Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Lessons learnt in the Dominican Republic
Transcript
- 0:11Becca: A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of being invited to speak
- 0:14at the I A D W P World Romance Travel Conference in no, other than
- 0:19the Dominican Republic, I had the most incredible few days learning.
- 0:24Meeting other people, and of course, sharing my knowledge with
- 0:27people from the stage as well.
- 0:29This episode is gonna be all about the things I learned during my
- 0:33time in the Dominican Republic.
- 0:34Whenever you go on one of these events, there's always loads of learnings.
- 0:38So today I'm gonna be talking about that and sharing what I've learned that you
- 0:41can implement into your wedding business.
- 0:45I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert, speaker and blogger,
- 0:49and you are listening to The Wedding Pros who are Ready to Grow podcast.
- 0:53I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
- 0:56examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
- 1:00If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
- 1:03and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you
- 1:07love, then you're in the right place.
- 1:09Let's get going with today's episode.
- 1:12Today I wanna give a little bit of a shout out to some of my incredible
- 1:15Wedding Pro lounge members.
- 1:17The Wedding Pro Members Lounge is for wedding business owners who want
- 1:20additional support, accountability, and to learn from incredible guest experts and
- 1:24keep on growing in their wedding business.
- 1:26Every month now, each month, we get together for a lounge call where we look
- 1:30back on the previous month, set goals together for the month ahead, and they
- 1:33get the chance to meet each other as well.
- 1:35Now at the start of this, Week's call.
- 1:37I asked people to share some of their wins from the last month, and I wanted to share
- 1:41some of them with you because I wanna give a shout out to my incredible members.
- 1:45And also I think it's inspiring to hear what other people are doing.
- 1:49So I'm not gonna name them because I didn't ask them if I could do this, but
- 1:52I am gonna shout out some of their wins.
- 1:54So some of my members, one of them was a guest on a podcast
- 1:57and had an absolutely great time.
- 2:00I had one member who has quoted for a couple with a massive budget, the
- 2:03biggest budget that they've ever done.
- 2:05One of my other members said that the last four consultations they've had
- 2:10were amazing and all with ideal couples.
- 2:13Again, you'll know that if you are looking for certain kinds of couples when you
- 2:16start getting them into your business, you know you're doing the right thing
- 2:19with your marketing and your messaging.
- 2:21One person returned from a holiday and had two replies to their inquiries, which
- 2:25is always nice when you've had a break.
- 2:27one person had a five star review, someone else said they're nearly
- 2:30fully booked for the week ahead.
- 2:31And finally, one of my members got a huge contract to perform
- 2:35at a TikTok staff event.
- 2:37So shout out to you if you're in the members lounge and
- 2:39you've had an incredible win.
- 2:41I always love to hear about it.
- 2:43And if you're listening to this and something great's happened in your
- 2:45wedding business from something you've implemented, maybe something you've
- 2:48learned on one of these podcasts, drop me a message at Becca Pountney.
- 2:51I always love to hear from you.
- 2:53And if you're in business and making money and you want additional support
- 2:56and community, you should definitely check out the Wedding Pro members lounge.
- 2:59As well.
- 3:00Just ask me for more information.
- 3:02Okay, let's get onto it then.
- 3:04The Dominican Republic, oh my goodness.
- 3:06It was the most incredible country I've never been before.
- 3:09Don't know if you have, it was beautiful.
- 3:12I've never seen sea, so crystal blue in all my life.
- 3:16It was stunning.
- 3:17And I hope to be able to go back there on an actual holiday at some
- 3:20point rather than on a work event.
- 3:23So in this episode today, I just wanna share with you some of the
- 3:25things that happened, some of the things I learned along the way, and
- 3:28hopefully they'll inspire you on your wedding business journey this week.
- 3:33Now, the first thing I wanna say is I want you to know that you should
- 3:37say yes to opportunities even when they feel a little bit uncomfortable,
- 3:42and even when your head comes in with all the self-limiting beliefs that we
- 3:45tend to have now, I was actually only invited to speak at this event about
- 3:49four weeks before the event itself.
