Prepare to unlock the secret ingredient to supercharging your career with the power of networking. Our special guest, Jordan Heller, the maestro behind Swell, joins us to spill the beans on how themed cocktail parties and a dash of FOMO can revolutionize your professional world. From his humble beginnings as a waiter to becoming a titan in the events industry, Jordan's candid tales of climbing the networking ladder will leave you inspired and ready to shake up your own approach to making those crucial connections.
Ever feel like networking is a party you weren't invited to? Fear not! This episode is brimming with relatable stories and practical tips, especially for the introverts who'd rather blend into the wallpaper than work the room. I confess my own networking jitters and how I overcame them by creating a familiar space at events. Together with Jordan, we dissect strategies for virtual networking and the importance of being a regular face in the crowd. If you're ready to transform anxiety into action, our conversation will equip you with the tools to step into the networking arena with newfound confidence.
As we wrap up our enlightening chat with Jordan Heller, we tease the exciting horizon for our Wedding Academy. With a revamped website and a shiny new pro community subscription, your journey of growth never stops. Get a glimpse into the future of networking, where intimate, niche experiences await, and learn why even the missteps in our careers are stepping stones to personal growth. Don't miss out on joining our innovative empire – reach out on Instagram, TikTok, or our Facebook group, and stay tuned for a secret project that's set to engage and transform your professional path in magical ways.
Join our international community of wedding professionals in Wedding Empires Pro where you can make industry connections, be there for the live events and advice from experts, tools, and templates, and overall learn how to better market and sell your services and create your own wedding empire.
Be there for the livestream events, including Wedding Empires Podcast and at least 4 other live wedding business trainings and month.
Exclusive episodes only for PRO members!
Massive template library of tried and tested templates for your wedding business
Opportunity to be a guest on the Podcast
Network with other wedding professionals worldwide.
Prepare to unlock the secret ingredient to supercharging your career with the power of networking. Our special guest, Jordan Heller, the maestro behind Swell, joins us to spill the beans on how themed cocktail parties and a dash of FOMO can revolutionize your professional world. From his humble beginnings as a waiter to becoming a titan in the events industry, Jordan's candid tales of climbing the networking ladder will leave you inspired and ready to shake up your own approach to making those crucial connections.
Ever feel like networking is a party you weren't invited to? Fear not! This episode is brimming with relatable stories and practical tips, especially for the introverts who'd rather blend into the wallpaper than work the room. I confess my own networking jitters and how I overcame them by creating a familiar space at events. Together with Jordan, we dissect strategies for virtual networking and the importance of being a regular face in the crowd. If you're ready to transform anxiety into action, our conversation will equip you with the tools to step into the networking arena with newfound confidence.
As we wrap up our enlightening chat with Jordan Heller, we tease the exciting horizon for our Wedding Academy. With a revamped website and a shiny new pro community subscription, your journey of growth never stops. Get a glimpse into the future of networking, where intimate, niche experiences await, and learn why even the missteps in our careers are stepping stones to personal growth. Don't miss out on joining our innovative empire – reach out on Instagram, TikTok, or our Facebook group, and stay tuned for a secret project that's set to engage and transform your professional path in magical ways.
Join our international community of wedding professionals in Wedding Empires Pro where you can make industry connections, be there for the live events and advice from experts, tools, and templates, and overall learn how to better market and sell your services and create your own wedding empire.
Be there for the livestream events, including Wedding Empires Podcast and at least 4 other live wedding business trainings and month.
Exclusive episodes only for PRO members!
Massive template library of tried and tested templates for your wedding business
Opportunity to be a guest on the Podcast
Network with other wedding professionals worldwide.
So Ben, with this last episode that we had you kind of made mention that business networking is not really your thing.
Speaker 2:
Yes, and in doing so I got called out during that episode and was kind of forced to go to a little photographer's networking.
Speaker 3:
Oh, you went I went.
