Reflecting on 2024: Podcast Highlights, Lessons, and Laughs
Ready for a behind-the-scenes recap of our first year in the podcasting world? From humor-filled conversations to inspiring insights, we’re looking back at it all!
As we wrap up 2024, I’m joined by a special guest co-host, August Yocher. August is our brand manager at Fantasy Sound Event Services, and today, she’s stepping in to help me reflect on some of our favorite podcast moments from this year.
Our very first episode with my sister (IYKYK), Meghan Ely, set the tone for balancing humor with professionalism. We shared stories about pranks and behind-the-scenes laughter, reminding everyone that a little fun can go a long way in the wedding business. This lighthearted dynamic carried through the year, creating a relatable and engaging experience for listeners.
Another standout was Julian Ribinik’s episode on fighting fatigue and stress. His advice resonated deeply, inspiring me to trade iced tea for water—a life-changing shift that’s improved my energy and focus. It’s incredible how one conversation can spark such impactful changes.
We also explored profound topics like managing ADHD in the wedding industry with Megan Gillikin. Her productivity hacks and strategies for staying organized brought a fresh perspective to the challenges faced by many professionals. It was a reminder that embracing our quirks can lead to growth and success.
From lessons on marketing by Phillip Van Nostrand to insights on team culture with Your Jubilee Weddings, every episode left us with actionable takeaways. This year has been a whirlwind of learning, laughter, and connection, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Episode Highlights:
- Celebrating the humor and professionalism balance in the wedding industry.
- How Julian Ribinik’s advice inspired a healthier lifestyle.
- ADHD productivity hacks from Megan Gillikin that resonated with entrepreneurs.
- Phillip Van Nostrand’s unique marketing strategies and building genuine connections.
- Insights into team culture and fostering growth from Your Jubilee Weddings.
- Reflecting on the importance of listening and setting client expectations with The Flower Guy Bron.
We want to hear from you! What did you think of our first year? Share your favorite moments, leave a review, and don’t forget to subscribe and share the podcast with others. Your feedback helps us grow and deliver even better content in the coming year!
Connect with Kevin:
Transcript
Kevin Dennis (0:5.332)
Business, the last episode of:August Yocher (0:18.126)
Yes. Yeah, I put it in the notes for you. Yoker like Joker.
Kevin Dennis (0:35.432)
year in the podcast world of:August Yocher (0:56.360)
x months ago, back in June of:I guess this is my second podcast I've been on slash a part of. So very exciting for me to be on today. But yeah, I got hired on as the social media and brand manager for Fantasy Sound Event Services. But I do help a lot with Wedding IQ, the podcasts and our networking group, Tri-Valley Wedding Professionals.
Kevin Dennis (1:31.630)
Oh yeah!
August Yocher (1:51.114)
So definitely getting a lot of experience there and it's been a fun journey. So I'm excited to sit down and talk about some insights we gained from our fellow wedding professionals this year.
Kevin Dennis (2:3.102)
Yeah, I'm excited to do that, but I think you should tell everyone what your real job is at Fantasy Sound.
August Yocher (2:7.700)
Oh, yes, this is what Kevin refers to as my real job. you know, if I ever if I ever go off somewhere else and I need to put one line on my resume, it will be make fun of Kevin. That is my sole purpose. And we did a lot of that today, actually. We did a lot of making fun of Kevin. So, yeah, lots of content creation today. So, but yeah, thanks for having me on. I'm excited.
Kevin Dennis (2:17.854)
Hehehe.
Kevin Dennis (2:26.415)
Recording today. Yeah. Well, there you go.
Kevin Dennis (2:34.460)
All right, well, we're going to jump around all our episodes and just kind of talk about some top takeaways. But I think we need to start with the very first one, because I invited my sister, as you guys know, Megan Ealy, to be my very first guest. And we were kind of talking behind the scenes of the wedding business pros. And like August, she did make fun of me a lot on that episode. But we also talked about a lot of kind of fun different things on the episode, like
balancing humor and professionalism and we you know the dynamic you know how how how Megan and I use humor to Really, you know such as pranks, you know all that kind of stuff that Megan does because you know at the time the episode release I was her third favorite client, but then You know and when did the episode release you remember? it was September ish or whatever but
August Yocher (3:15.841)
Yeah.
