Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / WEDCON the story! Interview with Wedcon founders Katie and Roxy

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WEDCON the story! Interview with Wedcon founders Katie and Roxy · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

• 0:00
  Roxy: People loved it.
• 0:01
  People were, you know, leaving their feeling armed and told ready to go
• 0:05
  and smash their business motivated.
• 0:08
  Just, just amazing feedback.
• 0:10
  And we've got so many people that came to 2019 event, coming to the 2022 event.
• 0:15
  Becca: I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert,
• 0:17
  speaker and blogger, and you are listening to The Wedding Pros
• 0:20
  who Are Ready To Grow podcast.
• 0:22
  I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
• 0:25
  examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
• 0:29
  If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
• 0:33
  and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you
• 0:36
  love, then you're in the right place.
• 0:38
  Let's get going with today's episode.
• 0:41
  Today I'm joined by Katie and Roxy from the Wedding Business Hub, having
• 0:45
  built their own bridal boutique from the ground up 12 years ago.
• 0:48
  They now run a wedding industry community, and Wedcon an annual
• 0:51
  wedding conference for wedding professionals, which I'm delighted
• 0:54
  to be speaking at again this year.
• 0:56
  They're best friends who work together and who both love weddings.
• 0:59
  Katie and Roxy, welcome to the podcast.
• 1:02
  Katie: Hi, we're so excited to be here.
• 1:04
  Thanks for having.
• 1:05
  Becca: Thanks for having us.
• 1:07
  I am very excited to have you here, especially because we've had so many
• 1:10
  technical meltdowns trying to get all of us in the same place at the same time.
• 1:15
  So I'm thrilled that we've managed to get us all together.
• 1:18
  Now, I gave you a bit of an intro there, but it would be great to know
• 1:21
  a little bit more about each of you.
• 1:23
  So why don't you start each of you by telling me how did you end up
• 1:27
  in the wedding industry in the.
• 1:29
  Katie: Sure.
• 1:29
  So I started in the wedding industry Yeah, about 12 years ago.
• 1:33
  And kind of kinda, probably like a lot of your listeners actually, uh, I'm one
• 1:37
  of those people that was getting married myself and I saw a gap in the market.
• 1:40
  So I started, um, a little bit of background about me.
• 1:44
  I'd left my job, had a baby at home, my husband was husband to be, was working.
• 1:49
  And, um, when we got engaged and we were planning our wedding, um, The price of
• 1:55
  kind of things was like all setting up and getting a little bit much and with
• 1:58
  only one income coming into the, into the family to kind of plan our wedding.
• 2:01
  And I was kind of looking for a wedding dress and I was
• 2:04
  like, Wow, these are a lot.
• 2:08
  Uh, I I'm way out of my budget at the time.
• 2:10
  So at the time, sort of 12, 15 years ago, there's lots more options now,
• 2:13
  but you had kind of two options.
• 2:15
  One of the, one of it was like, you hoped for the best and ordered from eBay and
• 2:19
  you just, fingers crossed it turned up what it looked like from from China.
• 2:23
  Or you bought second hand and then you had the problems of kind of
• 2:27
  alterations, if it didn't fit, if it was dry cleaned, et cetera.
• 2:31
  So I kind of thought, Oh God, there's gotta be better way to do this.
• 2:34
  Now I'm ended up managing to source my own dress for a few hundred pounds, brand
• 2:39
  new, and it was like a next sample gown.
• 2:42
  And I thought, right, there's gotta be a market for this.
• 2:45
  So I actually was a teacher, pre setting up a business and kind of
• 2:50
  getting back into teaching wasn't, um, wasn't viable with a baby at home and
• 2:55
  my husband worked long hours as well.
• 2:56
  So I was looking for something to do to use my brain, thought about starting a
• 3:00
  business i'd, I'd got some experience.
• 3:04
  In the past running businesses for other people.
• 3:06
  So I, so I was thinking about it and then I just thought, Right,
• 3:09
  there's gotta be a market for this.
• 3:10
  So I tested it out.
• 3:11
  I started my business running it from my bedroom at home.
• 3:15
  I used to have brides come in and try on wedding dresses in my bathroom.
• 3:19
  And then I thought, right, if, um, if I can start from home,
• 3:24
  Then I need to get a shop.
• 3:25
  And yeah, so that's what happened.
• 3:28
  And then Roxy kind of came in because, uh, we were getting
• 3:30
  busier and I needed some staff.
• 3:32
  The Roxy kind of came in and within three months she was full time and,
• 3:36
  and pretty much running the shop.
• 3:38
  Um, and then we, we grew that business together to be a six
• 3:41
  figure business from getting, from getting the shop within two years.
• 3:45
  So yeah, that was something that we were really incredibly proud of.
• 3:48
  And then from from that, what happened was we were, were getting quite a
• 3:52
  lot of traction on social media.
• 3:55
  Um, that was kind of our strong point.
• 3:57
  We were kind of in that Facebook age where Facebook was exploding.
• 4:00
  We really understood that.
• 4:01
  Cause we were of that kind of Facebook gen.
• 4:04
  Um, and we were getting kind of lots and lots of video, video
• 4:07
  views on our Facebook lives.
• 4:09
  We were getting lots and lots of, um, Followers and likes and other wedding
• 4:14
  professionals were kind of coming into the shop, sitting down asking us how we
• 4:18
  were doing it a lot, and it was getting to this point where it was a little bit
• 4:21
  unbalanced and I kept wanting somewhere to be able to go, like once a month, go
• 4:27
  and meet all of these wedding pros, tell them kind of they could help me out with
• 4:31
  some of the issues that I was facing.
