January 14, 2026 • 27 mins
Join John and Joyce and their guest, Charlene Chiaro. Charlene is a marketing strategist, entrepreneur, and all-around visionary with over 30 years of experience helping businesses grow and get noticed.
She’s the founder of Clear Vision Productions and The Clear Vision Agency, and she’s created some incredibly successful events you may already know, like Fun Girls Night Out and Wedding Styles of Connecticut.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
All right,Joyce, we're into the new year.
Yeah, we're we're on right nowto the new year already.
You know, it feels good, Like to say a bigthank you to all of our sponsors
woodwinds wedding and special eventsvenue and Silvio sources
the woodwinds.com ascend bank.
They don't just see your accounts.
They see your vision and ambitions.
(00:22):
Ascend Dot Bank tech Fix Connecticut's
one stop shop for all your computerand tech repairs.
Tech fix ct.com moonshotsa vegan based company
that delivers the highest quality organicjuices, coffee bowls and so much more.
Drink moonshots.com and to your health,nutrition and health coaching.
(00:45):
Creating a lifestyle tailoredjust for you to your health.
Three 60.com.
We're deeply gratefulto all of our sponsors for their support,
and for partnering
with us to uplift and enrichthe lives of our listeners and viewers.
I'm really excited about the guestswe have, but first we just want to say
thank you.
Welcome to What's Good with John and Joyceis available for everywhere for free.
(01:07):
Subscribe on YouTube and share it witheverybody you know who needs good news.
Thank goodnesswe're in the 2026 right now.
We're going to bring people together.
That's what we're going to do eachand every episode.
Bringing people together realize it'salways bringing people together.
She's she's amazing.
I've met her before in the past.
And what a resume too.
Yeah. So I'm going to tell you a littleabout our guest because I love her.
(01:28):
I've known for a long time Charlene Charo.
She's a marketing strategystrategist, entrepreneur, and visionary
with more than 30 years of experiencehelping businesses grow through smart
strategies, powerful branding,and meaningful connections.
She's a founder of Clear VisionProductions and Clear Vision Agency,
(01:49):
which I didn't know, Charlene, that thereare two different names that you had,
and you're knownfor creating highly successful events
such as Fun Girls Night Out.
Who hasn't heard of that? Right?
I love that branding of thatand Wedding styles of Connecticut,
while also helping and establishingentrepreneurs
to elevate their digital presence. Right?
(02:10):
And to uncover their new opportunitiesfor growth,
because there's always new opportunitiesfor growth online.
And you're passionate, Charlene, about,you know, giving back.
And I've seen you many times myself on TVtalking about dress for success,
where you help women who are,
they don'thave the means to dress up for a job.
(02:31):
John.
Yeah.
So, they provide,you know, suits that people
donate and handbagsand shoes, things like that.
So, you know, hats off to you, Charlene,for always, you know, promoting that.
Do you have been featured on so many showsor made, you know, major radio
shows and publications in TV and,and you've got the insight
(02:52):
and heart to every conversationbecause I've been with you.
When you're meeting with a clientand I'm telling you, John,
she digs right inand she asks these questions,
you know, like like what they really want,what do they expect?
And you suddenly start coming upwith all these ideas.
I mean, you were fabulous at that.
(03:14):
And you're also bringing the bridalshow of the year
to woodwinds on the 25th of this month,and we're going to talk about that.
But welcome, Charlene. Well,thanks for having me.
This is going to be so much fun.It is Charlene.
And I've done so many weddingswith woodwinds
with Tony and the great staff there.
I'm always treated like family.
(03:35):
People ask me,where are your favorite places?
The DJ weddings and many timesI'll say woodwinds because again
I walk in the door, they look at you,they make sure you're taken care of.
And much like you, when you get togetherwith the policy choices saying
you make it all about them
and you offer your expertise,and I think that's admirable.
Well, and they feed you, right?
They do it on food and they customize itbecause they know
(03:57):
I have special nutritional needs.
And they say, now what, John?
I know it's like, you know, plainchicken, grilled vegetables.
You know, they're really good about that.Yeah, they do that.
They do, you know, drive me nuts.
And of course, Woodward's our
very first sponsor of What's Goodwith John and Joyce and Sylvia's sauces.
And also, I know it's so good.
So tell us, tell us, because I knowI don't know if I know everything.
(04:20):
I'm like, how how do you pull an eventtogether like this?
Tony says, do you or anyone says to you,it's Charlene, you know,
do the event, you do a wedding event,
you've got to bring in vendors, right?
So firstwhat we do is I look at their preferred
vendor list because most venueswho do a lot of weddings, like woodwinds,
have a preferred vendor list.
(04:41):
So first we go to themand we want to promote them.
And then, anywhere where there's holesin the in the structure of the show.
And what we do iswe try to cap all of our categories.
So there's not,you know, 25 of one type of business,
you know, and then, we would go outsideof that list and pull that together.
(05:02):
So once we have the vendors,then we can start talking about,
what we want for entertainment,what we want for, you know, marketing.
What what are we going to dofor the guests?
And we kind of program the event.
At woodwinds,it's very easy because like we said,
they bring out every kind of foodthey cook.
(05:23):
The, the wedding show.
You never go home hungry.
I mean, there's everything from pastappetizers to stationed appetizers,
all of their favorites,you know, their other.
Right.
So the newly engaged that go there,they're actually getting a taste test.
They are. So it's like a grand tasting.
Yes I love that they get a littlegoodie bag when they come in.
(05:45):
Yeah.
Who doesn't love a good little goody bagI know Joyce.
You get a goodie bag.
Yeah.
And, and then we, we partner with KC 101.
We have Adam. He's our.
Oh, Adam River is part of the iHeartradio chain.
It was my first job.
Yeah, yeah, but Adam Rivers is top notch.
He is.
He's great,you know, and he loves being at our show.
(06:07):
You know, weI script everything out for him.
And and then once everyone shows up,the show kind of runs itself. We.
Wait a minute.
