Carin - 00:00:00:

You can build it. You can build the beautiful website and all the things, right? But if you build it, they won't come until you tell them. You have to tell them. So I got resourceful. I called three of the largest hotels that were there, like the Marriott, the Hilton, like the bigger ones. And I said, can I please have your vendor list? I'm desperate.

Dana - 00:00:26:

Welcome to Hustle & Gather, a podcast about inspiring the everyday entrepreneur to take the leap. I'm Dana.

Courtney - 00:00:32:

And I'm Courtney.

Dana - 00:00:32:

And we are two sisters who have started multiple businesses together. And yes, it is as messy as you think, because we know that starting a business isn't easy. I mean, we've done it four times. And on the show, we talk about the ups and downs of the hustle and the reward at the end of our journey. We like to talk to our guests about the important topics in our entrepreneurial journey. So far, we've covered team building and work-life balance. And now we're moving on on how to recover from tragedy, both in business and in life. We're talking to some incredible guests on how they recovered after tragedy. You know, you simply can't separate life from business. We're talking about how to handle those unexpected moments and how to grow forward through those experiences. And today we're speaking with Carin Hunt . Carin is the CEO of Celebration Pros, a productive community of growth-minded professionals ready to break through their glass ceiling and claim the success they oh so desire. Her approach has been proven to open doors for lucrative opportunities that support long-term growth. After formerly building her six-figure destination wedding planning business, Key Destination Wedding and Events, Carin found her passion in illuminating the success of her peers. Through the vehicles of community leadership, podcast hosting, and speaking, she is now ignited to share her own entrepreneurial experiences and learnings.On any day, you'll find Carin cheering on her Celebration Pros or enjoying sunny island life with her family in the Florida Keys. Karen, welcome to the show.

Carin - 00:01:47:

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me today.

Dana - 00:01:50:

I'm so jealous that you live in the Keys.

Carin - 00:01:54:

It's funny because right now, I think everybody in the rest of the country is... Freezing. And it's like, I want to say it's almost 60 degrees here and we're all like coats on. Like you would think it was snowing. Yeah. Because we have no, like our perception of temperature is so skewed.

Dana - 00:02:16:

Yeah. That's just Floridians in general. We used to vacation in the Keys because we're from Melbourne, Florida. And so we used to go to the Keys. Yeah. And some of my favorite, favorite childhood memories were on the bus ride there.

Carin - 00:02:29:

Yeah.

Dana - 00:02:29:

It was like this bus that they, it was like this big like coach bus and it turned into beds.

Carin - 00:02:34:

I know. I tell people this and they all look at me like I'm crazy. I'm like, that's what happened.

Courtney - 00:02:37:

Like we drove in seats and then they would get there and like you would do these things in the Keys and then they would convert it into beds and you would sleep on this bus.

Carin - 00:02:45:

Yeah.

Courtney - 00:02:45:

And there was a bunch of us on the bus.

Carin - 00:02:46:

Like on the way home?

Dana - 00:02:48:

No. Like it was like you camped out there. Like that was like where you stayed.

Courtney - 00:02:53:

I thought I made it up and asked my mom one day. She was like, no, that happened. That really did happen. Because I distinctly remember listening to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony meet me at the crossroads the whole way down on that bus.

Dana - 00:03:03:

Yeah.

Carin - 00:03:03:

Yeah. What a creative way to do like kids, you know, kids style camping.

Courtney - 00:03:08:

Yeah.

Dana - 00:03:08:

Yeah. I'm down for it. I think that sounds awesome.

Carin - 00:03:11:

Yeah.

Courtney - 00:03:11:

Yeah.

Dana - 00:03:13:

Awesome. Well, we would love to hear a little bit about your background and kind of what inspired you to get started in this industry in general.

Carin - 00:03:20:

Yeah, absolutely. So we'll go way back. You know, I have a best friend who really changed the trajectory of my life. Since we're talking about, you know, buses and childhood, we'll just go there. I was in first grade. I was starting a new school. My parents were transferring me over so that I could be in a better program. And I had no idea, but my best friend's parents were doing the same. She was at a different school, moving to the school I was now going to be at. And I walked onto the bus. I'd never had to take the bus before. I actually have a slight fear that if I get on a bus, it's going to take me like very far away from the destination I intend to go to. It's irrational. There's not really a reason why I have that. But like as a child, I was like, I really don't want to get on this bus. So I get on, I go all the way to the back and this little girl comes up to me and says, will you be my best friend? And then 28 years later, we found each other's maids of honors and like God children and all the things. So she knows me well better than I know myself. And we went to college together, of course, and I was ready to drop out. I was not a good student. I didn't enjoy school. It was not my, not my jam whatsoever. It was a terrible environment for me. And she said, you're in the wrong, you're on the wrong path. Like you, you've been hosting people at your home since you were young. Like you love entertainment and all of that. And then you don't want to work for yourself. Like it was just very apparent. I've had an entrepreneur spirit since I was very young. And she's like, why don't you go into party planning? I was like, what do you mean party planning? Like, that's not a career, but I was actually, I had no idea at the time. I, uh, University of Central Florida holds the second hospitality college in the nation and they had an event management program. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is a thing. So I transferred over to their hospitality program and fell in love, got like pretty much straight A's through the rest of the time. And it's just like, once you know that you found the thing you love, you just thrive, which is, it was an incredible feeling. And that's really how I moved into the industry. I had a few boutique internships, which really got me on my way. And then. Working for a flagship, I was working for Hilton up in Orlando coming out of college. There was also a Hilton down here. I went to high school down here in the Florida Keys. And I came back down just on break, went to the Hilton here and said, hey, I would really love to move home. I really want to get more into the wedding space. They literally that day told me that they had a position available. They had just opened it. And to put my application in the next day, I moved home within a month. So I just, while I was in the keys, learning the wedding industry side of things, you know, when I was here, I was in high school. So it's a different perspective. And I really got to know the vendors in the industry and decided to jump on my own. And I started Key Destination Weddings. I am now retired from that company, but it is still alive and well with my business partner. I always have a toe in it. What are you doing? Can I write a blog post? Can I come help one day? So it's never really left my heart. But while we were in all of that, I shifted probably, I don't know, three quarters of the way in my seven years of owning the company. I was like, just shifting from wanting to work with the couples and the clients more. And I started shifting to wanting to work with the vendors more and helping them succeed. And then we started hosting networking events and bridal shows and things like that. And so that's really how I fell into the industry. And then more so even into helping the vendors.

