Latest / The Bold Lounge / Catalina Bloch: Finding Bold Success through the Lens of Belief

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Catalina Bloch: Finding Bold Success through the Lens of Belief · The Bold Lounge

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bold Lounge podcast.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: My name is Leigh Burgess and I will be your host.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: If you're anything like me, you love hearing inspiring stories of people who have gone on bold journeys and made a positive impact in the world.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: This podcast is all about those kinds of stories.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Every week, we'll hear from someone who has taken a leap or embarked on an extraordinary journey.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: In addition to hearing their stories, we'll also learn about their bold growth mindset that they use to make things happen.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Whether they face challenges or doubts along the way, they persisted and ultimately achieved their goals.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: These impactful stories will leave you feeling motivated and inspired to pursue your own bold journey.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I believe everyone has a bold story waiting to be freed.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Tune in and get ready to be inspired.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bold Lounge.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Today I have Catalina Block.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: She is the CEO and founder of MDRN Creative Group, the powerhouse behind successful brands like MDRN Photo Booth Company and MDRN Activations.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Having built a seven-figure business specializing in high-end photo and video experiences for luxury weddings and major brands, catalina has become a leader in the experiential marketing industry.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Through Photo Booth Mastery, she now teaches other Photo Booth business owners how to scale their businesses with proven strategies and technical expertise, from pricing and lead generation to advanced DSLR techniques.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Catalina empowers entrepreneurs to build thriving automated businesses while delivering exceptional service.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining the Bold Lounge.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: I'm excited to be here, so I'm excited to jump in.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: How do you define bold?
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, to me bold is just, you know, really doing the thing, even when you don't want to do it, or when you know it's going to be a lot of work, maybe even a lot of pain and a lot of discomfort, right, I think that is the moment you grow the most and it's definitely requires boldness to do these things right.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: So to me, that's really really that definition for it.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: For me, and when I look back, I can see very pivotal moments of being bold and how you know that played out in my life, I guess in my career.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so you don't let anything stop you, and that could be things like fear or doubt or lack of confidence.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: You do it anyway.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: You do it.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: Messy is how I say it.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you just take the step towards what you want, and it might not be perfect and 99.9% of the time it is not perfect but you do it anyway.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: So, when you think of these different life moments that you've had, what are some, or what is one that comes to mind for you?
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Because we have many layers of boldness, for sure.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think the most impactful one for me, that kind of set everything else off and really created the belief in myself, I guess for a lot of it was realizing, you know, I think I was 25 years old or about to turn 25.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: I was driving to my corporate job that I hated.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: I was in my car crying going this is not the life I wanted, you know.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: I mean, at this point, when you're in your 20s, you kind of think like I'm supposed to be an adult, I'm supposed to have everything figured out, and I just knew like I wasn't surrounded by the people I wanted to be surrounded with.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: I wasn't, you know, in a job that brought me joy and I wasn't in a relationship that brought me joy.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: But I had the material things.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: I had bought a house, I bought a car, you know, I had the, the job that was stable and all that and so on.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: The surface had everything right, but super unhappy.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: And that at that exact moment I said okay, that's it, I'm not doing this anymore, left the relationship, walked away from my house, walked away from my car, and I just said I'm starting over.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: You know, kept my job because I still needed money.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: But that moment, even though it was hard to do, it changed everything.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: You know it really was that turning point in my life.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: That said, even though it was hard to do, it changed everything.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: You know it really was that turning point in my life.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: That said, okay, I'm putting me first, I'm going to build the life I want to build, and from there it just snowballed.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Like, if I look back now to that, had I not made that decision, I don't think I would be here, right.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: And so that was the first time that I made a really bold move and didn't really think too much about it, just knew I'm not happy, I'm out.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's hard for people to do.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: So, like when I got to the point of you know, my career I think we've talked about a little bit but I got to a point in 2020 where I just knew I had to make a change.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: I tried to do the things like find another job or, you know, do the normal look for a job.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: It was the pandemic which added to just you know, just the craziness of the process and I couldn't do it and I just had to say I can't do this anymore and I'm going to have to figure out what I'm going to do and I quit without having a plan, without having the.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: A through double Z, you know, having a gazillion dollars saved and all that.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: And all I had was I had the support of my family, I had a whole bunch of self-belief and I had a small savings, a little bit of retirement, and off I went, yeah, yeah.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: So it's just like okay, here we go and we don't know where it may end up, but it's going to be better than where we were and it's going to be more aligned.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: I mean, that was my big thing was I was so out of alignment with my values, with how I operated, with who I felt I was.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: I mean I couldn't even look in the mirror.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Every level of health was destroyed and I knew life could be better.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: But I had to make the choice right, because you can't make someone bold.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: I can't say, be bold If I had a little wand yeah, I need the bold wand.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Oh my God, that's the next one.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: It sprinkles like confetti or something.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: I love we'll work.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: All that maybe bubbles.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: You can't make someone be bold, but you can see like wow, I can see where someone might be fearful right now to make a move, or or someone might not know all the answers, or I see people holding back because they're not just they're not ready.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: You know that word ready.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: So what made you choose you?