There's something else that you do.
You bring in big prizes. I do.
So what are you giving away this year?
So this year, we're giving awaya Caribbean getaway.
Oh, wow. Yeah.
For, for, one couple will win that.
(06:28):
And then Tony is giving away two $5,000,
credits toward a woodwindswedding in 2026.
Tony. Super. Just so you know, that's.
Yes. Yes, yes.
Yeah.
That's why every everyone who's there,everyone who comes in buys a ticket.
It's not expensive.
No. Right. $10.
Yeah. And you get a lot for that $10.
(06:50):
Because I imagine a lot of vendors arealso giving out their own raffle there.
We do a raffle and, thewe give all the wedding couples, tickets
and they have to go
around to all of the tablesand they enter to win what they like.
And at the end of the show,all of those prizes are given away too.
So you can literally winthousands of dollars towards your wedding.
(07:12):
You could win the $5,000 at woodwinds.
It's endless.
And this is the time nowbecause people got engaged.
I mean the engagement season Thanksgivingweekend right through Valentine's Day.
That's right.
So this is the time where people sayokay over the holidays we got engaged.
Now it's time to think about the venue,
the DJ, the photographer,a videographer, caterer,
whatever it may be,where we're going to go on our honeymoon.
(07:34):
And that'swhere you put all of this together,
because people are freaking outand you help people.
We do? Yeah.
And we try to,you know, for the people that buy tickets
to come to the event, we also email themand, we try to give them
tips about what to look for, you know,how to prepare to go to bridal show.
Because if you just show up,it is overwhelming, right?
(07:55):
So kind of have an ideaof what you're looking for.
And what we do is we have a little system,a little punch card system
that we ask all the couples to stop
at every single tableand get their little card punched.
And once they do that, they can enterto win the Caribbean getaway.
And even if you do have flowers,but there's a florist there,
(08:18):
we encourage them to stop and talk to thembecause there might be something
that they forgot about.
Yeah, maybe this flower specializes in or,
that that florist may knowof another florist or another vendor
that they need or they want or whateverthat is not there.
So you just don't ever knowwhat these vendors I like how you do that,
(08:41):
because you're making sure that everybodywho paid to be a part of this
is having people stop by every boothfeels like they're being catered to.
They're not being ignored.
That's right.Even if you already have that florist.
Yeah, like you said, stop by anywaybecause you never know in the future.
You don't ever know.
And you know, the other thing, too, is
that little punchcard is a really good icebreaker. Yeah.
You know, most young people are afraidto go up to people they don't know
(09:05):
and just start talking to themabout a business or something.
So it's kind of a little icebreaker.
And the vendors, are really great at,you know, just talking
to the wedding couples and getting themthe information that they need and,
and even pointing them into a directioneither
they're to another vendoror outside to another vendor.
(09:26):
Yeah.
So Charlene,how did you get started in this business.
Well, when I graduated
from college,I had applied to a company called
Summa Graphicsand I was like the little assistant.
And, that was ait was a computer company.
It was some new technologythat we, you know, rely on now,
(09:48):
but no one really understood it then.
I didn't have any idea what we did,but I just knew
that, the people that I worked for were great.
And they took meto, meetings with our PR firm
and our advertising agencyand they took me to trade shows.
And I was, you know, so young.
I was 20 years old.And you're still young. Yeah.
(10:09):
Come on.
But I, you know, I really hadI really didn't know anything.
And they taught me everything about tradeshows.
The trade shows?
Yeah, we went to trade shows in Las Vegas
and Chicago and Dallas,and they just dragged me around with them.
And it was a great learning experience.
And, from that job,
(10:30):
every job that I've hadhas been a part of that first job.
And so when I created my own company,the internships that,
I created for interns that would workfor me were just like that.
They did everything that I did.
They went everywhere where I went. And,
they werea part of everything that we did.
(10:51):
So it wasn't like they got me coffee and,you know, went put gas in my car.
They really, you know,they learned how to sell.
So they shadowed you.
They did. They did everything I did. Yeah.
Yeah, it was great.
The whole mentor, it's like a system,whole mentoring thing.
And you were trained the right wayand they brought in you.
Just yours, you know, passing it on down.
Yeah, I love that. So that was my start.
(11:13):
And then bridal shows.
I was the associate publisher of a bridalmagazine in Boston for ten years.
Yeah.
And, the last three years,I produced 60 bridal shows.
Yeah. Wow.
WhichI don't have any idea how we did that.
How does that looking back, I don't know.
Yeah, 60.
We did 20 a year for three years. Yeah.
(11:34):
And and you found out you loved it.
Yeah I did, you know, it was.
But so like putting togethera bridal show to me is just so,
like second nature, you know?
But then after that job, I, that'swhen I launched the fund girls night Out,
and that is is really a monster of a show.
(11:54):
Tell us about.Yeah, yeah, yeah about that. Yeah.
So, so it's kind of like a bridal show,but it's all things for women.
And, my first show here in Connecticutwas at the Oakdale,
and 700 women were registeredto come to that show.
Yeah, I think I said that. Yeah.
I mean, it was it'sit takes on a life of its own.
(12:18):
But what I love about it is that,you know,
the, the vendors who come to the shows,they say that
their businesses get built on those womenbecause they're all shopping.
And again, they have to go to every booth
and we give away a Caribbean getaway,and we have prizes and goodie bags.
The goodie bags for the fun girlsnight out are amazing.
(12:39):
The, you know,
things that we put in there,and sometimes those bags are worth $100.
I mean, it'sthere's a lot of stuff in those bags.
But women come with their friends and,
that event was designed
so that women, whether you were 21 or 81,you could come out
and have fun with your friends.
Oh, that's great. And they charge age.
(13:01):
Yeah.
So everyone comes, you know, it'snot just for certain types of women.
We have photo booth photos,
and there's always food and specialtydrinks and martini bars and.
Oh, that is a fun, fundancing and bands and music.
It's just a lot of fun.
Yeah.
