What Niche Wedding Vendors Wish the Industry Knew with Brittany Branson

Kevin Dennis (: 00:38

All right, folks, welcome to another episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. I have the one and only Brittany Branson with us here today. So Brittany, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how we got you here today?

Brittany Branson (: 00:50

Okay, well, let's see. I'm Brittany. Hi, everyone. ⁓ I'm a destination live wedding painter based primarily out of ⁓ DC, New York and New Jersey. I'm originally a Jersey girl. That's where I'm recording now, even though we now live outside DC on the... Yes. yeah, like my first job out of college, I was a ⁓ teacher at a public charter school in DC and I hadn't quite lost a lot of it yet.

Kevin Dennis (: 01:06

I'm going say, you got a little Jersey accent. come, you could.

Brittany Branson (: 01:19

And, you know, whenever they would get rowdy and I would have to yell, stop talking. And then they would just laugh at me. And I had no authority because they just laughed at me.

Kevin Dennis (: 01:23

Yeah, I was gonna say.

That's funny.

Brittany Branson (: 01:30

⁓ So like the I primarily work like Richmond, Virginia up to Long Island or completely out of state nowadays. I am I think this is year 10 of being a life painter, the crazy town USA. I have no idea where the time went. And ⁓ I got into it because when actually this is my 10 year wedding anniversary as well in October. And my husband and I

Kevin Dennis (: 01:39

Okay.

wow.

Brittany Branson (: 01:59

had a wonderful live artist as well, but she was like the only one I had ever heard of and it was completely random how I came across her. So when it was time to figure life out because he's a professional pilot and at the time I was working for the DC government and there was just no way we would be able to see each other or there was no guarantee. So it was time to do something with a bit more flexibility. I was like, well,

my painting from her is really precious. She's the only one I'd ever heard of. There's obviously room in this space. ⁓ So I threw myself into it and that's what I, I've been rocking and rolling ever since. But in terms of getting here, probably Madame Megan Ealy got us here, right? Cause I think, well, I mean, I've always, the Empress herself, I'd always heard,

Kevin Dennis (: 02:34

Yeah.

Well, of course.

The queen, the queen, the queen, madam. Yeah, yes.

Brittany Branson (: 02:56

about you because she calls you her brother, but then I think we finally met in person at cater source probably, right? Was that okay?

Kevin Dennis (: 03:04

I think and then

yeah, I believe yeah, because we were we did the panel, right? Were you on that panel? Yes. And then I was like, I yeah, I like, thought we were did that together. And then I don't know. It all blends at one point. then and then we all we were we were at B Sage together. Right. Yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 03:10

Yeah. Yes.

Yeah.

my gosh.

We did! ⁓ that's,

⁓ my god, that's, I know it only happened in March, but I feel like that was like last year. I can't.

Kevin Dennis (: 03:28

So long ago. No. I still

have a few bug bites from that. would, I'm still trying to get over it. I've never been eaten by mosquitoes like I did in Cancun, but that's a whole nother subject for another day. Yeah. So it was crazy. It was crazy. All right. Well.

Brittany Branson (: 03:39

not surprised.

Good times.

Kevin Dennis (: 03:47

Brittany, we're here to talk about marketing lessons from a niche professional that every vendor type can benefit from, because you went from, like you said, nothing to something. So you built this thriving business as a live painter, a service that still is, I would say, relatively rare, even though you've been doing it for 10 years. So how did you identify and lean into this niche?

Brittany Branson (: 04:06

Yes.

Sure. ⁓ I mean, I think actually this is where I feel like a lot of ⁓ fellow life artists and I kind of bump heads a little bit because for me, ⁓ I got into it first for personal reasons. Like it was the personal reasons first followed up by strategy and then the art. So the art was second or third. Whereas I think if you ask a lot of visual artists,

Kevin Dennis (: 04:36

Mmm.

