Can Wedding Professionals Really Take Time Off? Julie Smith Proves It's Possible with Sabbaticals, Workcations, and Automation Strategies

Kevin Dennis [: 00:00:01

Welcome to mind your wedding business podcast. I'm your host, Kevin Dennis. In addition to leading the charge at Weddingiq, I also run fantasy sound event Services, a lighting and entertainment company based in Livermore, California, that I founded over 35 years ago. Each week on this podcast, you'll hear thought provoking and empowering interviews with wedding professionals who have found success in the industry. If you're a business minded wedding pro who loves love but also cares about their bottom line, buckle up and get ready to learn from a new industry expert each week. All right, so, folks, we're going to welcome to our episode Julianne Smith from the Garter Girl. So, Julianne, welcome.

Julie Smith [: 00:00:41

Hello. Welcome or no welcome to me.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:00:46

That's right. We got to welcome you. Thank you for being here.

Julie Smith [: 00:00:50

Absolutely.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:00:52

All right, so today we're talking about planning a sabbatical in your business. So can you tell us just what is a sabbatical, and how long can one of those last?

Julie Smith [: 00:01:01

Well, clearly I need one, considering welcomed you to your podcast. So, for me, a sabbatical looks like every summer I take a three month break. Yes, it's amazing. I take a three month break from production. I call it production in my business. But what I've learned over the years is that sabbatical means different things to different people, to different businesses, and it looks different from year to year. So for me, I kind of looked at. I looked at the natural ebb and flow of my business and didn't realize what I was doing.

Julie Smith [: 00:01:45

Like, there was a name for it, because I've been doing this for 15 years now. But, you know, I know people that businesses that take sabbaticals over the, like, winter break sort of holiday, that time between Thanksgiving and New Year's, that's a good time for a lot of people. Some people take sabbaticals every other sort of quarter or different quarters, or it just kind of looks. Looks different. And so for me, a sabbatical, like I said, I do June 1 to September 1 every year. And why that works for me is because my parents have a house in New Jersey at the beach. If any of your listeners are from the Jersey shore, you will understand that that's a thing. And so people go to the shore for the summer.

Julie Smith [: 00:02:33

And so to kind of take my business on the road was not possible. But how do I sustain my business and do it?

Kevin Dennis [: 00:02:44

Yeah, how can you do this? How can you take three months off?

Julie Smith [: 00:02:47

Kind of crazy. It's kind of crazy. I'm sure a lot of your listeners are probably thinking that, oh, must be nice, you know, and I get snarky comments all the time, even from potential clients. And they say things like, I can't believe you can do that during busy season, during wedding season. And I could never do that in my business and things like that. But the truth is, when you're in the wedding or event space, it's always busy season. It's never not busy season. And so if you don't take the break, the break will never happen, ever.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:03:23

And that's a good point. And the other thing to consider too is like, wedding season is different. This is, you know, when I was with international president, the biggest education, I mean, I learned just as much as I was giving to that. But the biggest thing I learned is that wedding season is different for everyone across the country. So, you know, like Arizona, like during the time that you're breaking, they're not doing weddings, you know? Cause it's so hot down there in, you know, around Arizona and even outside in Vegas, like, they're not doing outdoor outdoors weddings that time of year as well. You know, like everything is moved indoor, you know, so it just, it's different. You know, every, everyone has a different season, you know, winter time. For some people, maybe they don't do as much of weddings, you know, so it's different for everyone.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:04:09

I think so.

Julie Smith [: 00:04:10

And if you're like me, so I'm on the product side. So I make a product, it's always busy season for me. I don't have a downtime. I don't, there is no time where events are not happening because I say, oh, okay, you know, a lot of my business is last minute. But then, you guys know, a lot of my business is the client who's like, I'm getting married in 2.5 years and this is exactly what I want. And, you know, and so there is never, when you're on the product side, there's never a downtime. And yeah, again, I always get these comments like, I can't believe you can do that during business. Like, because again, mine happens to be in summer.

Julie Smith [: 00:04:52

And it's not because I said, oh, this is the downtime. I just said, oh, this is what works with my life, right? I have three little kids, they're off school in the summer. They need me to be everything to them, right? And so it just wasn't working. So I had to figure out a way, how do I do this business and have it sustained for twelve months but sort of rest and recharge at some point, right? Because for me, the holiday time is not downtime either. Right. It's not like some people can take the break over the new year, and I can't. So it just. It kind of just depends.

Julie Smith [: 00:05:35

And I used to live in this, like, land of, like, oh, it's busy season. Busy season. But, like, again, like I said, if you don't take the break, no one's giving it to you, especially when you own your own business. So, for me, what that looks like is, like, I take a break from June 1 to September 1. Now, the biggest advice that I always give everybody, when it comes to any kind of sabbatical or break or whatever you're doing, you gotta give yourself a buffer on the front end and on the back end.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:06:06

Oh, okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:06:07

Like.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:06:07

And why?