Speaker 1:
I went, yeah, the next morning, good Without me. Yeah, okay, he was going to take me, but anyway.
Speaker 2:
It was too early.
Speaker 1:
We'll take that offline.
Speaker 2:
Even though I didn't make it on time. Oh really no.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that would have pissed me off. Anyway, we digress. So, with Ben confiding in me and all of you that he doesn't love business networking, I thought it would be a good idea to bring in one of the experts who has turned business networking into an absolute art form. So let's not waste any more time, let's bring him in and hopefully, ben, you're going to leave today with absolute, amazing skill set when it comes to business networking.
Speaker 2:
Yep, okay, are you ready?
Speaker 1:
Okay, all right, everyone meet Jordan Heller. Hi Jordan, how are you going?
Speaker 2:
We need a round of applause. How are you?
Speaker 3:
Jordan, I'm great.
Speaker 2:
How about you? I'm living the dream, yes.
Speaker 1:
Okay, Jordan Heller, we've brought you in because you have a really impressive CV when it comes to business networking. I know you've got some diverse experience around catering, venue sales and event planning, but you've really mastered your craft when it comes to building connections and networking. So I guess I'd like to hear about your journey sort of specifically through the events industry.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, after college, like a lot of people, I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself, so I ended up waiting on tables. So I was. I was doing that for a few years and moved to Florida. Kind of being in food service kind of led me into catering. I started doing catering for like like luncheon catering, making sandwiches and dropping them off at doctor's offices and pharmaceutical reps and all that. But I ended up really building good relationships with the pharmaceutical reps. So when I was fired from that job they had made a lot of good connections that I got a job at another company, kind of like telling them I was coming with these connections for lunch business. And when I moved to that job I ended up buying that company.
Speaker 3:
So I took over this catering company but that was like a full service caterer and I had come from like little sandwiches and nothing. So I really bit off a lot with that. But while I was there I really I started doing weddings, I started doing full service catering. But for some reason I used to get this like really big high out of referring people. Like I would bring people in for a tasting and I had this whole table in my tasting room with business cards and I'd be like, oh, who don't you have? You don't have a DJ, here's a DJ. And they were like looking at me like I was nuts sometimes but I was. I don't know something about the idea of getting business for someone else. Also, knowing who you're going to work with on the wedding day was exciting. When you walk in you don't know all the vendors. It was exciting to be able to help that process.
Speaker 3:
I kind of didn't realize I was building the steps of networking then, but after that I went into venue sales and I started this networking group on the side, just as a fun side thing. Me and a planner did this twice a year networking event. She was a wedding planner and I was working at venues. Our first event we had 180 vendors come to and it kind of just grew from there and after a few years I had someone kind of sit me down and put pen to paper, was like you could do this as a business. So in 2020, late 2019, starting in 2020, I flipped it into a full-time business where I now have 215 members and do monthly networking events, education and all different types of things and it's called swill yeah, it's um, I wanted, I wanted something that I could say as a word, because there's a lot of networking groups that are just like letters, or sometimes they're letters and they don't.
Speaker 3:
They're not supposed to make a word, but people say it as a word and it sounds ugly. So I spent a lot of time like using the letters and finding something that was easy to say, that sounded like something else, that had like a positive connotation behind it. So after you know mixing up a bunch of you know you always have to have wedding and event, so I knew there's gonna be a w and e in there. But yeah, so swell is sun coast.
Speaker 2:
Wedding and event leaders I have to say it jordan, that's a swell name oh god yeah, wow, sorry everyone, all right, I do I do actually need some sound effects.
Speaker 1:
I'm going to arrange that for the next episode. So something you don't know about me, Jordan, is I actually developed a business networking event business myself called Business in Heels, and it grew to 55 franchises worldwide. So I also know a thing or two about networking events. So I'm really interested to know, I guess, the format of the event. How does it work? What sets it apart from other networking events out there?