Brittany Branson (: 04:40

whatever they do, it's for the craft. know, like the craft comes first, the passion comes first. But for me, the live painting came about to support a lifestyle. ⁓ And I'm actually a self-taught artist. My specialty is writing and ultimately arts management. But in terms of visual art, I was always a great artist as a kid, but I was really good at, you know, like charcoal colored pencil, more drawing.

Kevin Dennis (: 04:52

Mmm.

Brittany Branson (: 05:10

⁓ the painting I had to actually teach myself. But I think because the personal reasons and the strategies that I had to implement to support the personal stuff, because I had to lean into all of that first, I think is why I've had continuing success, if that makes sense. Yeah. So yeah, that's kind of how this all

Kevin Dennis (: 05:14

Hmm.

Hmm. It does.

Brittany Branson (: 05:40

came about and why I'm here is the, could I do in my business to support the personal, the craft and the art coming next.

Kevin Dennis (: 05:49

I love that. No,

and that's how it should work, I think, too. It shouldn't be your business taking over you. You should be, how can we all kind of work together on that?

Brittany Branson (: 06:00

Yeah, and

especially if you think about, you know, certainly something I'm continuing to deal with and I've been dealing with over the past 10 years from a visual art standpoint is people can be very cruel about visual art and painting and drawing and especially in this social media driven world. I've certainly found that the artists who are hyper realistic where

Kevin Dennis (: 06:14

Mm-hmm. yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 06:29

their paintings, whether they're live or not, if they replicate reality so well, they tend to do a bit better in that way. Because I think especially, I don't know if I want to make this a grand assumption about our society or Western society or whatnot, but as we take away arts education, people fall into this habit of thinking ⁓ realistic art is the only kind of good.

art, if that makes sense. ⁓ And so for me, like, with my art, it's not hyper realistic, it's kind of emerging of different, you know, more formal styles. And so I found that I can't hide behind my art to sell my service, if that makes sense. ⁓ Because I'm always going to be constantly competing with the hyper realism, which people naturally think is quote, more impressive. So I've had to

Kevin Dennis (: 07:01

Yeah, it does. Yeah.

Mm. Yeah, it does.

Brittany Branson (: 07:29

lean into other things to get ahead.

Kevin Dennis (: 07:33

I love it. All right, so from your perspective, why can a niche business actually have a market advantage over some like common service types?

Brittany Branson (: 07:42

my gosh, why can a niche business have overcommon

Kevin Dennis (: 07:45

And I have

my idea about this, but I'm just curious what you had.

Brittany Branson (: 07:50

Can you share yours first? it may trigger my brain.

Kevin Dennis (: 07:52

So sure, I think you

got it. think it's for someone like you, there's only one or a few of you around. So it's easier when you come into a wedding, like go to a WIPA event or whatever. You're not one of 15 photographers or one of 15 wedding planners or one of 15, you know. So there's like those common categories that people do or, you know, like caterers, venues, you name it.

the ones that, you know, the floors, all that. It's harder to stand out and be different, where I think someone like, like I've interviewed someone on our podcast that did, was a, was a pet sitter. I was like, well, that's very, you know what I'm saying? Very unique and very different. So I think it's easier for you guys to build, like I always say, it's a two to three year process to build relationships with these people to where you start seeing business. I think it can happen faster for you guys, cause you're one of one.

Brittany Branson (: 08:32

Yes. Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 08:50

Like we had a gentleman in our market that was a cigar roller and he was the only one doing it. And he would roll it right there live at the weddings and at the events. And people saw him do it one time at an industry event and boom, next thing you know, I was seeing him everywhere that whole summer. So it was quick. It was quicker with the niche businesses. We're not here to interview Kevin, but that's my take on it.

Brittany Branson (: 08:55

Yeah.

No,

no, no, no, I can, I think that this is what I'll say. I think I agree to a certain point. I, because I feel like I've, now that I've hit year 10, I've been dealing with this in some way. I do absolutely agree that there is a novelty to hyper niche businesses that you can sort of ride the wave of novelty.