Dana - 00:06:57:

So do you feel like that really came from that best friend? Because I imagine when I think about getting in the industry, right, in our first year in it, you are like that new kid on the bus, right? Like, no, everyone's looking at you like, who is that person? Why are you on this bus? Why do you think you can go to this school? Why do you think you can be part of this community? And you have that one person that's like, hey, let's be friends. Let's go through this together. It seems very reflective of that experience almost.

Carin - 00:07:20:

It is. I've never thought of it that way. I love that you pulled that out. You know, something that I've always said is even if you, even if you're scared, do it scared anyways, just say hello. And my best friend that day, she took the bold action to not even just say hello, but like, Hey, let's be besties forever. Luckily it worked out. And I think you're right. It is a big part of how I run my business. And the thing is, she's not typically a bold person. Like she's not one to take risks or big action like that. I don't know. Maybe she like turned on a switch in me that day. And ever since then, I really have been kind of fearless. Having her as kind of like. I don't know my cheerleader through everything, but yeah, when you come into the, into the wedding industry, you, you kind of have to be a little bit bold and take those. Those actions and find that accountability partner within it.

Dana - 00:08:17:

Yeah. And like, and it's hard. I always found that hard just to make a name for yourself because you're just judged so quickly, especially if you're young and you're just like, oh, what'd you do plan your own wedding? And now you want to be here. You know, like there's just this very like sometimes negative connotation in certain spaces.

Carin - 00:08:33:

Yeah.

Dana - 00:08:34:

About it. And so I love that you kind of had that heart for other business owners, help them get to where they want to go. Cause I think it's so needed.

Courtney - 00:08:42:

Oh, for sure. I mean, it's, it can feel very daunting and overwhelming and like, you don't really know. Where to start. You see people making the same mistakes that you made too. You're like, wait, wait.

Carin - 00:08:51:

There were several who would come to me and they'd say, you know, we, I was really nervous about having this meeting with you and telling you about what, you know, what my goals are working in the Florida Keys. We're in a very tight knit community and we're a big thing that we were really trying to break through with our company. I push even further than that, but one, we tried to break through that like competition over collaboration. And that's really why we started doing the networking meetings and kind of drowning out the drama and the noise. And now with Celebration Pros, I'm moving even further to say, you guys need to be more open-minded because we're very limited in the Keys. We don't have these big warehouses with all these rentals and all these things to do large productions. And we don't, we only have a limited amount of created, creative minds here. And if we don't start collaborating with the people on the mainland and bringing in some of that, we're going to miss out on the opportunities for the million dollar weddings that come down here. And so. It is hard. And I, and again, I had people come to me and they're like, I'm nervous to have this conversation with you because they would have negative experiences with other people in the area because it was very much like, this is our territory. You can't come here. And I was like, no, what do you want? You want to, you want me to introduce you to this person? Absolutely. Like we all rise together here. So it's been a, it's been a big shift down here and we're still working on it.

Courtney - 00:10:08:

I feel like in a lot of ways the industry has shifted towards that. It was very like... Closed off kind of click mindset when we started in like 2005, 2006. It was like hard to like break in to some areas. And like once you got your foot in, you know, it was in and then you started to like grow, but you like had to find that, that in somewhere. It wasn't as. To me, as welcoming as it is now, for sure.

Dana - 00:10:31:

Yeah. I just think that there was definitely a cultural shift, I think, a societal shift. I think people approached business very much like a scarcity mindset. There's just not enough couples. There's not enough weddings. And then I think, I don't know what it was. I don't know if it was social media that really, really took off or what. And everyone's like, oh no, there's plenty of work here for everybody.

Carin - 00:10:51:

Well, now we can see the data. Before it was like, we're sitting here and we're like, I'm just going to take what I can for mine. And, you know, I have no idea how many weddings are out there. So how am I supposed to place goals? And then now, you know, like, oh, 2.4, 2.2 million weddings every, okay. Yeah. Get, I can get a piece of this pie. A little bit more confident and a little less worried that they're, you know, that. There might be lack, but everyone's getting married.

Dana - 00:11:20:

So you were at the Hilton, and then you started Key Destination Events at some point. How did you transition from that role to Key Destination?