You know, I rememberit must have been a fun
(13:21):
a girls night out that you did atwhat went home.
Yeah. I mean, a while for the years. Yep.
And that's when Tony super the owner
because, he just.
I just remember him calling mebecause it was 10:00 at night,
and they always did their own bridal showsand anything it was always in-house.
(13:42):
And he said,
this is what he said.
He said, I'm watching Charlene, and sheruns this like a well-oiled machine, but.
And you kept that flow going so nice.
He said, can you call her and ask her
if she'd be interestedand doing a bridal show here.
And that's where it started. Yeah.
(14:04):
And you doyou do you have a certain way about you
that you keep the show running,you keep the vendors happy
and but you keep everything on lineat the same time.
Everyone knows what their part is fromthe time
they're signing inand getting their bags and everything.
It just runs so smoothly.
(14:24):
It does.
You know, it takes a lot of planningand it's a lot of work.
You know, people think,oh, here we are again.
You know?
Yeah, you're right.But there are days that you do.
You even woke up and someone was sickand they couldn't come in.
And your mother is always she has your mother.
She's always ask me,what's your mom's Kathy?
Kathy, big shout out to Kathy. Kathy.
(14:46):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it you know, people don't realizethe amount of work, anything, you know?
I mean, just think aboutif you were going to have a at our shows,
we have anywherebetween 500 and 1000 women that show up.
If you were going to have even, you know,50 people come to your house for dinner,
you know, all the preparationthat you have to do.
(15:07):
So we have 500 and it's great that we workwith, great venues.
You know,I remember that show it at woodwinds.
People were parking up on the grass.
They were like in that middle part.
They were I mean, they were everywhere.
We we didn't have enough parking.And Tony loved every minute of it.
Tony was just I don't think he understood.
Like, no one really understands about fun.
(15:27):
Girls night out until they go.
And I, I always think I try to explain itexactly as it is, and I show you pictures
and I show you a video,but no one gets it until you're there.
Yeah. That's true. Is that.
Yeah, that happens,I think, in life and many things.
Yeah. That's all it.
Tell us about the philanthropic workyou do as well.
They help women out there that really.Yeah. So pay attention.
(15:49):
Yeah. So I partner with dress for success.
That'smy charity that I work with for, Fun
Girls Night Out,and they are an international nonprofit.
They have hundreds of what they callclosets, all over the world.
And if there's a woman in need,
she can go thereand they'll help her with resume writing.
(16:09):
They'll help her with, interviewingskills, and they give her an outfit.
And like Joyce was saying before to, go on interviews
and they outfit them from head to toe.
I mean, shoes, bags, everything.
And, and then once they get their job,they can go back to the closet
and get more clothesso that they can have different outfits
(16:32):
for every day that they go to workuntil they get their first check in.
They can isn't they can.
But it's really rarebecause so many people feel
like they're limitedand they can't go out there.
I can't go on an interview.
I don't have know where,but that's where you come in
and they go, well, maybe I could do thisafter all. That's right.
And so what we do at Fun Girls Night Outis we collect gently used, business
(16:52):
appropriate handbags and tote bags,and we donate them to the closet.
And the women are so generous.
We've collected anywhere between,you know, 205
hundred bags, like, literally mountainsof pocketbooks and handbags.
I think it's just three of them.
And, and those are all donated to the closet.
(17:13):
And then when the women come, they can.
Now, where is the closet in Connecticut.
So we have three now.
New Haven just opened.
We have one in the, mid
Fairfield County,and we have one in Hartford.
So people who are listeningacross the nation
or the world, they can just come onlineto find out they can dress.
(17:34):
I believe that dress for success.org.
They can they can go thereand they can find you know
there'sso there's help out there for people.
And what I love about them
is that they change these women's liveslike they get them great jobs.
And then from there,like their whole family has changed.
You know, the cycle is broken.
(17:55):
Yeah. Kids are happy.
They help them find in somesometimes housing.
And they're the confidencethat you give to a woman.
So there's a whole domino.
Yeah. There is.
And I would thinkthat a lot of these women
who become successful will pay it forward.They do, they will.
They don't forget what happened.Yeah. Yeah.
You know,when we did the show at woodwinds,
the one thing I wanted to havea fashion show.
(18:16):
But it's always so hard to to do that.
And I thought, you know what?
Why don't we feature the women that dressfor success helped.
And they there was about ten of them.
And they came and they were, their outfits were from the closet. Wow.
And so we did a fashion showand we told about them.
I mean, everyone was crying.
It was I mean, I was crying, it was great,but it was always a great event.
(18:40):
Yeah, yeah.
It was happy crying for them.
It was.
It gave me chills when you said that.
Because when you hear a person's storyfirsthand,
it changeseverything that you ever thought about it.
It puts a face to that personthat you just donated.
Yeah.
That's why
that's why, you know, kind of an aside,you know, talk about this choice.
(19:02):
It's really kind of hard to dislikesomebody when you find out their story.
Yeah. Everybody has a story.
Everybody's battling somethingno matter what they look like car.
They drive house.They live in a world battling something.
So it was just so importantjust to, just to be good to people.
What you're doing with that is incredible.Yeah that was good.
I think I'll bring the fashion show back.I love that part of it.
So what's difficult about the fashion showgetting the model.
(19:23):
Well when you. Yeah.
Like when you normally do a fashion show,you know you have to coordinate
everyone and,you know, pick the boutique.
But like, for me, if I have fiveboutiques, like, who do I pick?
Oh, I do, you know what I mean.
And then if I have models going everywhereand then gathering everybody up,
it's just it's it's, it's, you know, it'sanother layer of layer of work.
(19:47):
Right.
And I've seen a lot of those in the pastwhere you have to coordinate the music.
That's right.These model have an edit each one.
Look at that.
So I've done that.
But I've done it a lot of times around
the micand I have somebody playing the music.
But other times I've done bothand that's a little challenge, you know.
But but you make it happen.
You just have a little ahead of time.