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Because you were saying this is out of alignment, this is not me, this is not fulfilling me.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Where did that power come from?
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Or what were some of the ingredients of really you empowering yourself?
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's actually a great question.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Because you were raised, or is it like running the family, or I mean, I'm sure some of that had to do with it.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: You know, like my parents were, they immigrated to Canada from South America, so I'm a second generation, I guess, straight up Canadian, though no, so I mean, I think I was always taught that, you know, you work for what you want and that kind of stuff, and I think a lot of it, too, was just, I just always had this feeling inside of me that, you know, I wanted to do something great and it just to me, it just felt like, I don't know, I had to do it, you know, and I even I almost didn't even question it when I made the decision.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: It was almost like I had to figure it out and I noticed a lot of things that I read was like you know, you are the five people you are surrounded with at the most, and that's that to me.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: The people I spent day to day with were bringing me down Right and I would share my, my dreams and my aspirations.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: And I was always a very creative person and for me, like, photography was always a huge part of my life, and I remember when I left high school, I had an opportunity.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: I had a full scholarship to go to a really great photography school in Toronto.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: I'm in Ottawa and I didn't take it because of the people I was surrounded with, didn't?
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: They didn't cheer me on.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: They said you shouldn't do that.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: You're going to like lose all your friends.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: And you know my boyfriend at the time didn't.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: He's like well, we can't stay together if you go.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: And at that time I was like, oh well, then I'm not going to go.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: I don't really regret not going because at the end of the day, I still became a great photographer without having the formal education you know.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: So, but things like that, it just like I just felt like everyone around me was bringing me down and I saw other people who were like you know, living their best lives and I'm like it's possible.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: I want that, you know, and I've always been very ambitious to get what I want.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: That's one thing, you know.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: Even my parents would say like they would say no to me and I would figure out a way to get the thing that I really wanted or to do the thing that I really wanted to do.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: So I think it was in there and I just needed to let it, let it out.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: There's a quote in the book where I talk about.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Everyone has boldness within them.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: They just need to free it.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: And I feel like I had been bold a lot of my career but I had held it down or put it in a box or said, oh, that's a little too much, you know.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: And it was just like at 48, and I know you're much younger than me At 48, I was making that decision of like I, you know life is short and I already knew that, you know from the losses I've experienced in my life.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: But like life is short and I don't want to live life like this anymore.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Right, and the only person that can help me is me.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Yes, I think sometimes that's easier said than done for some, in the sense of they know they need to make a change and they just don't take it.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: So, like here's two examples for listeners of people who have taken a chance, taken the risk taken, the I'm going to move forward anyway, without the perfect plan, and they're on the road to what's possible.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Always that's the way I look at it Like every day is full of possibilities.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: Possibility of failing, possibilities of succeeding.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: I hope I succeed more than I fail, but I know I'm going to experience both Right.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: So just people hearing these examples, I think is really, really helpful.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: And especially as a woman, I think it's sometimes harder for us to make those decisions At least it was for me, and not because I didn't have the support of those around me, but more so that I felt like it was selfish of me to do it, or like I should be thinking more about everybody else than myself.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: And you know, if I don't take care of me, then how can I even take care of others?
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: The whole oxygen mask type of analogy.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: So, when you think about the possibilities that then open up.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: So like, once you made this decision, which was a pretty bold milestone in your life, what started to happen next for you, in a sense, of things that you could see or things that were opportunities?