Carin - 00:11:28:

Yeah. I got in a little trouble actually. Yeah. I don't recommend this, but so I was working corporate, wanted to go to entrepreneurship. I was a little bit sneaky about it. I would be working on my website at work and things like that. And then finally I shared with them like, oh, I, you know, this is a project that I'm working on and I really want to do this eventually. And as soon as they heard that they're like, oh, you're conflict of interest time to go, which was sad because I really, I mean, anybody who worked with me at Hilton knows that there's a very special place in my heart for that property down here, which is now a Curio. And the, but the way I was able to step out was while I was there, I really honed in on those vendor relationships. I really got to know the vendors, got to learn who I wanted to work with, who had connections that they were able to kind of help me through. And the rental company that's down here, the owner is a dear friend of mine. I used to call him, you know, we all the work husband kind of thing. And so I was like, he was my best friend in the industry for a very long time. And he was able to get me the right connection to get me started getting weddings under my belt as soon as I jumped ship from corporate. So if anybody's out there and you are working corporate, number one, have connections, have those relationships in place before you decide to jump because you're going to need those referrals and you're going to need that support to get started.

Dana - 00:12:50:

For sure. So let's talk about timeline a little bit. When did you open Key Destination Events and when did you kind of transition all the way over to your celebration pros?

Carin - 00:13:01:

So, uh, Key Destination Events was like LLC official 2015. I'd been working at about two years before that, uh, family, friends, that kind of thing, but still running full weddings. It's all the same. And then, oh goodness, I left. I want to say in 2021. Maybe 2020. I don't know. It's a fuzzy time because it was COVID. So somewhere in there, I jumped and went into luxury boutique wedding venue down here. And while I was there, I made it very clear, you know, what my direction was going to be. And so they knew all the professional education and things that I was doing so that I could build celebration pros. And I really wanted to be, I had just had a son right before COVID happened and I really wanted to be family oriented. So I wanted to be home. The transition happened with COVID. And, you know, I know we're talking about. You know, tragic things that happened. COVID was, it was a bittersweet time. A lot of good came out of it. A lot of not so good came out of it. And I think that. For me. Being able to turn to my business partner and say, one of us needs to jump. Otherwise we're, I mean, we could, we could have kept it going, but we would have been struggling and I was ready. I was leaning more into the vendors. I just had my son. Uh, we were doing a lot of like online, uh, education for the vendors to help them with SBA loans and things like that. And I was like, I'm ready to go. So I jumped, I felt like I lost a limb because that was my baby, my first baby. I'm like bawling on the, on the porch. And my husband's like, what's wrong? I thought this is what you wanted. And I'm like, it is, but it's like everything I've ever built and wanted. And he's like, are you sure you made the right decision? I'm like, no, I'm sure. I'm sure. And, um, and I'm still sure. And from there, I was really able to transition to celebration pros, uh, having a nine to five job supporting me as I built it out. So that's really where that transition came. Yeah.

Dana - 00:15:00:

So your your business was kind of a little bit of a baby when like I would say like your probably first real big tragedy in business happened, which was.

Carin - 00:15:09:

Oh, yeah.

Dana - 00:15:10:

Hurricane Irma, correct?

Carin - 00:15:12:

Mm hmm.

Dana - 00:15:12:

That like destroyed the keys, basically.

Carin - 00:15:00:

So Hurricane Irma was, I think it was October. Either late September or October. I can't remember the date at this moment, but it was 2017. And we didn't, it wasn't supposed to be as big as it was. Well, you know, it wasn't anticipated to be as big as it was. It was a hurricane five category. Storm and it took out everything. And so I, when I was four, I was living in South Miami and we got hit with Andrew.

Dana - 00:15:46:

I remember, Andrew.

Carin - 00:15:47:

Yeah.

Dana - 00:15:47:

We were in Florida. We were in Melbourne.

Carin - 00:15:49:

Yeah. Okay. So you guys got the top of the storm. And. It was tiny and powerful. Irma was massive and powerful. And Hurricane Andrew is tiny and powerful. And it just like punched us. I was four years old, so I didn't understand all of it. It was terribly scary. It's the first thing I remember in my life, clearly. And I just remember, you know, the day before my dad kind of cleaning things up. It's a beautiful blue sky, like everything very vivid. And then after the storm, everything was gray. There was like no color to anything. I don't know if like paint got blasted off the houses or if it was just like mental perspective of just like this is gloom. But, you know, we had looting and it was just it was a crazy time. And then fast forward. To 2017 with Irma, we see the storm coming at us and all we can think of is, oh my gosh, this is Hurricane Andrew all over again. The good news is we're all more prepared, right? There's technology advances in, you know, hurricane shutters and how we prepare and communication and things like that, which were all very helpful. But as a wedding planner, I mean, everything was canceled. Venues were not open. There were venues that were like, we can host. After the fact. And I'm like, they can't get here. Yeah. And this isn't what they signed up for. This is not what they bought. Right. And so it was a very tricky time to navigate. Yeah. What was your mindset through that all? How can I help? Yeah. We were the first people that got back. So my husband works for Key Largo Wastewater. And so if basically like if the sewage can't. Low. You know, we can't get toilets flushing at the hospitals. We can't, we can't open. So he was an essential worker among, of course, lots of other individuals, but we were the first to come back. And so I remember taking video down the, what we call the stretch, which is the road that that takes you from Miami to Key Largo. And it's 18 miles. And I'm just videoing as long as I can until the internet goes away, which was about halfway through Key Largo. And people are on Facebook and they're commenting. And they're like, can you please check my house? Can you check and make sure my dog's alive? Can you, you know, my video camera shows that, you know, I have four feet of flooding. Can you go, you know, all these things. And so we're getting flooded with our entire community. I'm a wedding planner. So everyone knows me because I work at every venue, you know, all this, you know. And then you have my husband who not only works for the county, but he's also a local musician. So everyone knows him. The whole world wanted something from us. And so we wanted to do our best to give back. We felt like it was the world. It was the island. It's your world. Yeah. It's our world. Right. So, uh, yeah, on our way down, we're like swerving piles of seaweed and all this, we get home. Luckily our house was not terribly impacted. We went and stayed with my, at my parents' house because they had the generator and my husband worked around the clock and we had friends that were able to get in. And in that first three days, we cleared 12 houses of debris so that people could get to their front doors. I remember a friend calling and she's like, I can't get in touch with my husband's dad. Can you please? Go down and find him. And I said, absolutely. Give me the address. I wasn't familiar with the address and I couldn't, I couldn't bring it up. It was like part of a Marina. Like you couldn't clearly pinpoint where he lived. So I said, okay, I'm going to drive down and keep you on as long as I can. And as soon as I would get to the area, I would lose internet. So we didn't know for three days whether he was alive or not. And luckily, we found out that he was. But it was like these situations where it's like, how can I help? How can I be there? What can I collect? Nobody had mailboxes. So the first thing I bought was like 10 mailboxes. Who needs one? You know, that type of thing. And yeah, and then once the gates did open and we were able to bring people down and they could clear out their homes and work with FEMA and all those things, we have a, I say we, like I'm still, I'm very close with my business partner. We're very good friends. So even though I say we, I am not of the business anymore. We had a bridal bungalow on US 1, and we had it as a spot where if somebody needed internet, we had Wi-Fi running. If somebody needed water, we always had extra water. It was a drop-off for clothing and things like that so that we could donate. So, yeah, I mean, we just did as much as we possibly could. At my house, the whole road was the seafloor. Like that was the most bizarre thing. I came home and we're like picking stuff up and like crabs are falling out. And it's just like, there must've been 200 coconuts in our yard. So it was just like getting your, getting your space in order first. And then being able to, it's kind of like you put your mask on first before you help somebody else on an airplane, like just kind of doing as much as you can and still figuring out what it is that you need to survive too.

Dana - 00:20:58:

Yeah, I think that's the hardest thing about being a doer. And it's been this like super interesting like revelation in the past year of recognizing like you have your dreamers. You have people that have like great ideas and they are innovative and all that. You have your planners, the people that love to make plans and make spreadsheets and put things on paper. And then you have your doers. And sometimes dreamers are doers. Sometimes planners are doers. Like sometimes they overlap, right? But it's the people that are doers that just jump in with reckless abandon a lot of times. They're the ones that are like, what can I do? What can I do? And a lot of times they stifle how they're feeling because they're trying to just help this person or just trying to finish this task or get to the other side of it. And then there always comes a time when that like emotion finally hits you and you're like, I have to deal with this traumatic event. I just went through and, you know. Take care of my emotional wellbeing. Did you ever have a moment where that was like, It was just too much.

Carin - 00:22:03:

Yeah. So I was so focused on helping the community and my, you know, we had a business to run. And my business partner, finally, after I had given back quite a bit. She said, this is amazing. And, you know, we love our town, but we have a business to run and we need to focus on getting this up and running. And, you know, really our way of processing the. Emotions was than helping the vendors. I think, you know, honestly, I wouldn't say there was a time where I like broke down and like. Lost it. And I think it's because we, we didn't, we were very lucky and we didn't lose a lot to begin with. So our, you know, our homes were okay. We had the ability. My husband definitely broke down because he was working 36 hour shifts. And then he'd come home, he'd sleep for three hours and get called out again. It was, you know, and so that was hard not having him around. I mean, anybody who has a spouse that is away, I can definitely, you know, feel that. And it was, it was, it was only for about a week that, you know, it was that way. So yeah, I, you know, it was really helping other people through it. So once my business partner had said that, and she was like, we really need to work on the business. We really need to be helping. Our clients and whatnot. I'm like, okay, now that we have answers and things from venues on. Their status and where they're at. Now we can start communicating with the brides. And not that I wasn't, I don't want to be like, I just totally checked out of the business. Because that definitely wasn't the case, right? Because we were hosting networking events prior and then after too. We were helping people with their businesses even before Hurricane Irma had happened because my business partner, she'd been in the industry. Gosh, she's probably been in it for over 35 years. So between our experience, we get the questions all the time. We had started holding networking events. And. We were kind of the go-to, like people would ask us, how are, how are you on every vendor list? How are, how is everybody already booking you and all these different things? And I said, you know, it's, we do it ourselves. And it's a lot of that word of mouth marketing. And because we had those strong relationships when this happened, who did everybody look at? They looked to us and they said, Karen, what do we do? Wendy, what do we do? You know, like... And so... It was a burden for us, but at the same time, it was also so rewarding to be able to say, we went through this and that's how we got through Irma was by helping other people. Because if we went to a venue and they're like, what do we need to open? Like, what, what do we need to physically open to make sure that this is, you know, going to work? And we would go over there and be like, okay, where are your power? That where's the power that works? Are the rooms clean and, you know, cleaned out of mold and all these things. And, you know, we could go through it and then we could say, okay, you're at par. Let's get people back in here. And so we were just kind of that like guiding voice through all of it. It was also when, you know, the couples would call and say, what do we do? Can we switch venues? Can you travel to us if we move that kind of thing? And then we were able to, if another vendor wasn't available for their new date, we were able to then pair with, you know, somebody similar. And so it was really just that working through. I'm a very solution-based person. If you can't tell, it was very much like to, to move through the emotion was to find the solutions.