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So our events I really like pride myself on creating FOMO with our events. That like they're all really unique. I think one thing that's really fun about our events is like they're not usually expo style. They're more a themed cocktail party, the majority of which is kind of how we started out and we've continued that. You know through the through, now that we're a membership, we have a big themes pop culture themes, retro themes and it's just.
Speaker 3:
It allows our members to showcase what they can do in the confines of a theme, which is kind of like what a client would throw at you. You know, they give you the parameters of their event design, so it's not just like a bunch of tables with decor that's at odds with each other. It's always stuff that's cohesive and within the theme, from the food, the music, everything kind of goes together. So that really, I think, gets people excited, especially if it's a theme they're excited about. We did a Harry Potter event and there were a lot of people who were not Harry Potter fans, but they came out just because they wanted to see what we were going to do with it.
Speaker 1:
You are or you're not. No, I'm not either. Are we allowed to say that?
Speaker 2:
And the ratings go.
Speaker 1:
I don't think I've even seen one.
Speaker 3:
Anyway, sorry, yeah, but so we do a lot of those themed events. We do education events. Our big Swell Summer Summit, which is in August every year, is a full day of education, main stage speakers and breakout. We do some events that are like speed networking. We have a really popular event every March.
Speaker 3:
Last year was coffee over competition, this year was cocktails over competition, because we made it a little bit more alcoholic this year. But it was a roundtable discussions by vendor category. All the planners sat together, all the photographers sat together, all the DJs sat together and everyone kind of had discussions within their category about what was plaguing them in in their specific sect of the industry and at the end they all had a representative at the table who stood up and kind of like read out their pain points to the rest of the industry and it was. It was like really cathartic and fun and like people were kind of like taking jabs at each other, but in a fun way, and it really helped people connect with other people who do what they do instead of like looking at them as just competition.
Speaker 2:
Can I throw you under the bus, jordan? Yeah, that's good. In the email prior to this you said that you were going to make me uncomfortable, so I think we no. My question is the wedding industry worldwide has what we call wedding expos, wedding fairs, that kind of thing, and it's all the suppliers in one spot and everyone comes in and everyone just tries to hock their wares and sell them their stuff and all that sort of stuff and it's like walking through.
Speaker 2:
If you've ever been to bali, it's like walking through bali. The couples get to the end of it and just go oh my god, I'm sorry over this, get me out of here. Eject and for. For my whole, probably the last 10 years of my career, I've been trying to work out a better way to do that. A similar kind of scenario where you obviously you're a supplier, you're a vendor and people are coming in to see you. But have you got any ideas of how that can be done better so that people don't walk in and feel kind of sold to violated and walk out going oh my god, that was just. How do I get out of here?
Speaker 3:
yeah. So I don't do wedding expos myself. I, you know I do business to business. I don't really do business to client except for my magazine, but I have seen a couple twists on it. I've seen people do more boutique style events. There was, you know, where they had people in pods kind of, where there were different pods around the room where it was like every pod had a planner, a florist, a photographer, like they were, so like you would go, and it was kind of like vendors who worked well together and you could pick a whole, a whole pod. I've seen ones where it's like there was one, I think, where they were couples, had a like a liaison almost, and took them around the room like they would say, oh, I need to meet with these three people, and they would kind of like take them around the room can you tell us about how, I guess, you've become particularly skilled at networking?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I mean I think having jobs didn't pay well helped Because it really like kind of makes you put your head down and really get to know people and to get to the next step in your career. And so I never really missed any opportunity, especially when I was working at places that they may have had like a good reputation but not like but weren't paying that well. So people get excited to meet you because you were from that venue or from that that company. So I would use that reputation of the places I worked with to meet as many people. I would use it to get people to come to swell events, not in any kind of like promissory way, just kind of like hey, this is Jordan from so-and-so, you know we're having an event. But I really use the names of the places and obviously being at a venue is always great because venues and planners it's kind of sometimes you can go to a networking event. Just if you have the right name tag on you can just stand back and people come to you. So I use that to meet people.
