bethe right path for me.
And shortly into my event careerI started doing weddings and I
just fell head over heels inlove with it and have been doing
it for over a dozen years sincethen and literally just love
essentially everything about it.
Everyone's like, oh my gosh,you must love love and you must.
(02:47):
You know like it must be such areally fun job to be, you know,
a wedding planner.
And I'm like, yes, I do lovelove.
I mean, who doesn't?
Especially, you know, being inthe industry, but for me it was
actually more about the constantgo, go, go and like every
single second is timed out to aT, and it really involves this,
(03:08):
you know, very elaborate teamthat all work together for one
main goal, and so to me that'swhat really like got me really
into it and into weddings wasthat it was just this constant
go, and I really love that.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
It's definitely fast paced and it's different every
day, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Oh for sure.
I literally say that, likebeing in the wedding industry,
you either love it or hate it.
There's no in between theweddings.
It's like a drug, because likewe are full of adrenaline and
like leading up to it, and likethere's this big buildup leading
up to it, and then all of asudden, the day of it's like
(03:51):
this go, go, go, mentality forbig high that we're on, and then
at the tail end of it we getthis drop, you know afterwards,
which is our wedding hangovers,and then we're like scratching
at our necks like okay, when'sthe next one?
We're like, we're like, know,wedding crack addicts.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Yeah, I agree.
I agree.
I'd like to know.
I know that you were diagnosedwith MS.
Could you sort of talk methrough like how that's kind of
played a part in shaping how youapproach business today?
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah for sure.
So I was diagnosed in thesummer of 2019 while I was still
working as a director of eventoperations at a pretty renowned
wedding venue in DC and in theStates, and so it was definitely
a whirlwind and it reallyopened up my eyes to, you know,
(04:37):
life in general and that life istoo short and we really need to
kind of live it, you know, upto the fullest.
And it also made me realize,too, that I needed to put in
stricter boundaries for myself,and I've always been known as
kind of this SOP queen.
Throughout my entire career,every venue that I worked with
or catering company that Iworked with, I was always the
one that was implementingstandard operating procedures
(05:00):
into their business.
So I was like, okay, well, whatare ways that I can modify my
life to still do what I love todo just a little bit differently
?
And so that's actually how Istarted.
My business was one I lovedactually SOPs.
I really love them because Ineed to know my barriers and my
(05:22):
lines in order to operate.
That's just how my brain works,and so I also realized, too in
the industry that a lot ofwedding professionals they don't
get into the business that theyhave because of actually
running a business.
They get into it to becreatives, and so a lot of times
the business side kind ofdoesn't always line up and
(05:44):
they're amazing at what they do.
It just may not be thesmoothest from a client
experience, and so I reallywanted to bring that to the
table while still doing weddingplanning, because I can't let it
go.
I just I love it so much.
I just modify my life around it.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I guess, for anyone who doesn't know saying SOPs,
standard operating procedurescan you explain in your own
words what they are and I guess,why do us creatives tend to
resist them?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah.
So standard operatingprocedures, I like to say, are
the black and white lines ofyour business, and then
hospitality lives in the gray.
Okay, so if we don't have thoseboundaries or those lines,
those black and white lines,then we're just in this gray
abyss of just like trying tomove along with hospitality but
not knowing where to go.
(06:33):
So these standard operatingprocedures really become the
foundation and the backbone ofyour business.
It's literally what you doevery single day, day in and day
out, just with structure andit's having these lines so that
you can either build your teamor build your client experience,
or both.
And it enables you to actuallybe able to grow and to really
(06:55):
realize where maybe certain gapsmight be in your business that
you didn't realize before, andtrying to elevate that client
journey with, you know,hospitality in mind.
I really feel that, like a lotof wedding creatives, they seem
to shy away from it becausethey're like, oh, it's going to
take away from my clientexperience or, you know, I don't
have time for that, or allthose you know kind of excuses.
(07:19):
In my opinion, but for me it'sthe way that you need to know
how to operate and like how toknow where you're at at any
point in time, because how canyou get through your business if
it's all in your head and beable to explain that and build
out a team if it is all in yourhead?
That just doesn't really work.
(07:39):
So that's why standardoperating procedures are clutch.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I think that is a big hold up for people is that,
when do I have time to sit anddo these things?
I was lucky I had COVID.
Covid was like the perfectexcuse for me, where it was like
let's redo the copy on thewebsite, let's redo our
contracts.