• 4:33
  I'd be able to network with them, tell them about what I was
• 4:35
  doing in our shop office at the.
• 4:38
  And they could pick my brain on what they wanted to do, and then I could kind of.
• 4:42
  Breathe and crack on with my job again.
• 4:45
  Um, but what was kind of happening there was nowhere like that.
• 4:48
  So wedding professionals were kind of coming into the shop.
• 4:50
  It got nicknamed social club, didn't it Roxy because we'd always have
• 4:54
  somebody kind of sat at my desk.
• 4:56
  Um, and then, and then I would have to put in those hours at home and it was
• 5:01
  becoming really, really unbalanced.
• 5:03
  And it got to the point where we couldn't kind of balance the two.
• 5:06
  So I thought, Oh, you know what?
• 5:07
  I'm gonna write a book.
• 5:08
  I'm gonna write a book at home as to how we've grown so big, um, on social
• 5:13
  media and all of the techniques that I'm kind of telling everybody anyway.
• 5:16
  And then wedding supplies have got a really low cost way of just accessing that
• 5:20
  information and then I don't need to sit here and talk for hours and hours on end.
• 5:23
  And it was happening at weddings fairs we were getting to as well.
• 5:26
  So I kind of.
• 5:28
  That book in the March of 2019 and we've set up a little
• 5:33
  Facebook community as well.
• 5:34
  Cause I thought, Right, okay, I can hop on alive and let's just ask wedding pros
• 5:39
  if kind of coming together online and networking is something they wanna do.
• 5:42
  And within the first three weeks we've got about 3000 members in the group.
• 5:47
  And we'd taken more in the book sales than we'd done in the
• 5:50
  bridal shop in a month period.
• 5:53
  And that was where me and Roxy kind of looked at each other and was like, Right.
• 5:56
  Okay.
• 5:57
  Um, Especially with the balance at home as well.
• 6:00
  So I, at this point, kind of 10 years on, I was, um, divorced.
• 6:05
  Now I've got two children at home and I was a single parent to those and the
• 6:08
  balance of kind of childcare, I was just constantly tired, constantly exhausted,
• 6:13
  and I had no work life balance at all.
• 6:15
  I actually made myself really, really, so, It was a case of I knew I couldn't
• 6:19
  take on under the business as well as run the bridal star and, um, the wedding
• 6:24
  business hub it was called the Wedding Industry Supplier Network then was just
• 6:27
  overtaking and just becoming this big bigger and bigger and bigger thing.
• 6:31
  And we had events running and kind of seven places in the UK within sort
• 6:34
  of two months that we just kind of made the decision didn't we Roxy.
• 6:38
  We looked at each other and were like, Yeah, we, we need
• 6:40
  to kind of do this full time.
• 6:44
  , Becca: incredible story.
• 6:45
  Very similar actually to my own story, which I love because
• 6:48
  sometimes a business you don't set out to start on a business journey.
• 6:51
  The business journey kind of takes you and that's exactly what's
• 6:54
  happened to me and exactly what's happened to you guys as well.
• 6:57
  So for you Roxy, then obviously Katie said you came into work in the bridal business.
• 7:01
  First of all, like why weddings for you?
• 7:04
  Roxy: Okay, so my story, it's a little bit different to yours, isn't it, Katie?
• 7:08
  Actually listening to all of that makes you realize.
• 7:10
  How much we have achieved in such a small amount of time.
• 7:14
  I was like, how?
• 7:15
  I feel a little bit
• 7:16
  emotional.
• 7:17
  Okay.
• 7:17
  So, um, my
• 7:18
  journey started, So I was a young mom.
• 7:21
  I had two young babies.
• 7:23
  I was, I was a stay at home mom and I wasn't, I didn't feel
• 7:27
  like I was fulfilling my life.
• 7:29
  It's like I need, I need to find a way, like to not just be a
• 7:32
  mom, but to be Roxy, to be me.
• 7:35
  Um, and I saw an advert, um, actually on Facebook, funnily enough, on, um,
• 7:41
  on social media for, um, a part-time.
• 7:44
  I think it was only a Saturday girl at the time bridal shop
• 7:47
  kind of job application went in.
• 7:50
  So I applied, um, met Katie.
• 7:54
  And
• 7:54
  that changed the rest of my life.
• 7:56
  Since that moment, literally my life has completely changed.
• 7:59
  I went from having two young boys, being a young mom, low confidence, like I
• 8:05
  didn't, didn't feel like I said, like I was fulfilling anything in my life.
• 8:10
  . Um, so I went on from being, being a Saturday girl to working
• 8:15
  full time to then managing the.
• 8:18
  Having a successful business alongside Katie, I would've never have thought
• 8:22
  that I would be where I am today actually, if, if I look back on my life.
• 8:26
  Katie: Um, for me, listening to Roxy there, so she came
• 8:29
  into the shop with a stammer.
• 8:30
  She couldn't speak, she wouldn't answer the phone.
• 8:32
  She wouldn't hold an appointment with people.
• 8:34
  I used to have to, I went from running all the appointments and I just gave
• 8:38
  the phone really, and man reception.
• 8:40
  And then it got to a level where I, I like business, and I always kind
• 8:44
  of said, I'm a business person.
• 8:47
  It was never my intention to just have one shop.
• 8:49
  So I always used to say to the team, we, we had Roxy and five other girls that
• 8:54
  at some point I would move on and, and the shop would kind of run without me.
• 8:58
  So we were kind of gearing Roxy up to take on more and more responsibility.