Speaker 3:
But yeah, I don't, ben, I'm kind of like you where I don't really like networking, which is weird for me to say running a networking group professionally. But if I go to you know another market and walk into a room, people I don't know, I'm like against the wall, like I feel like like completely assaulted just by the thought of having to talk to strangers. So I totally get that. But really I just used knowing people as a way to kind of make my comfort zone, where now, like I can walk into my own event and I know 90 of 100 people. So it's comfortable. You know they're all my friends and they're going to introduce me to the other 10 people, and then the next month I'm going to know everyone and then, you know, the new people come and I'll get introduced to them, and so you kind of have to do that as an attendee as well.
Speaker 3:
You have to meet as many people as possible, not just in person, but like virtually as well. I always find meeting people virtually first makes it really easier. If you connect on Instagram or LinkedIn or wherever and you know someone's face. It's so weird to walk up to a group of like five people who were talking and just put your hand out and start hi, I'm Jordan. It's just it's. And you're like we're having a conversation here, like it's weird. But if you know someone by their face, you're like, oh, hey, it's Jordan I, you know, we're friends on LinkedIn or hey, I saw you did this wedding at such and such last weekend. There's like an in if you already have a virtual connection. So I'm I'm really big on the. It's kind of like online dating professionally.
Speaker 1:
I love that and I think something that you said about over time, the more you go that you know obviously the more people that you're going to meet. I think that's actually really, really key, especially if you like buy a membership to your local chamber of commerce and you've paid some annual fee.
Speaker 1:
Like that alone should motivate you to go to those 12 events from a financial perspective but we discussed this with Madeline in our previous episode in that you you know if you can make a commitment to go up and talk to one or five people. You know, yes, it might get you out of your comfort zone, but over time if you do that and you have this sort of membership in place, then you know that's 50 people, isn't it by the end of the year that you've connected with? And it's going to be more and more comfortable going to these events because you're going to walk in and you're going to know 10, 20, 50 people in there and you'll gravitate to them and they'll introduce you to someone else. You just got to start, really.
Speaker 3:
And you don't want to ignore the people you already know either. People think like, oh, I have to meet this many new people and I don't have time to meet people I already know. I had someone who once told me, like oh, I keep seeing the same people over and over and I'm like that's the point.
Speaker 2:
You want to build a relationship.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, if you meet people once and then never talk to them again, you're not going to build. If you, if you have something that they need for their client, they're going to think of you as soon as it comes up, because they just saw you two weeks ago and they know they're going to see you in another two weeks. So you're on. You're on their mind. You know you have to always keep fostering those relationships.
Speaker 2:
Maybe I need to pay to motivate me like to go to something like this. Maybe I need to pay to, actually, because Kiri's just said in in the chat that there's quite a few groups in Melbourne that would just pay and play and go along with, and that wasn't her bag. So you can't beat them.
Speaker 1:
Start your own it's funny when, when I built my my network business in heels, I actually took the reverse approach. I thought that it was it was more appropriate to charge a low fee per visit, because I felt like when you wanted to go to networking, you kind of maybe couldn't afford it.
Speaker 2:
And that's a commitment too, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:
So our model was pay $40, pay as you go. There was no membership. So I've since sold the business and I do believe that they do do memberships now, but for me it was a point of difference in that you pay $40, it's amazing value. You're leaving with a goodie bag that's maybe $200, $300 worth of value alone, but you go when you want to go. There's no commitment. So I don't know. There's lots of different sort of options out there, but there are ones like that as well, where if you feel like I'm not going to be able to commit to 12 or a year or whatever and make it financially viable, there are definitely ones out there. Even or a year or whatever make it financially viable. There are definitely ones out there, even on meetup and things like that, that you can find where you can just go and you can pay a low fee and go casually.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, we do like a flat fee for the year and then it includes your tickets, but the fee is so much lower than the retail. If you bought two tickets for all 10 events it would be like almost twice as much as our actual membership fee. So with our membership the tickets are included, but if you miss a couple of events you don't feel like you paid for nothing, because you really have to miss a lot to not have it be still valuable.