Right? Because like, yeah, I've definitely found myself in a room of, you know, 20 other different types of wedding vendors. If there's five photographers, four videographers, three DJs, whatever, flours, and then there's one, ⁓ everyone's hyper curious. It's easier. Yeah. And you just, you take that and ride with it. However, what I've been

Kevin Dennis (: 09:44

Yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 10:11

really feeling is as more live artists enter the space, the novelty starts to wear off, right? Like even my best friends in the industry who maybe worked with a live painter once a year, maybe, and now they're working with them, you know, count on, how many times counted on both hands, the novelty starts to wear off a bit. And then they're

Kevin Dennis (: 10:39

⁓ OK.

Brittany Branson (: 10:40

there's the challenge

of, okay, you were already existing in a niche. The novelty of the niche is diluted a little bit. We have to niche even further down. And that's always the challenge and especially the challenge with non-novelty businesses like photographers, videographers, where there's a lot of work and opportunity to be done. Because yeah, you are competing against

Kevin Dennis (: 10:53

Mmm.

Brittany Branson (: 11:10

sometimes hundreds within one Facebook post of someone looking for your service.

Kevin Dennis (: 11:12

yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Those are my favorite. They're like, we need a photographer for a wedding here. then next thing you know, there literally is hundreds of photographers listed. Yep. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm like, good luck picking one out of that. So all right. So what marketing approaches have been the most effective for reaching your ideal clients? And how can those strategies adapt?

Brittany Branson (: 11:25

I'd love to be considered, I'd love to be considered, I'd love to be considered. Woo!

Kevin Dennis (: 11:42

for other vendor types.

Brittany Branson (: 11:44

Yeah, so for me, I've found the most success by selling myself. ⁓ Kind of like what I explained about how, and maybe this is a scarcity mindset. I know there are probably coaches out there maybe listening and they're like, ⁓ gosh, call me, Brittany, we can sort this out. But in my experience ⁓ as a live artist, ⁓ like I said, I feel like I can't hide behind my art or front my art.

Kevin Dennis (: 11:50

⁓

Hahaha.

Brittany Branson (: 12:14

the way maybe some others can. The biggest sense of accomplishment, the biggest sense of success has come from making me the investment. The art just happens to be this lovely, tangible outcome to working with me. And so for me, that means tapping into a lot of things that only I can bring and thus only working with me will get you. And for me, for the past 10 years, it's been leaning into

my husband who's that professional pilot. really is, you know, he's amazing personally, but he is a business asset in terms of I can travel around for cheaper if you need me. ⁓ You know what I mean? or ⁓ like I was telling the story the other day about how there was a situation in the middle of COVID where I was already booked for a wedding, I think in Dallas on a Friday.

Kevin Dennis (: 12:56

⁓ okay. Yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 13:12

And a mom in New Jersey frantically called me saying like, I'd love to hire you because my daughter's New Jersey wedding just got shot with the COVID restrictions. I'd love to gift her something special. Can you make it Saturday? And we entered into contract full knowing that something could always go wrong. I protected myself, but she was fully aware. But there's my husband and I driving between Dallas and Houston at 3 a.m. to make a direct.

Kevin Dennis (: 13:32

Yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 13:39

connection to Newark, New Jersey and the plane, the flight was canceled. But I got the pilot. So we switched seats. I started driving and he was on his pilot forums, like asking people who were awake, like, what's the history of this route? How's the seating looking, blah, blah. And we made it work. So that's an asset I lean into to develop trust in couples and clients of like, you, yeah, but we all have.

Kevin Dennis (: 13:46

no.

Yeah.

That's a damn good asset. That's really it.

Brittany Branson (: 14:09

that in some way, right? It may not be that, ⁓ but whether it's your spouse, your mother, your father, your sister, like even for me, I've learned over the years, ⁓ I've really niched down a bit into realizing that I serve service-minded couples. So the vast majority of my couples are nurses, vet tech, firemen, police, veterans.