Dana - 00:25:35:

Yeah.

Carin - 00:25:35:

Who has a problem? How can we help? Okay. What's next?

Dana - 00:25:38:

Right.

Carin - 00:25:39:

So that's, yeah. That's how really how I process things.

Courtney - 00:25:41:

I imagine, though, like a lot of those skills translated well to COVID. Like you think through.

Carin - 00:25:48:

Oh, yeah.

Courtney - 00:25:49:

Yeah, you probably were like so ready for that.

Carin - 00:25:52:

Oh my gosh, couples would be like, what do we do? I'm like, don't worry. We've done this before.

Courtney - 00:25:56:

I know. Yeah, but also like even having like things in your... In your contract, like understanding like. Force majeure and weather things and like nothing's really solid till it happens, you know, and making sure. And also I think the funny thing about COVID and I imagine with Irma, there are some of this too, it was navigating that fine line between doing what was best for your client and representing them, but then also preserving your vendor relationships, like not throwing anybody necessarily under the bus, but kind of all coming together like communally with how you're going to speak, like the language you're going to use, how you're going to speak, how you're going to move things, et cetera. I imagine a lot of that was worked out during Irma.

Carin - 00:26:34:

Yeah, that's, you know, that's such an interesting. Topic to bring up because it's, it is hard. You know, your, your couple sign on with you hoping that you'll defend them to the end. Like whatever happens, I've got my planner. And then you have the vendors who are like, I love working with this planner because she knows what's up for the vendors, right? And so it's he or she. And so it's... It is this like gray line that you have to balance on. And I think it's really important to communicate in the very beginning to say. I have such amazing vendor relationships. That's how I'm able to support you in your wedding day. So if I break those vendor relationships. That's going to hinder the job that I do moving forward. And so figuring out how to verbalize that to your clients, I think is very important. And something else too, when it comes, we were just talking about this on. Over on our podcast was when it comes to the, the vendor deposits and things like that, that we put in our, in our contracts. Thinking about how like... What would you do if you're doing like a 50-50 deposit? What are you going to do with that? Event cancels, do you really want to break it up 50-50? Or does it make more sense to space out your payments so that... You're not, of course, putting them too far out with money, but you're also holding your own for your company. But yeah, there was a lot when it came to the contracts where people had to give back full. They had to go into debt giving back money. We had to give 50% back to anybody who canceled, which was a lot, especially if they were full planning. We had done so much work. A lot of people wouldn't, they wouldn't give money back, but they would let them transfer their date, things like that. So yeah, that was a big conversation moving forward.

Dana - 00:28:33:

Was there anything from Irma that you learned that really, business-wise, that you felt super prepared you or that you were like, okay, this doesn't make sense anymore how we operate this way? And maybe it was helpful during COVID, but maybe not. Maybe it was just something you're like, hey, this is something we need some safeguards we need to put in place to protect our business and our vendor relationships. The business as a whole?

Carin - 00:28:59:

It would really be. Showing up. I, you know, it's a lot of what I teach too. If you're showing up with a good heart. It's going to go so far. If you sit back and you would just say, if you sit back in your own mess and you're like, this is my mess, this is what I have to clean up. When everybody else is going through the same mess and you just kind of internalize and you're not able to open up and have conversations with other people. Even better, put a helping hand out. I really think that that was why we pulled through so well was that everybody knew that we were there to help. And so in turn, they were there to help us when we needed it most. It was something we had already been doing, but it really just drove that home that when it comes, if. You could spend all the marketing money in the world, but nothing's going to be as valuable as the relationships that you make.

Courtney - 00:29:56:

That's so true. That's very true. Yeah. It's like a wedding industry karma.

Carin - 00:30:02:

Yeah, it is. It is. And good karma comes back around.

Courtney - 00:30:06:

It absolutely does. Yeah, and I also think, too, like... Even just like normal wedding tragedies that happen, like we're all human. Things get lost and shuffled and things happen like almost at every event. And it's like it's those relationships that kind of pull you through that, whether it's like they're kind of CYA-ing for you or. You know, our, I tell people all the time, like we've had some. Some of our best vendor relationships, we've had the worst experiences with. And it was more, not so much that it was a bad experience, but it was like how they recovered from that experience and how they, like it was clear how important our relationship was to them, even though they might have like really messed up or whatnot. Um, So I think it's a lot about that. Like that's kind of like how you build those relationships and maintain them. Having each other's back. And I think especially when you hit things like a huge tragedy, like something like Irma or COVID, it was very clear as to like where your alliances were.

Carin - 00:30:54:

And like who was banding together and who was talking every day and who was trying to pave a way forward and who was just trying to preserve their business and their space.

Dana - 00:31:10:

Exactly.

Carin - 00:31:11:

Yeah. It's like you have to be a part of the collective resilience.