- 3:52So I received out of the blue a letter inviting me to come and
- 3:55be a speaker, in four weeks time.
- 3:58And my initial thought that popped into my head was, That's a long way, and
- 4:02that's too soon, and it would've been very easy to say no because it's too soon.
- 4:08Well, I actually looked in my diary and the dates that they'd sent me.
- 4:11I did actually have gaps in my diary for those dates, so I
- 4:14was available to make the date.
- 4:17So actually there wasn't really a reason to say no.
- 4:19Being a little bit last minute probably wasn't a reason I had space in my diary.
- 4:23It was an incredible opportunity that I would've been crazy to turn down.
- 4:27And so despite everything within me saying no, and despite making
- 4:31sure I had 24 hours to think about it before I responded, I said yes.
- 4:35And I'm so glad I did because I would've missed out on so many great experiences.
- 4:40The people I met out there.
- 4:42If you're listening and I met you there, you are amazing.
- 4:44I met so many wonderful, incredible people while I was out there.
- 4:48Everyone was so friendly.
- 4:50I went on my.
- 4:50Own, which is scary.
- 4:52It is a long way, but people made me feel really welcome.
- 4:55And actually sometimes when you go to these things on your own, you make
- 4:58better connections because you're forced to make friends, you're forced to find
- 5:01people to speak to, and you meet some of the most amazing people as well.
- 5:05So do I have any regrets about going?
- 5:07Absolutely not.
- 5:08Am I glad I said yes to the opportunity?
- 5:10A hundred percent.
- 5:11I really am.
- 5:13No regrets at all.
- 5:14I absolutely loved it.
- 5:15I learned so much.
- 5:16I met some great people.
- 5:17And I'm sure I'll be working with many of the people I met
- 5:20for the years to come as well.
- 5:21And if that's you, then, thank you for making that such an enjoyable trip and
- 5:26such an enjoyable experience for me.
- 5:28So the lesson learned is that actually sometimes we do need to step back.
- 5:32When something comes our way, an opportunity, and it feels maybe a
- 5:37little bit uncomfortable or our head starts telling us all of the reasons we
- 5:40shouldn't do it, give yourself some space.
- 5:43And realize that's just your own head, giving you those self-limiting beliefs.
- 5:47And actually why not just say yes, these opportunities don't
- 5:50present themselves all too often.
- 5:52We know that often if you say no to an opportunity, it
- 5:55might not come around again.
- 5:57And if it works and you can do it, then to say yes, don't
- 6:01let confidence hold you back.
- 6:03So that's the first thing.
- 6:04I'm so said.
- 6:05Yes, opportunity.
- 6:07Got opportunity coming up or presenting itself to you
- 6:10over the next month or years.
- 6:12Think about it and just say yes.
- 6:14Even if it makes you feel uncomfortable, what's the worst that can happen?
- 6:17And you might just find that something amazing happens as well.
- 6:22Okay, my next learning was actually from one of the talks that was given on the
- 6:27first day by a wonderful lady called Lynn.
- 6:30And she was speaking about lots of different things, but one thing
- 6:33she said really stuck with me and it was a quote, and I'm gonna read
- 6:36the quote to you now, and I think this will resonate with some of you.
- 6:40You will never regret taking the holiday, but you will
- 6:44regret the ones you didn't take.
- 6:46I'm gonna say that again.
- 6:47You will never regret taking the holiday, but you will
- 6:50regret the ones you didn't take.
- 6:54Now, I wrote this down straight into my notebook during the session
- 6:57because that really resonated with me.
- 6:59I think as entrepreneurs.
- 7:01We are so often our own worst enemies.
- 7:04We're maybe chasing after success, whatever our version of success is.
- 7:08The world tells us that working really hard and earning more and more
- 7:11and more money is the definition of success, which isn't necessarily true,
- 7:16and we can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to work really hard and
- 7:19to work more hours than we want to.