Kevin Dennis (: 14:11

Wait, yeah, no, I get it.

Brittany Branson (: 14:34

and my mother's a retired ICU nurse and we can establish that connection right away. So whatever that asset is for you, whatever makes you the complex completed human, you can only win if you lean into that and make whatever service you provide just this wonderful outcome.

Kevin Dennis (: 14:39

bond. Yeah.

And I was recently, was at an event, an industry event recently, and they were talking about how, ⁓ I forget who the speaker was off the top of my head right now, but they were basically saying is that people no longer want to buy from a, like a logo, a brand. They want to buy from a person and they want to know the person behind that brand. And the more that you put yourself out as the person, which I think

Brittany Branson (: 15:14

Yes.

Kevin Dennis (: 15:23

is exactly what you're doing. Like you said, it's about getting me at your event. And it's different than having ex-ABC live painter. You get the Britney experience, yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 15:33

Right, exactly.

And also, I feel like not enough people lean into their values. Like for me, my couples know when they hire me that I'm giving a portion of the proceeds to the local dog rescue where my husband and I got our two dogs. And then there's a nice crossover because since we often develop a connection in that way,

Kevin Dennis (: 15:42

Mm-hmm.

⁓ I love it.

Brittany Branson (: 16:00

then the pets are often reflected in the painting, in that tangible outcome. It's a lovely full circle thing. So like what, or even I can say as someone who lives and works in the DC area, a lot of my best ⁓ vendor friends are very upfront and honest about their politics. That's their passion. It works for the area. That's where they live and work. Now that's gonna, you know.

Kevin Dennis (: 16:03

I love that.

Yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 16:26

dis- dispel some people who would never want to work with them, but that's okay because those who they do attract, they're, they're, joined by their values. So that's a strategy that, you know, not everyone, I'm just giving an example. It doesn't work for everyone.

Kevin Dennis (: 16:37

Yeah.

No, but

I think in other areas, like some people it's religion, some people it's certain things that people make that connection with. Yeah, I get it. You donate to, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 16:45

Yeah!

Yeah, what charity ⁓ can you, yeah, whatever that is. ⁓ I don't see

enough people in our industry really leaning into that. And maybe it's a fear, know, I could be speaking out of my butt right now because I feel like dogs is a very safe thing. You know, like if you don't like dogs, really, like what kind of human are you? But whatever it is, I don't feel like I see enough people leaning into that.

Kevin Dennis (: 17:05

Hahaha

Yeah, it's pretty, yeah, I agree.

Brittany Branson (: 17:17

But man, way to establish a connection right off the bat.

Kevin Dennis (: 17:21

It's funny, we do a little episode here. basically, I answer one of our FAQs. And we call it Back to the Basics. sometimes my wife is a school teacher. And we have doodles. And like Nate Bregazzi said on his special, they're human. They literally are like little humans. I've never experienced, I've had dogs my whole life, never experienced anything like these three little knuckleheads we have.

Brittany Branson (: 17:34

Mm.

Kevin Dennis (: 17:51

to into work for a little bit and they're happy because they are like literally attached to my wife and if she's not there they're upset and I got to bring them in and so we do a back to the basics with dogs you know and so and the people yeah but then people will ask and I'm like yeah I forget that I've done that you know like because we put it on social media but clients will walk up to me and they're like I love you little black dog what kind of dog is that you know like you know what kind of doodle is she you know anyway so

Brittany Branson (: 17:58

Yeah?

That's amazing.

Yeah.

Kevin Dennis (: 18:19

But that's, like you said, it's a good way to connect with people.

Brittany Branson (: 18:23

Yeah, good icebreaker

too. Like, you know, if you're feeling awkward in discovery calls or whatever it is your process, like get back to that way to break the ice.

Kevin Dennis (: 18:33

Yeah, yeah.

I love it. I love it. All right, so how did you position your work so that couples immediately understand its value? Because I feel like that's a really difficult thing for you. Like even if they've never seen a live painter before, it's like how do you get them to understand?