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Everything Like it.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Just, you know, I the relationship that I ended.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: I had been with that person since high school.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: We'd been together for 10 years, like we were a unit, our parents were friends, like our friends were all friends.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: So that was a whole different change and I remember thinking I'm like you know, I just I want this particular.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: This is going to be my husband material.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: I started like building all these vision boards and all this other stuff.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: This is going to be my husband material.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: I started like building all these vision boards and all this other stuff.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: I had a very clear idea of what I wanted my life to be and it just started happening.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: You know, I started putting myself in situations that would help me get to what I wanted.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: I didn't really know what I wanted in terms of career, I just knew I wanted to do something creative and I wanted to do something that would allow me to create a business that would keep me financially stable.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: Right, I need to be financially stable, but, like I, really I enjoy being able to travel and have experiences and I never wanted to have a family and struggle.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Right, because I think, when you grow up, not that my family struggled significantly like my parents immediately, but my family in South America absolutely did.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: So I did experience a lot of that growing up, although I didn't know at the time.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: It was just normal, that's how people lived, right.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: But once I realized that, I said, you know, I don't want that, I don't want my children to have to experience that ever, and just kind of like that generational wealth and all that.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: And yeah, one thing after the other.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: So I started doing photography, which led to people paying me to do like corporate photography, for like the restaurants and stuff.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: And one day I was doing one, I met my husband three months after everything went down, you know, and from there it was like he was just always so supportive of everything I did and was always like you should do that, you should push to do that, you know.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: And yeah, it just, it just kept going.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: And you know, there was another very pivotal moment in my life in 2014.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: And I had been with my now husband for for a while.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: We'd been married for three years and, you know, rebuilt our lives together and house, car, all that kind of stuff, still working my corporate job because of the you know, the stability, although I had moved away from the one job I had, and I was, you know, pretty aggressively moving up the corporate ladder, even though it drained me, but I'd started moving into a role I was enjoying more.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: It was a lot of marketing and business development, and that kind of stuff brings me joy.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: I love marketing.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: And so I had an opportunity to go to Las Vegas.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: But I was house poor.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: We just bought a house, you know.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: And yes, I had a steady job and all that.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: But like you know how it is living paycheck to paycheck, and you have debt and you have, you don't have a lot of extra income.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: I couldn't afford to really go to Vegas for this trade show that I wanted to go to to help me move my photography business forward.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: I couldn't figure out how to make this a financially bountiful business, because doing photography is really hard to make a lot of money in.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: And so, funny enough, I went to a psychic who told me I had to go.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: She's like if you don't go, your life will be very like you have to go.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: And so I said, okay, well, we'll figure it out.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: And you know, I bought the cheapest ticket I could find, split a room at the Excalibur with three friends.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: So it was $60 a night, so we each paid about $20.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: And I got free passes to the expo floor that I found on the internet.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: If you just signed up for this newsletter, you got the ticket.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: So I made it as inexpensive as humanly possible.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: But going to that trade show is where I found my first photo booth.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: And when I saw this photo booth it was a mobile studio, it was beautiful, it took the most amazing photos because it used like really professional equipment and something clicked in my head and I was like I can make this a business, because I hate photo booths.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: I think they are tacky.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: They are like they're always really crappy quality.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: The pictures never even aligned properly, I'm like.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: But I could make a photo booth that I would want to rent.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: And another bold move but I took my parents emergency American express and keep in mind at this point I'm about 30, something like probably shouldn't have a parent's emergency Amex and charge $9,000 US to the card and said I will figure this out when I get home it was like a starter pack, like the start of your base, of your business, equipment and things like that, yeah, it was the company I bought it from, photo Boost Supply Co.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Which I'm still affiliated with to this day, had this.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: You know, essentially it was a business in a box.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: They gave you the marketing material, they gave you a lot of support, they gave you all the equipment you needed.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, I called my husband and I'm like this is crazy, but like there's something, I feel that this is the thing, and he's like do it, even though he knew we didn't have the money either.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's something about your significant other, like when you're like I just feel it like that, that's what I'll say to Jason I'll be like I just feel like this is the right thing to do.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: And then when, like, and not all of those have worked out and they're just like, okay, I trust you, like you go in.
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: If it doesn't work, we'll still figure it out.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: But I think there's also this joy they see in us of figuring it out, the challenge and you know the struggle in the success.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: I think the success wouldn't feel as good and as powerful and as wonderful as it feels if you didn't have the struggle.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: And I think you know we were talking in the green room before about you know different years of our business and you know like year four was way different than year one, two and three for me and I'm now.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: You know different years of our business and you know like year four was way different than year one, two and three for me and I'm now, you know, in year five, and so it's just interesting what you go through and the key is to keep going, keep moving.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: So, I love that you made this bold.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: You've made multiple bold moves all in this timeframe, really, from you know, 20, maybe 22, 23 to to 30, 32.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: So, like a lot of things got clearer too for you.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: What got clearer compared to where you were before?