Julie Smith [: 00:06:08

Because you gonna need time to, like, get into the break. You can't just prep. You can't just have the break because you need that. Like, because the point of the sabbatical and the point of the break is to actually take the break. But if you are spending time sort of trying to get into it and wrap up loose ends, but also, at the same time, do your business, it's. It's stressful even talking about it. So I'll give you an example. So, what I do is, I do June 1, because that's an easy, round number.

Julie Smith [: 00:06:42

But I'm actually not leaving town until June 23, when my kids get out of school. That's right. My kids go fully into June.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:06:54

I was gonna say, geez, that's.

Julie Smith [: 00:06:55

That's another podcast for another day. So, I have three weeks where I'm not taking any new orders, but I am wrapping up.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:07:07

Oh, I see how you.

Julie Smith [: 00:07:09

So, I don't take custom deposits until I stop taking them June 1. I stopped taking orders June 1. And that gives me three weeks to kind of wrap up what I'm doing. It gives me three weeks to, like. It gives me, like, some breathing room. And I'm not saying, like, a sabbatical is, like, you got to get out of town, but you got to give yourself the break to kind of catch up. So, that's three weeks to kind of get it together. But as far as, like, my clients know, I am out of the office.

Julie Smith [: 00:07:38

Right. Coming June. And it does give them a.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:07:43

That, like, sense of urgency to get their stuff. Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:07:47

Yeah, there it is. The sense of urgency to do the booking, to make the decision to do what they're gonna do, because otherwise, you know, they can't get the product until after September. And so it's nice from that perspective, because it gets my clients to get motivated and make decisions and do what they need to do. But anyway, so I give myself that buffer to kind of ease in, so that by the time I go to leave town, I'm like, first of all, I'm good and stressed. I'm good and wound tight, but it gives myself a little bit of break to kind of, like, do what I need to do. Fair, because I think sometimes I used to just say, okay, you know, stop taking orders. June 22, and that just, like, wasn't. What happens is I would go to the sabbatical even more stressed out.

Julie Smith [: 00:08:39

It just. It didn't work. So the buffer is key and same on the back end.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:08:44

I was just going to ask you about the back end. What's the buffer look like? Coming back?

Julie Smith [: 00:08:48

Yes. So the back end is, I think I'm coming back into. I think my kids start school the 29th, which means I will be back in town the night, midnight, the 28th, screaming. If you guys hear screaming from, you know, Washington, DC, it will be me having to leave the beach and come home. But then I won't start taking orders or turn this kind of switch back on until September 1. So that gives me, like, a week or so to get back in the office, put everything away, unpack, like, get myself together, kind of see what I'm dealing with and gives myself some space. The problem is, is when you start making commitments or things that you need to have done immediately, it. There's just.

Julie Smith [: 00:09:37

It's like you just undid all the break that you just.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:09:42

Yeah, it makes sense, right?

Julie Smith [: 00:09:44

You're right back. I always say to myself, if I don't take the rest and relaxation and come back, like, if I don't relax and come back just as stressed when I left, like, what's the point? And so you really have to make sure that you give yourself that time to kind of come back in, and it has to do with, like, the commitments that you make and the commitments that you make to your clients, and, you know, those expectations that you set. And when you're the business owner, you get to set the expectations. And so giving yourself another week or two weeks to, you know, exceed their expectations, that's going to be better for you, because what's the difference if I say, oh, well, I'm going to be back August 29, or I'm going to be back September 1, like, it doesn't matter to them.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:10:30

No. Yeah, no, yeah. They'll just wait, wait until it's time to go back again. So.

Julie Smith [: 00:10:36

Well, and the worst is you say I'm going to have your product when I get back in the office, you know, with time. And then I can't. I literally cannot do it. And now they're upset. Yeah, but if I had just said something a little bit later, you know, because you know how clients are. They're going to take every last milli inch of.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:10:56

Of your energy 100,000%. So, all right, I'm. So how does someone know they need a sabbatical? Because I'm already in my head thinking I need one right now.

Julie Smith [: 00:11:09

Yeah. I mean, listen, I went through years where it was like, I'm taking a break, or I'm going to have a breakdown. And if you start resenting your clients, resenting your business, if you feel you just that overall stressed out, my biggest piece of advice here is, like, take the break before you're going to be forced to take the break. If you're even thinking about it. If you're even thinking, then, yes, that is the time when you need to have it. The last thing you want to do is leave the business altogether or just completely lose it, and then you're forced to take a break. And so if you have that break coming up that, you know, you can look forward to, that provides you immediate relief in the moment, because you can say to your, like, for me, as stressed out as I am right now, I'm like, okay, it's coming. It's coming.