Brittany Branson (: 18:49

man, this is, don't think, unless there's a major shift in the industry relatively soon, which I don't anticipate there being, this has been the vein of my existence for 10 plus years now, is that ⁓ it's when so many other vendor categories, when their challenge is, hey, I need to convince couples and clients that I'm the best one, I'm the best fit.

Kevin Dennis (: 18:57

No.

Brittany Branson (: 19:17

if that's like step A for them. Step A for me is getting people to realize I exist, you know, let alone, let alone that I'm like a really good option or fit for them. So the only, honestly, the only way to really effectively do that is to tug at the emotional heartstrings of what the service can provide because

Kevin Dennis (: 19:23

Yeah, yeah, no, yeah.

Okay.

Brittany Branson (: 19:45

I'm lucky in that my service ⁓ is a service. It's a non-musical form of entertainment that provides you something tangible that you can hold and keep. So that's great. Like I can kind of check two boxes and learning that, and this took me a long time to understand that couples may value one over the other. ⁓ I definitely have couples who they're not so concerned about the art as much as it is giving

Kevin Dennis (: 19:56

Tangible. Yeah.

⁓

Brittany Branson (: 20:14

guess something non-musical to do, whether their guests are older and they don't want to dance or, you know, they know their personalities. And then some couples, ⁓ you know, they're actually not so concerned about how much I get done the night of, as long as the piece is reflective of whatever they want in the end. So that takes some, yeah, that tight.

Kevin Dennis (: 20:32

I never, you must get interrupted

left and right while you're trying to do it because grandma and auntie and uncle, they all have a million, I never even thought of that until you just said that. I'm like, my God, it must be impossible if you get to the end.

Brittany Branson (: 20:37

Yes. Yes.

yeah.

yeah, 100%.

So it's like that of learning to listen in that way to kind of decide, okay, which path are we, which ⁓ emotional heartstrings am I gonna tug? But then no matter, you know, direction A or B, realizing that the painting is a reality that we can create together. So I can't tell you how many times.

I've had to tell couples and then unfortunately it's come true where the weather on their big day was horrible and all of their visions that they worked so hard for could not come true, but you know where they can come true, because is the painting. Or I can't tell you how many of my couples they've lost a parent or grandparent were not able to be there. Where can we have them live in the painting? So all of these elements, these emotional elements that go into

Kevin Dennis (: 21:29

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 21:45

realizing that the painting is where we can create a reality that maybe didn't exist, ⁓ that's where you have to learn to tug.

Kevin Dennis (: 21:51

Hmm.

And

that's awesome. We just recently had a wedding this last weekend where the groom's mom unexpectedly died like four weeks before the wedding. then the bride's mom was in the hospital like the week of, I was like, my, these poor couple, just, we felt so bad. And they still went forward with everything, but I just felt so bad for them. They're like, we put so much effort into this and we just want to start our lives and you know, it's like, and life just dealt them some, yeah.

But something like what you you could have made it all brought them all there and they were all part of the painting and yeah That's i've never even thought of that. So

Brittany Branson (: 22:34

Yeah, I actually, got some of my favorite, God bless the photographer, I got some of my favorite photos ever last, wait, my gosh, are we coming up close to a year already? Wedding I did in Charlottesville, Virginia where ironically both the bride and groom both lost their moms at similar times when they were younger. And ⁓ the bride actually gave the planner ⁓ like a printout with their moms, ⁓ like headshots and portraits.

And I added them into the painting, kind of wearing gowns like they maybe would have worn that night. And the photographer, thank God, was there to capture as they saw the painting at the end of the night. And I will treasure those series of images forever of, that's why I do what I do, like that in pictures right there.

Kevin Dennis (: 23:09

Yeah.

memory yeah yeah no yeah it's

Yeah, it's about that and like you said emotion and then I also think it's the guest experience because I'm a big believer you can't have enough do enough for the guests like you whatever you can do to make it the guest experience even better than you've done a great job planning planning and putting together a wedding so all right so you've been featured you know Martha Stewart's wedding brides and so many more what can other wedding pros learn from your approach to get press?