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: You know, when you were in the roles, the relationships, those types of things, there was a sense of clarity that seems to have evolved in those years.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: I think I just believe more in myself and my abilities to be able to pull stuff off.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: And, you know, if I really believe in something that I can actually just do it right, I'll figure it out.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: And I just, the more I kept doing that, the more I realized I can just figure it out.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: And also, again going into a bit woo-woo I don't know if your listeners are woo-woo or not but trusting the universe a little bit more, you know, like if my gut tells me, like listening to my gut.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: I think that's what it probably comes down to trusting my gut more and really just knowing that I know the answer and that whatever I'm feeling there it's, it's probably true, you know, if I'm feeling fear in a good way, like fear, because I know it's going to be a lot of work and maybe a lot of pain, but I'm still know that it's going to be worth it, right Versus yeah, just not listening to my gut in the past.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, trusting yourself Right and feeling you have the agency in your life to do, do what you need to do next and figure it out.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I think that belief is really big and I think that's why it's the big B of bold the acronym, because I think it's what levers every action right, everything we're going to jump off our belief, whether we're taking action or if we're not taking action, our our lack of belief in ourselves.
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: And that's another thing someone can't give us right.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: They can help us have a healthy understanding of self and those types of things, but they can't, you know, make it happen and have it at its highest level.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: That's really up to us.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: So when you think about getting started and sometimes that's the hardest thing, obviously you have like a business in a box, you have the 9k kit, but that doesn't do it either.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: So I think you know people see all these ads or what to do first.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: Or you know the 10 year overnight success and it takes work, you know, and it takes focus, but it doesn't take always having the plan right Of.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: You know A through double Z.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: So when you're starting off like you came back and you're ready to kick off your business and you're still working your other job?
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: How did you transition to like I'm all in?
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: because I saw it so clearly that I just I to me it all aligned so perfectly.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: This is photography.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: I can make this stylized the way that I want to right because, like I said, I wouldn't be caught dead in a photo booth before.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: I thought they were so tacky.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: I wanted to make an experience that people would be like this is like a portrait session.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's gorgeous, thank you, it's something I want to put on my fridge or frame or, like you know, that was the quality I was going for and I knew, because of my photography experience and because of failing so many other side hustles, I knew what didn't work in the past and I knew kind of what I needed to do to make this work.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I knew I needed good branding, I needed to identify my target audience and I, because I knew I kind of did that one by mistake back then because I didn't know exactly I knew I wanted to go after people who cared about style and photography output.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: I did not realize that my target audience was perhaps, maybe someone more in like the luxury market back then, because I did mostly weddings, and I learned that afterwards.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: You know, the photo booth business took off.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: In our first year we made six figures of revenue and back then it was like 80% profit margin and this was my side hustle, right.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: What worked was that, you know, most events happen on the weekend and so I didn't really have an issue balancing this, if anything.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: We were just really tired because all of a sudden we were working every single weekend and then I had to buy a second machine and then a third machine.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: So first 18 months.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: By the end of it it was like I think I hit 150,000 in revenue.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: I had three machines going.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: I started to have to hire people so that I could actually work in the business instead of the events and stuff, and my biggest focus was that I wanted to do that ramp where it's like I get the business to a point where I can replace my income and then I can leave my job.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: So I had to automate as much as I possibly could so that when I was working my nine to five, I would be able to manage my five to nine over my lunch break and in the evenings Right, and so I made my company look bigger than it was.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: I had back then one 800 numbers weren't spammy, you know, I had a one 800 number and made it look like we had an office.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: I had this fancy website and you know all this stuff, and I think that, also that brand, is what really helped propel us to where we are today.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: And that was really it.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: It was just a lot of the failures I'd had in the past, but also that, just that alignment of the creativity and events, and just the photography side of of things too.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: It just looked so clear to me.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: It was like a no-brainer, you know yeah, there was no cloudiness to it I think that's like for me, the clarity even though, like, every step isn't defined and every bump isn't like obvious and it is just clearer for you, like how you're taking action.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Some Some of the things that you said I think are really important to go back to.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: You talked about brand.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: You talked about having a website.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: You talked about you had defined your target audience over time, sometimes by mistake or not on purpose.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: I think that sometimes holds people back from starting something like a side hustle or doing something on the weekends or evenings, because they think they have to have gazillion followers, they think they have to have an article in Forbes, they think they have to have a television interview, and I tell them that a one page website that looks nice and sharp, a telephone number and some testimonials and a clear understanding of what you do is what you need.