• 9:01
  And you've gone from this person that's, um, had a stammer and was
• 9:05
  petrified to answer the phone.
• 9:06
  She would, she wouldn't answer the phone and she would kind of
• 9:09
  put it in my hand as it rang.
• 9:10
  To, She's appeared on Netflix, on don't tell the bride she's,
• 9:14
  you know, been on this morning.
• 9:17
  There's radio interviews.
• 9:19
  There's so much that we've achieved Roxy, We actually, Yeah, yeah.
• 9:22
  Short space of time.
• 9:23
  So, yeah.
• 9:24
  I'm proud of you.
• 9:25
  Thank you very much.
• 9:26
  It seems like, until I speak it out loud like this, like it almost
• 9:30
  gets forgotten about, doesn't it?
• 9:31
  Because we just kind of are focusing on
• 9:33
  like the here and now and the future when actually look at the,
• 9:36
  the past and the journey that I've been on, I'm proud of myself
• 9:41
  Becca: Well, you should both be very proud of yourselves and I love that
• 9:44
  your heart as well, Katie, to talk with Roxy about how you've kind of seen her
• 9:49
  transform over that, and I know that.
• 9:51
  Probably translates into what you do now with the wedding pros as well.
• 9:54
  It definitely does for me because there's nothing better than
• 9:58
  seeing someone go on that journey.
• 9:59
  And if people are listening now, and I know there will be people listening
• 10:02
  who feel unconfident, feel like they can't achieve anything, look around
• 10:07
  other people in the industry and think, I'll never be as good as them.
• 10:10
  Well just listen to the story that Roxy just shared with you about how
• 10:14
  she took one little step, one little opportunity and as she said herself,
• 10:18
  it's completely transformed her life.
• 10:20
  And I don't know about you guys, but whenever I see a wedding pro that
• 10:23
  I've worked with do really great things, I feel like a proud mom.
• 10:26
  Do you feel the same?
• 10:27
  Yeah.
• 10:27
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 10:28
  Katie: Absolutely.
• 10:28
  I love it.
• 10:29
  And actually we save them to our phone when, so there's little
• 10:32
  messages that they send us that I said, Oh girls, we've, we've hit a
• 10:35
  sale or we've booked 10 weddings and speaking to you, or whatever it is.
• 10:38
  You know what, I did my work first wedding fair today.
• 10:40
  Or even something as simple as I, I contacted a venue.
• 10:44
  We save them to our phone and we play them back to us.
• 10:47
  Cause you don't always have like great days or days where
• 10:50
  you're a little bit demotivated or especially the winter months.
• 10:53
  I.
• 10:53
  Summer baby.
• 10:54
  I live for the summer time.
• 10:56
  So we save them, don't we?
• 10:57
  And then they're there in a little folder on our phones that just kind of like,
• 11:01
  uh, yeah, definitely get that Becca.
• 11:04
  Becca: That's a great tip.
• 11:05
  And again, if people are listening, I've seen suppliers who keep all
• 11:08
  of their thank you cards and have them somewhere in their office.
• 11:11
  So when they're having that down moment, they can glance up and
• 11:14
  remember all those individuals.
• 11:16
  I saw something on Instagram, uh, just last week about how not
• 11:20
  to let one bad customer ruin.
• 11:23
  Every good customer you've ever had, and I think we are really, it's really easy
• 11:26
  for us to do that in the wedding industry.
• 11:27
  And so that little tip about saving those testimonials is so important.
• 11:31
  Now, you guys are out there in the wedding industry a bit like I am all of the time.
• 11:36
  What are you seeing down on the ground at the moment?
• 11:38
  What are wedding pros struggling with as they go into the end of
• 11:41
  this year and into next year?
• 11:44
  Katie: I think two things.
• 11:45
  So firstly, what we're seeing a, a lot of is a lot of burnt out suppliers.
• 11:48
  So we had this period of, um, quiet last year, didn't we?
• 11:52
  And this period of uncertainty where we didn't really know what was happening
• 11:56
  and, and a lot of tough decisions to be made, you know, in terms of your business,
• 12:00
  in terms of where you want this to go.
• 12:02
  And then all of a sudden, boom, we're doing three, four weddings a week.
• 12:06
  We're on top of that, still trying to market our business for next year.
• 12:10
  Still got booking inquiries coming in.
• 12:12
  So we're seeing a lot of suppliers that, yes, that they're bringing in
• 12:16
  more money than they've bought in.
• 12:18
  Um, but they're burnt out, they're tired.
• 12:21
  They're, they are, they need a break.
• 12:24
  So for those of you listening, thinking, Yes, that's me.
• 12:28
  You know, pat yourself on the back.
• 12:29
  It's been unprecedented times, hasn't it?
• 12:31
  For, for everybody.
• 12:33
  And I don't think enough kind of onus is put on that like, We don't have
• 12:38
  colleagues to kind of support us.
• 12:39
  And this is what's so important about what we do in terms of, um,
• 12:42
  the networking events and the online networking space that we created.
• 12:46
  One of our values is about bringing people together because self-employment
• 12:50
  is so lonely and what we wanted to do is bring people together
• 12:55
  so that you've got a place yes.
• 12:57
  To pick you up to.
• 12:59
  I'm having a struggle with this today, or do you know what?
• 13:02
  I signed a new contract with, um, a client.
• 13:05
  I raised my prices.
• 13:06
  They've booked the top package, whatever it is, but also those handhold moments,
• 13:11
  whereas if you worked for somebody else, you'd get a boss or a manager
• 13:14
  or a colleague that would be able to kind of support you in those moments.
• 13:18
  So, Yeah, Pat yourself on the back.