Brittany Branson (: 23:40

Absolutely.

⁓

I, I have to say, I don't know if I can take credit there to be very, to be very honest. And this is actually something Megan and Megan Ealy and I have talked about for years about how, the life painter in terms of press and publications, I'm, it's just such a shame that

Kevin Dennis (: 24:07

Okay.

Brittany Branson (: 24:25

I feel like the system currently works in a way where a lot of the traditional industry publications, you know, I'm not the one they want to hear from, or I'm not the one who has the right to kind of, you know, put the story forward, if that makes sense. I feel like I've been very lucky and very blessed because I do consider myself one of the OG painters. So especially the like one-on-one

Kevin Dennis (: 24:41

Yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 24:54

interviews and whatnot that I've had, I feel like came about at a time in my career where I was like very visible without the number of live painters there currently are kind of behind me. I definitely feel like it's getting harder, ⁓ but I just want to be so honest. I don't know if I can take credit for

Kevin Dennis (: 25:08

⁓ yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 25:18

Just the caliber and the quality of events that I've been lucky to be a part of that did end up earning those features. Yeah, I definitely... I'm sorry.

Kevin Dennis (: 25:25

all these I love that yeah that's good honesty plus

I was gonna say plus you work with Megan so you know it's easy to yeah I give her all the credit as much as much as I don't want to I do give her you know like for everything I've been in so many different things and it's all because of her so

Brittany Branson (: 25:42

Yeah,

I think that's more is like if you're in a position to get you get you someone like Megan Ealy at OFD consulting, ⁓ you know, they've got the connections that me cold calling people will never get. You know what I mean?

Kevin Dennis (: 25:56

in a million years.

And people go to her when they need, because they know she's got stables of all these wedding vendors that she can, all right, out you come, and let's get a quote, and here you go. And yeah, she makes it all happen. All right. What's one marketing principle from your niche business that you believe every wedding professional should apply to their own business?

Brittany Branson (: 26:12

100%.

Oh, I would have to say, front yourself first. I think I would have to go to that. Front yourself first, front your expertise first. And just to actually kind of bring it back to you, I would love to hear your thoughts. I just got back from New Orleans. I was a speaker at the NAC huddle for DJs. That was really the first time I'd ever been in a room.

Kevin Dennis (: 26:29

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Brittany Branson (: 26:52

that was definitely like DJ and entertainer focus. So like, I was listening in and, you know, as someone who I wouldn't know what the hell I was doing, if you put me in front of a soundboard or whatever, to hear all of the technical work and expertise that goes into making sure an event runs smoothly. Like they had sound engineers come up to talk and I never freaking realized like,

the amount of expertise it takes to make sure a lavalier or a handheld mic like sounds great and works effectively. And I'm sitting there listening to all this and I'm like, maybe it's just me, but I don't hear enough DJs front the technical aspect of what it takes to make an event run smoothly. You know what I mean? Like I would love to hear, if you had come, when I think back to planning my own wedding or sweet 16 or whatnot,

Kevin Dennis (: 27:34

of it.

Brittany Branson (: 27:45

And if a discovery call with a DJ, if they were walking me through the nerdy aspects of like, we understand how frequency works. So your venue is near this highway and these power lines. Like, don't you worry. Everyone's going to be able to hear it. I would love that. And I feel like maybe it's just me. I don't hear that enough. So even if you think it's like too nerdy or too niche, front it. You will attract the people who will really get it.

Kevin Dennis (: 28:02

Yeah.

And I think those are good little short social media clips. Yes, because you can educate. I think the clients that we're starting to sell to, the generation we're starting to sell to now, they want to be educated. They want to know how the soup is made. They want to know how it all comes together. So I think that's good advice, because there's so much that you can take into your business and bring it forward.