August Yocher (3:26.930)
I can check really quick, yeah.
Kevin Dennis (3:31.408)
Anyway, at that time we did it. It was the third favorite client, but just a few weeks ago I got a new trophy. Seven years after getting my third place trophy, I am now her second favorite client. But anyway.
August Yocher (3:38.093)
Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (3:43.560)
It released on August 13th.
Kevin Dennis (3:46.420)
st,:August Yocher (3:57.922)
Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (4:16.432)
NTSC, which is a special event show. And her and I went to the food court, grabbed a pizza pizza and sat down and planned out the first four webinars for WIPA that we were going to do to help people get through the first two weeks. Little did we know. Yeah, we were in. Yeah.
August Yocher (4:32.866)
You guys, oh, you were in, you were at cater stores when like March, you found out about COVID and everything. That's overwhelming.
Kevin Dennis (4:39.740)
It was before, yeah, was like March 13th. Yeah, March 13th, March 14th. Yeah, and people were leaving cater stores to fire employees, to lay people off. No one knew what was happening because the world was ending. Yeah, it was, you know, it was just kind of, and at the time we were going to shut down for two weeks. So we planned four webinars. You know, we were going to, we're like, we'll do two a week and we'll help out people for the, you know, and give them free education. And what we decided is we were going to open them up to everyone.
August Yocher (4:48.076)
Oh my gosh.
August Yocher (4:53.026)
Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (5:9.140)
You know whether you're a WIPA member or not and just kind of do our little bit of goodwill that we could do You know during the pandemic and little did we know it was almost 65 episodes or webinars later You know Yeah, I did 65. Yeah, we were doing state of the wedding industry. We were bringing on presidents and talking about Just kind of how things were different in all different parts of the country because we had our Seattle president our Southern, California president
August Yocher (5:21.858)
Wow.
Kevin Dennis (5:37.136)
I represented Northern California, we had our Utah, we had our Dallas, we had our Atlanta, and our New York. And it was really kind of interesting as we all kind of, yeah, 65. And I even got to interview David Tatera, that was a lot of fun as well. But we talked about that, and then we also talked about work-life balance. Like for Megan, Megan's very strict about 9 p.m. is bedtime, and she goes to bed, because she's an old lady, but that's a whole other subject for another day. But anyway.
August Yocher (5:45.102)
That's a lot of episodes, that's amazing.
August Yocher (5:52.012)
Very cool, very
August Yocher (5:57.048)
Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (6:5.006)
That's wild, I mean, I mean, that kind of is you kind of to set yourself on a strict schedule, especially if you are running, you know, a large successful business. Like you have to put those parameters in place to take care of yourself. So.
Kevin Dennis (6:17.836)
Well, and the biggest thing for Megan is she's got clients all over the world. So like she'll come on at nine o'clock and she's already receiving emails from people in Europe, right? And then the East Coast is coming alive at the same time as her. And then all of a sudden come noon her time, the West Coast starts coming to live. So it's kind of, it's really interesting when you hear her talk about it. So, but anyway, that's Miss Megan Ealy first episode. And also I...
August Yocher (6:22.253)
Mmm.
August Yocher (6:41.804)
Yeah. Yeah, it was a good episode.
Kevin Dennis (6:46.824)
will be the first episode of:August Yocher (7:4.834)
Yeah. Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (7:6.716)
All right. Where do we want to go to? I could talk about, let's go to I'm going to jump all the way up to episode 17. So we had Julian Ribbeneck from Julian Ribbeneck Studios.
August Yocher (7:14.262)
All right.
August Yocher (7:18.126)
I know you said when we were preparing for this episode, this was one of the biggest take away you took from the podcast this year. So I'm excited to hear a little bit more about it.
Kevin Dennis (7:28.577)
So the episode topic was stop being tired and become happy and energetic wedding pro. And so we talked about all the kind of different things. And a lot of it was stress and how stressful it is and stress fatigue and just kind of understanding all the different things. But those of you that know me, know me very well know that I drank iced tea from morning, noon.
night until I went to bed. I drank iced tea like it was water. And after my episode with Julian, after recording the episode, I walked out and I walked to where you and Lindsay are and I said, I'm going to stop drinking iced tea. Lindsay looked at me like I was crazy because Lindsay worked here for 12 years and knows that I drink iced. Right? No. And literally, I did it as crazy as cold turkey. had a headache for two days.