• 13:21
  It's been, it is been so tough.
• 13:23
  You're almost at the end of kind of, um, this challenge.
• 13:27
  And the second thing that we are kind of seeing is this, um, internal battle in
• 13:33
  terms of we know that we've got another rocky period ahead with cost of living
• 13:38
  crisis, um, and suppliers thinking about.
• 13:43
  I want to raise my prices.
• 13:45
  I need to raise my prices cause my mortgage is going
• 13:47
  up, the petrol is going up.
• 13:48
  You know, everything's going up at home, but are my, um, clients
• 13:53
  gonna be able to afford me?
• 13:54
  So they're the kind of things that we're finding, aren't we Roxy?
• 13:57
  Kind of just navigating people's brands, um, pricing the packages that they
• 14:02
  offer, maybe the way they should take their payments, and just kind of, um,
• 14:06
  positioning that a little bit better for clients to be able to, to book.
• 14:10
  Um, yeah.
• 14:11
  What about you, Becca?
• 14:12
  Let me throw that one back to you,
• 14:14
  . Becca: Yeah, so for me, I'm seeing that there's been this
• 14:17
  massive boom in the industry.
• 14:19
  As we were just talking about, everyone had that rollover from Covid, and I
• 14:23
  think some people have kind of sat back on their laurels and thought,
• 14:26
  Great, well, I'm really successful now.
• 14:28
  And now they're looking ahead to next year and the year after
• 14:30
  the diarys looking quieter.
• 14:32
  And they're panicking and they've realized, actually, I've
• 14:34
  dropped the ball on networking.
• 14:35
  I've dropped the ball on training.
• 14:37
  I've dropped the ball on marketing.
• 14:38
  I've dropped the ball on social media because I've been so busy
• 14:41
  doing all those, those things.
• 14:42
  So my message has kind of been, Okay, that's fine.
• 14:45
  We're here where we are now.
• 14:47
  If that's how you are feeling, let's not sit in that feeling,
• 14:50
  but let's do something proactive.
• 14:52
  To change that . Yeah.
• 14:54
  So if you are feeling quiet for next year, what are you doing proactively to get out
• 14:58
  there and meet other suppliers or venues?
• 15:00
  What are you doing proactively to invest in yourself and your business training?
• 15:04
  What are you doing proactively to get someone to manage your social media
• 15:07
  because you don't have the time to do it?
• 15:09
  And I think there's that kind of, we are in that kind of in between feeling,
• 15:13
  between feeling really booked and then suddenly panicking for next year.
• 15:18
  How about you, Roxy?
• 15:20
  Roxy: So the, the things that I was gonna touch on, Katie exactly.
• 15:23
  Hit the nail on the head.
• 15:24
  And that's, we have this like unspoken, like we think the same.
• 15:28
  We are, we like one person, but, but with two people.
• 15:32
  But what I think exactly what you said, they're back at like,
• 15:35
  sometimes you have to take a look at.
• 15:37
  Your business and what's going on.
• 15:39
  And if you can't manage everything, is it a case of you've gotta outsource it,
• 15:43
  get your social media management done, like get, get somebody in to do that.
• 15:46
  So that frees up time for you to be able to focus on other things.
• 15:51
  I mean, when we were in the bridal shop, we were very guilty of being
• 15:54
  busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, and then letting the marketing fall off.
• 15:57
  And that is something that we have learned and, and what we like say to everybody
• 16:01
  now is consistency all of the time.
• 16:03
  That's your marketing, it has got to be consistent because when those
• 16:08
  busy periods are done and you've got no bookings in, uh, that's when
• 16:13
  Becca: you know it becomes quite real, doesn't it?
• 16:17
  Katie, were you gonna say something
• 16:18
  Katie: else?
• 16:19
  Oh no, I was just gonna say that obviously we have this transitional, um, industry.
• 16:23
  You know, our client comes in, we work with them, they go and yes, we
• 16:26
  might get a, bride may come through the door that's kind of heard of
• 16:29
  us, or the bride might recommend us.
• 16:31
  But you know, we constantly have this churn of clients coming in and we need
• 16:35
  to be thinking about that next person.
• 16:36
  And Roxy just said it, you know, we did it a lot in the bridal shop.
• 16:39
  We were so busy heads down in the grit of our business with bookings through the
• 16:42
  door and just not being able to breathe.
• 16:45
  And then looking at the diary two, three month, four months ahead
• 16:48
  and thinking, okay, where's, where are the wages coming in for then?
• 16:51
  So, um, yeah, schedule your social media, get into a flow of your marketing,
• 16:57
  that works for you, whatever that is.
• 17:00
  If that's networking, if that's meeting venues, if that's social media,
• 17:03
  wherever your client is, Pinterest.
• 17:05
  Um, and just make sure it's all and, and don't drop the ball now because you
• 17:10
  know, what tends to happen is people think, Okay, I'm gonna be busy for
• 17:14
  these next three months.
• 17:15
  So I'm gonna schedule all my social media for the next three months and
• 17:18
  then they don't really pick it up again.
• 17:20
  When it comes to the case of the weddings are off, they think, Great, I can breathe.
• 17:24
  The kids are back at school now I can have a little bit of me time.
• 17:27
  And yeah, it doesn't take much does it for kind of the socials to go
• 17:32
  quiet for the bookings to kind of, um, thin out and you know, that
• 17:37
  next client hasn't heard of you yet.
• 17:39
  So those people that are getting engaged over the next few.
• 17:41
  We need you for an incentive so that people pay attention.
• 17:45
  Becca: Absolutely.