Yeah. And it's a lot of fun.
And the scripting. Yeah. Right. Scripting.
(20:09):
Like we have to give you the script,you know what?
You got to make sure you got to me. Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
So the scripting is talking aboutthe dress, the dress outfit and the bodice
and all. That's right. Yeah that's right,that's right, that's right.
The body shows up every other week.
Yep. But you could do a show
like that using, the women from dress for success again.
(20:30):
I can and I would, you know,and I think women,
think, oh, is itwhat kind of clothes do they have?
What?
Everything came from the closet.
Everything was very stylish.
Everything.
You know, they're very particularof what they they take,
you know, for the closet and,you know, it was it.
People love to hear their stories.
(20:50):
And like you said, and people
you know, the women, I thinkthe confidence that that gave the women
because everyone who attendedthe show was so welcoming to them,
you know, and so, right,you know, just wanted to support them.
So do you have a I'm sorry.
I'm just so intimate. So
I like
to have a fun girls night outcoming up this year.
(21:14):
I have one scheduled, in September,
and I'm looking to do another one,probably in the spring or the summer.
I'll go ahead. Yeah. Oh, good. Yeah.
You should come back thenand we'll talk about that. Okay. Great.
So girls night out September 2026. Yes.
Or possibly the spring andand the spring too.
(21:34):
Yeah.
I have to find a, you know, it's hardto find a great place that you, you know,
that wants to be a marketing partnerwith you and, and is a place where
all the ladies, you know, I always tryto figure a place like nothing with bad
parking, with the parking garage thing,with, you know, like,
you have to hold so many peopleand, you know, we don't have a ton of,
(21:58):
like, huge venues here in Connecticutthat we can, choose from.
So there, you know, you're limitedas a lot of things and,
and people who, you know,want to support dress for success.
And so it's kind of a little puzzlethat gets put together
to just get out and have a good time. Yes.
So getting back to thethis big bridal show,
(22:19):
you know, that you're doing and
what, what is in town,you probably know the answer to this.
When someone gets engaged,what is the first thing
they they hire to do?
What is it?
Well, once they have the date,they usually like to get the venue.
So the venue is number one. Number one.
Yeah, yeah.
(22:39):
So not, vacationand not the rings or not the.
You get the deejay, the photographer,
the videographerand the flowers and all that.
So it's the venue, the venue security.
So what's great industry.
Yeah.
And what's great about woodwinds is thatyou're going to be able to taste the food.
You're going to see what it looks likeat, you know, they have it
(23:02):
you can see what the rooms look like.
It's like a realwhat does look like a real.
That's true.
It is set up like a wedding reception.
So the.
So the date is just a date.
The date is. Yep. January 25th.
So just an if a few a week and a halfand it's only 11 to 11 to two, right.
Yeah.
And tickets can be foundon wedding styles of sitcom.
(23:24):
Or they can go to the web works.
Don't come and it's on there.
And they have until,when they were cut off
to, no, we sell tickets, through 1:00the day of the show.
Well, let me just say this.
I do remember one year getting a franticcall saying we're over the amount.
The fire department will
(23:48):
allow.
So please stop the marketing.
I remember getting that, and I think
I had to relay that to you like our friendRoss.
Okay, see, 101.
It's almost a good challengeto have you back on it.
Yeah, that show always is a great event.
And, you know, we do.
We can't have that happen again,so we will.
(24:10):
We do have to shut off ticketsat some point.
But that's that show is always sold out.
It's always a great event.
The vendors love it.
You know, we're really happy thateveryone comes out to support that event.
And, and all the sponsors and the vendorsthat we have, they're all great.
So Charlene, we between everything elseyou're doing, what else?
(24:30):
What else do you what else do you do thatyou like to share with our viewers?
You know, this is the people call you for.
Well, they call me for, you know, consulting on events.
They call me to consulton their marketing, you know, strategy,
or, you know, they may be able to doa lot of things themselves,
but they just don't know where to start.
(24:50):
And so I can help them with that.
I also work with the Griffin Hospital,
and I help plan their galaand their golf tournament.
That's huge.
It is GriffinHospital over in Derby, Connecticut.
Yeah. I've always yeah.
Good things aboutI utilize their services for something
about a year ago and I rave about them.
(25:11):
When you walk in thereand you go through the hallway,
I was greeted with a smile by everybody.
And in the waiting roomit was just so comfy.
Yeah, like a like a little fireplace area.
Y you said you actually went thereinto the hospital.
I'm in the cafeteria,and she said it was really good quality.
And it's delicious there.Wow. Shocking. At a hospital?
No. It's delicious.
We want to go to the hall. Yeah,I want to be a visitor.
(25:32):
Not right.
But if you have to go there, that's athat's really a nice place to go.
Oh, I know you were.
You were doing that with GriffinHospital and, and I'm on the board
of the Advertising Club of Connecticut,and of course, I do all the events
I plan all the events.
We just got doneplanning everything for 2026.
So you're never bored?
(25:52):
I'm never not.
We're going to have to team upwith. Yeah. Stuff. That's.
Yeah. You know this. We're great. Yeah.
But, Charlene, thank you so much for.
Thanks for having me.
And thanks for all the amazing thingsyou do.
Give a big shout out to the folks
over at woodwindswho is a sponsor of our podcast.
Thank you, Tony Sylvia. Sources.
And thanks for all you do to helpthose women that really need
a pick me up.
(26:13):
I mean, that's that'sand we'll have all the information
underneath the showwhere to buy tickets, how to reach you.
All right. Great. Yeah.Thank you. Charlene. Thanks. Thank.
Happy new year.
Can we still.
Yes, we can have a happy 2026.
Okay. All right.
We love you guys.Thank you so much for having me.
Let's go with John and Joy.
Share it with a friend. Subscribefor free on YouTube.
And let's bring people together in 2026.
(26:35):
Make that a New Year's resolutionfor those. That's mine.
Let's bring people together,let's judgment and more love.