Julie Smith [: 00:12:03

And I can. Those things that. That I'm like, I can put this off. I can put this off. What do I have to do next? What do I have to do right now? Like, what is happening right in this moment, what's due tomorrow, it gives you a little bit of relief.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:12:18

Yeah. You have your eye on the prize is what, you know, like, kind of. I remember during, you know, coming back from COVID in 2021, you know, California. I'm in California. So we were really shut down, and we didn't start coming back until the end of February of 2021. So we went almost an entire year with nothing, you know, so it was the pent up trying to get everything in. We were doing wedding. You know, I kept joking.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:12:41

We were like, Las Vegas. We had them during the week. We had weddings all. They just kept coming, kept coming. And as we got further away, you know, from that kind of march date, people got more and more comfortable doing events, and therefore, the demand got even crazier. And so we went. We went 47 days with at least one wedding a day. And, oh, boy.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:13:03

Yeah, it was. It was intense around here, and it was just like, I felt like it was like, next. Who's next? All right, next. Next. But it was kind of crazy because we have a timeshare in Hawaii, and so. And we were going to spend thanksgiving in Hawaii. So that's my, like, my eye on the prize was all right. Only 13 more days until, you know, I get to lay by the beach for, you know, even though it was only.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:13:27

We were only going for nine. Nine nights, you know, but it was just like, my eye was on the prize.

Julie Smith [: 00:13:32

So, yeah, you need it. You need that. Especially when you're the business owner, right? You're the marketing director. You're the HR department. You're the, you know, the one actually doing and producing and servicing clients. Like, when you're all the things, you need time to catch up mentally, and then you also need time to do all those other things that you can't do when you're on sabbatical.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:13:58

Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:13:58

And, you know, I think sometimes for me, I get a lot of pushback sometimes from people that are on the service based side, as they say, with your product, you can just. You can just take that break. I'm like, really? Because, you know, I'm also shipping and producing product, and I have to sell, I don't know, a hundred times more product to make what you make in one weekend. And so there's. There's differences in every business. And for me, it happens to look like three months, which actually, if you're really talking about it, I'm not there three. We just talked about first spaces. It's not a full three months, but sometimes it can be nine weeks, sometimes it can be a week.

Julie Smith [: 00:14:43

It's that point that you can look forward to is a break, a break, a planned break. Now, some people have, like, very purist, like, sabbatical is. I'm, you know, literally doing nothing. And there are times, because my sabbatical, if you want to call it, is so long. I do have periods where I give myself time to literally do nothing, but I also have times to do those things in my business that I cannot otherwise get to. Right. Like, I've got a mile long list of the things that I would like to get to this summer. I have some.

Julie Smith [: 00:15:21

Yeah, I have some things that are flagged, like, must do, and then I have some things that are, like, would be nice. So it's like, when you're in the middle of it, when you're in the thick of it, when you're in on day, like, 30 of 47 events in a row, that's not the time to, like, you know, rewrite the email sequence and to schedule the Pinterest and to rewrite the marketing copy on your. No. When you're stressed out, it feels like everything's really important, but when you can say, okay, I'm gonna put that in my sabbatical bucket, and we're gonna get to that later, and then you come back to it.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:16:01

So you use your sabbatical then to. You're also working on your business, but it's also. You're in a headspace where you can put some really good thought and take some time and to create new processes, procedures, or, you know, whatever it is. Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. I never even thought about that.

Julie Smith [: 00:16:19

Well, so for you, you were talking about your. Your trip to Hawaii. That was like a break.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:16:23

Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:16:24

Right. And that's important, and we need to do those kinds of things. So, like I said, sabbaticals look different for everyone.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:16:31

Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:16:32

And I think there's this concept of that everything has to be like, vacation to Hawaii and my feet are up and I'm doing nothing, but that's, to me, that's not sustainable. Right. So, yes, I have those times where I am, and I do make sure that I do take that time, but when I find. I don't know if you found when you come back from vacation. When I come back, vacation, I am, like, rested and my brain is ready to do the thing. And so that's when I can have, like, when I've had that clarity, that break, then I'm like, okay, time to, like, rewrite the website copy or time to do that thing that I've been putting off and can't do when I'm constantly serving. Serving clients. And so it's really kind of paying attention to, like, the ebb and flow of your business.

Julie Smith [: 00:17:20

So, yes, I do, like, check email on when I'm on my sabbatical. And I do do work. I. What's the. It's like, you work in your business, not on your business. I don't know which one it is. But basically, I'm not serving. When I'm not serving clients, I can actually set myself up to serve them better when I'm back.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:17:39

Yeah. Even when I'm in Hawaii, I'm just kind of running through my email real quick because it's just. It's habit, but it also, if I don't, my brain is, like, wondering what's going on. So I just take, like, you know, ten minutes in the morning to just kind of clean out my email real quick. And if there's anything important, important, then I'll forward it on to someone else to take care of, so to speak. But I.

Julie Smith [: 00:17:59

But that allows you to then relax.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:18:02

For the rest of the day 100%.

Julie Smith [: 00:18:04

And if you're not, if you're sitting there stressed out and wondering, oh my God, what's going on? What's going on? Like, what the heck kind of break is that?

