Engage Your Brand®

A logo is not a brand, and the wrong designer can cost you years of lost time, money, and momentum.  In this solo episode, I'm breaking down everything you need to know before hiring a branding agency for your wedding or event business. From red flags and green flags to questions you should always ask before signing a contract, this one is packed with practical advice to help you make the rig...

What if the most powerful referral sources in your business aren't your past clients, they're the vendors you work alongside every weekend?  In this episode, I'm joined again by Matt Radicelli of Mentor Pods to cover the more advanced side of referral programs, wedding vendor partnerships, planners, DMCs, and joint ventures. Matt breaks down what actually makes a vendor referral rel...

What if two-thirds of your wedding business could come from people who already know and trust you?  In this episode, I'm joined by Matt Radicelli of Mentor Pods to get tactical about one of the most underutilized growth strategies in the wedding industry, referral programs. We dig into two of Matt's five referral program types: past clients and current and future clients. From reactivati...

What does it actually take to stay in the wedding industry for 35 years — and still be growing? In this episode, I'm joined by Kevin Dennis, editor of WeddingIQ, owner of Fantasy Sound Event Services, and founder of the Tri-Valley Wedding Professionals. Kevin shares wedding industry networking tips he's learned over three and a half decades, how he built a full-service event company from...

Ten years, one business, and 30 lessons worth sharing, happy birthday to me. In this special solo birthday episode, I'm turning 30 and reflecting on the life lessons for business owners that have shaped the way I market, lead, and show up in this industry. These aren't your typical tips about posting schedules or Instagram hashtags. They're the deeper, messier, more meaningful lesso...

What if you could make $20K from a single wedding day, and earn free luxury travel on top of it? In this episode, I'm joined by Tami, founder of Paradise Getaways and creator of the 20K System and Toolkit. Tami shares her destination wedding planning tips, how she accidentally built an award-winning travel agency with zero international experience, and what it really takes to break into the d...

What if the most radical thing you could do for your wedding business was to just... stop doing what everyone else is doing? In this episode, I'm joined by Beth Kramer, wedding planner, author of Modern Etiquette Wedding Planner, and co-founder of Altared. Beth shares some of the most refreshing wedding planner tips you'll hear, from walking away from Instagram to building a Google-drive...

What happens when you stop trying to be everything to everyone and become the only obvious choice for one specific client? In this episode, I'm joined by Bisola of Event Design by B, a wedding planning and design firm specializing in Nigerian and multicultural weddings across the United States. With over 13 years in the industry, Bisola shares how niching down into Nigerian weddings completel...

Behind every successful business is a village, and today I'm celebrating mine. In this special anniversary solo episode, I'm sharing something a little different, a heartfelt reflection on 13 ways my husband Shane has supported the growth of my business over the years. Not through co-signing loans or working in the business, but through the quieter, more meaningful things that make balan...

If you feel like you're doing all the things but still blending in, this episode is for you.  In this episode, I'm joined by Heidi Thompson of Evolve Your Wedding Business for a conversation about what's actually separating the booked-out wedding pros from everyone else right now. We dig into why most vendors don't have a visibility problem, they have a messaging problem, and w...

If your marketing sounds like everyone else in your industry, it might not be a branding problem, it might be a messaging problem. In this episode, I'm joined by Jen Liddy, brand messaging strategist and former English teacher turned messaging expert. We dig into why so many talented wedding and creative pros struggle to communicate their value, what's actually going wrong when your bran...

What if the most powerful marketing strategy for your wedding business costs almost nothing, and you're already sitting on it?  In this episode, I'm joined by Matt Radicelli of Mentor Pods for a second conversation, and this one is packed. We're diving deep into referral marketing, why it should make up at least 50% of your revenue, how to build a system around it without feeling sa...

Ever wondered what weddings actually look like on the other side of the Atlantic? In this episode, I'm joined by Daisy Bradley, weddings and events director at The Post Barn in Berkshire, UK, and a 2025 bride herself. We dig into UK wedding trends, how the industry is shifting in response to Gen Z couples, shorter engagement timelines, and what vendors and venues are doing differently to keep...