Speaker 1:
Have you got any tips around someone like Ben who's walking into a room, what are some tips for him to just get started and kind of conquer these first steps?
Speaker 3:
So yeah, because I'm right there with you. So I think, first of all, going with someone who's more outgoing than you is a great tip, and I think you talked about that yesterday. You need someone like you, jack, who will introduce you to other people, who will like force you to meet other people, because if you go by yourself, it's such a recipe to just like be on your phone and hide in the corner and leave early, because I've done it and wasted a lot of money doing it. So like I feel like you have to take someone with you and and I do a presentation called Networker he wrote which is like a nod to the 80s TV show Murder. She wrote, where I kind of compare planning networking to planning a murder. So with that, it's like you know having an accomplice is really good because you need someone to like help carry the body.
Speaker 2:
You thought this through, Jorah I like this. I didn't think we were going in this direction.
Speaker 1:
But here we are.
Speaker 3:
Ladies and gentlemen, this has gone a whole other way the analogy really goes off the rails like mid presentationresentation, but it makes it a lot of fun. But yeah, so I think you have to. I would never go to anything alone. That's why I include two tickets for my membership, because I don't think anyone should show up by themselves, Unless they're like just that super extrovert who's going to like run laps around the room. Also, I always go and this has nothing to do with alcohol, but I always go straight to the bar.
Speaker 3:
I want to be able to like go into the room and survey the room and see who's there, who I need to avoid, who I want to meet, and like kind of just get a sense of the room.
Speaker 3:
So going and like getting into the line for the bar right away kind of is like a way for me to like get a hold of the room, a hold of the room. And then also, if you're awkward with your hands like if you don't know what to do with your hands at a networking event, putting a drink in it is like an easy way to just fill at least 50% of your hands. I always use like because I don't want to be on my phone, because I feel like that's really standoffish. If I'm wearing like a blazer, I'll put like the blazer over my other arm so I have like a drink in one hand and a blazer in the other arm and then that kind of just like fills my arm. So I don't feel like I don't know what to do with my hands. And it doesn't need to be alcohol. I mean, I, I like to drink and I think Ben, you like gin as well, correct?
Speaker 2:
Gin and tonic, espresso, martini, whatever, yep.
Speaker 3:
I'm a. I'm a gin and club soda. I can't do tonic, but it's. You know, even if I'm not drinking, you can just get a club soda and lime in that way, because you know you always have those people oh, why aren't you drinking? Which is one of those, like none of your business questions. But if I'm not drinking, club soda with a lime looks like a drink. But you know, gin and club soda is great.
Speaker 2:
Completely off topic at this point um, I always, I always like to answer that question with something surprising and horrendous, but anyway, I think it's good now in in the current kind of situation, there's so much zero alcohol stuff out there.
Speaker 1:
I mean I went, I went to something another week a work event for me and I had to drive, but I wanted to get amongst it, so I had a zero alcohol shandy actually I think it was.
Speaker 3:
I felt like I was yeah yeah, yeah and then I think also, like, if you look for those people who are doing the same thing as you, who are playing on their phone, who do look uncomfortable, like those are the best because you already know that they're uncomfortable, so you're going to like be the hero in their eyes.
Speaker 3:
If you go and break the ice with them because they're uncomfortable, so they're going to be super willing to talk already, and then you know, if there's someone you can work with in the future're always going to remember you as the person who who broke the ice for them.
Speaker 3:
I was at a networking event a couple months ago and, like it was a group of people from swell and it was a not, it was not a swell event, but there was like 10 of us and then like two people it was the beginning of the event two people who were not with us and you could just tell they were like all these people know each other and I just ran over and grabbed them, which is like not my personality to talk to strangers, but like I knew I was like in that herd that looked scary, and so I like brought those people in because and they were like you know, I see this person all the time now and like we have a great friend relationship, because she remembers me as that person who, like, didn't let her stand awkwardly in the corner for two hours.