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: And those are four ingredients.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Yep, you know.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: So you're another example of like.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you had social media and you had things, but it wasn't like you purposely had gone out and and done things over and over and over again with social media and, and you know, had the the best launch ever and done everything like perfectly.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: You know, because those are things we learn.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: I mean I'll just say for me, I don't do anything perfectly, because those are things we learn.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: I mean I'll just say for me, I don't do anything perfectly, yeah, but I do things, and I think taking action sometimes is way better than perfection.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: And so, oh my God, yeah.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: So when you think about, like what you truly needed, what were the base ingredients when you created your brand and some of the things like your website, when it came to the brand that one, I had a pretty clear vision and, like I mentioned, I was creating a photo booth for someone like me, so I needed to create a brand that I loved, right, and I put together Pinterest boards of brands that really spoke to me, that really invoke kind of like that luxury experience, and again it just kind of all came together.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: My biggest issue was trying to still make it a little bit fun, because photo booths are supposed to be fun, right, or at least that's what I thought back then.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: I mean, they are supposed to be fun but, like back then, it was very different than what the photo booth industry is now or what I even do now, and so when that brand came together, it again just really aligned.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: It was something I really believed in.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: I started an Instagram account and I'm pretty sure my first post was my logo going hey, I guess I'm doing this, you know, and I didn't really know much about Instagram and I definitely didn't have, you know, any clients, but I did know people in the industry from my previous photography work, right, and what I really did.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: And to this day, I still do this and I still say that this is one of the reasons why we are and continue to be successful.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: I went and pitched myself and I said listen, I'm going to do this event for free for you so that I can use the pictures and then you can tell me about your experience.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Right, I don't want to pay you for a review.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: I want you to give me a real experience and if you think it was really great, I would like you to tell other people real experience.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: And if you think it was really great, I would like you to tell other people, right?
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: And so we showed up and every single person that we did this free event for we blew their minds.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: We would always show up 10 times more than what we wanted them to expect from us, and that is really what propelled it, because then people started talking.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: I did.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: I know this one event that I did and I reached out to this lady and she was a little hesitant to have me come and do this free photo booth for her.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: That one event got me my three biggest clients.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: That brought me millions of revenue over the past 10 years.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: And you know, it was just believing and just going and telling people.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: I will show you that I can do it better and showing them, instead of being like give me money first, I'm like, no, trust me first, right, and then I know that you are going to help me.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: You know, build this business and it worked, and I still do it to this day.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: So I think that's one thing also for people to realize is, like you already have the tools, whether you've dreamt about it or thought about it or maybe even made an outline about it, but you have to keep taking the steps towards it.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: And, like you said, even, but you have to keep taking the steps towards it and, like you said, even starting out sometimes and sharing your skills or your expertise in a way that doesn't cost anybody anything.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: There is a price for the exposure that can't actually you can't quantitate right.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: So I think being able to you know that's a great example of like I did it for free, but you know, I've received clients from that event that have now been part of my business for years and maybe even still today.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: So yeah, so I think that's just important for people here.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Like, get creative, and most likely you're an entrepreneur because you already are.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: And in some form or fashion.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: You've got the creative vibe in you and like let it out and really think openly about how to reach people when you think about your photography and your business.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: No-transcript.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: So I now run a multitude of businesses, right.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: So you mentioned so modern.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: It's actually modern with no vowels, because that's how modern we go back.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: So we have modern photo booths, which is a luxury wedding brand.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: We have modern activations, which is really the bulk of my business, and that one is experiential marketing.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: We do a lot of really big brand stuff.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: Now, you know, if you see any type of like of experiential stuff, like at Coachella or something like that, that's kind of the stuff we haven't done Coachella yet, but maybe next year.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: And so for me it's just really understanding my clients, and that's what I'm obsessed with at this point is understanding what they need and how I can help them, because I've found that the only way I'm able to really sell my services is if I truly believe I'm going to be able to help you in some way, shape or form.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: You know, I came from a world of insurance which is a very sales tactic environment, right.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: It's almost like we get with the insurance industry, gets kind of pulled in with the used car salesman, you know that kind of stuff.