Kevin Dennis [: 00:18:12

Yeah. Yeah, that's true.

Julie Smith [: 00:18:13

If it takes you 1015 minutes to triage the inbox so then you're like, I can relax for the next 6 hours.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:18:21

Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:18:22

To me it's worth it. I just think there's too much like black and white sabbatical must look like this. Break, vacation must look like this. And that's nothing. It's not the case.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:18:32

Yeah, I think as small business owners, we're never off, you know, like even we could be at wherever we are, you know, out to dinner or whatever. And if the, the little thing dings, we're gonna look because, you know, one, we're curious. We gotta know what's going on, you know? And so it's hard. Some people can really shut it down, some people can't, you know? And I think it's different for everyone.

Julie Smith [: 00:18:53

Yeah. And for me though, I'm able to kind of shut it down in those micro moments throughout the day because I'm saying, you know, I will. I know that I have time to kind of get to it and deal with it.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:19:07

I guess that's good. So is what, what do you have to do? I mean, we talked a little bit about it, but like, what are the real big process of getting ready to like shut things down and get. And to go on your sabbatical?

Julie Smith [: 00:19:19

Boy, I'll tell you what I love the most, and that is the email automations. They are so sophisticated now that, I mean, I don't know. Like I said, I've been doing this for 15 years and it just keeps getting better and better and better. And it's really kind of thinking, thinking through your process and where your client would be and what would get them to kind of book with you. Okay, then be patient on the back end.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:19:53

Okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:19:53

And it's, it's, for me, it's the, the email automation. And I can tell you a little bit about how I handle it. So for me, because I am a product for the, for the summer, I sell out all the sample inventory and just like products that I have sitting around because, you know, throughout the year, you're doing stuff for photo shoots, you you make something and then you realize, oh, that was wrong. So you kind of set it in the summer bucket. So I do a sample sale. Well, I sell out of all that kind of stuff.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:20:26

Oh, nice.

Julie Smith [: 00:20:26

But that is all handled through email automation. Right. So you would come to my website, you'd say, oh, the summer sale is happening, and you can get the discount code to get a further discount. But how do you get that code? You gotta enter your email and then that sends you the follow up. If you don't purchase, it sends you up. Follow up, follow up, follow up. Until you do purchase or you unsubscribe. So there's those folks.

Julie Smith [: 00:20:56

So I'm selling out that inventory for the folks that can actually wait and they know what they want. I do a pre sale on orders. Yes. So if your wedding is after, I think it's like September 15, because again, that gives me like three weeks to make it when I get home again, all handled through email automation. It's like you purchase it now and it's all handled through automation. Now, anyone who's custom, you can take care of your deposit, and then that puts you front of the line when I return. Again, all handled through email automation. And so for your customers that are service based businesses, that's the kind of thing you can kind of handle through email automation.

Julie Smith [: 00:21:39

Okay, you know, we're on a break right now. Here's a little video from me. Here's what it looks like. You know, just, there's like a lot of different ways that you, you can handle things. You could even do. You know, I'm taking calls on Fridays only. Right. You can, you can do certain things.

Julie Smith [: 00:22:00

And again, a lot of it can be handled and booked through automations, but you just have to think about your process and how it would look and what your customer is looking for.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:22:11

Yeah. It seems like if you take a little time on the front end to set all that up, you have, it frees yourself up way, you know, so much more during the middle and the end, so to speak. Yeah, yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:22:21

And then you also plan while you're in the one, you plan for the next one. Right. You're. Because you're going. This whole idea of a pre sale was something that came up a few years ago. Believe it or not. I didn't. I think this is maybe the third summer that I've been doing the pre sale because, you know, you have people that come to you in July and they're like, oh, you know, my wedding isn't until December or March, but they're ready to, like, buy?

Kevin Dennis [: 00:22:46

Yeah. Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:22:47

I would say, no, no, come back to me in September. But they never came back.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:22:50

Yeah, true.

Julie Smith [: 00:22:52

So you learn a little bit each time, and each sabbatical, each break looks different each time. And it just keeps getting better and better and better every single time.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:23:02

What do you use for email automation? I'm curious.

Julie Smith [: 00:23:05

Oh, yeah. Okay. So my website is on Shopify.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:23:11

Okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:23:12

So I use an email system called klaviyo.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:23:14

Okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:23:15

Starts with a key, klaviyo, which, if you're not on Shopify, I'm sorry. To the Klaviyo people, I would not use it. It is so complicated. It's really complicated. But it works really well with Shopify.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:23:28

Oh, I gotcha.