Speaker 2:
So, jordan, off the back of that, like, can you share a networking success story that you've had, where you've made a connection that's led to something significant or some kind of big opportunity in collaboration?
Speaker 3:
I think for my, looking at our membership, the biggest wins that I've seen are the people who showcase at events, because it's an opportunity for them to work with people they might not have worked with. But then that I've seen are the people who showcase at events because it's an opportunity for them to work with people they might not have worked with. But then you know just people who work together planners. You know, I try to connect my planners with venues they've never worked at, because to bring them to something they work at all the time it's not doing much for them. But if I have a planner planning one of my events at a venue they've never worked at and then they start booking weddings there, it's a big win because it's opening a door for them, because that was as a venue.
Speaker 3:
That's always the hard thing when you have someone who comes to you and says you know I want to be on your list and you say, well, you have to do a wedding or two here before you're on the list. And they say, well, how do I book a wedding if you don't put me on the list? O? So a networking event where I bring in planners, it's a really good opportunity to like you know you're getting in and you're showing you can do a wedding there or an event there. Respect their rules, respect their space, put on something amazing. So my wins really come from people who come and showcase and show what they can do and work with different people that they haven't worked with before.
Speaker 1:
I've been to a couple of wedding specific networking events that were like venue open days and gosh, they work so well. I can imagine they work really well for the couple kind of walking in and seeing a floral display in the venue that they're considering and whatnot. But such such a great relaxed way to meet other wedding vendors as well, particularly if you've got a little stall set up or whatever you just you just naturally feeling more confident going up yeah saying hello to the other stall holder and and whatnot.
Speaker 1:
So I think I think those look out for those they're.
Speaker 3:
They're really great, especially if it's a venue that you want to work with and those are the great things where, like, people think of networking as a networking event. But, like, networking is any opportunity you can have to interact with someone. So if you're doing a wedding show, you know an expo alongside someone else, the people who are there, even every email, every DM, every interaction is part of networking because it's all part of building the relationship. I think I've had people actually on events behave really badly Even though you're working. This is networking. Like on a wedding day, it's networking. You know how you work with someone affects your relationship with them and whether they want to work with you again. Every single opportunity you have is always like an opportunity to build a relationship. Anytime you're in the same room or somehow connected to another vendor, it's a networking opportunity, negative or positive.
Speaker 1:
What about when it comes to relationship building? Have you got any tips around afterwards, after you've met this person, whether that's in in person or at a wedding? What are your tips around cultivating that relationship?
Speaker 3:
I think the thing is it's it's a slow game. People want to like become best friends overnight, especially. They want to become friends with people they don't really even like. They're just trying to like have a relationship for business purposes, and you really have to like make real relationships, trying to like have a relationship for business purposes, and you really have to like make real relationships which just like I mean they are real relationships and just like a relationship. You know, romantic friend, it's something that develops over time.
Speaker 3:
You can't expect to meet someone on a Tuesday at an event and be put on their list or get booked with them or do something you know two days later. You know we're going to be in this industry, hopefully for a long time, so you have to build these relationships slowly, which is seeing people multiple times. It's connecting with them on social media and then thoughtfully engaging with them. You have to like really be careful when you're engaging on social media and I know, ben you're, you have a radar for for fakeness and I think you have to be careful when you're interacting. I have one person I know who. I think they schedule their social media time and they'll go through and they'll comment on everything I posted for a week with very generic like way to go, good job, and it's obvious they're not paying attention to what I actually posted. It's like, oh, I scheduled from 4 to five o'clock and I have this list of 10 people and I'm going to go through productivity wise, props to them for doing that.