• 17:46
  One thing I often say to my clients is Coca-Cola never stop advertising,
• 17:51
  like literally the whole world.
• 17:52
  We all know what Coca-Cola is.
• 17:55
  We've all drunk it or seen it in the shop, yet they're still marketing.
• 17:59
  So we as little wedding businesses who most of the world don't know who
• 18:03
  we are, need to keep on marketing.
• 18:05
  Now, I spoke at the beginning of the episode about your event Wedcon,
• 18:09
  which is coming up quite soon.
• 18:11
  I'm very excited about it now.
• 18:13
  Spoke at the first we con back in 2019.
• 18:16
  So when you, uh, together came up with this event, what was your vision for it?
• 18:20
  What was the heart behind it?
• 18:21
  Why did you decide to put WedCon
• 18:25
  Katie: it's alright.
• 18:25
  I was gonna say what what we've done is we've seen other industries
• 18:29
  have kind of the conferences and events where people came together
• 18:33
  and there wasn't really anything.
• 18:35
  Kind of business specific for wedding businesses out there.
• 18:38
  So you could kind of go to networking events and, you know, meet a
• 18:41
  plumber or a website designer or a developer or somebody SEO.
• 18:47
  But as a bridal shop, I wanted to meet venue owners, photographers,
• 18:51
  videographers, all the people that kind of came before me in the chain that
• 18:55
  would be able to recommend, you know, my services and my bridal shop too,
• 18:59
  and, and similarly the people after me.
• 19:02
  Brides were always asking us, , I need a cake, I need a
• 19:06
  stationer, or whatever it is.
• 19:07
  And we would be able to recommend some people and there wasn't really, we weren't
• 19:11
  getting anything out of networking events, was standing there for two hours being
• 19:14
  sold at and it was kind hit and potluck.
• 19:18
  I was gonna find somebody there that was getting married and
• 19:21
  um, I wanted to do networking.
• 19:24
  I really did, but I just found it wasn't working for me and I was a single parent.
• 19:29
  So yeah, we decided, right, okay, we need to put on these events.
• 19:32
  So we were, we started to put on local networking events and they really hit off
• 19:35
  quite quickly within sort of four months.
• 19:37
  We had like 27 areas in the UK for, and we were starting to look abroad.
• 19:42
  We'd got, um, businesses in Australia asking as if they could
• 19:45
  put on similar events in Australia.
• 19:47
  And then we thought, Right, okay, wouldn't this be great if we could
• 19:50
  kind of pull everybody together?
• 19:52
  For one event where we give you wedding business specific training, so not
• 19:57
  anything that you've gotta go and listen to and then adapt it to kind of the
• 20:01
  seasonal client that we've got or, um, kind of come and adapt it to kind of the
• 20:05
  language that brides wanna use or the creativity of the industry that we're in.
• 20:09
  We wanted everything to be specific, tailored to the wedding industry
• 20:14
  so that people didn't really have to go and do that, adding
• 20:16
  up themselves when they got home.
• 20:19
  So yeah, we actually planned this.
• 20:21
  In crazy time.
• 20:22
  I think the idea kind of first came to us in May and we put it on in the November.
• 20:27
  So it was kind of crazy rapid speed that we were like, Yes, let's go for it.
• 20:32
  Um, we found a venue in kind of like the middle of nowhere, in the East
• 20:36
  Midlands, that was the middle of nowhere.
• 20:41
  Um, And yeah, we had a you know, we learned a lot.
• 20:44
  This is the first time we'd ever put on an event on this kind of scale.
• 20:47
  And we learnt a lot.
• 20:47
  I didn't we Roxy, but, um, the feedback Holy was like really good.
• 20:53
  People really enjoyed it.
• 20:54
  They found great takeaways.
• 20:56
  You had a queue kind of out the door for people wanting to talk to you, didn't you?
• 20:59
  You did.
• 20:59
  Didn't.
• 21:00
  Yeah.
• 21:00
  I remember you were thinking Never gonna get home.
• 21:03
  . Becca: I did that.
• 21:04
  True.
• 21:04
  But it was a great, it was a great day.
• 21:06
  It was great to see people coming together who hadn't maybe come
• 21:10
  to something like that before.
• 21:11
  Yeah.
• 21:11
  Who hadn't got together on that scale before.
• 21:14
  And for you, Roxy, did you get feedback after the event?
• 21:18
  What takeaways did people take away?
• 21:20
  Did you see people have business results as a result of coming to Wedcon?
• 21:24
  Yeah, I think kind of
• 21:26
  Roxy: before Wedcon, um, the industry had not seen an event like this,
• 21:31
  so, um, It was very, very, you know, nice to see
• 21:35
  people booking tickets.
• 21:36
  People come in and then on the day
• 21:38
  and after.
• 21:39
  Um, lots of
• 21:41
  feedback.
• 21:41
  People loved it.
• 21:42
  People were, you know, leaving their feeling armed and told ready to go
• 21:47
  and smash their business motivated.
• 21:49
  Just, just amazing feedback.
• 21:51
  And we've got so many people that came to 2019 event coming to the 2022 event.
• 21:57
  Gosh, it seems a long time ago now.
• 21:59
  Katie: We've had a big break in between, but we, we are ready.
• 22:02
  It's gonna be an incredible day.
• 22:04
  It's gonna be amazing.
• 22:05
  I think what was nice to see as well were these people that had kind
• 22:08
  of chatted online and a lot Good.
• 22:10
  Yeah.
• 22:11
  We've got a community of over 10,000 people, so it was a little.
• 22:14
  Overwhelming for us, wasn't it Roxy?