Julie Smith [: 00:23:29

So that's the way I use it. But for my other sides of my business, I use mailchimp.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:23:35

Oh, okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:23:37

Yeah. So I have a marketing agency where we handle the pinterest for and the blogging for lots of different clients. So for that one, I use mailchimp. And that works really well. You can do a lot of, they call them journeys through there. And then I have another, like, niche website business, and I just use the email through squarespace.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:24:00

Oh, okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:24:01

And it works because it's one login and I don't get another password, but I've used convertkit. I mean, I think they're all really the same. Like I said, everything's getting better and better and so they're all competing with each other now. Yeah, some people, somebody was, one of my clients was having me look over their stuff through Dubsado.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:24:22

Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:24:23

I mean, I think there's a lot you can do with calendly and, you know, all these different things where you can. So much of it can be handled through automation and you don't feel as the client like you're being automated. Yeah, I think it's tough as the business owner because, you know, it's so automated. But your client doesn't feel that way.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:24:45

Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:24:45

And I get this comment from, from people all the time. They're like, thank you so much, like, for your tips. I just love getting your emails. And they think I'm, like, literally sitting there. And if you are you, when you're setting them up, like, you're being you, you're being personable. You're just trying to. Then that comes across in the email. Right.

Julie Smith [: 00:25:10

I do a lot of videos. Like, I record them on loom and I dump them in an email. People love that stuff.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:25:16

Yeah. And it's really simple because you do it once and it's set up, and, you know, you probably refresh them every so often and go from there.

Julie Smith [: 00:25:23

Yeah, I'm just, like, for the summer. Hey, I'm on a break right now. Like, love it. You know? And this is. This is what I'm happening. This is my process. I. You know, maybe, like I said, you want to take calls every other week? Like, hey, get on my calendar for, you know, I'm taking calls on Friday.

Julie Smith [: 00:25:40

I really want to talk to you. And this is how it works. And this, that and the other thing.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:25:44

Yeah. What's your favorite thing to do while you're on your sabbatical?

Julie Smith [: 00:25:48

Oh, my gosh. The beach. I really. It makes me, every year, fall back in love with my business.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:25:56

Okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:25:57

I really love that, because by May, I'm hating and resenting everybody. My clients, my family, like, myself. I'm just. I'm like. And. But by, like, mid August, I'm ready to get back. I'm ready to get back to my business again. And that is such an amazing feeling, to be fired up, to have my creativity reignited, if you will, kind of a year.

Julie Smith [: 00:26:31

And listen, I do take little breaks throughout the year, go on vacations. I do a little. A friend of mine in the industry, she calls them workcations. I've been experimenting with workcations every quarter where I go. Yeah. Yes. This one is genius, too. So I go away every quarter and work on my business, do those little things.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:26:57

Okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:26:58

I'm interested to see this year how my summer sabbatical looks, having done all these workcations. And I will be doing a workcation while I'm on sabbatical.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:27:08

Okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:27:08

So that I.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:27:10

Do you go to workation with other people or just yourself?

Julie Smith [: 00:27:15

Okay, good question. So the last two. The last two quarters. Quarter one and quarter two, I have done them with other people, but we've had, like, strict, like, this is what we're doing. These are our goals. Hold, like, sit across the table from me and hold. Hold me accountable.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:27:30

Okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:27:31

And we just work. We get it done. You know, we're there to bounce ideas off of. And then this one that I'm gonna do this summer is just gonna be me.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:27:40

Okay.

Julie Smith [: 00:27:41

I'm just gonna, like, I might actually come back here to my house at home and just, like, put my head down for two days and just get some things done so that when I'm back with my family, I'm checked in.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:27:55

And ready to go.

Julie Smith [: 00:27:56

A little more relaxed. Yeah, I get. So, anyway, it'll be interesting, but yes to the workcation this was a friend in the industry taught me this. She's been doing this for years, and. But she goes by herself, so she goes to a hotel for three days, and we're really good friends. And, like, she's like, you're not invited. No one's invited. Like, and this is how she handles.

Julie Smith [: 00:28:19

This is what sabbatical means for her. Right. So she takes breaks every quarter where she does all the things that she can't do. Right. So she schedules the blog posts. She schedules the things. And, you know, she answers all the emails from her staff that have just been sitting in her inbox, and she rewrites the HR documents and she, you know, just all those things that you just don't have time for. Right.

Julie Smith [: 00:28:48

I think, like, you know, applying for that new credit card that you haven't had a minute, like, setting up, like, you know, auto pay on the thing and just all that stuff that if you sat down and did, it would take you 20 minutes, but when you're in the thick of, it takes, like, five days.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:29:04

Yeah, it really does. It just. Yeah, because, you know, people will have, you know, they always say what? You have this big monster to do list, and people are just constantly pushing things forward. Forward. And the list just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. But that, you know, a workcation makes sense because then you can just, you know, cut that list and get it in half and, you know, what do you really need to get done and what's important? And. Yeah, I really like that. I've never, never heard that term.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:29:27

I really. I'm gonna steal that. Yeah, steal that idea.

Julie Smith [: 00:29:30

Yeah. So she literally takes her desktop computer from her office to the hotel. Yeah, this is serious stuff. And she has, like, a plan. It's like room service. She makes a couple spa appointments, but it's like she's there to work. She's not there to just, like, dink away on her phone and screw around on social media. She is like, if I have my desktop, like, I'm doing the thing, and that's what we're doing.