Bye bye for now.
Hey, I heard you got engaged.
Congratulations.
Now it's time to book the DJ.
And that's where we come in.
Hi, I'm John Cadillac,Seville with John Seville entertainment.
Wedding wire and the knot 2026 CouplesChoice Awards winner.
You can call me directly if you'd like it.
(26:56):
(200) 398-8065 eight.
We'll set up your free consultationor go to John cashman.com.
That's (203) 988-0658 or John cashman.com.
We offer excellent peace of mindand a great time
for all John Seville Entertainmenta name you know and can trust.
All right,Joyce, we're into the new year.
Yeah, we're we're on right nowto the new year already.
You know, it feels good, Like to say a bigthank you to all of our sponsors
woodwinds wedding and special eventsvenue and Silvio sources
the woodwinds.com ascend bank.
They don't just see your accounts.
They see your vision and ambitions.
(00:22):
Ascend Dot Bank tech Fix Connecticut's
one stop shop for all your computerand tech repairs.
Tech fix ct.com moonshotsa vegan based company
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Drink moonshots.com and to your health,nutrition and health coaching.
(00:45):
Creating a lifestyle tailoredjust for you to your health.
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We're deeply gratefulto all of our sponsors for their support,
and for partnering
with us to uplift and enrichthe lives of our listeners and viewers.
I'm really excited about the guestswe have, but first we just want to say
thank you.
Welcome to What's Good with John and Joyceis available for everywhere for free.
(01:07):
Subscribe on YouTube and share it witheverybody you know who needs good news.
Thank goodnesswe're in the 2026 right now.
We're going to bring people together.
That's what we're going to do eachand every episode.
Bringing people together realize it'salways bringing people together.
She's she's amazing.
I've met her before in the past.
And what a resume too.
Yeah. So I'm going to tell you a littleabout our guest because I love her.
(01:28):
I've known for a long time Charlene Charo.
She's a marketing strategystrategist, entrepreneur, and visionary
with more than 30 years of experiencehelping businesses grow through smart
strategies, powerful branding,and meaningful connections.
She's a founder of Clear VisionProductions and Clear Vision Agency,
(01:49):
which I didn't know, Charlene, that thereare two different names that you had,
and you're knownfor creating highly successful events
such as Fun Girls Night Out.
Who hasn't heard of that? Right?
I love that branding of thatand Wedding styles of Connecticut,
while also helping and establishingentrepreneurs
to elevate their digital presence. Right?
(02:10):
And to uncover their new opportunitiesfor growth,
because there's always new opportunitiesfor growth online.
And you're passionate, Charlene, about,you know, giving back.
And I've seen you many times myself on TVtalking about dress for success,
where you help women who are,
they don'thave the means to dress up for a job.
(02:31):
John.
Yeah.
So, they provide,you know, suits that people
donate and handbagsand shoes, things like that.
So, you know, hats off to you, Charlene,for always, you know, promoting that.
Do you have been featured on so many showsor made, you know, major radio
shows and publications in TV and,and you've got the insight
(02:52):
and heart to every conversationbecause I've been with you.
When you're meeting with a clientand I'm telling you, John,
she digs right inand she asks these questions,
you know, like like what they really want,what do they expect?
And you suddenly start coming upwith all these ideas.
I mean, you were fabulous at that.
(03:14):
And you're also bringing the bridalshow of the year
to woodwinds on the 25th of this month,and we're going to talk about that.
But welcome, Charlene. Well,thanks for having me.
This is going to be so much fun.It is Charlene.
And I've done so many weddingswith woodwinds
with Tony and the great staff there.
I'm always treated like family.
(03:35):
People ask me,where are your favorite places?
The DJ weddings and many timesI'll say woodwinds because again
I walk in the door, they look at you,they make sure you're taken care of.
And much like you, when you get togetherwith the policy choices saying
you make it all about them
and you offer your expertise,and I think that's admirable.
Well, and they feed you, right?
They do it on food and they customize itbecause they know
(03:57):
I have special nutritional needs.
And they say, now what, John?
I know it's like, you know, plainchicken, grilled vegetables.
You know, they're really good about that.Yeah, they do that.
They do, you know, drive me nuts.
And of course, Woodward's our
very first sponsor of What's Goodwith John and Joyce and Sylvia's sauces.
And also, I know it's so good.
So tell us, tell us, because I knowI don't know if I know everything.
(04:20):
I'm like, how how do you pull an eventtogether like this?
Tony says, do you or anyone says to you,it's Charlene, you know,
do the event, you do a wedding event,
you've got to bring in vendors, right?
So firstwhat we do is I look at their preferred
vendor list because most venueswho do a lot of weddings, like woodwinds,
have a preferred vendor list.
(04:41):
So first we go to themand we want to promote them.
And then, anywhere where there's holesin the in the structure of the show.
And what we do iswe try to cap all of our categories.
So there's not,you know, 25 of one type of business,
you know, and then, we would go outsideof that list and pull that together.
(05:02):
So once we have the vendors,then we can start talking about,
what we want for entertainment,what we want for, you know, marketing.
What what are we going to dofor the guests?
And we kind of program the event.
At woodwinds,it's very easy because like we said,
they bring out every kind of foodthey cook.
(05:23):
The, the wedding show.
You never go home hungry.
I mean, there's everything from pastappetizers to stationed appetizers,
all of their favorites,you know, their other.
Right.
So the newly engaged that go there,they're actually getting a taste test.
They are. So it's like a grand tasting.
Yes I love that they get a littlegoodie bag when they come in.
(05:45):
Yeah.
Who doesn't love a good little goody bagI know Joyce.
You get a goodie bag.
Yeah.
And, and then we, we partner with KC 101.
We have Adam. He's our.
Oh, Adam River is part of the iHeartradio chain.
It was my first job.
Yeah, yeah, but Adam Rivers is top notch.
He is.
He's great,you know, and he loves being at our show.
(06:07):
You know, weI script everything out for him.