You know let's templatizehowever we want to word it the
things that we do and you knowour procedures.
But but yeah, I think thatthat's definitely something that
(08:05):
people need to start reframingand prioritizing in that, yeah,
it may take up some time thisweek or this month, but you know
, in the long run, it's going tosave you and streamline your
business so much.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Oh my gosh, yeah, cause it's always one of the
things where everyone's likewhen am I going to have time to
do this?
And it's like, in reality, youcan carve out time.
And it doesn't have to be thislike overwhelming thing.
Like with any project and withanything, you break it into
smaller chunks.
I mean, think of us, as whenwe're wedding planning, we don't
just do all the things at once.
(08:38):
No, we break it up into phasesand then, within those phases,
we have sections and processesof like okay, before we, you
know, can reach out to vendors,we need a budget.
Okay, and before we do that,you know, reaching out to
vendors, we need to know, kindof, what style and what vision
they're going for.
So it's the same way that youwould go about the standard
(08:58):
operating procedures too.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
So we're both wedding planners by trade, but I'm sure
this, you know this will applyto most kinds of wedding vendors
.
What do you think are the keythings to kind of get started?
What are the first things thatyou need to implement if you
have no SOPs in place?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, yeah, where do you start?
Definitely want to first breakit up into sales versus ops.
So sales is anything frominquiry all the way up to the
client booked, and then ops isanything from your onboarding to
offboarding your couple.
So first you want to breakthose two SOPs into two separate
(09:36):
buckets and then from there,then you need to create a
workflow.
So this workflow is literallywhat you do day in, day out,
getting through the clientjourney and the client process.
Just go ahead and write downyour sales process.
Just be like boom, boom, boom.
This is what I do when aninquiry comes in.
This is what I do.
So take it section by sectionand I would say literally carve
(09:58):
out 30 minutes of your day, 30to 45 minutes of your day when
you first start.
Don't leave it to the end,because then you won't do it,
but 30 to 45 minutes at thebeginning of your day.
Just dedicate it to justwriting it down.
It's really pulling fromwhatever's in your brain and
putting it down on it's reallypulling from whatever's in your
(10:20):
brain, and putting it down onvirtual paper is what I like to
say.
So either put it in a GoogleDoc or a Word doc and just start
there, and then you'll reallyfind that it's just a snowball
effect after that, because thenyou think, oh, I need now a
template for this, and now, withthis workflow, you know, I need
(10:40):
to add this piece of collateraland like keeping things going.
And that's really what it'sabout, and I think having that,
having that set in your mind.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I know with the Wedding Academy, quite often,
like most of my crew, we're allall over the world and remote
workers and on different times,and so we lean on Loom a lot to
sort of create a video trainingand share that with the person,
knowing that like, okay, that'sactually going to be really
useful for someone else.
Let's record that in a way thatwe can put it in our SOPs and
(11:10):
share that as a resource forpeople down the track.
Just having that you know I'mgoing to the bother of training
this person in this.
I'm sure I'm going to have todo it again, so just having that
thought, I think, is reallyhelpful as well.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Yeah, exactly, and I say like these workflows that
you create, then become likeyour training manuals.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, so can you explain the difference between a
process that's automated versusone that's optimized?
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Yeah, so here's the difference, and I use my
terminology just a little bitdifferent than anyone else.
So really I would say youshould optimize your wedding
business, not automate it.
There are certain things thatdo need to get automated, but
then there are a majority ofthings in your workflows with
(11:54):
your wedding couples that shouldnot be automated because they
require a personal touch.
So I always say that anythingthat are like reminders or
things that you've alreadypreviously communicated, like
when the invoices do, and thosetypes of things, those can be
automated, which are literallyyou put on a schedule date and
(12:14):
it'll automatically send thatout.
That makes sense.
But all of those human touchpoints of when to connect for
the final details, meeting, youknow when to talk about, you
know the design deck and thosetypes of things, those are human
touch points and those need tobe optimized, not automated,
because you shouldn't just hit ahit a button and expect it just
(12:37):
to go, because that's not theway the wedding industry is.
The wedding industry is verypersonal.
These couples, these clients,they're spending thousands and
thousands of dollars on the daythat's the most joyous for them
and to celebrate their love, andso you can't go about it
robotic-like and everyone knows,when they get an automated
(12:58):
message or anything like that,they know that that's a robot
talking to them.