Brittany Branson (: 28:18

Yes!

Kevin Dennis (: 28:43

and where you're educating, this is how I do what I do and this is why I, and then make you stand out and be different. I agree with you on that for sure.

Brittany Branson (: 28:50

Yeah,

like I'm just thinking of, you know, I was talking to Ben the sound engineer and my brain was like, if I was scrolling and I came across, you know, let's say a DJ on Instagram who said, do you want your wedding to sound as good as Taylor Swift? Here's how we do that. Here's the equipment she uses, here's what we use. Are you kidding me? I would be locked in, like there's no question. ⁓ Yeah, like we...

Kevin Dennis (: 29:09

Yeah.

Yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 29:19

Don't be afraid to get nerdy and that nerdy translates into niche. Show us how the sausage is made. I can't tell you how many times, like, I feel like we're all so focused on selling the outcome and we don't sell what gets us there when really what gets us there is what builds trust. And just to give another example to maybe planners who are listening, my amazing friend, Sarah Baliky of Bell & Note Events, I was talking to her.

And she was saying that she was hired maybe for a big wedding with maybe like a two or three month turnaround because that client had let go of their first planner. So some things were already done and in place. And so they, they hired her. So Sarah took all the contracts and stuff and realized, wow, this wedding, let's say it's taking place on a Sunday. This wedding's taking place on a Sunday, but I'm looking at Saturday's event and it looks like we're sharing the same.

rental company, whatever it is. Why are they charging you for all of these labor fees when they're not striking the equipment and bringing it back? I can save you thousands right there. I want to know that. That's amazing. I would never think to look and consider the like if we're sharing whatever, look at the fine print, the labor costs. Like I love that stuff and your couples and clients will too, especially if it saves you thousands.

Kevin Dennis (: 30:31

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, I agree. No, I'm a nerd when it comes to that kind of stuff too, so I tell people you're from. All right, we're getting kind of close to the end. So I wanted to kind of ask this kind of question because I feel I'm going to get something amazing from you. So looking back, looking back over your 10 years, what was like a marketing move that you made that paid off far more than you expected?

Brittany Branson (: 30:48

I love that nerdiness.

Yeah!

no. Okay.

It was when I announced that I was, I wanted to live paint a wedding in all 50 states. And then that was gonna be, yeah, that was gonna be an ongoing goal. And it still very much is. So when I, that announcing that, then however many years I've been living with that taught me so much. And what I didn't realize when I announced it was, I don't think I gave humans enough credit in that

Kevin Dennis (: 31:23

⁓

Brittany Branson (: 31:43

My, you know, my audience, even if they've never been in a position to hire me as a live painter, once I put it out there that this was like a personal and a professional goal I would love to achieve, they were going to do whatever they could in their power to like help me to help. And I never considered that. So like I announced that and it was both personal and professional, which then forced me to lean into the pilot asset that I have.

Kevin Dennis (: 31:59

To help. Yeah.

Brittany Branson (: 32:12

So then I announced my ⁓ travel fee would be super low because I could fly standby for half of it and you'd be helping me check your state off the list. So that really got the ball rolling. And I found that even though I'm, you know, I've only done 23 states or so, there's a long ways. Yeah. I've got a long ways to go, but that's really okay because I feel like that,

Kevin Dennis (: 32:20

Yeah.

paid off.

I was going to ask how many. OK, yeah, I was like, how far are you on that list?

Brittany Branson (: 32:41

strategy, that goal allowed me to go back to certain states, like especially California. I feel like I'm there once or twice a year and I love painting in California. You know, Texas quite a few times, Georgia and the Carolinas. ⁓ So it's been really cool, it's been awesome, and that just kind of got the ball, that really got the ball rolling and it's still rolling.