- 7:22And I speak to so many of you that say, oh, we haven't got time to go on
- 7:26holiday, or, I don't wanna take time out of the business to take a day off,
- 7:29cuz my to-do list will just get longer.
- 7:31Actually, it's so, so important that we do take the break, that we do take the
- 7:36holidays, that we do go on a spa day or go out for coffee sometimes with a friend
- 7:41instead of tackling that to-do list.
- 7:43Now obviously we need to have a balance, but actually taking a break is a win.
- 7:48Taking a holiday is a good thing.
- 7:49It helps us be more productive and what I find when I take a holiday is that it
- 7:54gives me that head space to think about new ideas because I'm not in the moment.
- 7:58I'm relaxed.
- 7:59I'm having fun with my family, and it's definitely true.
- 8:03That quote, you never regret taking the holiday.
- 8:05I've never been on a holiday and thought.
- 8:07I wish I hadn't been on this holiday, and I've really lived
- 8:10that this year with my family.
- 8:12We went, on holiday in May, and we've actually booked to go away
- 8:16again in August because actually we had such an amazing time.
- 8:20We're so relaxed, and if we can take the holiday, why not?
- 8:24Take it.
- 8:24I take most of the summer holidays off myself anyway, because I have the kids
- 8:28at home and I have to work with them.
- 8:30Now, I know I could work really hard all summer holidays and maybe bring in some
- 8:34more money into the business, but actually it's not always about that for me.
- 8:38So, I want you to reflect on that.
- 8:40If you are the person that never takes the break, never takes the holiday,
- 8:43feels like they've gotta keep on working harder and harder and harder to earn
- 8:46more and more money, and that they kind of punishing yourself and not taking a
- 8:50break, then take a look at your diary and put some time in for you, your family.
- 8:55You will never regret taking the holiday.
- 8:58You'll regret the ones you didn't.
- 9:00Take.
- 9:01Love that.
- 9:02Thank you for sharing that quote, Lynn, if you are listening.
- 9:06Okay.
- 9:06The next learning number three that I had while I was out in
- 9:10the Caribbean was actually from one of the lovely people I met.
- 9:14I met her on the first night.
- 9:16And one of the flaws in my personality, especially when I go to events
- 9:20like this, is when people start talking to me about their business.
- 9:23I can't help but just get super over involved and start doing
- 9:27a little bit of coaching or teaching in those conversations.
- 9:31So they think they're there for a nice, relaxing drink, and then
- 9:33they get talking to me and probably instantly regret it, or maybe not.
- 9:36I don't know.
- 9:37It's definitely something that I struggle with because sometimes I think
- 9:40maybe I should just keep quiet and let them talk about their business.
- 9:42Anyway, on the first night at the drinks, I met this lovely girl.
- 9:46We had a wonderful chat about her business.
- 9:49And I was doing my usual thing of doing loads of posts and
- 9:52popping them on Instagram and doing little Instagram stories.
- 9:55And so we started chatting about posting on Instagram and I asked her about her own
- 9:59Instagram, can I follow you on Instagram?
- 10:00Can I tag you on Instagram?
- 10:02And she was like, oh, I don't really do social media very much for my business.
- 10:05I don't really do Instagram at all.
- 10:07I hardly ever post.
- 10:08Now you can imagine my response was Why on earth, not like why,
- 10:12like you're at this amazing event.
- 10:14You are in the Dominican Republic.
- 10:16There is so much to talk about.
- 10:17Don't tell me you haven't got any content to share.
- 10:20You can take photos of everything that's happening here and
- 10:22share on your social media.
- 10:23It's really good for your business.
- 10:24It's really good for your visibility.
- 10:26And yeah, basically the poor person got a huge talk from me and we
- 10:31had a good conversation about it.
- 10:34But when I got to the heart of the reason, and I think again, this will
- 10:37resonate with some of you, the reason that she wasn't posting on social media
- 10:41was not because she didn't have content.
- 10:44It was actually because she felt a bit cringy.