So it should never be that wayor should feel that way.
But there are ways that you canstreamline things and optimize
things to quicken the day-to-daytasks.
So that way it's not, you know,like flying by the seat of your
pants all the time you know andyou really feel that your
clients, your pants all the timeyou know and you really feel
(13:19):
that your clients are beingtaken care of, but you're still
staying on target and on taskwith everything.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
So for.
So, for the tasks that we cankind of get help with, you know,
by a software, what kind oftools would you recommend, like
what are your favorite at themoment?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah, I mean.
Here's.
The thing is that there's not aone size fits all when it comes
to these platforms and theseprograms.
You know, I always say that ifa platform or program can
fulfill 80% of your needs, thenthat's the right one for you,
because then you're able toactually get you know what you
need out of it.
(13:55):
So some of my favorite tools,though, are actually optimizing
your inbox and your cloudstorage.
Believe it or not, If youactually organize those based
things, it'll make your life alot easier.
I always say treat your inboxas like real mail.
You're not just going to throwmail everywhere.
Any important notes that youget, you're going to keep those
(14:16):
aside.
You're going to keep thoseaside.
You're going to file those away.
You're going to store them thatway.
If they're physical, Then foryour cloud storage, think of
that as like a virtual filingcabinet.
You're not just going to throwthings in there.
You're going to organize it,you're going to create folders
and tabs, and that should be thesame way.
So optimizing that, because alot of people neglect their
(14:37):
inbox and their cloud storage.
But that's actually what we usethe most, to be honest, out of
all of the tools that we use, sothat one should be your top one
that you optimize.
Then moving into schedulingtools, so like Calendly, acuity,
those types of things to beable to keep that back and forth
at a very, very minimum thanCRMs or PMs.
(15:01):
So CRMs are client relationshipmanagement software and then
PMs are project managementsoftware.
So CRMs have the ability toautomate, so send out those auto
reminders.
They have the ability to haveworkflows and portals and those
types of things.
And then project managementtools.
Those are more taskless,focused in getting the client
(15:25):
through a journey.
There's really not a lot ofautomation in there.
So those are like the twodifferent aspects that you can
go with.
So examples of those CRM islike HoneyBook and Dubsado.
Project management tool is like, for us as wedding planners,
ioplanner or Trello or NotionBasecamp.
Those are PMs.
(15:45):
So having one or both of thosetools become helpful.
But if you don't have thepieces to add to those tools,
then the CRM.
You're working for the CRMrather than the CRM working for
you.
So just keep that in mind whenyou do go to that one.
Those will be kind of thethings that you kind of can't
(16:07):
really have your businesswithout.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
So how have some of these systems help you manage
your health while running abusiness?
They help you when it comes tobalancing that well?
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean I have really modifiedkind of my life so that way, you
know, I'm able to operate mybusiness and maintain my health
boundaries.
So the biggest things is bykeeping you know my clients on
target and on task has beenextremely helpful because if
they fall behind then that putsout a pressure on me which puts
(16:40):
undue stress on me, which meansthat could potentially cause a
flare up and it's just not worththat.
So having these systems in playhave really kept my clients on
target and me on target fromgetting behind and then adding
to that stress.
Great.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
And I think everyone needs to learn about boundaries
and making.
You know I'm trying to think ofthe words, but you know like
for me there's probably acertain day of the week where
I'm well-suited to admin andgetting that stuff done and I
seem to achieve more if I groupit all together than you know.
Spread it out over the week, sofiguring out boundaries like
that, that sort of work withyour body, and you know.
(17:17):
Spread it out over the week, sofiguring out boundaries like
that, that sort of work withyour body, and you know what I
mean with.
You know what's the words I'mlooking for.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, I mean here's.
The thing is.
You know, sops are boundariesif you really think about it,
like boundaries are literallyjust a rule that you place into
things.
So that's literally standardoperating procedures is
boundaries and it's setting youup for success and your clients
up for success.
(17:45):
So one of the boundaries that Ilike to say is communication.
You know what I mean For me.
I always tell all of my couplesI'm like look, email is for
work, texting is for fun.
I literally have that on likemy welcome guide to them and
letting them know.
My communication process isthat here are the tools that
(18:06):
we're going to be using.
Oh, here's when you canactually get me, here's when I'm
available, here's links toschedule calls, all of that.