• 22:16
  Cause everybody knew us.
• 22:18
  Yes.
• 22:18
  They were like, and I was like, you know when someone says your
• 22:21
  name in the supermarket and you're like, Where do I know you from?
• 22:24
  We had that feeling a lot on the day where people knew everything
• 22:27
  about us and we were just like, Hi.
• 22:30
  So it was, it was overwhelming.
• 22:33
  Roxy: It was so nice to put, um, like faces to names.
• 22:37
  Becca: So nice.
• 22:38
  Yeah.
• 22:39
  It's amazing to meet people in real life because for me,
• 22:42
  online community is incredible.
• 22:44
  It brings people together all around the world.
• 22:45
  But again, for me, nothing beats seeing people in person, and that's what I'm
• 22:49
  excited about for Wedcon this year.
• 22:51
  Obviously you've had a break from Wedcon, not due to yourselves, but due
• 22:55
  to all of the world events going on.
• 22:57
  But you are back this November.
• 23:00
  In Birmingham, which is less in the middle of nowhere, which I'm thrilled
• 23:04
  about because , I find Birmingham and I can stay in Birmingham very easily.
• 23:08
  So it's in Birmingham on the 9th of November this year, 2022.
• 23:12
  I'm gonna be there.
• 23:13
  Speaking all about blogging, who else have you got?
• 23:16
  Speaking?
• 23:16
  What else can people expect from the day?
• 23:19
  Katie: So we have got an amazing line up this year.
• 23:22
  We're so proud and we, we actually were inundated with people wanting to speak.
• 23:27
  So we've really had our pick of the bunch, haven't we?
• 23:29
  And we've been able to think about what our community needs.
• 23:32
  We've asked people what they wanted this year.
• 23:34
  And what people wanted to put into their business.
• 23:36
  So we have got, um, yourself coming back Becca which is so excited about,
• 23:40
  We've got Terry Lewis coming back as well, and this year he's talking about
• 23:44
  something that me and Roxy know a lot of and that's diversifying your income,
• 23:49
  especially with what everybody has been through in the past two years.
• 23:52
  He's gonna be talking about how he has diversified.
• 23:55
  Um, income and why?
• 23:57
  Um, relying on one income alone probably isn't the way to go.
• 24:01
  Mm-hmm.
• 24:01
  , Um, for a sustainable business, we have got, um, she's gonna be talking all
• 24:08
  about writing copy that converts how to brand your business, uh, and looking
• 24:13
  all about, um, your messaging and how that gets across to your ideal client.
• 24:18
  We've got Anna Cordelia talking about raising your prices, haven't we?
• 24:22
  And charging your work as well and really sharing her motivating journey
• 24:26
  and how now she manages to run many successful businesses and she does
• 24:30
  about four weddings a year now.
• 24:32
  Uh, charging top premium prices, and that is one that we're really
• 24:36
  gonna be looking forward to.
• 24:37
  Uh, we have got Robin Weight.
• 24:39
  He's also gonna be talking about pricing.
• 24:42
  He's coming at it with a little bit of a different angle.
• 24:45
  Um, He's a really, really good speaker and bless him.
• 24:49
  He's having an operation the week before isn't he Roxy, and he is
• 24:51
  coming and he's still coming.
• 24:53
  He's still coming.
• 24:54
  Um, with his boot on.
• 24:56
  He is gonna have a boot on his leg.
• 24:57
  Bless him.
• 24:58
  Um, but we're so, so excited.
• 25:01
  Yeah.
• 25:01
  Um, we've also got Jackie Hay on our Jackie Hale runs.
• 25:05
  A successful wedding business and she also coaches as well.
• 25:08
  And she's gonna be talking about the 10 steps you need to have
• 25:12
  a successful wedding business.
• 25:13
  And she's gonna really have a focus on marketing on that and what's the
• 25:17
  trends coming up for the rest of this year and for next year as well, so that
• 25:22
  you can get ahead in your business.
• 25:24
  We've got you coming to talk all things blog in and I'm sure
• 25:26
  people are gonna be able to pick your brains on marketing as well.
• 25:29
  And then we also have got business clinics on the day as well.
• 25:33
  So if people wanna drop in, say hi to us, want us to have a
• 25:36
  look at over their social media.
• 25:37
  We've got an SEO guy, Simon Hogman there as well.
• 25:40
  So if you wanna come and just show whom your website all included
• 25:43
  in the pricing, you're not gonna have to pay anything for that.
• 25:45
  So I would definitely encourage you if you are coming and you've
• 25:48
  got a little niggle, use us.
• 25:51
  We're there to be used.
• 25:52
  Come and talk to us.
• 25:53
  Come and ask us.
• 25:54
  Don't go away and, and regret it and think, Oh God, I wish
• 25:56
  I'd asked that question.
• 25:58
  Um, the speakers will be there all day to be able to network with them as well.
• 26:01
  And we have got, uh, networking opportunities, little games thrown in.
• 26:05
  Becca, I know that you said you were gonna put something together for us, so
• 26:08
  we're really looking forward to that.
• 26:10
  And you know what the best thing we're looking forward to when you hit the nail
• 26:13
  on the head there, Becca, when you said about having an event in real life and
• 26:17
  getting back in the room with like-minded people, there is nothing like it.
• 26:21
  And honestly, like we went to an event last week and you just leave buzzed
• 26:26
  up, buzzed, motivated, wanting to implement things in your business,
• 26:29
  and we can't wait for people to kind of get that takeaway this year.
• 26:33
  Becca: It sounds incredible.
• 26:34
  I can't wait to be there.