- 10:47And she said she felt like she was showing off and she felt like she didn't
- 10:51wanna post because people didn't wanna hear what she had to say and actually
- 10:56like, why did she need to be doing that?
- 10:58And she'd rather stay silent.
- 11:01Now we had a really interesting conversation and as I said, I get
- 11:06over involved and I challenged her to reset her mindset and stop thinking
- 11:11and worrying so much about herself.
- 11:13And start thinking about her followers.
- 11:16So, as I say, quite frequently when it comes to business, I think we should
- 11:21always have an attitude of service.
- 11:23So I encouraged her to think about her social media platforms differently.
- 11:27Stop thinking about, oh no, I'm just really cringey.
- 11:30No one wants to hear from me.
- 11:31I'm gonna embarrass myself.
- 11:32What's everyone gonna think?
- 11:33But instead, turn that around and think, okay, who are my potential customers?
- 11:37Who's following me on social media?
- 11:39And how is what I'm doing, going to serve them.
- 11:44How am I helping them solve a problem today?
- 11:46How am I encouraging them or inspiring them in what they're doing today?
- 11:51Now she worked in travel, so I said to her, well, if I was going on a trip to the
- 11:55Dominican Republic, for example, and you were sharing really great insights about
- 11:59the places I should eat, the things I should do, the weather, the hotels, what's
- 12:02really great, why I should pack, all of those things are amazingly helpful for
- 12:07someone that's never been there before.
- 12:09And actually, It's a real service.
- 12:11I'm not looking at that content thinking, oh, here she goes again.
- 12:14Don't like keep seeing her popping up on social.
- 12:16What I'm actually thinking is, this is really helpful.
- 12:18Thank you for posting this.
- 12:19Please post more of it.
- 12:20So when we start changing our thinking and realizing, okay, this isn't
- 12:24actually about us, it's about the people that are following us and about
- 12:27how we are able to serve them, help them, help them grow, and obviously
- 12:31as part of that remain more visible.
- 12:34The other thing I explained to her was the attitude of service towards the
- 12:38other people that were hosting the event.
- 12:40So we were talking about posting about the event itself and how she didn't
- 12:44wanna look like she was showing off to people about being in the Caribbean.
- 12:48So, Now, obviously this gave me a little pang of guilt for a second
- 12:51cuz there's me just posting left, right, and center about being there.
- 12:54And then I said to her, well this is why I do it, because actually I'm serving
- 12:58the people who have put this event on.
- 13:01We're in the Caribbean.
- 13:02Yes.
- 13:02And it's amazing, but there are some staff who have worked incredibly hard.
- 13:06So number one, put the event on.
- 13:08Number two, the hotel that's hosting it, the chefs that have spent.
- 13:11Hours making the most incredible food displays, the photographers, all of the
- 13:16florist decor, or the people who are involved in making that event happen.
- 13:20Actually, it would be a disservice for me not to share their work
- 13:23with the world, not to say thank you, not to say, wow, look at this
- 13:27incredible food display at this hotel.
- 13:29Look at the amazing floral decorations, that this event has.
- 13:32Pulled together.
- 13:33Look at the incredible speakers who have come all this way to
- 13:36share their knowledge with us.
- 13:38And so actually when we're posting on social media and we're tagging
- 13:40people and we're talking about other people and how amazing they are,
- 13:44again, that's an attitude of service.
- 13:46Those people have worked really hard in that job, and we're actually not
- 13:49showing off with thanking them for all of the things that they've done.
- 13:54So I hope that this encourages you as well.
- 13:57If you are someone that thinks, I hate posting on social, I don't wanna show
- 14:00off, I don't wanna talk about me, well start changing that mindset and think,
- 14:03right, how am I serving other people?
- 14:05How am I serving the people that follow me on these platforms and
- 14:09helping them and being visible?
- 14:11And how am I serving other people that I'm posting about to
- 14:15make their day even better now.
- 14:17Through the week, she started posting more regularly.
- 14:20I think she had my voice ringing in her ear again, apologies for that.