Julie Smith [: 00:30:02

And I always thought, oh, I don't need to do that. I got my summer sabbatical, no big deal, but I don't know. I was really found myself super stressed in quarter one of this year, and a friend said, listen, why don't I come down there, we'll get a hotel room, and we'll knock it out over the weekend. And I was like, yeah, let's do it. So then I said, I'm going to plan this every quarter. And we just did another one, and that was really great, too. So it's like I said, it's the combination of it all, but it's also just. Just having, like, I can knock, I can shut myself down from work for two days, three days, three weeks, and, like, it's not all going to fall apart.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:30:48

Yeah. Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:30:49

No, it's actually going to be stronger in the end.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:30:52

Oh, yeah. Because you, william, you, I find when I'm here, like, that's why I always love when I travel. Like, I'm on the airplane, because I have no one bothering me, you know, so I can kind of get through some of those items that you kind of talk about. But it's because when you're here at work, it's like, you know, that you're, you know, people are walking in the door, they have questions, and then next thing you know, you know, you've planned. I like to time block a lot, so I like to try to block out my time, and I find that, you know, a lot of it gets hijacked by my employees or, you know, clients problems and all that kind of stuff. So I'm not able to be as productive as, you know, on some days as I wish I would be because, you know, shit happens so.

Julie Smith [: 00:31:34

Well, time blocking is a challenge for me, and I don't know if it's just me, but it's like I say, okay, I'm in an hour for this project or thing, but really, it's a three hour project or four. It's like, things always take way longer than I expect. How do you, how do you handle that?

Kevin Dennis [: 00:31:52

So the tip is, as you, I've learned over the year, is you. You work on it until the time's up, you stop. And then if you still have more work to do, then you reschedule it in another day and you keep going, you know, so you got. It can't be something that's due that day, obviously, you know, so you're, you're working as long as you're working, you know, a week, you know, plus ahead of yourself, you can really do it. And I find when I work on things, because I have ADHD and I, you know, I have a hard time focusing on things, but I find if I block the time, work on it is. Is what I scheduled, and then I move on to the next thing, and then I'm nothing like whatever was the last thing that I was wanting to get to that day. I'll actually touch on it, get to it in some capacity, you know, and then. And then at the end of the day, I just re through and reschedule my day based on what appointments and what I have going the following day.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:32:45

And it's. It's. It's a habit. And I think once you built the habit, it's pretty easy to. To accomplish.

Julie Smith [: 00:32:51

Yeah. I think my challenge is walking away in the moment saying, okay, well, my time is up.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:32:56

Yeah. I have a really good friend of mine, Britt used to do. She used to do it to music, so she would have, you know, different playlist. She had a 30 minutes, 45 and a 60 minutes playlist, and so she would put on whatever playlist, and she would work on something for that amount of time, and she knew when that playlist was up, it's time to move on to something else. So, you know. Yeah. Everyone can do it totally different.

Julie Smith [: 00:33:17

Well, yeah. Like I said, I love. I love the sabbatical because it gets me out of my routine. It switches up the routine, but it gives me that creative break, that brain space break, because when you're in the middle trying to grind out a project, like you said, you could block off an hour, but if you're just in the middle of it and you're kind of burnt out already, it's going to take you. Take you that much longer. And I think as these creative businesses, like, we've got to really protect our creative energy.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:33:51

Yeah, 100% agree. Yeah. It's. It's the one thing that we don't. We don't do enough of, you know, like, we don't protect that, so.

Julie Smith [: 00:33:59

Well, I'll tell you a quick answer to your question. You asked me a little bit ago, how do you know you need a break? And if you're sitting here listening, thinking, I could never do that in my business, you need a break.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:34:13

100%.

Julie Smith [: 00:34:14

You are one of these people. If you are sitting here thinking, that must be nice for her, that must be nice for Kevin, you know, going to Hawaii. Like, you need a break.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:34:23

Yeah, well, no, you just. And that's what I. Look at it. It's family time. So I don't do a whole sabbatical like you do, but I do vacations, and I use my vacations as sabbaticals. But I'm going to work on that workcation thing that you talked about because that seems like a genius, because you just. Especially because there's time even like, I would. I could see me taking, you know, one or two staff members with me, and then we just lock ourselves up somewhere and just get everything done that we don't, you know, put our out of office on and don't answer the phone and just get her done.

Julie Smith [: 00:34:51

So, yeah, when you stop, when you put the out of office, when you stop, answer like, that's what I'm saying. That's with me, with the taking of the orders. When I stop doing that, that's when the work gets done. And if you're continually serving while you're trying to do, it's impossible to catch up.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:35:11

So when you come back from a sabbatical and you flip the switch back on, like, is, you know, what are some tips like? It seems a little, I'll be honest, seems a little overwhelming. Like, all of a sudden, like, the floodgates are going to open, and next thing you know, you got, you know, for yourself is probably, you know, hundreds of orders sitting there ready to go, you know, because everyone's pent up, ready to go, and, you know, so there's some tips on coming back from a sabbatical.