And and then once everyone shows up,the show kind of runs itself. We.
Wait a minute.
There's something else that you do.
You bring in big prizes. I do.
So what are you giving away this year?
So this year, we're giving awaya Caribbean getaway.
Oh, wow. Yeah.
For, for, one couple will win that.
(06:28):
And then Tony is giving away two $5,000,
credits toward a woodwindswedding in 2026.
Tony. Super. Just so you know, that's.
Yes. Yes, yes.
Yeah.
That's why every everyone who's there,everyone who comes in buys a ticket.
It's not expensive.
No. Right. $10.
Yeah. And you get a lot for that $10.
(06:50):
Because I imagine a lot of vendors arealso giving out their own raffle there.
We do a raffle and, thewe give all the wedding couples, tickets
and they have to go
around to all of the tablesand they enter to win what they like.
And at the end of the show,all of those prizes are given away too.
So you can literally winthousands of dollars towards your wedding.
(07:12):
You could win the $5,000 at woodwinds.
It's endless.
And this is the time nowbecause people got engaged.
I mean the engagement season Thanksgivingweekend right through Valentine's Day.
That's right.
So this is the time where people sayokay over the holidays we got engaged.
Now it's time to think about the venue,
the DJ, the photographer,a videographer, caterer,
whatever it may be,where we're going to go on our honeymoon.
(07:34):
And that'swhere you put all of this together,
because people are freaking outand you help people.
We do? Yeah.
And we try to,you know, for the people that buy tickets
to come to the event, we also email themand, we try to give them
tips about what to look for, you know,how to prepare to go to bridal show.
Because if you just show up,it is overwhelming, right?
(07:55):
So kind of have an ideaof what you're looking for.
And what we do is we have a little system,a little punch card system
that we ask all the couples to stop
at every single tableand get their little card punched.
And once they do that, they can enterto win the Caribbean getaway.
And even if you do have flowers,but there's a florist there,
(08:18):
we encourage them to stop and talk to thembecause there might be something
that they forgot about.
Yeah, maybe this flower specializes in or,
that that florist may knowof another florist or another vendor
that they need or they want or whateverthat is not there.
So you just don't ever knowwhat these vendors I like how you do that,
(08:41):
because you're making sure that everybodywho paid to be a part of this
is having people stop by every boothfeels like they're being catered to.
They're not being ignored.
That's right.Even if you already have that florist.
Yeah, like you said, stop by anywaybecause you never know in the future.
You don't ever know.
And you know, the other thing, too, is
that little punchcard is a really good icebreaker. Yeah.
You know, most young people are afraidto go up to people they don't know
(09:05):
and just start talking to themabout a business or something.
So it's kind of a little icebreaker.
And the vendors, are really great at,you know, just talking
to the wedding couples and getting themthe information that they need and,
and even pointing them into a directioneither
they're to another vendoror outside to another vendor.
(09:26):
Yeah.
So Charlene,how did you get started in this business.
Well, when I graduated
from college,I had applied to a company called
Summa Graphicsand I was like the little assistant.
And, that was ait was a computer company.
It was some new technologythat we, you know, rely on now,
(09:48):
but no one really understood it then.
I didn't have any idea what we did,but I just knew
that, the people that I worked for were great.
And they took meto, meetings with our PR firm
and our advertising agencyand they took me to trade shows.
And I was, you know, so young.
I was 20 years old.And you're still young. Yeah.
(10:09):
Come on.
But I, you know, I really hadI really didn't know anything.
And they taught me everything about tradeshows.
The trade shows?
Yeah, we went to trade shows in Las Vegas
and Chicago and Dallas,and they just dragged me around with them.
And it was a great learning experience.
And, from that job,
(10:30):
every job that I've hadhas been a part of that first job.
And so when I created my own company,the internships that,
I created for interns that would workfor me were just like that.
They did everything that I did.
They went everywhere where I went. And,
they werea part of everything that we did.
(10:51):
So it wasn't like they got me coffee and,you know, went put gas in my car.
They really, you know,they learned how to sell.
So they shadowed you.
They did. They did everything I did. Yeah.
Yeah, it was great.
The whole mentor, it's like a system,whole mentoring thing.
And you were trained the right wayand they brought in you.
Just yours, you know, passing it on down.
Yeah, I love that. So that was my start.
(11:13):
And then bridal shows.
I was the associate publisher of a bridalmagazine in Boston for ten years.
Yeah.
And, the last three years,I produced 60 bridal shows.
Yeah. Wow.
WhichI don't have any idea how we did that.
How does that looking back, I don't know.
Yeah, 60.
We did 20 a year for three years. Yeah.
(11:34):
And and you found out you loved it.
Yeah I did, you know, it was.
But so like putting togethera bridal show to me is just so,
like second nature, you know?
But then after that job, I, that'swhen I launched the fund girls night Out,
and that is is really a monster of a show.
(11:54):
Tell us about.Yeah, yeah, yeah about that. Yeah.
So, so it's kind of like a bridal show,but it's all things for women.
And, my first show here in Connecticutwas at the Oakdale,
and 700 women were registeredto come to that show.
Yeah, I think I said that. Yeah.
I mean, it was it'sit takes on a life of its own.
(12:18):
But what I love about it is that,you know,
the, the vendors who come to the shows,they say that
their businesses get built on those womenbecause they're all shopping.
And again, they have to go to every booth
and we give away a Caribbean getaway,and we have prizes and goodie bags.
The goodie bags for the fun girlsnight out are amazing.
(12:39):
The, you know,
things that we put in there,and sometimes those bags are worth $100.
I mean, it'sthere's a lot of stuff in those bags.
But women come with their friends and,
that event was designed
so that women, whether you were 21 or 81,you could come out
and have fun with your friends.
Oh, that's great. And they charge age.
(13:01):
Yeah.
So everyone comes, you know, it'snot just for certain types of women.
We have photo booth photos,
and there's always food and specialtydrinks and martini bars and.
Oh, that is a fun, fundancing and bands and music.