August Yocher (8:14.862)
She's like, hell will freeze over before that happens.
Kevin Dennis (8:25.082)
I'm a little bit more energized than I was when I was all doped up on caffeine and I'm actually sleeping better than I used to. So for me...
August Yocher (8:34.060)
and still going strong. do you remember when, I'm going try and see if I can find it, when you recorded that episode because that felt like a while ago. October 16th, so over two months, Kevin, with no iced tea.
Kevin Dennis (8:43.272)
Right here. Yeah, so water. I'm drinking, drinking water from my Yeti right here. So yeah. Well, and I won't say no iced tea because I've had a iced tea at lunch here and there, but I probably, I'll be honest with you, I probably have drank five iced teas since October 16th is when we recorded it. So that's how long ago or how far back it was, but that was my
my biggest thing. so, but it also he motivated me to eat healthier, work out, you so I'm going to start working out in the new year like everyone else does and we'll see how long it lasts. But I'm determined to do it because I'm an old man falling apart and I don't want to be an old man falling apart anymore. So.
August Yocher (9:29.706)
And you know, I kind of I kind of hate when people like put individuals down for that, you know, oh, the gyms are so full on January 1st. But I really feel like people just need a starting point. And it's a good day as any to start a new habit. And it's kind of nice that you kind of have the beginning of the year as a tracking point. So, you know, I'm all for it. mean, obviously, it's great to start new habits anytime October 16th, for example. But
Kevin Dennis (9:42.716)
Yeah.
August Yocher (9:58.722)
January 1st is good a time as any to start new habits. always good to get into that.
Kevin Dennis (10:2.672)
Well, yeah, and I recommend if you have not heard of Julian, I recommend you go follow him on Instagram. He is very motivating and I really I would love to have him back. But it's great because him and I converse through Instagram and, you know, he knows that I'm off the wagon, so to speak, with with good old iced tea. And I've actually inspired. Oh, I can say I inspired my friend Anne, who is just as bad as I am with the iced tea.
August Yocher (:I think.
Kevin Dennis (:And so Ann Ogden is also now drinking water, which I think healthy people should do.
August Yocher (:Are you looking at me with my diet coke addiction or... Okay. But I was going to say, how amazing of Julian to create such an impact on you in just one conversation. Clearly, it resonated with you enough to just immediately start making those healthy changes in your life.
Kevin Dennis (:No, no, I don't judge. You're too young to judge.
Kevin Dennis (:I know, right?
Kevin Dennis (11:0.606)
Well, and I've been drinking iced tea nonstop since I was probably about 16 years old. It was probably somewhere in there. Yeah. And you know I'm old as dirt. So I mean, it's been a long time. anyway, yep. Just the other day, I put my little iced tea maker that I have at home up on the shelf in our pantry because I have not made iced tea at home since October 16. So anyway, moving on. So let's jump up to. Oh, I'll let you pick.
August Yocher (11:5.676)
Cool, wow.
August Yocher (:I think I was going to say maybe episode. OK, OK. Well, maybe we'll go to yours next, but maybe we're thinking of the same thing. But I was thinking jump back down to episode six with Ashley and Megan of your Jubilee weddings.
Kevin Dennis (:I'll let you pick.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Kevin Dennis (:That was a good one.
August Yocher (:And I bring it up because I wanted to talk about this, but Ashley Allen is our first two time guest that you've had on Mind Your Wedding Business. So really cool that she got to come back just a couple of weeks ago on the podcast and now she's been on twice.
Kevin Dennis (:Yep.
Yep, I really, well, and I've known Ashley for a long time through my years in WIPA, but it was great having her and Megan on. But they were talking about mastering wedding planning with a strong team culture and fun retreats. they do, they run a really cool Your Jubilee Weddings down in Scottsdale, Arizona. They do weddings all over the world. with that, know, primarily they're based out of the Scottsdale, Phoenix, Arizona area.
But they have done such a good job with their team culture that they, one, they look fun on Instagram. And so I think they attract people that, yeah, and they attract people that want to have fun at work. And one of the things they talked about was internships with strategic talent pipeline. So they look for interns, and then they convert their interns into employees once they get them through the intern process. But they also.