- 14:24But she started posting and she came back to me the next day and said, I've been
- 14:27posting quite frequently on my Instagram.
- 14:30I've been doing all the things you said.
- 14:31I've changed my mindset.
- 14:32And she said to me, I've had more interaction over the last 24 hours on my
- 14:37Instagram profile than I have had ever.
- 14:42So it works.
- 14:44Showing up works, being visible works.
- 14:46People do wanna hear from you.
- 14:48Just think about it as an attitude of service rather than worrying all of the
- 14:51time what people are thinking about it.
- 14:53And if that's you, I encourage you today think about what you could
- 14:56post to serve somebody else and start making their day better.
- 15:03Okay.
- 15:03The next thing I wanna talk about, taking a totally different train of
- 15:07thought is all about business cards.
- 15:09Dunno about you.
- 15:10I feel like business cards are becoming a thing of the past, but they are still
- 15:13really useful when you go to these events, you meet loads of people, you
- 15:17are given loads of business cards.
- 15:18I tend to shove them in my bag and then try and remember which
- 15:21ones I wanna follow up with later.
- 15:23And also because I was flying, I didn't have loads of room.
- 15:26I didn't wanna take loads of business cards.
- 15:27And also I feel like if I give out business cards, people do the same to me.
- 15:30They just stick 'em into their pocket and go away and forget about it.
- 15:35So I decided this time to implement a virtual business card and a QR code.
- 15:41So essentially what I did is on Canva, I created a bunch of, Instagram story
- 15:47size things, for my phone images.
- 15:50And each one had different information on, so I had one that had a photo of me
- 15:54and my contact details on it, and then all of the other ones had QR codes on them.
- 15:59So I had one for the podcast with the name of the podcast, and then a QR code.
- 16:02I had one for the Instagram, my Instagram with the QR code.
- 16:06I had one for my course with a QR code as well, and I made them all on Canva,
- 16:10saved them, downloaded them all to my phone, and I've saved them in an album
- 16:14on my phone called Business Cards.
- 16:16Now, the reason this is working well for me is number one, I don't have to carry
- 16:20a business card anymore, and I don't have to worry about people putting it in
- 16:23their phone, but I can also present them with whatever is the most useful thing
- 16:28based on the conversation we've had.
- 16:29So if I'm chatting with someone and we end up talking about the
- 16:32podcast and how much I think the podcast will help them, I can just.
- 16:35Pull up the podcast thing in my phone.
- 16:38They can scan the QR code right there, and then I can tell them to follow the show.
- 16:42And then I know that they're getting that into their podcast inbox
- 16:45every single week, and they've got the podcast and it's all great.
- 16:49Same with Instagram.
- 16:50If that seems to be a good place to connect, I'll say to them, just scan
- 16:53the code right now while you're here.
- 16:55Jump onto my Instagram.
- 16:55Yep, that's me.
- 16:56Hit follow.
- 16:57Drop me a message.
- 16:58Let's chat further in Instagram.
- 17:00Or if they do want my traditional contact details, they can
- 17:02just take a photo of my phone.
- 17:05So it's working really well for me.
- 17:06It really does take away the faff of the business card.
- 17:09It means you can have multiple versions of your business card.
- 17:12So for you, you might be able to save some of these with a QR code to your
- 17:15pricing packages, or you might be able to have one that goes to your contact form.
- 17:18You might have one that goes to your Instagram.
- 17:20You might have one that is just more of a traditional one.
- 17:23Save them on your phone, put them under an album like, I said, call it business cards
- 17:27or something so you can easily pull it up.
- 17:29You don't have to go through 5 million other photos to find it,
- 17:31and then you can use that going forward for people to either take
- 17:34photos of or to scan those QR codes.
- 17:36If you dunno how to make a QR code, you can make them in Canva.
- 17:40It's very easy to make.
- 17:41It doesn't cost anything.
- 17:42You can do it on the free version of Canva and then you can add that in.
- 17:46As well.
- 17:46And basically it means someone can just scan it and then it takes
- 17:49them to whatever website U R L you have put in on that QR code.