Kevin Dennis (: 33:06

Yeah, have you been able to make it to Hawaii yet? Okay, that would be so much fun. I was gonna say that would be so beautiful to probably, we have a timeshare, we go to Hawaii all the time, because that's what us West coasters do, is, you know, that's our, that's our, yeah, like you guys go down to the Bahamas and all whatever on the East Coast, we go to Hawaii, but ⁓ it just, it's, it's, I was like, I could just see you sitting out there by the beach.

Brittany Branson (: 33:08

No. Help a girl out.

Yeah, I would!

Kevin Dennis (: 33:34

The sunset and the couple, could see it would be a gorgeous ⁓ painting. Yeah, it would be amazing. Help a girl out. I love that. All right, as we wrap up a little bit, I told you ahead of time I was going to ask you your app. you still, did you think, I'm going put you on the spot. It could be whatever airline your husband helps because that's the app that you have to use to get.

Brittany Branson (: 33:37

⁓ Help a girl out everybody, help a girl out.

gosh.

I've,

yeah, me and the United app right now are best friends, I guess. ⁓ I'm so boring. My go-to for a lot of things is InShot, just because I have a lot of ⁓ process videos, you know, at weddings, painting before and after, reaction videos. So I know that's such a boring answer, but.

Kevin Dennis (: 34:00

Yeah.

And

I've never heard of that app, so it's not boring to me. So there you go.

Brittany Branson (: 34:21

yeah,

great. ⁓ Yeah, in shot, super simple.

Kevin Dennis (: 34:26

Perfect. All right. Yeah. No, it wasn't bad. I've never even heard of that. There's so many apps out there that do process video for weddings and different ⁓ social media and stuff. So there's so many out there. So all right. Before we wrap up, Brittany, how can folks get in contact with you, hire you to come speak? now that I remember, we were together in Colorado when you were having a hard time with, I was there. I remember that.

Brittany Branson (: 34:27

I thought that was gonna be really bad.

Good job, buddy.

yeah.

Yeah!

⁓

You're so you and Sarah Rashan were so nice to me I that was probably the first time you're so I was so sick That's why I can't even like remember. Yes. ⁓ my gosh elevation sickness hit me so bad guys But if you ⁓ I'm super active on Instagram and it's by Brittany Branson website is the same by Brittany Branson comm

Kevin Dennis (: 34:56

I, yep, yep, yep, yep. ⁓

Yeah.

Okay.

Brittany Branson (: 35:21

⁓ I do have a TikTok, but look, can only, girl can only do so much. Let's just keep it to there. And then speaking pages there. Let's keep it real.

Kevin Dennis (: 35:24

I love that. Let's keep it real.

All right, folks, we're going to have all that information about Brittany in the show notes and how to contact her and have her come speak unless you're in Denver and she doesn't want to come back. don't know how soon you want to go back. It's funny because that year, it was last year we were all together in Denver. I actually made three trips to Denver within four months with ⁓ just for working that.

Brittany Branson (: 35:44

I'll just be more strategic about it.

Yes!

⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 36:01

because the NAISC conference was there and that's what I ended up being there for. So we were there for three different times, but I feel like I go through that Denver airport is my like, it's my little hub to get me to my next destination. And I'm, I feel like I'm in Denver lots of times. So for some reason I'm good. It hasn't affected me yet. So I'm lucky, but it it'll probably hit me when an unopportuned time. So anyway.

Brittany Branson (: 36:14

Yep.

yeah.

it's terrible.

Kevin Dennis (: 36:27

Well, I remember I felt so bad. Megan Ealy was blowing up my phone. You got to help her. And I was like, OK, ⁓ to the rescue.

Brittany Branson (: 36:32

I ⁓ I love you all so much. ⁓

See, that's how ill I was. I couldn't even, I think I blocked out and everyone was so lovely and I just blocked.

Kevin Dennis (: 36:39

Yeah.

Anyway, all right, Brittany. Thank you for being here. We'll have all our information in the show notes, and we hope to have you back again another time down the road. all right. All right. Thanks, folks. Bye. All right, we're done. And you'll.

Brittany Branson (: 36:54

You got it!