Julie Smith [: 00:35:36

Yeah, well, so the buffer we talked about, but also you, it comes down to managing their expectations, and you always want to over, what is it, under promise and over deliver.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:35:53

Over deliver.

Julie Smith [: 00:35:54

So for me, I really, mine has to do with timing. I really push the timing out. And I say, if your wedding is after September 15, if your wedding is after October, like, this is for you. And I really try to say, I don't say, oh, you know, item shipping, like the week of August 29. No, it's like shipping the week of August 1 or October. Sorry, October 1. I give myself so much time. And let me tell you the other thing that it does, because as we were talking about, clients will take every inch and then some.

Julie Smith [: 00:36:30

I do. It gives me a break to service those last minute people that are happen to be in September. And I'm able to say, well, for you, I can do it because I've pushed off, you know, November and December. Like, I just. I try to really give myself as much time as humanly possible. Like, for me, I have on my website, if you were just to order for me now it's like two weeks, but I know that I don't need two weeks, but sometimes I do need the full two weeks. So I really try to, like, give myself, like, grace and then some. Yeah, the clients, when you.

Julie Smith [: 00:37:14

When you give them a date, they're gonna be back at you. So if you just push it farther than you think and what makes you feel kind of a little uncomfortable, and then you exceed that expectation with them, they always love you and two weeks.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:37:28

Seems reasonable, you know, when you're ordering something. Yeah. It's not like it's, you know. And then you might get excited if it shows up in, you know, five, six, seven days, you know, which it.

Julie Smith [: 00:37:38

99% of the time does.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:37:41

Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:37:41

Every once in a while, I need that relief. I need the two weeks. I. Yeah, but I don't always. And so the same with coming back from the sabbatical. It's like, I'm coming back, but this is what you can expect. The biggest thing, and this is to answer your question about some things you can do, is you really do have to communicate. You have to over communicate.

Julie Smith [: 00:38:04

So what does that look like? So on the front end? Starting in. Gosh, I think I started in April of this year at the signature in my email. It's like summer break is happening. Oh, yes.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:38:16

Smart.

Julie Smith [: 00:38:16

Summer break is. What does this mean? Like, and sometimes I'll do a blog post where I kind of describe it. Sometimes I can just kind of put it there. It just kind of depends, like, so, for me, any time of year, when you make a custom design request, you got to go. We were talking about the email notification. It's in there. I don't care if you're making your request in November or October. There's a big, bolded letters.

Julie Smith [: 00:38:39

We take a summer break typically between, you know, June 1 and September 1. What does that mean? It means that if you're getting married in July, this is what you need. So, like, I am constantly communicating. Constantly communicating. It is like, so everybody knows. So that when the client, you know, came to me in January, I gave them the information, but then they didn't get, they, you know, sat on it for six months, and then they come back to me in July saying, okay, now I'm ready. I'm like, I can't. So it's like everybody who comes to me knows it's happening.

Julie Smith [: 00:39:16

It's when clients feel blindsided or they feel like they didn't know that, they get upset. And I was. For as many clients as I've had, oh, it must be nice, you know, during your busy season, I get more clients that say to me, good for you. Like, this is great. And they are very respectful of the time, and they are always happy for me, and they're supportive, and they think it's great, and it's when they don't feel communicated to or they feel blindsided. So my biggest tip is just, especially when you're in the service based industry, is like, no one minds a vacation. No one minds a break. They mind when they don't know about it.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:40:00

Yeah. True. Yeah. I'm going on a cruise, and I've been telling all for the first time, we're a big family, about 16 of us. I mean, not a big fan. I have a small family, but there's a bunch of us from our family going on this cruise. And I've been telling all my clients before and after, like, I'm going to be gone. And this is when I, you know, so you, you know, I've been communicating with everyone to set that expectation.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:40:19

If they do try to reach out to me while I'm gone, you know, they're not going to get ahold of me. And they don't need to freak out because they know.

Julie Smith [: 00:40:25

Yeah. No one cares. They take vacations themselves. They take breaks, too. It's just, they don't know. And so for you, I would even consider for your vacations, giving yourself the buffer day as far as your clients are concerned, the buffer day on the front. When's your break? My, I'm actually leaving on this date, but for as far as you know, this is my day out of the office. And same with coming back, this is my day in the office.

Julie Smith [: 00:40:47

Because I'll tell you what, if you say your date back in the office is of September 1, they're going to expect an answer on September 1.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:40:54

Oh, yeah. Yeah. And that's one thing I don't do and I think I'm going to have to, I'm going to build into my vacations is the buffer day on the front end and the back end because it makes a complete sense because I'm usually, you know, there'll be times that I'm working until, you know, twelve 01:00 at night and then we're on the 05:00 flight out, you know, to get wherever we're going on vacation. And I'm exhausted the first day of vacation.