• 26:35
  I know that you've got a really great lineup of speakers, and I know
• 26:38
  that, again, that you've learned from the last event and that you're
• 26:41
  gonna be back bigger and better.
• 26:43
  Oh, yes.
• 26:43
  Roxy if people are on the fence, if they're thinking about coming, but they're
• 26:46
  not sure, maybe they're a bit nervous about coming on their own, what would you
• 26:51
  say to people who are thinking about it?
• 26:53
  Even if you
• 26:54
  Roxy: are very, very nervous, Let me.
• 26:56
  Throughout my journey from being, from having low confidence, I
• 27:01
  would not even say boo to a goose.
• 27:02
  And that is not an exaggeration, um, to where I am now.
• 27:06
  Every single time I've nudged myself to do something that I
• 27:09
  wasn't sure about doing, or I've managed to talk myself out of doing.
• 27:13
  I have not regretted it and I have come out of whatever that is what I
• 27:17
  was trying to do or gonna be doing.
• 27:20
  And I've come out of it a better person learning more and I've
• 27:23
  never regretted one minute.
• 27:24
  So just, so just come along.
• 27:26
  Last.
• 27:27
  Wedcon 2019, there were lots of people that were unsure that came on their own.
• 27:32
  Everybody is welcome.
• 27:33
  We can buddy you up with somebody if that's something that you wanna do.
• 27:36
  Honestly, like we are all about inclusivity, bringing people together
• 27:41
  in a, you know, a positive way.
• 27:44
  Becca: And we want you to succeed
• 27:45
  Roxy: in your business.
• 27:47
  And not only that, Becca, but at the end of Wedcon 2022, we're
• 27:50
  gonna have a little celebration.
• 27:52
  So we'll what everyone who's got tickets invited to come and
• 27:55
  have a little drink with us.
• 27:57
  Cheers.
• 27:57
  You know, cheers to the industry because it's been a tough couple of years.
• 28:02
  Katie: And we just want an excuse to have a drink.
• 28:04
  Let's just like it's almost Christmas.
• 28:08
  By the time November comes.
• 28:11
  Becca: It's gonna be great and it's gonna be a great opportunity for people to get
• 28:14
  together in a room, think about business.
• 28:16
  And exactly as Katie and Roxy have said, if you are thinking about coming along
• 28:20
  to that event, Come with a purpose.
• 28:22
  Come expecting to meet new people.
• 28:24
  Come with an open heart and an open mind to what you're gonna learn, and also
• 28:28
  come prepared with questions you've got.
• 28:30
  Katie and Roxy in the room, talk about your social media.
• 28:32
  You've got this SEO expert.
• 28:34
  Come with your SEO questions.
• 28:36
  Come find me and talk marketing all day.
• 28:38
  I'm more than happy to do that.
• 28:40
  You are gonna get so much more for your ticket price than just the speaking alone.
• 28:44
  Definitely.
• 28:45
  Now, I was having a look at your website.
• 28:46
  You guys have got two ticket options available for this year's.
• 28:49
  Wedcon Katie, do you wanna just explain to me what the differences are between
• 28:53
  those tickets and roughly how much people would be expecting to pay?
• 28:57
  Katie: Okay, so your standard entry ticket and, um, all tickets are limited.
• 29:01
  VIP is super, super limited, so I'll get onto that in a minute.
• 29:04
  Um, standard ticket is about 59 pound.
• 29:08
  Um, for that you get access to the whole event.
• 29:11
  So we wanted to keep this price.
• 29:12
  We've actually kept the price since 2019 when we first put
• 29:15
  on the event because we've had.
• 29:17
  Couple of years.
• 29:18
  So we are set to come out of this just breaking even, aren't we Roxy
• 29:22
  and we had a really long discussion about this, but we felt that that was
• 29:24
  right for the industry at this time.
• 29:26
  And you know, we're gonna come with our social media books, so if you wanna thank
• 29:29
  us by our book at the end of the day.
• 29:32
  But for that, you're gonna get access to all of the speakers.
• 29:35
  You're gonna be able to drop into the marketing clinics as.
• 29:38
  We're in the center of Birmingham, so there is a break for lunch and you
• 29:41
  are able to go off and have lunch.
• 29:42
  You're gonna get, um, networking opportunities and then we throw in some
• 29:47
  tea and coffee, don't we because what's an event without some tea and coffee?
• 29:50
  So tea and coffee is on it as well for the day.
• 29:52
  Um, for the VIP price.
• 29:54
  You get everything you get in standard entry, but you also get.
• 29:59
  Um, book goody bags that's filled with some of our favorite business books.
• 30:04
  And also, um, some of our speakers have written some books and, and
• 30:07
  they're gonna be in there as.
• 30:09
  You get priority seating, priority queue jump, and you also get your
• 30:14
  lunch included, and that's a, um, a lunch with the speakers as well.
• 30:17
  So you're able to kind of go into that breakout room with the
• 30:19
  speakers, kind of continue your development, continue your learning.
• 30:24
  And uh, VIP price is 90 pounds, isn't it?
• 30:27
  Roxy but.
• 30:28
  We have got like less than four tickets remaining on vip.
• 30:32
  So we we're coming up to kind of the last push for ticket sales now.
• 30:37
  Um, and yeah, we wanted to keep, well, tickets are limited anyway,
• 30:42
  but we wanted to keep, we didn't know what we'd been looking at.
• 30:45
  Um, November last year was omnicron and everything that was kind of happening,
• 30:49
  so we made the decision to keep this, um, Smaller than we could have made
• 30:55
  it couldn't we Roxy But that's in order to keep everybody safe so that
• 30:58
  if we do need to kind of introduce any sort of socially distancing areas or
• 31:01
  anything like that, that we can do that.