August Yocher (:They really do.
August Yocher (:It's really smart, actually. Really smart.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, they do a great job with that. that's what we talked about. But also fostering team bonding through retreats and feedback. And then we also touched on streamlining processes and future growth. But Ashley, she came back by herself. She left Megan. I don't know why she left Megan, but she was on a rant. But yep, she was our first two-time guest. And then my old sister will be my first three-time or two-time.
Anyway, you know what I meant. So that one. All right. So now I'm gonna jump over to episode 10 and we had Megan Gilligan in with the planners vault and We I could have talked to her forever Because we were talking managing squirrel brain and it's productive productive productivity hacks for ADHD and entrepreneurs, which I am one and so is Megan
August Yocher (:Second two-time guess.
Kevin Dennis (:And it was amazing because it was just like I felt like we could have talked about it forever. But it was just so much fun to know that one, I was not alone. And then two, learn that a majority of the people that are in our wedding industry also suffer from ADHD. so and it's you know, and we do have squirrel brain is what she calls it. And it's just like, you know, we see we see the next shiny little object and boom, we move on. know, so we she
August Yocher (14:4.707)
Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:talked about all the managing and how to handle Squirrel Brain, but also streamlining your schedule. She uses digital calendars and tools to help keep herself organized. And then she does a thing where she would write down at the end of the day, she cleans out her notebook that she writes in and starts fresh every day. And then she would schedule time to work on all her different things. Because if she didn't schedule it, it's not going to get done, especially with us that suffer with ADHD. But also,
I love this is she set quarterly goals, which I think that's really obtainable. You know, when you're thinking about it, because we're always like, I want to do this and it's big picture stuff, but sending more, you know, little bite size goals, and then also focusing, having focus breaks. like, achieving yourself, you get through, you know, a task and you made it all the way through without stopping. And you get to get rewarded with a break with something that you really like to do. But yeah, that was
August Yocher (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:I like that because it kind of makes it a little bit more realistic for industry professionals. And I'm sure even non-ADHD industry professionals could take that advice as well because I think in this industry, everyone kind of overloads themselves and you kind of are just working on the next big thing. So it's nice to just kind of take a step back and be okay with things taking a little bit longer for the sake of your health, too, your mental health.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, which we all need. All right, do you want to pick an episode or you want me to go?
August Yocher (:Yeah, let me let me just like take a little look. What about let's go to the fifth episode that was with Philip Van Nostrand. And he talked about marketing methods for event professionals. That episode was called From Pancakes to Penthouses.
Kevin Dennis (16:1.684)
cruising?
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, Philip's amazing.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, Philip was great. That episode was probably one of the longest episodes that we ever did because Philip won. was going back to my Whipperoots again. Philip was the New York president and I knew him long before he was a New York president when I would go to do retreats and stuff. But he's just one of the smartest guys and he does photography all around the world because he has done
August Yocher (:Oh yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:a really good job of marketing himself. know, because as a photographer, all he needs is his camera and himself, and he can go anywhere in the world and take photos. So, yeah, he's done, you know, and just he talked about, you know, creativity and extravagant marketing strategies. So he kind of shared like, you know, sign a gifting gourmet meals or investing in luxury marketing tools like penthouses. He thought that was Jordan Collins penthouse that he talked about. But that helped, you know, wedding professionals connect.
August Yocher (:It's true.
Kevin Dennis (:know, clients and elevate their brand. So it was kind of one of the biggest things he took away. It was a lot of fun, but also he worked on building genuine industry relationships, you know, and which is true because he's done such a great job through all his WIPA, you know, and all his contacts in WIPA, but he's also done a great job with like, he goes to the engage conferences and he is such the marketer when it comes to the engage conferences and does such a great job.
And that's how he gets to travel all over the world shooting weddings, because he meets all these great wedding professionals that engage. But yeah, no, Philip, that was a really, really, really fun episode. And again, I think if I were to judge, Philip has a little bit of ADHD in him too, because we were just squirrel, squirrel, talking all over the place. And we were having a really, really great time. So.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
August Yocher (18:4.608)
I just feel like that means you guys are passionate and it seems like he's kind of a natural with this kind of thing. So it's kind of the perfect career for him.