Julie Smith [: 00:41:16

Well, and you're, you're still trying to handle the emails and everything. You didn't get to first day of vacation or second day of vacation. I bet you if you did buffer on the front and buffer on the end of one day, I bet you in a couple years it's gonna be two or three. But yourself, just one day, you would be able to start the relaxation a lot faster.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:41:41

Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:41:41

Because you weren't trying to serve clients and prepare for the vacation at the same time. You, you just, it's like the buffer day or in my case, week or two weeks, three weeks, depending on, on what you're doing the buffer is so, so important, and it allows you to take that break. Maybe you wouldn't need that ten to 15 minutes email check in if you were able to wrap it up tight before you got on the plane.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:42:09

Yeah, 100%. Wow. So much to think about. So much we learned today here, you know? So, yeah, no, I just. I'm blown away. And it just. It's a mindset thing, I think, where, you know, you just got to think differently and then 100% go for it. So we're getting close to our time.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:42:25

So anything you want to leave us with, wrap us up with when it comes to sabbaticals. Other than do it.

Julie Smith [: 00:42:31

Yeah, other than if you're sitting here thinking you couldn't do it, you need to just do it and listen. You need to do it. Make the mistake, screw it up. Because otherwise, if you sit in this, like, I can't do that. My business is this, you know, snowflake, unicorn. That can't. And my clients are, you know, so demanding. You need to go ahead and plan one.

Julie Smith [: 00:42:57

Do it, screw it up, or make all the mistakes. And then, like I said, mine comes back, and I'm changing it every year. Every year, it looks a little bit different, and. But you. You have to just do it, try it out, put it on the calendar, and you'll be surprised if you say, okay, I'm going to take one week. Whatever. Between whatever Christmas and New Year's, you just. It's like, it's on the calendar that we can plan for it.

Julie Smith [: 00:43:24

What you don't want is. And what you think you can't do, which is completely lose it. And within 24 hours, you're, like, on a break. Right. So if you can plan for it, let your clients know. You'd be surprised what you have the capacity for.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:43:40

Yeah, makes sense. Makes sense. All right, so, um, one question I always ask everyone before we wrap up, and I know you're on the product side, so this might be a little different for you, but what's your favorite part of a wedding?

Julie Smith [: 00:43:51

Ooh, that's a tough one.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:43:55

I feel like it. For me, it's changed over the years I've had. Different. Yeah. Yeah. Once I had kids, it's. It changed for me.

Julie Smith [: 00:44:03

Yeah. I don't know. I guess probably like, this sort of heirloom side, like, the way that people incorporate their whole families as they're kind of new family.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:44:19

Yeah. Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:44:20

Like, I was looking at a wedding of a client the other day, and they had. Instead of flower girls, they had flower grandmothers.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:44:29

Yeah. Isn't that cute?

Julie Smith [: 00:44:30

I love that. And it's like, I just love the unique ways that people incorporate their families. You know, the new families, the old families. The.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:44:43

Everybody's family looks different now. Yeah.

Julie Smith [: 00:44:46

I love to see kind of the heirloom kind of keepsake part of it.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:44:51

Yeah. I love that. There's not my big thing. I keep telling all my clients there's no rules anymore, you know? Yeah. So it's just like, it's what's important to you, and that's what we're going to do, you know? And if it's not important to you, we move on and we, you know, we find what is important to you, and that's what we're going to hit on. So.

Julie Smith [: 00:45:08

Anyway, well, and because everybody has something that's important to them, they just might not know it right away until they.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:45:14

Get through the process. They don't know. All right, so how does someone get in contact with you? Oh, wait, wait, wait. With that being said, come September 1, right.

Julie Smith [: 00:45:24

No, exactly. So my instagram is the Julian Smith because, you know, when you're. When your last name is.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:45:34

Yeah. You gotta be v, right.

Julie Smith [: 00:45:38

So. Or, you know, my website, juliansmith.com, i managed to get that one, but that was like, you know, 15 years ago. Yeah. Just connect with me online. I really. I love. I love a pre schedule, so don't feel like you can't connect with me if it's between June 1. I just.

Julie Smith [: 00:45:59

I love. We were talking about the automations and things like that. So that, you know, and even for the social media scheduling, I love that.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:46:07

Sounds good. All right, well, I can't thank you enough for being here. I really appreciate it.

Julie Smith [: 00:46:12

Thank you.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:46:13

Thank you, guys, to our listeners. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of mind your wedding business podcast, brought to you by weddingiq. I hope you've enjoyed listening to this episode. Please get in touch with me. If you have a topic you would like for me to cover, or if you are in the area of your business you would like you're struggling with, let us know. We'll be happy to help. I encourage you to check out our other episodes on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you're a fan, we'd love to hear from you, and we'd love for you to subscribe to our podcast and leave a review.

Kevin Dennis [: 00:46:46

It helps others find our podcast so they can learn from our guests, too. Thanks again for listening.