It's just a lot of fun.
Yeah.
You know, I rememberit must have been a fun
(13:21):
a girls night out that you did atwhat went home.
Yeah. I mean, a while for the years. Yep.
And that's when Tony super the owner
because, he just.
I just remember him calling mebecause it was 10:00 at night,
and they always did their own bridal showsand anything it was always in-house.
(13:42):
And he said,
this is what he said.
He said, I'm watching Charlene, and sheruns this like a well-oiled machine, but.
And you kept that flow going so nice.
He said, can you call her and ask her
if she'd be interestedand doing a bridal show here.
And that's where it started. Yeah.
(14:04):
And you doyou do you have a certain way about you
that you keep the show running,you keep the vendors happy
and but you keep everything on lineat the same time.
Everyone knows what their part is fromthe time
they're signing inand getting their bags and everything.
It just runs so smoothly.
(14:24):
It does.
You know, it takes a lot of planningand it's a lot of work.
You know, people think,oh, here we are again.
You know?
Yeah, you're right.But there are days that you do.
You even woke up and someone was sickand they couldn't come in.
And your mother is always she has your mother.
She's always ask me,what's your mom's Kathy?
Kathy, big shout out to Kathy. Kathy.
(14:46):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it you know, people don't realizethe amount of work, anything, you know?
I mean, just think aboutif you were going to have a at our shows,
we have anywherebetween 500 and 1000 women that show up.
If you were going to have even, you know,50 people come to your house for dinner,
you know, all the preparationthat you have to do.
(15:07):
So we have 500 and it's great that we workwith, great venues.
You know,I remember that show it at woodwinds.
People were parking up on the grass.
They were like in that middle part.
They were I mean, they were everywhere.
We we didn't have enough parking.And Tony loved every minute of it.
Tony was just I don't think he understood.
Like, no one really understands about fun.
(15:27):
Girls night out until they go.
And I, I always think I try to explain itexactly as it is, and I show you pictures
and I show you a video,but no one gets it until you're there.
Yeah. That's true. Is that.
Yeah, that happens,I think, in life and many things.
Yeah. That's all it.
Tell us about the philanthropic workyou do as well.
They help women out there that really.Yeah. So pay attention.
(15:49):
Yeah. So I partner with dress for success.
That'smy charity that I work with for, Fun
Girls Night Out,and they are an international nonprofit.
They have hundreds of what they callclosets, all over the world.
And if there's a woman in need,
she can go thereand they'll help her with resume writing.
(16:09):
They'll help her with, interviewingskills, and they give her an outfit.
And like Joyce was saying before to, go on interviews
and they outfit them from head to toe.
I mean, shoes, bags, everything.
And, and then once they get their job,they can go back to the closet
and get more clothesso that they can have different outfits
(16:32):
for every day that they go to workuntil they get their first check in.
They can isn't they can.
But it's really rarebecause so many people feel
like they're limitedand they can't go out there.
I can't go on an interview.
I don't have know where,but that's where you come in
and they go, well, maybe I could do thisafter all. That's right.
And so what we do at Fun Girls Night Outis we collect gently used, business
(16:52):
appropriate handbags and tote bags,and we donate them to the closet.
And the women are so generous.
We've collected anywhere between,you know, 205
hundred bags, like, literally mountainsof pocketbooks and handbags.
I think it's just three of them.
And, and those are all donated to the closet.
(17:13):
And then when the women come, they can.
Now, where is the closet in Connecticut.
So we have three now.
New Haven just opened.
We have one in the, mid
Fairfield County,and we have one in Hartford.
So people who are listeningacross the nation
or the world, they can just come onlineto find out they can dress.
(17:34):
I believe that dress for success.org.
They can they can go thereand they can find you know
there'sso there's help out there for people.
And what I love about them
is that they change these women's liveslike they get them great jobs.
And then from there,like their whole family has changed.
You know, the cycle is broken.
(17:55):
Yeah. Kids are happy.
They help them find in somesometimes housing.
And they're the confidencethat you give to a woman.
So there's a whole domino.
Yeah. There is.
And I would thinkthat a lot of these women
who become successful will pay it forward.They do, they will.
They don't forget what happened.Yeah. Yeah.
You know,when we did the show at woodwinds,
the one thing I wanted to havea fashion show.
(18:16):
But it's always so hard to to do that.
And I thought, you know what?
Why don't we feature the women that dressfor success helped.
And they there was about ten of them.
And they came and they were, their outfits were from the closet. Wow.
And so we did a fashion showand we told about them.
I mean, everyone was crying.
It was I mean, I was crying, it was great,but it was always a great event.
(18:40):
Yeah, yeah.
It was happy crying for them.
It was.
It gave me chills when you said that.
Because when you hear a person's storyfirsthand,
it changeseverything that you ever thought about it.
It puts a face to that personthat you just donated.
Yeah.
That's why
that's why, you know, kind of an aside,you know, talk about this choice.
(19:02):
It's really kind of hard to dislikesomebody when you find out their story.
Yeah. Everybody has a story.
Everybody's battling somethingno matter what they look like car.
They drive house.They live in a world battling something.
So it was just so importantjust to, just to be good to people.
What you're doing with that is incredible.Yeah that was good.
I think I'll bring the fashion show back.I love that part of it.
So what's difficult about the fashion showgetting the model.
(19:23):
Well when you. Yeah.
Like when you normally do a fashion show,you know you have to coordinate
everyone and,you know, pick the boutique.
But like, for me, if I have fiveboutiques, like, who do I pick?
Oh, I do, you know what I mean.
And then if I have models going everywhereand then gathering everybody up,
it's just it's it's, it's, you know, it'sanother layer of layer of work.
(19:47):
Right.
And I've seen a lot of those in the pastwhere you have to coordinate the music.
That's right.These model have an edit each one.
Look at that.
So I've done that.
But I've done it a lot of times around
the micand I have somebody playing the music.
But other times I've done bothand that's a little challenge, you know.