Kevin Dennis (:And his photography is really good if you check out his work. I encourage you guys to go check him out. So I'm going to jump over to episode eight if we're going to jump over, because we had Miss Wendy Doll from Chic Productions. And she was talking about it's time to grow your business. Or is it time to grow your business? And how to niche down and prep or pay. And I can't speak today. Thank God it's the last day of the year. But I know preparation.
August Yocher (:Yes.
August Yocher (:ADHD man.
Kevin Dennis (:leads to sustainable success. So we were just talking about how she focuses a lot on multicultural weddings and destination weddings. And that's really helped her grow her wedding planning business. So she really kind of niched down. And by niching down, she was really able to grow her business. And then we got into knowing when to scale, like key signs that indicated it was time to grow, such as having too much free time or needing to turn down clients.
Maybe that's a good time to grow. But then also, we talked about building relationships and setting goals. So I'm a big believer when it comes to the wedding industry. It's all about our relationships. And I think she did a great job of telling us all about that. So it's time to grow your business. Or is it time to grow your business? Hmm. Hmm.
August Yocher (:There you go. Well, I think just niching down in general is just good advice for a lot of businesses and kind of over in the social media world where I am. That's advice you'll hear a lot from creators is a mistake that a lot of people make is going too broad. Right. Like you're choosing maybe a product and or content to make that kind of reaches too many audiences. And then you're kind of reaching no one when you're trying to reach everyone.
So, niching down is a great way to just kind of hone in on your one area and perfect it and just keep doing that all over again.
Kevin Dennis (20:6.472)
I agree. All right, take us somewhere August.
August Yocher (20:9.708)
Alright, let's see...
August Yocher (:What about episode 14, Miss Julie Roth Novak with Party Slate?
Kevin Dennis (:Ooh, another one of my wonderful WIPA friends. was, Julie and I served on the board of the WIPA for a very long time together and she's one of, probably one of the smartest people I know in the wedding. She really.
August Yocher (:Mmm.
Kevin Dennis (:has built such a great business there with Party Slate and it just continues to grow and grow. it was demystifying AI for the wedding and event industry. it was just, we really jumped in and down a rabbit hole and she really kind of pulled back the curtain to let us all know how she uses AI and how they're using it and how it's helping them look bigger than what they really are. I mean, they're big, but even bigger than what they are because
August Yocher (21:4.736)
Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (21:5.268)
It's, you know, they're using it to save time and enhance creativity, empowering professionals and not replacing them. So she was talking about that when it came to A.I.'s role and then also future proofing your business with A.I. So it was was a really good episode. And I feel like A.I. is here to stay. It's not going anywhere. Everyone was afraid of it. Yes. And also, I would like to say you always say please and thank you to Alexa, Siri, whoever you.
August Yocher (:Oh, absolutely.
Kevin Dennis (:you know, whoever you talk to because when the robots do rise up and take over the world, they're going to remember us that were nice to them and not, you know, not the ones that are mean. So you always say please and.
August Yocher (:That's so funny you say that. I do that too and you know it's funny we had we had Lexi from Pleasant and Rentals on the other podcast but we got into a conversation one time where I had brought that up and I said oh yeah always say please and thank you to ChatGPT you always want you know to be so grateful for their help and she goes oh my gosh I've been so mean to my ChatGPT and she's like I gotta go back and apologize and now I'm like
Kevin Dennis (22:1.875)
Hmm.
August Yocher (:Yes, girl, do not mess with that. You have no idea where that is going to go in the next 10 years. So better safe than sorry. Just say please and thank you.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Lexi will be the first to go when the computers rise up and come get us.
August Yocher (:Oh, miss you girl. That sucks.
Kevin Dennis (:So anyway, all right, I'm gonna jump down to, where'd we go? Tom Shlednik, we had Tom from The Knot and Wedding Pro.
So he was on there talking about making business decisions, facts over feelings. it was basically, he came in and he could not have made it more simple than he did. It basically comes down to very simple math, is where you're spending your advertising dollars. How many leads do you need to get in order to make the money? You wanna make a million dollars? Well, how many leads do you need to get to make a million dollars?