• 31:02
  So, um, yeah, there's only four VIP tickets available, so if you're
• 31:06
  somebody that doesn't wanna leave and you wanna get your lunch included
• 31:09
  and you kind of want those extra bits and bobs in the goody bags.
• 31:13
  The goody bags are decent this year, aren't they Roxy?
• 31:15
  We took the, we took the feedback on the goody bags last year and
• 31:18
  we were like, Right, we wanna make these so good this year.
• 31:20
  And, um, yeah, you get that kind of time with the speakers as well, so
• 31:25
  yeah, they're, they're the options.
• 31:27
  Um, and like, like we said, if you wanna get a ticket, now's
• 31:31
  the time to go and get one.
• 31:33
  Becca: I think it's incredibly good value for what people get.
• 31:35
  I think for that level of industry event, it's really good value and I think, to
• 31:39
  be honest, if you're listening to this and you're on the fence, pay the money
• 31:43
  because I guarantee you'll get more than 59 pounds worth of value from.
• 31:50
  One of the speakers, let alone all of the speakers together, plus Katie and
• 31:53
  Roxy and their business clinics as well.
• 31:55
  All of the links for the tickets are in the show notes below this episode.
• 32:00
  So do go and grab your ticket for Wed con this year.
• 32:03
  I would love to see you in Birmingham this November.
• 32:07
  Let's catch up over a cup of tea and talk all things marketing.
• 32:10
  So go to the show notes now and grab your ticket.
• 32:12
  And if you've got any questions about the event, either reach out to me or I'm
• 32:16
  sure you can reach out to Katie and Roxy.
• 32:17
  Where's the best place for people to find?
• 32:19
  Uh,
• 32:20
  Katie: you can come and find us on Instagram, so Wedding
• 32:21
  Business Hub over on Instagram.
• 32:23
  You can kind of join our Facebook group, the Wedding Business Hub.
• 32:26
  You can drop as an email, whatever it is you can reach us can't you Roxy
• 32:29
  We're all over all of the socials.
• 32:31
  Um, but yeah, if you've got a question, absolutely get in touch.
• 32:34
  We'd be more than happy to kind of point you in the right direction or buddy.
• 32:38
  What was somebody like Roxy said?
• 32:40
  Um, yeah, we're so excited we can't wait.
• 32:43
  Roxy: I can't tell you how excited.
• 32:45
  We are honestly, as the days draw closer, we're like, and we are kind of ordering
• 32:50
  light and finalizing things for the day.
• 32:52
  Oh my gosh, it's so exciting.
• 32:53
  Becca: It's been a long time coming and I know it's going to
• 32:56
  be an absolutely incredible day.
• 32:58
  Now, before I let you two go, I always end my podcast with the same
• 33:01
  question, so I'm gonna come to you first, Roxy, and then you Katie.
• 33:04
  And the question is, what is the one thing in business that
• 33:08
  you wish you had known sooner?
• 33:11
  Roxy?
• 33:12
  Roxy: Uh, and this is something that I always say to people, Um, you can watch
• 33:17
  netflix and be successful, . There is no need to have this business hustle.
• 33:22
  The burnout.
• 33:23
  You've gotta find that balance.
• 33:25
  So yeah, you can watch Netflix and be successful.
• 33:28
  Love that because I watch a lot of Netflix, so I'm pleased that
• 33:31
  you freed me up from that guilt.
• 33:33
  And Katie, how about.
• 33:35
  Um, for
• 33:36
  Katie: me, I think I'm, I was very much, uh, very tight on where I spent
• 33:42
  my money when I was first in business.
• 33:43
  Very much wanted to kind of graft and find everything out myself the
• 33:48
  hard way and kind of get on Google and find all the answers for myself.
• 33:52
  But sometimes, and actually more so this year.
• 33:57
  When we have invested in ourselves, whether that has been a book, whether
• 34:00
  that has been working with a coach, whether that has been going to an
• 34:03
  event, and we went to an event last week that cost hundreds and hundreds
• 34:07
  and hundreds of pounds, we find that we action the stuff quicker, we get bigger
• 34:11
  results in our business, and we make more money and, uh, more profitable.
• 34:16
  So, um, I wish really I had, you know, dove in two feet forward and
• 34:23
  kind of invested a little bit quicker my business and, and realized that
• 34:26
  it was okay to outsource things.
• 34:28
  I didn't need to do everything myself.
• 34:29
  And, um, yeah, I could have learned and got, got the things done
• 34:35
  quicker by just kind of investing and, and asking for some help.
• 34:39
  Becca: Yes, so true.
• 34:42
  Ladies, thank you for your time.
• 34:43
  I'm glad we got the technology to work and we could be together and I'll see
• 34:46
  you both in Birmingham in November.
• 34:48
  Thanks, Becca.
• 34:49
  Thank you.
• 34:49
  Thank you.
• 34:51
  If you think Wedcon sounds like the kind of event you want to be going to to help
• 34:54
  you grow your wedding business, then I would absolutely love to see you there.
• 34:58
  In November, I'm gonna be there as a guest speaker speaking all about blogging and
• 35:02
  why Blogging's a great strategy for your business and how to do it successfully.
• 35:06
  I'm also gonna be around all day, so you can come and chat to me about your
• 35:09
  marketing questions and just hang out.
• 35:11
  So if you wanna get a ticket to that event and come and see
• 35:13
  me speak, you can find the.
• 35:15
  In the show notes.
• 35:16
  I'll see you next time.