Speaker 3:
But, like, authenticity wise, like it's not authentic at all. To do that, you have to, like, look at what people are posting and post something. That's, I think, the same way. Instagram, you know, registers your comment if it's more than four words to make it count for your engagement, you have to do the same. You have to put something that's a little bit more thoughtful. If it's someone's birthday, just don't write HBD Like. You have to do a little more to develop that relationship and show someone you care. So I think it's all about authentic and and just giving the time the relationship needs because it because it's a real relationship yeah, so so going the effort to to personalize that message.
Speaker 1:
You know, jordan, it was great seeing the other night. I'd love to tie you know, whatever, whatever, but like saying something, you go.
Speaker 3:
Oh, this person's like actually gone to a bit yeah, we're doing a callback to something you talked about, like if you talked about a tv show or a really good thing to this is this is terrible. A really good common ground is a common enemy.
Speaker 2:
I feel this guy.
Speaker 3:
I don't ever want to encourage gossiping, but I feel like there's something people really can connect about If you have both had a bad experience with the same person. Or it's terrible that negativity, like, is sometimes more engaging. And I'm not talking about talking about someone personal, like what's going on, that they're getting a divorce, something awful. I'm talking about like this person took my tip and pocketed it. You know they gave the bride, gave this planner $200 for me and it never got to me, like I don't know. There's bad behavior in our industry and finding people who are a common enemy can sometimes really bring you together. Uniting, yeah.
Speaker 1:
So where do you think our networking's heading? You think there's going to be any big changes on the horizon, or this is it, linkedin, I think more hands-on experiences, more immersive experiences are really where people are going, getting away from fluff.
Speaker 3:
You know, with our education I always want to bring in people who do like really engaging, how-to instructional. We don't do too much of the inspirational and I don't want to put down anyone who does. To me it's just not what's going to move your business forward, and so I think the more hands-on we get, the more niche we get. With Swell, we speak to a big audience because we have people from every category.
Speaker 2:
Jordan, if you walked outside today and ran into an 18-year-old version of yourself outside, what advice would you give that 18-year-old version of yourself knowing?
Speaker 3:
what you know. Now, the first thing I would say is you're not fat. It's only going to get worse from here.
Speaker 1:
Only be as fat as I was then I knew.
Speaker 3:
I would say that, Then I would say stop using hairspray.
Speaker 2:
You don't need hairspray, Jordan.
Speaker 3:
Well, I did when I was 18 and under and I think it might have led to some follicle issues because I used a lot of it in the 90s. You know, I don't honestly know if I would tell my 18-year-old self that much else, because business-wise I made a lot of mistakes. I bought a catering company with no ability to cook. It failed miserably. I had to file bankruptcy. But if I didn't go through that I don't think I would be comfortably where I am today. So all of my mistakes I wouldn't want to warn myself about because I would be scared to see where I was. If I just kind of glided through I might be doing something I really hate. So I would just say you'll get through the mistakes and just live in them.
Speaker 1:
I love that.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, good advice.
Speaker 1:
Someone once told me this one line, which doesn't sound like much, but if you actually sit on it and think of it, it makes a lot of sense Education is expensive.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
Right, honestly like the mistakes but their education at the end of the day and you and you learn from them. But yeah, I've, I've had some some doozies myself that have cost a lot of money. But education is expensive.
Speaker 2:
Success is a shitty teacher too, I think.
Speaker 1:
That's a good one. I like that, jordan. I know that you've got something special coming up a virtual summit. Why don't you walk us through that one?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, may 29th we're doing a website summit. It's the first virtual event I've done since 2021. I kind of feel like I, you know, stayed away from it because it just gave me too many COVID flashbacks. But we have some really great educators who aren't all here locally, so it's all about websites. We have a speaker coming in to talk about a copy on your sales page.
