Wedding Pro CEO | Building Profitable Wedding Businesses

Wendy Goelz Kopasa is the co-owner of Soundwave Entertainment . She has a big personality and a big heart and she knows her way around the business world! Wendy and her husband Les have built one of the largest and most well-respected event DJ firms in Central Florida and they are celebrating 19 years in business!! In this episode you’ll hear how they started Soundwave….the beginning years when th...

The stories of "overnight success" seem like they're coming out of the woodwork right now right?? It's like everywhere you look on social media you see an ad for how to work 2 hours a day and still make 7 figures while sipping a mai tai on the beach. But what you don't see is the hard work that got them there! The 90+ hour weeks of blood, sweat and tears that went into bui...

This week I sit down with Shannon Tarrant , Co-founder of Wedding Venue Map and Creator of WedTank by Shannon Tarrant . Shannon is incredibly driven and has always seen challenges as a way to learn and grow her knowledge. In this episode, she takes us through her journey from Catering Sales Manager at a small catering company to Director of Sales for a larger resort and now to the Co-Founder of We...

As most of the country moves into phase 1 of re-opening from the COVID pandemic, all of the anxiety and overwhelm of not knowing what the next weeks and months look like are rising back to the surface. After 6 weeks of “sheltering in place”, most of us were beginning to find a new normal. And while I am SO thrilled to begin the journey back to normalcy, this messy middle of the phased opening leav...

In today's episode, I'm talking with Susan Southerland-Misfud, President of Just Events group. Susan is a leader in our industry having grown her business for almost 30 years!! Her success is attributed to her love for reading, learning, and researching and of course, her drive to be the best of the best! Susan shares how she saw a hole in the wedding planning market early on in her care...

Have you ever thought to yourself "I would love to start my own company and I know that I have so much to bring to the world but ... ___ ". Insert excuse here. "I don't know where to start" "I don't know how" "I don't have the resources to start something new" "What if I fail??" There will always be a reason (or 20) to hold you back...

Today's episode is close to my heart. We're about 4 weeks into this quarantine and we're all going a bit stir crazy right?? When COVID really started to hit our industry on March 16th, it became glaringly obvious that this was going to be a bit "time out". All of the worry and anxiety we're all feeling started to creep in and we knew we had 2 choices. Roll over and hi...

My guest today is Paige Griffith of The Legal Paige, a virtual legal firm supporting creative small business entrepreneurs and helping them to get legal and protected in no time! We're talking about everything from force majeure to retainers vs. deposit and everything you need to know to ensure your business has a strong contract! Don't miss a single second of this episode as Paige drops...

In this episode you'll hear: How important it is to communicate as a team on wedding day between vendors How I learned (not so long ago) that I was doing something to completely ANNOY the heck out of photographers and I had no idea! What you can do to alleviate stress on your fellow vendors to work together as a team After you listen to the episode, jump over to my She Who Dares page on Faceb...

You're in for a treat with this episode!! I sit down with my favorite partner in crime...my hubby and business partner, Ira Gaar. People are always so intrigued my our work situation since I am kind of the face of the business and he is more of the behind the scenes so we took a few minutes today to answer your most burning questions...about our business, our family life and how we feel about...

Please help me to welcome our guest this week, Lauren Grove! Lauren is the creator of Every Last Detail , an online publication to educate brides and put vendors in front of their ideal clients.  Lauren saw a hole in the market when she planned her own wedding of brides simply not knowing what things should cost, how contracts worked, etc… So she determined that she would create a space to provide...

Welcome to episode 20! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts Today I want to talk a little bit about being the new kid. Now I know some of you are probably like, “um…brandee. You’re not the new kid anymore so how do you think you can relate with those of us that are??”. But let me tell you…a true entrepreneur is never NOT the new kid ok?? The thril...

Welcome to episode 19! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts Ann Taylor is my guest this week and I love the perspective she is bringing to our listeners! Ann is the Owner of A Chair Affair , an event rental company in Orlando and Tampa, FL. She is a businesswoman with a keen sense of what it takes to build a thriving brand and scale quickly! In th...

Welcome to episode 18! Brandee Gaar with Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce of Engage Summits I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts What you'll hear in this episode: Big asks can bring big reward Balancing what brings notoriety with what pays the bills Relationships are everything! Bootstrapping the very first Engage! conference Creating brand...

Hey there CEOs it’s Brandee and I have just a quick note for newer listeners.  The show used to be called The She Who Dares Podcast but on May 5, 2022 we changed the name to The Wedding Pro CEO Podcast to better reflect my mission to help Wedding Industry Entrepreneurs scale a profitable business they love.  The content is the same, just a more descriptive title.  Enjoy the show!! ----- Welcome to...

Welcome to episode 16! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts This week we’re switching things up a bit and playing for you a live presentation I gave at the Perfect Wedding Pros luncheon in Orlando recently. The topic I was asked to present was New Year, New You and as I pondered that topic I couldn’t help but think…I don’t want to just talk about...

Welcome to episode 15! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts Jacob and Courtney Towe are the owners of DJJacobCo or soon to be JacobCoCreative. Jacob is a sound engineer and the idea for their DJ company came with they were attending a friends’ wedding and Jacob said he could barely stand to be in the room because the DJ’s sound was so bad. It was...

Welcome to episode 14! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Apple Podcasts My guest today is Kristen Weaver of Kristen Weaver Photography and if you’ve seen any professional pictures of myself or my family from the last 5 years, you can bet Kristen took them! She has this way of making magic with her camera that makes her subjects look like supermodels! I’m not e...

Welcome to episode 13! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts UPDATE: This episode was recorded the year before the passing of my good friend, Rebekkah Rosado after a long battle with cancer and GvHD. If you didn't know Rebekkah, she was such a bright light that radiated joy wherever she went!! She was a wedding planner, a floral fairy and a vi...

Welcome to episode 12! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts Today’s guest is Kristin Wilson, Owner of Our DJ Rocks and Photo Booth Rocks - 2 flourishing brands in the Central Florida Wedding Industry.   Kristin shares her journey from hotel sales manager to fierce business owner of the only all-female DJ company in Orlando.  Her brand is super cle...

Welcome to episode 11! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts My guest today is Corrine Heck of Details Flowers Software.  I have worked with Corrine for almost 10 years and when I thought who I wanted to kick off 2020 with, I knew it had to be her! When Corrine and I worked together, she was an event florist and I remember that she would always tel...

Welcome to episode 10! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts Happy New Year everyone!!!  Today’s show is such a fun one!  I gathered our team at Blush and we rang in the new year with champagne, stories, and laughs!  Hear about some of our favorite moments from 2019, the silliness of our office dynamics and what we’re looking forward to in 2020!  ...

Welcome to episode 9! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts This episode takes a look at “Duck Syndrome”.  Never heard of it?? Neither had I. But there is so much we can learn from ducks as to what NOT to do in our businesses.  I break down 3 characteristics of a duck and how we can ensure we are not emulating this behavior.   Ducks are Mediocre at...

Welcome to episode 8! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts Today’s guest is Kristen Johnson of A Girl and Her Glitter.  Kristen has turned her God-given talents as a “maker” into a full-blown business teaching others how to make larger than life crafts.  She calls it “Elevated DIY” but I call it pure magic! She has turned shower curtains into gala...

Welcome to episode 7! I would love for you to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!  Apple Podcasts Lavonda H. Murphy is a self-love coach, wife, mother, and Army Active Duty Soldier of 19 plus years. She practices leadership and servitude in everything she does.  Lavonda advocates self-care by helping women create a positive environment that allows them to understand that their combined...