- 17:53If you get any questions about how to do that, technically do drop
- 17:56into my inbox at Becca Pountney on Instagram or Facebook, and I can
- 17:59point you in the right direction.
- 18:01But definitely one to think about.
- 18:03Definitely a learning I've had from that trip that it's working really
- 18:06well, specifically because I can point people to the right thing as well.
- 18:10So if they wanna talk to me more about my course, I can send them straight to that.
- 18:13If they wanna talk to me more about the podcast, I can send them straight to.
- 18:15And it doesn't have to be one size fits all because it never is.
- 18:19These conversations go in different tangents depending on what
- 18:22you're talking about at the time.
- 18:23So I encourage you for your next networking event or conference that
- 18:26you're going to, or even just to have on your phone in case you have
- 18:29a chance encounter with someone that's interested in what you do.
- 18:32You never have to worry about whether you're carrying a business
- 18:34card again, cuz we're pretty much always carrying our phones.
- 18:37Get those saved in your phone and you'll be ready to go.
- 18:42Okay.
- 18:42A couple more things from the Dominican Republic for me to share with you.
- 18:47First of all, I wanna share with you that in life we're taking
- 18:52stepping stones, not leaps.
- 18:54And when you see someone else's success, it's just the next stepping stone.
- 18:58Now obviously, speaking of the Dominican Republic was probably one of the biggest
- 19:02things I've done in the wedding industry.
- 19:05I absolutely loved it and it was an incredible opportunity.
- 19:09Now if.
- 19:09People have just met me there, or maybe you've followed me on Instagram.
- 19:13Maybe you've only come across me recently on this podcast.
- 19:16You can look at that and think, wow, that's an amazing opportunity.
- 19:21I wish I could do that, and I want to remind you when you see things like
- 19:25that on social media and you think, I wish I had those opportunities, that
- 19:29for that person or for me, it's the next stepping stone in a much longer
- 19:34journey that you may not have seen.
- 19:36Now, I'm privileged to have people in my world that have been with me since
- 19:39I started this business way back in 2016, and they really have seen every
- 19:43stepping stone of the journey they've seen, the things I've done and how
- 19:47I've got to where I've got to today.
- 19:49But you may not have seen that.
- 19:50And when you look at other people online, you look at other wedding professionals
- 19:54who are doing big weddings or speaking at events or doing these incredible things,
- 19:58and you might think, I wish that was me.
- 20:00You don't necessarily see their backstory.
- 20:03So yes, I did have an amazing opportunity to speak on this big stage.
- 20:07Actually, there's a huge backstory to that.
- 20:10I've spoken in tiny little conference rooms.
- 20:13I've spoken in little tiny meetings.
- 20:15I've spoken in memberships online, all of the things that don't look so
- 20:18glamorous, but I've been doing for years to build and build up to this point.
- 20:22Now I've got a friend called Lucy Superfox.
- 20:25Some of you may have heard of her.
- 20:27I think she's wonderful.
- 20:28And we were actually messaging just last week about this same thing
- 20:32because the week after I was in the Dominican Republic, she was
- 20:34speaking on stage in Las Vegas and.
- 20:37Again, looked incredible online on her Instagram and people
- 20:41were like, wow, that's amazing.
- 20:42But we had a little chat in the dms to remind ourselves of what journey we've
- 20:47been on, because way back in, I think it was probably 2017, 2018, we actually
- 20:53spoke together at this tiny event in Milton keynes it was a little brunch
- 20:56event to some female entrepreneurs.
- 20:59It was a lovely morning.
- 21:00We both spoke, to a small room of people in Milton Keynes and.
- 21:05I just said to her, isn't it incredible that we met at this event where we were
- 21:08both speaking in these tiny little event?
- 21:10And now over the last couple of weeks, we've both spoken on
- 21:13these huge international stages.
- 21:15What's a journey It's been, but that journey has been years long.
- 21:21Now.
- 21:21We've done the stepping stones.