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: So to me I wanted to be the farthest away from that.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: So I really need to truly believe that I can help somebody accomplish something and by doing that I feel like it's more intentional.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: And, yeah, I believe, I believe I have to believe it Right.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and sharing that, sharing myself I think my personal brand has helped me with both of like all my business, I also do a lot of teaching for other photo booth owners and I just on that side of things, I share the good, the bad.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: I share everything right.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: That is happening in my day-to-day life as a photo booth owner and for my you know my corporate clients that I'm sharing with.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: I share a lot of different information with them as well.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: What am I seeing from other, you know, from the industry?
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: How can I help them make their clients understand the value that we bring?
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Because I almost feel like I'm having to educate the world on photo booths, because everyone thinks that they're like a bit of a novelty and we're having a shift in our industry where I'm trying to like and I'm not the only one doing this, there's definitely other people too industry where I'm trying to like and I'm not the only one doing this, there's definitely other people too but as an industry it's shifting to really show people how a photo booth can be a marketing tool in the best way possible, right?
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: It can be fun, it can be great experience, it can create memories for a wedding.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: It can also be an incredible marketing tool, and so, yeah, just putting my personal brand and just speaking from a place of genuine love for what I do has really helped in many ways to get the business that we need to survive, I guess.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: And I think it's interesting how you've also adapted what you offer based on your experiences and what you can share, right, so it's not just how to start, it's like how to keep it going, and here's the ins and outs.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: And, in addition, I also you know brand experiences and use photography as part of the experience itself, which can become a huge platform for marketing and remembering your brand and being able to connect event to to your brand, to their experience.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: So, when you think about you know some of the things that I wish I could just bottle up the cat, just do it of how you've really taken hold and empowered yourself and created agency in your own life, of what you're going to do.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: If someone is just thinking about starting something new or starting that side hustle or or feeling like it's something that's got to give, like this just isn't me what would be your advice for them?
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: How to get started?
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: What would you say?
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: Just start, especially nowadays, like it is so different.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: Now there are so many resources available out there free and paid to help you start every business under the sun, right?
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: So if there is something that you are super passionate about and you would prefer to be making money doing the thing you love, because it is true, like you know, when you work doing the thing you love, it doesn't feel like work.
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: And sure, you might work a hundred hours more than the person working a nine to five, but it doesn't feel like it.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: Like I'm obsessed with photo booths.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: Literally my life revolves around it.
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: I don't know that I have an identity outside of it, but I enjoy every second of it.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: So just go out, do the thing, watch the YouTube videos, but action.
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: Action is so much more important than having the knowledge and feeling prepared.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: Go out, make mistakes, learn from your mistakes, do it again.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: Just keep building and building and building and it'll pay off.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: It might take 10 years, but trust me, when you, when I look back now, you know, even now I'm sure you know we've been in business for a long time there are some days we go over like why am I doing this?
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: You know, like, what is happening.
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: Maybe you have a bad day or some client cancels or something.
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: And then I look back at where I was 10 years ago.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: I'm like nevermind, I'll keep going.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I still think like, wow, this is still, even though it's a tough day or like a tough moment, like I'm still glad I'm where I am and I'm not doing something that was out of alignment.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: So taking action is going to get you one step closer, or two steps closer to what you want, and so that's so, so important.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: That's your, your guidance.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: How does everyone find you?
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: What's the best way to keep up with you?
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm a little bit everywhere when it comes to photo booths, but if you want to follow my account, modern activations, which is MDR and activations, that does all my corporate stuff, and if you want to learn about photo booth businesses, it's at photo booth mastery on Instagram.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: But if you Google my name, you will find me and it probably has the word photo booth next to it.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: That's part of her genome now is photo Apparently.
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, your DNA.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: Yes, well, thank you so much for being on the bold lounge, sharing your bold journey and inspiring more people to take action.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the Bold Lounge podcast.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: Through the continuum of bold stories vulnerability to taking a leap you will meet more extraordinary people making a positive impact for others through their unique and important story.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: By highlighting these stories, we hope to inspire others and share the journey of those with a bold mindset.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: We hope you've enjoyed this podcast and look forward to sharing the next bold journey with you.