What happens when your most successful year in business makes you realize everything needs to change? In this episode, I'm joined by Nadia of Venture Ever After, a Pacific Northwest elopement and adventure wedding photographer with nearly 16 years in the industry. Nadia opens up about the full journey of rebranding her photography business, from what pushed her to make the leap, to what tanke...

What happens when a Disney-trained accountant becomes a six-figure live wedding artist? A masterclass in branding, pricing, and building a business that's as strategic as it is beautiful. In this episode, I sit down with Danison, the artist and entrepreneur behind Bow Tie and Brush and Bow Tie and Biz, to talk about how he turned live wedding watercolor portraits into a luxury guest experienc...

Blogging is dead, or so they say. But what if the wedding pros quietly ranking on Google (and now AI search) are the ones who never stopped? In this solo episode, I cut through the noise on whether blogging still matters in 2026, and spoiler: it does. I break down my go-to blogging process, the three types of wedding blog posts worth writing right now, and why a few deeply intentional posts will a...

What if the secret to a thriving wedding business has less to do with your logo and more to do with how you treat the people you work alongside every weekend? In this episode, Fausto and Reuben share the real story behind building Blue Elephant from the ground up, including how they landed their first venue exclusives, why they named their business after a childhood good-luck charm instead of them...

Choosing a website designer as a photographer can feel tricky, especially when you know your site needs to do more than just look good. In this solo episode of Engage Your Brand®, I’m talking about how to choose the right website designer for photographers and what actually matters when investing in a photography website. Key Takeaways:  Why a beautiful website is not always an effective website ...

Building a wedding business can feel a lot less lonely when you have honest conversations and real community around you. In this episode of Engage Your Brand®, I’m joined by Gabby Pinkerton and Kari Smith of Just Another Biz to talk about podcasting, community building, authenticity, boundaries, comparison, and the very real behind-the-scenes experience of running a wedding business. Key Takeaways...

Gen Z couples are already changing the way weddings are planned, researched, and booked. In this episode of Engage Your Brand®, I’m talking about Gen Z marketing for wedding pros and how this generation is shaping the future of wedding industry marketing. We’ll look at how Gen Z researches vendors, why they value authenticity, transparency, personalization, and quick access to information, and how...

Marketing feels noisier than ever, but it doesn’t have to feel impossible. In this episode of Engage Your Brand®, I’m joined by Becca Pountney to talk about modern wedding industry marketing, the shift from the traditional funnel to the “marketing theme park,” and how wedding pros can stay visible, consistent, and booked in 2026. Key Takeaways:  Why the traditional marketing funnel no longer works...

If you’ve ever wondered whether a Showit website template is actually worth it, or if you should invest in a custom website instead, this episode is for you. In this episode of Engage Your Brand®, I’m breaking down the difference between Showit templates, template customizations, and fully custom website design, especially for wedding professionals and creative business owners. I’m sharing the pro...

If networking has ever felt more exhausting than meaningful, this conversation is going to feel like a breath of fresh air. In this episode of Engage Your Brand®, I’m joined by Sara Alepin, founder of District Bliss and Photos from the Harty, to talk about authentic networking, relationship-driven marketing, and building a business rooted in real connection instead of transactional growth. Sara sh...

If you’ve ever wondered what it actually takes to scale a wedding business to seven figures, this conversation will give you a behind-the-scenes look at what that growth really requires. In this episode of Engage Your Brand®, I’m joined by Ashley Ebert, founder of The Abundance Group, to talk about how to scale a wedding business to 7 figures without getting stuck in burnout, overwork, or the cons...

If growth in your business has started to feel messy, overwhelming, or overly dependent on you, this episode will give you a different way to think about it. In this episode of Engage Your Brand®, I’m joined by Nikisha King to talk about business systems, sustainable growth, and what it really looks like to move from hustle-driven business ownership into structured, intentional leadership. We’re u...