Dana - 00:31:14:

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that was like the hardest thing. And I think that was for me to going through COVID to go through was, I think there was a couple of moments where you realize, okay, well, my relationship isn't as strong as I thought it was, or my, my maybe, uh, opinion of this person who I thought they were is not who they are. And that was really hard. There was a lot of like mourning your business, but there was also a lot of mourning relationships in some ways, like just recognizing that. Oh my gosh, like I did not see the, I maybe didn't appreciate how they handled things or how they, how they spoke about like our venue or our, who we were or whatever the case may be. And kind of, they were the ones that were throwing you under the bus. They were the ones that weren't kind of trying to be that collective problem solver. And so then, and then what it did and what I hated about it is it made me feel like I had to be like defensive or I had to then like throw them under the bus. And I'm like, but that's not who I am. Like, that is not something that I'm comfortable doing. Like, I'm not like, Hey, if I'm going down, you're going down with me. Like, that's just not how I, how I act, you know? And so it's very much, it was, it was really hard. I think it's very difficult. When that terminology Scorched Earth came in.

Carin - 00:32:27:

Scorched earth.

Courtney - 00:32:29:

I'm going down, you're going down. We're all going down together.

Carin - 00:32:33:

I mean, in Florida, we were the first ones open. We opened very quickly. Oh, yeah, you did. And to be a wedding planner who is terrified of. So my son was born right before he was diagnosed with viral onset asthma. He was hospitalized for it. I mean, everybody has their story of their loved one who struggled or whatnot. And so it. I'm like, how am I supposed to be in a room with 100 people? And I mean, even if we were outside, it was just like the rest of the country is closed. Why are we open? It's forcing us to do things that we don't want to do. And, you know, I think a lot of times, you know, my business partner and I shall roll her eyes if she listens to this, but we had a very different viewpoints. My family was very inconsistent, which made me very inconsistent, which rolled over. And then I was like, don't book the wedding. Okay. Book the wedding. And so it was, it was hard. It was really hard to navigate and decide what was right, what was wrong. And then as a planner, we deal with so many vendors and then, okay, how are you all going to navigate this at the event? You know, does the, does the couple need to be aware of anything? And so. Yeah, it was a special time.

Dana - 00:33:50:

I can see why it was a good time to exit. Well, I feel like too, like you went through this like massive thing in 2017, right? And you kind of, I feel like, and you talked about before how like, you know, you were the one that was, people were coming for help and you were doing the advice and all that stuff. And then COVID kind of hits. And I'm sure you found yourself in a very similar situation. Like you said, you were doing online education about SBA loans and how to get people through it. Was that finally the moment where it really clicked? Like, this is my purpose. Like, this is what I should do. Or were you feeling it a little bit before COVID? Like, oh, I'm like just antsy. Like, I know that this is the direction I want to go into.

Carin - 00:34:26:

I think having my son was a big turning point for me. And my business partner and I were like on the same wavelength when we were together. We were yin and yang. I was. Marketing, design, creative, all of that. She was like, she could run QuickBooks like no problem. You know, like, so we were very tight unit and we. Uh, We really filled in each other's strengths and it was great. And our husbands loved each other and we would go boating and all the things, right? We were good friends and we still are very good friends. And then I had my child and. She wasn't going to have kids. And that's like, it's just a whole different life. No, you don't know until you know. And so I was very much like, I would prefer to work from home a lot of the time. She didn't see the work I was doing. It broke some communication. We hadn't gone through COVID yet where you learn how to work remotely together, you know, type of thing. So it was a learning process. Through that, we had already been consulting for venues and working with other vendors. We weren't, well, consulting with venues we would get paid for. But when we were helping other vendors, I'd be like, let me, you know, play around with your website and, you know, help you with your marketing stuff or whatever it might be. We were doing a lot of consulting for free. And it was really, it was the thing I loved. And. When we shifted. I had Waylon, COVID was happening. We were doing, we had already done a few boutique bridal shows, which I loved. It was really that whole part of it was something that I like. I'm very surprised and I'm so happy that she's continuing to do networking events down here. She's not doing them as often, but it's just, it makes such a difference. So through all of that and through being able to guide people and seeing them succeed based off of the advice and things that we would give them, I was like, you know what, this is really something I'd like to do. And then I hired my own high-level business coach who was a coach, you know, like a coach for coaches type of thing. And I was like, I didn't know that you could get paid for that. And I was like, I didn't know that you could get paid for that. And so now I'm able to create a space that's valuable to where I can get paid and I can help other people get paid too. Yeah, I love that. And I think too, like what's super interesting is Like I think everyone has like their story, right? The thing that kind of makes them, I don't even want to say unique because that sounds super cheesy, but they have like where they, like what it is that they have thrived in. And it sounds like you've thrived in multiple situations where you've helped people overcome something that is super difficult and super hard and can kind of see like where the next steps are.

Dana - 00:36:46:

And I think too, like what's super interesting is Like I think everyone has like their story, right? The thing that kind of makes them, I don't even want to say unique because that sounds super cheesy, but they have like where they, like what it is that they have thrived in. And it sounds like you've thrived in multiple situations where you've helped people overcome something that is super difficult and super hard and can kind of see like where the next steps are. Even this is sort of you saying how like going into these venues and saying, okay, you're on par. Like this is good enough. Like it's probably not the excellent venue it was, but this is on par enough to be able to host an event safely and for it to be transformable enough. Like that's just so valuable. And that is not something that a lot of people can do because a lot of times they'll just walk into the space and they're automatically just overwhelmed with what it was, with what it isn't, not what it is. Does that make sense? Yeah. And, and, you know, a lot of it too, I'm like, okay, photography perspective, they're going to take these photos and that's going to be what they remember for the rest of their lives.