But but you make it happen.
You just have a little ahead of time.
Yeah. And it's a lot of fun.
And the scripting. Yeah. Right. Scripting.
(20:09):
Like we have to give you the script,you know what?
You got to make sure you got to me. Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
So the scripting is talking aboutthe dress, the dress outfit and the bodice
and all. That's right. Yeah that's right,that's right, that's right.
The body shows up every other week.
Yep. But you could do a show
like that using, the women from dress for success again.
(20:30):
I can and I would, you know,and I think women,
think, oh, is itwhat kind of clothes do they have?
What?
Everything came from the closet.
Everything was very stylish.
Everything.
You know, they're very particularof what they they take,
you know, for the closet and,you know, it was it.
People love to hear their stories.
(20:50):
And like you said, and people
you know, the women, I thinkthe confidence that that gave the women
because everyone who attendedthe show was so welcoming to them,
you know, and so, right,you know, just wanted to support them.
So do you have a I'm sorry.
I'm just so intimate. So
I like
to have a fun girls night outcoming up this year.
(21:14):
I have one scheduled, in September,
and I'm looking to do another one,probably in the spring or the summer.
I'll go ahead. Yeah. Oh, good. Yeah.
You should come back thenand we'll talk about that. Okay. Great.
So girls night out September 2026. Yes.
Or possibly the spring andand the spring too.
(21:34):
Yeah.
I have to find a, you know, it's hardto find a great place that you, you know,
that wants to be a marketing partnerwith you and, and is a place where
all the ladies, you know, I always tryto figure a place like nothing with bad
parking, with the parking garage thing,with, you know, like,
you have to hold so many peopleand, you know, we don't have a ton of,
(21:58):
like, huge venues here in Connecticutthat we can, choose from.
So there, you know, you're limitedas a lot of things and,
and people who, you know,want to support dress for success.
And so it's kind of a little puzzlethat gets put together
to just get out and have a good time. Yes.
So getting back to thethis big bridal show,
(22:19):
you know, that you're doing and
what, what is in town,you probably know the answer to this.
When someone gets engaged,what is the first thing
they they hire to do?
What is it?
Well, once they have the date,they usually like to get the venue.
So the venue is number one. Number one.
Yeah, yeah.
(22:39):
So not, vacationand not the rings or not the.
You get the deejay, the photographer,
the videographerand the flowers and all that.
So it's the venue, the venue security.
So what's great industry.
Yeah.
And what's great about woodwinds is thatyou're going to be able to taste the food.
You're going to see what it looks likeat, you know, they have it
(23:02):
you can see what the rooms look like.
It's like a realwhat does look like a real.
That's true.
It is set up like a wedding reception.
So the.
So the date is just a date.
The date is. Yep. January 25th.
So just an if a few a week and a halfand it's only 11 to 11 to two, right.
Yeah.
And tickets can be foundon wedding styles of sitcom.
(23:24):
Or they can go to the web works.
Don't come and it's on there.
And they have until,when they were cut off
to, no, we sell tickets, through 1:00the day of the show.
Well, let me just say this.
I do remember one year getting a franticcall saying we're over the amount.
The fire department will
(23:48):
allow.
So please stop the marketing.
I remember getting that, and I think
I had to relay that to you like our friendRoss.
Okay, see, 101.
It's almost a good challengeto have you back on it.
Yeah, that show always is a great event.
And, you know, we do.
We can't have that happen again,so we will.
(24:10):
We do have to shut off ticketsat some point.
But that's that show is always sold out.
It's always a great event.
The vendors love it.
You know, we're really happy thateveryone comes out to support that event.
And, and all the sponsors and the vendorsthat we have, they're all great.
So Charlene, we between everything elseyou're doing, what else?
(24:30):
What else do you what else do you do thatyou like to share with our viewers?
You know, this is the people call you for.
Well, they call me for, you know, consulting on events.
They call me to consulton their marketing, you know, strategy,
or, you know, they may be able to doa lot of things themselves,
but they just don't know where to start.
(24:50):
And so I can help them with that.
I also work with the Griffin Hospital,
and I help plan their galaand their golf tournament.
That's huge.
It is GriffinHospital over in Derby, Connecticut.
Yeah. I've always yeah.
Good things aboutI utilize their services for something
about a year ago and I rave about them.
(25:11):
When you walk in thereand you go through the hallway,
I was greeted with a smile by everybody.
And in the waiting roomit was just so comfy.
Yeah, like a like a little fireplace area.
Y you said you actually went thereinto the hospital.
I'm in the cafeteria,and she said it was really good quality.
And it's delicious there.Wow. Shocking. At a hospital?
No. It's delicious.
We want to go to the hall. Yeah,I want to be a visitor.
(25:32):
Not right.
But if you have to go there, that's athat's really a nice place to go.
Oh, I know you were.
You were doing that with GriffinHospital and, and I'm on the board
of the Advertising Club of Connecticut,and of course, I do all the events
I plan all the events.
We just got doneplanning everything for 2026.
So you're never bored?
(25:52):
I'm never not.
We're going to have to team upwith. Yeah. Stuff. That's.
Yeah. You know this. We're great. Yeah.
But, Charlene, thank you so much for.
Thanks for having me.
And thanks for all the amazing thingsyou do.
Give a big shout out to the folks
over at woodwindswho is a sponsor of our podcast.
Thank you, Tony Sylvia. Sources.
And thanks for all you do to helpthose women that really need
a pick me up.
(26:13):
I mean, that's that'sand we'll have all the information
underneath the showwhere to buy tickets, how to reach you.
All right. Great. Yeah.Thank you. Charlene. Thanks. Thank.
Happy new year.
Can we still.
Yes, we can have a happy 2026.
Okay. All right.
We love you guys.Thank you so much for having me.
Let's go with John and Joy.
Share it with a friend. Subscribefor free on YouTube.
And let's bring people together in 2026.
(26:35):
Make that a New Year's resolutionfor those. That's mine.
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