- 21:23We've taken one step after the next step, after the next step.
- 21:26So when you see somebody else's success in the industry, Don't beat yourself up.
- 21:31Don't think, why isn't that me?
- 21:33Realize there's been a whole raft of stepping stones to get to that point.
- 21:36And if that's where you want to be, you absolutely can start stepping on
- 21:40those stepping stones to get there.
- 21:42Based on some of the things, the messages I got in the Dominican Republic,
- 21:45I'm gonna start a new program, which is gonna be launching in September.
- 21:49More details will be coming soon for people who want to go on that journey,
- 21:52who want to be on stage, who want to be having more of a bigger presence,
- 21:56interviewed on podcasts, maybe even starting their own podcast, but
- 21:59don't quite know how to get there.
- 22:01I'm gonna show them some of the steps in that journey.
- 22:04But instead of looking at other people and thinking, I wish that was me, you
- 22:07need to look at other people and realize that's just one step in a longer journey.
- 22:12And I can get there too.
- 22:13I just need to start taking the smaller steps as well.
- 22:16And if looking at other people's stuff on social media makes you feel
- 22:19rubbish, just stop following them.
- 22:21Like, we don't have to follow our competitors.
- 22:23We don't have to follow these.
- 22:25Big names in the industry that seem like they've got it all together.
- 22:28We don't have to do that.
- 22:28If that is having a negative effect on you, then switch it off.
- 22:34Okay.
- 22:34The final thing that I wanna share with you this morning that I learned while I
- 22:38was out in the Dominican and before I went and probably after I came back as well,
- 22:43is this idea and I'm, I've spoken about it before and it's really stuck with me since
- 22:48I heard Carrie Wilkerson speak about it at an event and it's stop worrying about what
- 22:54they think because who are they anyway?
- 22:58So often we worry about what other people think about us.
- 23:01I know you are listening to this and even if you're like, I don't
- 23:04care what people think of me, probably deep down, really you do.
- 23:08We do struggle with this and we do worry about what other people are thinking
- 23:12and we often say, oh, I don't wanna post on social because what will they think?
- 23:15I shouldn't do this event cuz what will they think?
- 23:17But actually when you start to think about who they are, it's just a figment
- 23:21of our imagination most of the time.
- 23:22It doesn't really happen.
- 23:24And whenever I go on one of these big trips, this invades my mind
- 23:30because I'm female and I'm a parent and I've got two young children who
- 23:34I adore, and I started this business to spend more time with them.
- 23:37And it really shocks people that I could go away for four days to speak
- 23:42at a conference and leave them behind.
- 23:44And often I'll get comments from other parents in the playground or you know,
- 23:48people making jokes or whatever it is about the fact that I'm going away
- 23:52and swanning off on these holidays.
- 23:53Obviously I'm not, I'm working hard, but.
- 23:56We can really worry about what people think and that can stop us doing stuff.
- 24:00Actually, we don't need to worry about what they think, because if you've
- 24:04made a decision as an individual, as part of a family to do something
- 24:09and to take an opportunity, then.
- 24:11It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks about it.
- 24:14The other reason we worry about what they think is we worry about
- 24:17this idea of imposter syndrome.
- 24:19So, you know, you think almost if someone catches me out, anyone
- 24:22else think that happens if they realize I'm not such a good florist?
- 24:25What if they realize that I'm just so and so who's a photographer
- 24:29and I'm not really an expert?
- 24:30And we start worrying about being caught out now.
- 24:33I'm the same.
- 24:34I worry people will question my authority, like, how dare she
- 24:37speak on stage about marketing?
- 24:39What does she know about this subject?
- 24:40what is her experience?
- 24:42And actually this happened to be while I was away, someone said to me over
- 24:48dinner, what's your experience anyway?
- 24:50Have you even ever owned in a wedding business?
- 24:52And my gut felt sick cuz I thought, uhoh, someone's gonna catch me out.
- 24:56They're gonna realize, I dunno what I'm talking about, which is ridiculous.