Carin - 00:37:32:

And that is not something that a lot of people can do because a lot of times they'll just walk into the space and they're automatically just overwhelmed with what it was, with what it isn't, not what it is. Does that make sense? Yeah. And, and, you know, a lot of it too, I'm like, okay, photography perspective, they're going to take these photos and that's going to be what they remember for the rest of their lives. Can we get the shot? Yeah. We can't get the shot. The answer is no. We got to wait. Yeah. You know, my growing up, the probably the best piece of advice anybody could ever take is if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. And so you could sit there and cry about it all day and, you know, woe is me and pity party and this and that, but you're never going to be able to move forward. So it's always like, okay, well, what's the next best step? Yeah. You know, my growing up, the probably the best piece of advice anybody could ever take is if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. And so you could sit there and cry about it all day and, you know, woe is me and pity party and this and that, but you're never going to be able to move forward. So it's always like, okay, well, what's the next best step? What's the next best step? Right. Yeah. I love that. So we'd love for you to end on what is your biggest piece of advice, like just general business advice. And then the thing that you recommend the most to have in place to be prepared for whatever tragedy comes your way, like whether it's not going to be another pandemic, because I'm not putting that out in the universe, but whether it's like a hurricane or something else that is out of control or personal tragedy as well. Okay, so the biggest piece of advice, which we've kind of already gone over would be to really just deep dive into relationships, networking. I did my, my best friend's wedding was the very first wedding I did. Of course. Right. Okay, so the biggest piece of advice, which we've kind of already gone over would be to really just deep dive into relationships, networking. I did my, my best friend's wedding was the very first wedding I did. Of course. Right. We're going to go full circle. She was in Georgia. I'd never been there. I'd never even been to like her mom's house where we were having it. And I'm like, what am I going to do? So I got resourceful. I called three of the largest hotels that were there, like the Marriott, the Hilton, like the bigger ones. And I'm like, what am I going to do? So I got resourceful. I called three of the largest hotels that were there, like the Marriott, the Hilton, like the bigger ones. And I said, can I please have your vendor list? I'm desperate. And they sent me their vendor list. And now I had a list of vendors that top hotels would trust to have in their space. I'm like, okay, this is a good start. And then I was able to start the interviewing process. And then. From there, I was able to start building relationships in a completely different city. So wherever you're at, you can do it. And then I was able to start the interviewing process. And then. From there, I was able to start building relationships in a completely different city. So wherever you're at, you can do it. You can, you know, and if you're not sure what the, like how to get into their space, see what networking events are around, join associations, join your local chamber of commerce or better business bureau or whatever it is that you have in that area, because everybody knows somebody who's getting married and write down that list. What are all of the different things that I could do? Go on a podcast. Hello, here we are. Like, you know, like there's so many things that you can do to get the word out about what you're doing. You can build it. You can build the beautiful website and all the things, right? Like, you know, like there's so many things that you can do to get the word out about what you're doing. You can build it. You can build the beautiful website and all the things, right? But if you build it, they won't come until you tell them. You have to tell them. So that would be my biggest piece of advice as far as like, if you're just starting out or something like that. And please get like your LLC and like be legit. Be legit. And then as far as, you know, advice on getting through. Tragedy and that type of thing. Again, just always what's the next best step. Be legit. And then as far as, you know, advice on getting through. Tragedy and that type of thing. Again, just always what's the next best step. I I've gone through two panic attacks. I thought my husband was going to have one last night because we shifted our holiday plans and he's like, there's so much to do. And I'm like, what's one, like, tell me the list. I'm going to give you the one that you're going to go work on. And, uh, you know, it's, it's really take the next best step to move forward and prepare. Like think today, if, if, if tomorrow tragedy hit, are you ready for it? And if you're not, what can you do? And, uh, you know, it's, it's really take the next best step to move forward and prepare. Like think today, if, if, if tomorrow tragedy hit, are you ready for it? And if you're not, what can you do? Do you need to start putting 10% away into a different fund so that when it does hit, you have something to stand on? Basically, do that business audit. Do you have the relationships to pull you through on the other side? Because you could have a million dollars and go through that very quickly, depending on your company, and have no relationships to pull you through on the back end. So really just to prepare and then take the next best step. Yeah, I love that. Great. I think that's great advice.

Dana - 00:41:36:

So really just to prepare and then take the next best step. Yeah, I love that. Great. I think that's great advice. For sure. Yeah, I think everyone, I think even like in the middle of COVID, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to change X, Y, Z. I'm going to do this and prepare. And as you've talked to people, they're just like, oh, I was so busy. I was too busy. We came back with a boom, and I haven't put all these things in place. And I think it's something that's super important for people not to sleep on that. Just because you got through it doesn't mean something isn't going to happen later in the future. We came back with a boom, and I haven't put all these things in place. And I think it's something that's super important for people not to sleep on that. Just because you got through it doesn't mean something isn't going to happen later in the future. And to take those lessons and start preparing for it. You know what I noticed? Is after COVID. I don't know if I don't, from what I could tell the, the learn, like the major learning lesson of being financially prepared and structurally prepared didn't come through. Everybody came out with a new logo. Yep. And I was like. This is beautiful.