And it was just like, and where do you need to advertise? And how many consultations do you need? And how many clients do you need to book? And it was very simple when we broke it down. was just like, because I feel like in the wedding industry, make decisions without the data, without any data at all. So we really jumped into the power of data and how to use the data to make decisions. So I was really, really good. And then we also talked about adapting to Gen Z's expectations.
and then the impact of automation and video marketing, which I, which we're, it's funny, again, Tom did a great job of impacting us. We are in the process of going to a new CRM and looking to automate some things over here at Fantasy Sound. And then the other thing with the video marketing, which I think is genius, and he says, if you're not doing it in the next two to three years, you're going to be like non-existent.
is when you respond to a consultation is you send a little, you know, on a loom, you just record a little loom to them. It's like, hey, August, excited to meet you, learn a little bit more about your wedding. Here's a little bit about us. And you send them a little video. Because the client, you know, yeah. And it's amazing. Because it was, I didn't even think about it. again, we are in the wedding industry. We continue to get older. But what do our clients do? Continue to stay the same age, right?
August Yocher (24:9.408)
Wow.
August Yocher (:Really?
Kevin Dennis (:So we in the wedding industry have to adapt to them. And what does our next generation of wedding clients consume the most?
August Yocher (:Yeah.
August Yocher (:Video content? Yeah, short form. I mean, yeah, I thought I didn't know if you were leading up to it I was answering that. But yeah, no short form video is taking the world by storm. And I absolutely agree with that. I just never thought about it in the automation, you know, format. But I mean, social media, Internet's here to stay. And people honestly, most of the time now prefer things in a video versus, you know, just reading.
Kevin Dennis (:Yep, I was waiting for you. That was... Yeah.
Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (25:3.450)
Mm-hmm. Well, the...
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, so that was one that really stuck with me that it's you know, that's one of the best things about doing this podcast is that I'm learning along with all of you and I've been able so far to take what I'm learning from everyone and go back and implement it in my business. So I feel like every week as we go through and I meet, know, like we're learning and growing with that, but that's something that we're going to have to start doing. but it's like you're going to have to do it's going to be a little bit of work. And like in our business, I think Darcy will be will do a really good job with it.
but just she'll respond and just be bubbly and cute and ready to help them and it and but it but make a custom video for them and send it over to them which I think is a great idea yeah but
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (:And it doesn't take lot of extra time to make that personal impact on the client.
Kevin Dennis (26:1.582)
No, no. But I think, again, oh, I don't get any leads, or I don't do this, and I don't do that. And then Tom does a really great job of breaking it down by the number. And I'm going to have an email out to Tom right now. Hopefully, he'll come back and give us the wedding study that the knot does, give us some kind of update about that. I'm hoping to get him back on in the new year, because Tom was a great guest. I really enjoyed interviewing him.
All right, you got one more for us? We're getting closer to the end.
August Yocher (:Yeah, this one was kind of like an interesting one. I kind of want to go back to episode three with Julie Smith from The Gardener Girls. talked about taking sabbaticals and work-cations.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, it was crazy. So she literally closes her business for almost three months out of the year and spends time with. So basically, it seems like when her kids are in school, she works. And when the kids are not in school, she doesn't work. so for her, for what she does for a living, she's able to do that. I would, well, you know, you make fun of me for working so hard all the time and I don't stop. And it probably would.
August Yocher (:He does not stop. He's like the Energizer Bunny. Like, I wish he would, I wish he would sit down and take a break.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah. But anyway, so she does a really good job of just doing it. And she talked us through the value of it, but then also what does she have to do to get ready for it, and what is it like coming back from it. But then also she also got into automation at Wells. So that was the first. When I interviewed her, I'm like, man, we got to automate a little more. We got to get a little bit better about that. then the rest is history.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, no, it was really crazy. I really enjoyed it. But good for her, because the garter girl, she's able to do it.
August Yocher (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:So all right, I'm going to jump over. Where am I going to? Right here, episode 11. So Braun, I've got to interview Braun on the WIPA world a few times. I've seen Braun speak, and he's a fabulous speaker. And he's absolutely amazing. He's the flower guy Braun, and he's now bought a rental company. And he's just blowing it up over there in Richmond, Virginia. But he talked about.
August Yocher (:Mmm.
Kevin Dennis (:creating the five-star client experience and exceeding expectations of the high-need clients. So clients that are very needy. And he wants all the needy clients, and he loved it. But he said, this is something that I was just, when he said it, I was like, OK, makes perfect sense. But it's something that we all don't do very well in this industry, is the power of listening. And then also, setting expectations with the clients. So it's.