Speaker 3:
We're doing something on SEO. And then we have someone talking about design, and it's about hiring a designer versus doing it yourself. And then we have a really about design and it's about hiring a designer versus doing it yourself. And then we have a really great emcee who is a lawyer, who will be kind of guiding everyone through the event but then also giving like legal tips in between about things you need to have on your website to keep you, you know, legally, all good with your site. So it's May 29th, it's going to be an Eastern Standard Time, it'll be 1pm to 4.30pm probably the middle of the night for you. We record everything, and so anyone who buys a ticket will get the recordings as well.
Speaker 1:
The Wedding Academy. My business is mostly an American and European market, but, yeah, for any Aussies that are listening, like me, I think it's three o'clock in the morning, isn't it? Jordan? Something like that, so stay up with that gin or watch the recording, but it sounds like it would be absolutely worth doing so. The website is suncoastweddingsandeventscom and your Instagram username is Swell with one L S-W-E-L events. Jordan thanks so much for joining us.
Speaker 3:
Thank you, Jordan.
Speaker 1:
Awesome, jordan. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you, jordan, I've seen you as well, all right we'll see you soon.
Speaker 2:
God, that was a good one, that was fun. Yes, I got a lot out of that he didn't make me uncomfortable. No, no, no, but I mean I I don't know.
Speaker 1:
I know a lot about networking and he had some really interesting ideas that I thought were really yeah, some stuff I need to think about.
Speaker 2:
Maybe.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, so yeah, yes I was a bit busy over the weekend and built a little website for the podcast, weddingempirescom. Go there. You can see all of our episodes and all of our links to where you can find the podcast on all of the platforms. So Apple Podcasts, spotify, the Usual Suspects, iheartradio, amazon, all of that.
Speaker 2:
Everywhere where you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1:
Everywhere where you get your podcasts. And also you'll see there's a $9 subscription option as well, and I'm really, really excited about that. It's for our pro community. Some of you are already there. The benefits of joining this community are incredible. You are going to be here for these events, but you're going to receive an invite reminding you of these events before they go live, so you can just click from your phone or your email and be here and watch. But also there's all these additional other events and trainings on top of what we do at the podcast. So we're constantly getting in professionals to help you with various topics for your wedding business, and there's at least four of these a month on top of anything that we're doing on the podcast for nine dollars a month nine dollars a month subscribe and that alone more of us.
Speaker 1:
But wait, there's more this. So so you're getting the podcast. You're getting exclusive episodes of the podcast as well, so you're gonna start seeing on your podcast provider locked episodes that are only available for these pro members. So that's going to be another bonus. And lastly, we've got a huge, huge library of templates, so tried and tested worksheets, documents, guides to help you with your wedding business, so things like budget spreadsheets and venue inspection checklists, and they're for all different kinds of roles, so not just for a wedding planner.
Speaker 2:
There's things in there for florists, venues, photographers, the whole, the whole bit so, and for my, for my photography team, there is some extra stuff coming for you as well, yes, yes, we've been plotting some course material about wedding photography, so anyway, can we share the other stuff?
Speaker 1:
what other stuff?
Speaker 2:
the, the other, the other stuff, your stuff, the secret, no, the secret squirrel stuff that we're thinking about just just a little, just a little bit okay, go on okay, I'm really excited about this, so I'm not going to tell you what it is, but we we have, we have something in the works that we're really excited about, and it's something that is going to involve you guys, all of you out there who are watching, and we're going to ask for your input and ask for your stories. I'm not going to share too much.
Speaker 2:
I just want to sit that there and just run away.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, watch this space.
Speaker 2:
Yes, just watch this space. We're super excited about this and I'm really excited about this. So, yeah, yeah, watch this space. Something big is coming there you go.
Speaker 1:
You heard it here first, so more details to follow. But yeah, our website is weddingempirescom. If you want to connect on the socials and send us a message, we'd love to hear from you. Our username on instagram and tiktok is wedding empires podcast, and if you look it up on facebook, you'll find a little group there as well. Yes, indeed cool. Thanks, guys, thanks.