Courtney - 00:42:23:

Everybody came out with a new logo. Yep. And I was like. This is beautiful. This is great. But like... It's so true. We've got a little bit more here. Yeah. I mean, you don't even, we've told some of our clients that we've like spoken to before, like you don't even have to necessarily even have the money. Like take the fact that you just had your best year ever on taxes and go get yourself a line of credit, right? Yeah. Like put yourself some sort of buffer. Like they're like, oh, you're worth another $100,000 now.

Dana - 00:42:40:

Like take the fact that you just had your best year ever on taxes and go get yourself a line of credit, right? Yeah. Like put yourself some sort of buffer. Like they're like, oh, you're worth another $100,000 now. Great. You don't have to spend it, but know that it's there. So when it hits again, you got resources to pull from. But it's like, I think the biggest, the worst, to me, the worst thing. And I don't want to say the worst thing, but the hardest thing for business that came after COVID was actually the boom. Now the boom got us through financially and helped us recover from the finances of it. But what it did is it made so many people, hot opinion here, very lazy. Like they stopped. Now the boom got us through financially and helped us recover from the finances of it. But what it did is it made so many people, hot opinion here, very lazy. Like they stopped. Like I remember that year, I think it was 2021, the year we had 2021, we had 12 clients that booked the venue without ever touring it. Sight unseen. And that's, and normally we'll get like maybe one or two, right? And so you're... When that happens continually and these clients aren't even thinking about it, they're like, the state's available. Like, great. Let me sign on this piece of paper. It's like, oh, you're a human. You're not a robot. Like, great. Let me sign on this piece of paper. It's like, oh, you're a human. You're not a robot. Great. Oh, you look nice. Okay, great. I'm going to sign. Like there was, they're not getting into the nitty gritty like they are right now. So now you have all these vendors that are like, oh my gosh, like I'm not booking. I'm not booking my events. Like no, I, the bookings are so down. I'm like, well, are they down? I'm not booking my events. Like no, I, the bookings are so down. I'm like, well, are they down? Are they what they were in 2019? And the normal like time when you, from someone inquires to booking isn't two days, like it used to be in the boom month. Like sometimes it's 30 days. Right. And you have to woo them. You have to convince them that you're the right person. You're so out of practice of it that you are, you feel like, oh, this is just a difficult client. Like, no, no, this is just somebody who wants to make the right decision. You have to convince them that you're the right person. You're so out of practice of it that you are, you feel like, oh, this is just a difficult client. Like, no, no, this is just somebody who wants to make the right decision. And you hear people now, they're stressing about it. They're stressing about the finances because they didn't do exactly what they said they were going to do in the pandemic. Like, okay, well, now I'm going to have this safety and I'm going to take this savings. They just took that money and maybe they paid for a new logo. Whatever the case may be. And it just wasn't, you know, it's almost like the lesson wasn't actually learned exactly what you said. Yeah. You know, for everyone listening, who's a wedding business owner, you're the CEO, you are not the admin, you are the CEO, and it is your responsibility to make sure that your business stays afloat.

Carin - 00:44:33:

Whatever the case may be. And it just wasn't, you know, it's almost like the lesson wasn't actually learned exactly what you said. Yeah. You know, for everyone listening, who's a wedding business owner, you're the CEO, you are not the admin, you are the CEO, and it is your responsibility to make sure that your business stays afloat. So what is it that you're going to do to make sure that that happens? The pretty logo? Yes, it's beautiful. And yes, maybe some people are attracted to it, but it is not the reason why people sign on the dotted line. Yeah. And to what you're saying, I know we're kind of coming to the close here. There's so much to unpack. During those busy months, what do you do? Yeah. And to what you're saying, I know we're kind of coming to the close here. There's so much to unpack. During those busy months, what do you do? You work on your clients, you work on your clients, you work on your clients, you put everything else to the side. And then when it's slow, you never marketed yourself for the slow season. Right. So now there's nothing out there for people to say, like, I want to book with you. Right. So and then you have on top of it, you know, it's these longer engagement periods and things like that. So, yeah, definitely. Well, yeah. Well, it's been so great chatting with you. You too. I've been excited to come on and meet the two of you. So, yeah, definitely. Well, yeah. Well, it's been so great chatting with you. You too. I've been excited to come on and meet the two of you. And, you know, it's been really fun coming into this world as, you know, the founder of Celebration Pros. I've been able to connect with so many amazing other entrepreneurs. And so this is, this has been lovely. Thank you. Yeah. I hope our paths cross somewhere, someplace, some conference, some conference or something. I'm sure. Come to the Keys. Come back down. I hope our paths cross somewhere, someplace, some conference, some conference or something. I'm sure. Come to the Keys. Come back down. We'll get, we'll get a bus. That transforms into beds. That's right. We should do that. We should start like Airbnb buses. Oh, yeah. Super glammed out. It was very fun. It was the blast.

Courtney - 00:46:06:

It was like the late 80s. Yeah, it was the time of my life. Early 90s. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. To learn more about our hustles, visit us on the gram at C&D Events at the Bradford and C. At anthem.house and at hustleandgather. And if you're interested in learning more about our speaking, training, or venue consulting, head to our website at hustleandgather.com. And if you love us and you love this show, we'd be more than honored if you left a rating and a review. This podcast is a production of Your Fluence. I'm Courtney. And I'm Dana. And we'll talk to you next time on Hustle & Gather.