- 25:00And I took a breath and I thought, actually I don't care what they
- 25:03think, I know what I'm doing.
- 25:04So I explained to them a little bit about my backstory.
- 25:07I'm not sure they were that interested.
- 25:08I think they were kind of having a little bit of a dig and.
- 25:11You know, sometimes these things come from a, a different place,
- 25:14or maybe I interpreted it wrong.
- 25:16But it really played into that insecurity about worrying about what they think,
- 25:21because you know, I do hear a lot of wedding educators who talk about
- 25:26their six figure wedding business, and I don't have that experience.
- 25:30I, I never had a six figure wedding business.
- 25:32Now I did have a wedding business.
- 25:34I understand what it's like.
- 25:35I owned a wedding videography business.
- 25:37It was successful, but it was never a massive.
- 25:39Huge six figure business.
- 25:42But you know what?
- 25:42I do have my own experience, which allows me to do what I do
- 25:46now, and that's experience that many people who maybe owned a six
- 25:50figure wedding business don't have.
- 25:52I worked in television, I worked in radio, I've worked in
- 25:55marketing for some huge clients.
- 25:57I understand.
- 25:58Email marketing.
- 25:59I understand marketing on the radio.
- 26:01I understand all of these things and I've had lots of lived experience
- 26:05and I've helped people over the years grow their wedding businesses
- 26:09and I've helped other people grow hugely successful wedding businesses
- 26:13through that marketing knowledge.
- 26:14Not because I had a six figure wedding business, but actually
- 26:17because I understand how marketing.
- 26:19Works.
- 26:20So I'm glad that that insecurity didn't last with me too long.
- 26:24But I think these things can impact us.
- 26:26We worry about being caught out.
- 26:27We worry that people will think we're not good enough.
- 26:29But actually each and every one of you has your own experience.
- 26:33You have your own mind.
- 26:34You have your own worth that you bring to this world.
- 26:37And actually, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks of you because
- 26:41you know that you're good at what you do deep down and you know that
- 26:44you've got the experience to do it.
- 26:46And you know that you can create incredible wedding days for people.
- 26:49And you know, you can make amazing decisions and decide what opportunities
- 26:52to take or what wants to turn down.
- 26:54And I wanna encourage you if you are worrying about what they think or what
- 26:58they might say, just remember who's they anyway, and what does it matter.
- 27:03It really doesn't.
- 27:05All in all my experience out in the Caribbean was incredible.
- 27:08If you've never been to the Dominican Republic before, oh
- 27:11my goodness, I recommend going.
- 27:13It is an eight hour flight for the uk, but it went fast.
- 27:16I watched lots of films and it was worth it.
- 27:18I was only there for a few days.
- 27:20But definitely worth the travel.
- 27:22Not too bad for my jet lag.
- 27:24I loved every minute of it.
- 27:25The people were friendly.
- 27:26If you're looking for a holiday destination, I definitely
- 27:29recommend the Dominican Republic.
- 27:31It was beautiful, and hopefully by me sharing some of my lessons with
- 27:35you today, you've learned a little bit more and had some more thoughts
- 27:38for your wedding business too.
- 27:40If you've enjoyed this episode, I would love for you to either follow
- 27:44the show if you're not already.
- 27:45Or to leave me a review.
- 27:47When I first started the podcast, lots of people left me reviews, but as it's
- 27:50been going on, obviously it's not top of your mind, and less people have
- 27:54done that, and I would really love it if you have been listening to the
- 27:57show a long time, or maybe you've only recently discovered it, please do.
- 28:01Go ahead and just leave a little review.
- 28:03It means the world to me to see what you have to say, and also it
- 28:06helps other people find the podcast.
- 28:08So if you could do that, I would really appreciate it.
- 28:11Feel free to drop me a DM and let me know you've done it as well, so
- 28:13that I can thank you personally.
- 28:15Hopefully you found this episode helpful.
- 28:17If you need anything, you can find me at Becca Pountney on Instagram and
- 28:20Facebook, and I'll see you all next time.