Those are literally standardoperating procedures, but that's
a communication operatingprocedure you know, and that's
not just what channels, it'salso, you know exactly you.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
You know I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Like I put in sleep mode, forexample, on my phones.
I would set up a WhatsApp groupfor my clients.
Usually and if there'ssomething there that went in
there at 10 past nine and I wentto bed, then you just set up
those realistic expectations.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Exactly so.
I think this is prettystraightforward, but how can
these SOPs actually improve theclient experience and not feel
robotic?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Oh yeah, I think that's one of the biggest fears
is that you know wedding pros,when they get into certain
aspects of the business they'relike you know, I really don't
want to automate or optimizebecause then it's going to feel
super robotic and that's one ofthe big fears.
But there's a way to automateand there's a way to optimize
(19:14):
with keeping hospitality 100% inmind.
So if you have that mindsetwhere, as I mentioned before,
reminders and things that you'vealready communicated can be
auto-sent but any human touchpoints cannot, so that needs
personalization and kind ofkeeping that.
But it elevates your clientjourney significantly.
(19:36):
Because I'm going to tell youwhat, when you have SOPs in
place and structure, people lovestructure, they crave it.
Look at us.
We crave authority, we craveknowing our boundaries and our
rules and like think of schoolor social life too.
I mean, that's that's why wehave you know, police officers,
that's why we have you knowpoliticians.
(19:58):
We love having somebody kind oflet us know how we're supposed
to operate as a society, as ahuman.
Even our wedding couples, youknow, they even crave it.
They're like what am I supposedto do?
You know what's normal, and sothey are the ones that are like
okay, I want to know what'shappening.
(20:19):
And the way that you do that isby having clear, concise,
standard operating procedures toelevate your client journey,
because they're going to craveit and they're going to like,
applaud you for it.
They're going to be like thisprocess, this planning journey,
was so easy.
They had everything right away.
Before I even had to reach out,they were already on it and
sending me things andquestionnaires and getting
(20:41):
things all together and thenthey had, you know, a portal for
me to go to that had everythingthere.
So if you can implement theseSOPs into your business, then
your clients will definitelyrespect it, they'll love it and
it'll literally take them to aplace where they feel like you
(21:02):
can then handle their day.
If your business isn't feelinglike it feels bumpy and clunky
and their client journey feelsclunky, they're gonna be like
how's our wedding day gonna go?
Speaker 1 (21:12):
yeah, they're gonna be like I also too it's.
It's creating consistency withthat process, like if they're
all, if you can be at an eventand just know in the back of
your mind they're getting theirreminders, they're getting their
welcome pack, contracts gone,you know what I mean.
There's so many of those thingsthat you can just kind of it's
not taking up that bandwidth inyour head anymore exactly
(21:34):
everybody's getting the sameexperience right for the onboard
, exactly.
It is so um.
I love that.
It's okay, so good.
So, becca, do you work withpeople to help build these
things like what, what do you?
What do you do?
Now, I know you do some sort ofcoaching, right yes.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
So I like to say that it's, you know, business
coaching on steroids, because Ialso help them with the kind of
implementation of it you know aswell.
So, yes, so I actually helpwedding professionals implement
SOPs into their business.
Um, and I have you kind of twopaths for my clients to take.
We can either have it like donefor you, which is kind of like
(22:12):
the five star conciergeexperience, to where you
literally can pull up thistraining manual and it literally
says exactly how you go througheverything to a T, or you know,
there's the guidedimplementation, which actually a
lot of my clients actually do,because us, as wedding creatives
, we like our hands in it, andso this is coaching and
(22:34):
mentoring them and reallyguiding them through how to set
up their SOPs and then they'reresponsible for building it out.
So that's kind of the processesthat I kind of help them
implement is both sales andoperations and really elevating
their client journey as well.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
So, guys, if you're needing help writing these SOPs,
building them, mapping out whatplatforms, save yourself the
heartache and the time, go andspeak to Becca.
Her website is wed2uco and youcan also find her on Instagram,
facebook, tiktok and LinkedIn.
(23:13):
Thanks so much, becca.
It's been a pleasure getting toknow you, and I wish I'd had
you about 10 years ago for mywedding planning business.
I think it would have been veryhelpful and saved me a lot of
time and heartache searching forall these different platforms.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Yeah, thank you so much.
It was such an honor and a joy.
We'll get you back sometime.
Thanks, darling, okay.
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