August Yocher (:Mm.
Kevin Dennis (:Here's what it is, and this is when I'm going to deliver your proposal, and this is when this is going to happen, and really setting out clear expectations, but then meeting those expectations and going through it. But then that also sets up the boundary, but also gives a client that really excellent customer service. And then he said, one thing he's done is he's created a couple different businesses. One of them is just for adapting for different budgets.
So he has this higher end and a lower end. So then that way he can accommodate people with all kinds of budgets. But then the biggest thing he got into was anticipating clients' needs and creating a seamless experience for them. So the value of anticipating their needs, the role of the client. He calls his salespeople the client concierge. And then how they elevate their communication.
August Yocher (:Mm.
August Yocher (:Thanks.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, it it did sound fancy. And then, uh, and the importance of seamless coordination between the clients, event partners, and just everyone on board. He, he made it like, I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm in California and I wanted to, I wanted to work my next five weddings with him. He made it just sound like so much fun, like they are so much fun to work with. And it just, it just, they, you can tell that they just really deliver that five-star client experience for their clients. So, but that.
August Yocher (30:0.199)
Oh.
August Yocher (:That's kind of inspiring, you know? Like, I think sometimes people will sacrifice fun to deliver an experience like that. And I think it's really inspiring to see someone who can have both, right? Like, you're still delivering exceptional events and still having that really fun culture for your team, too.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, and he's got the great kind of fun kind of sass. love like if you ever hear him speak, he's got the and I love sassy. So anyway, Bron is one of my favorite speakers. I can listen to him all day talk, but he was he was a really fun, fun interview and he was so good on the podcast. So but I think we've we've hit our time limit, girl. So yeah, I wish we can get in and talk about all of them. But those are some of my the top that I remember. So I just want to thank everyone.
August Yocher (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (31:1.352)
is has been a fun first year,: August Yocher (:Yes.
Kevin Dennis (:Anything you're looking forward to next year? Putting you on the spot,
August Yocher (:Oh, just generally. I don't know. guess I just I think like, you know, I'm at an age in my life that's very like there's a lot of possibilities, right? I just feel like the world is my oyster right now. And I feel like I've made some good life decisions and I'm just kind of excited to see what next year brings because it seems very wide open, but in a very exciting way. So I'm just really looking forward to.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (32:1.554)
Mm-hmm.
August Yocher (32:6.082)
Just, yeah, having fun, exploring new things, trying new things. Because I feel like I've been in a very adventurous mood the past few months. So I'm excited to continue that.
Kevin Dennis (:Good. And I hope one of your good decisions was coming to work for Fantasy Sound. And doing a podcast with Kevin. So that's got to be a lot.
August Yocher (:It absolutely was, of course. That goes without saying.
Yes, no, the podcast is it's so much fun. I really love it. And I'm so glad I got to be on Mind Your Wedding Business too.
Kevin Dennis (:So.
Kevin Dennis (:Yes, this is your very first time. But also, want to just thank everyone for listening. We want to just remind, if you haven't subscribed, hit the Subscribe button. You can hit it like five times, I think, and it will let you subscribe. No, I'm just teasing. All you have to do, yeah, yeah, just subscribe. Just hit it once. Subscribe, but also follow us on YouTube, because then you get to see our crazy New Year's Eve hats, if you are on YouTube. But also,
August Yocher (:As long as you're not unsubscribing.
Kevin Dennis (33:0.816)
Email you want to be a guest want us to cover something Email podcast at fantasy sound calm it goes straight to august and she'll like Connect you up and we'll get things going in it and going again, but happy new year everyone look forward to talk Yeah, don't blow it. Don't don't don't it's pretend you blow. Yeah. Yeah, i'm pretty sure We're blowing out people's eardrums by doing it. But anyway, um
August Yocher (:Happy New Year!
Are you sure?
Kevin Dennis (:But just looking forward to what the podcast is going to bring and who I get to interview next year. I'm really excited about the possibilities. So folks, thank you for our very, very first year. And we're wrapping it up. This is it. Woo-hoo. Happy New Year.
August Yocher (:Woo!
Happy New Year!
