Candice (00:16.142)

Hey, it's your coach Candice. Have you ever wondered what would actually need to change in your business if you wanted to stop hovering around the 100K mark and start building a business that could actually support 250K, maybe even more?

Well, in this episode, I am going to walk you through the exact plan of how I would focus in my business if I wanted to grow a wedding business from 100K to 250K in the next 12 months, exactly what I would do, what I would stop doing and what I would start doing differently. And this conversation this week is so important to me because a lot of wedding pros talk to me, they reach out to me and they want bigger growth.

for their business. want better clients. They want more respect in the industry. They want better portfolios. And of course, they want more money in the bank. We have things we want to buy. We have things we want to invest in. We have lifestyles that we want to live. But the problem is, is that they're still making decisions from the same place with the same business model, the same marketing strategy, the same mindset, the same portfolio, the same business practices, the same systems and processes, the same mindset.

that got them to 100k. So today's episode is for any wedding pro who is ready for a bigger financial chapter in their business. So whether you're a planner, photographer, stationer, designer, florist, content creator,

If I didn't mention you, don't be offended. You are included here. This conversation is going to help you start thinking differently about what real growth actually requires in our industry. So let's get into it.

Candice (02:03.758)

Well, hey there, welcome back to the podcast. If this is your first time here, you picked a great episode to start on. I'm really glad that you're here. This show is for wedding pros who want more than surface level business advice and who are ready to think differently about how they grow a business. have amazing conversations here.

I love to show you a different viewpoint to growing a business. Every week I try to show up on this podcast and present you with something different in your rear view mirror. So if you enjoy this episode, make sure you're following the show on whatever platform you love listening to podcasts on. Preferably both platforms. We're on Apple podcasts. We're on Spotify. Subscribe on both so you don't miss any future episodes. And listen, if you have somebody

in your life, a business bestie, a colleague, somebody who you maybe were just recently talking to about growing your business to a new financial marker. Send them this episode and sit down together and talk about what I share with you today. I would love it.

if this episode sparked a conversation between you and one of your friends in the industry. Honestly, that would mean so much to me and I feel like my work here would be done. On that note, as you know, today we're talking about what it's gonna take to move your business from...

Six figures at 100k mark, a mark that so many wedding pros are fixated on. Once you hit that number, how do you double your revenue? How do you triple your revenue? How do you get to the next big marker?

Candice (03:47.276)

Before I share with you a lot of advice, and by the way, this is a very dense episode. I've got so many notes here. I've got a lot to go through. This might be one of the longest episodes I've put together. And that's because there are a lot of different ways for a wedding pro to go from 100k to 250k. And so I want to offer a little disclaimer before we get into all the good stuff.

I believe in nuance. think nuance is actually missing from almost all online conversations. Nuance is something that we need to actually discuss more. And there is nuance here, going from 100k to 250k. And that's because the specific path that you take is going to depend on what kind of business you have, what your margins look like, what your service model is, what types of products you might sell, how many clients you want to take on a year.

whether you want to build a team, what type of team you want to build, and what you want your life to actually look like. I can't sell you one pathway to success. I've never been that kind of podcaster. I've never been that kind of business coach. I think we're all aspiring towards similar goals, but not everybody wants to take the same path to get there, and I respect that. So I'm not going to pretend there's one perfect formula that works for every single person listening.

I would say that though, if I were selling you a course. just keep that in mind. All jokes aside. What I can tell you though, is that I've coached enough women and enough wedding pros at different stages in business to see specific patterns very clearly. And I can see what helps people grow fast in their business, but also it keeps them stuck and what they need to stop doing if they want a very different business. And that is really what today is all about.

Now, hear me very clearly on this note, because this is kind of the crux of today's episode, all right? And write this down. Commit it to memory. Put it on your mirror in your bathroom in lipstick, OK? I want you to hear me clearly. You are not going to get to 250k by doing more of what built your 100k business. This is a different level of business.

Candice (06:11.384)

You're going to have to think about things differently and you're going to get there by making different decisions, by having different standards and by building a business that is positioned, that is leveraged for this level of growth. With that in mind, what I'd like to talk to you about first is the pattern that I see all the time that keeps wedding pros stuck.

And I would actually love to hear if you are in this cycle. So as I describe it to you, if this resonates, open up your phone, go to my Instagram, Candice. Coppola and DM me and just say, just share with me something that pattern resonated. I'm hearing your episode this week and this is totally resonating with me. I'd love to hear from you. So with that in mind, one of the biggest patterns that I see with wedding pros who stay stuck.

around the same revenue level is that they're trapped in a cycle of scarcity. And it kind of goes like this. You need money, right? You need money because you have bills. You have things that you want to buy. You need to make money in a business. So you say yes to a client because the inquiry came in and you don't want to lose the booking, but the client is not actually the right fit. And you know it.

You're doing some mental gymnastics to try to gaslight yourself into saying, well, I can make this work. Well, it's money. I need the money. I'm just going to take this one client. I'm just going to do this one client. And so you accept the booking. You take the money. A transaction takes place. And boy, does the work drain you. You are reminded maybe once, maybe twice, maybe thrice, that this is not the right client fit for you.

To top it all off, the money they give you, gets spent quickly because it's not a lot. The deposit is spent as soon as it hits your account. The second payment is spent as soon as it hits your account. And you only feel the pressure to book another client. And this cycle, it repeats over and over and over and over again. And when you build a business like this, you keep reinforcing this same business model.

Candice (08:29.414)

over and over and over again. Every time you repeat that cycle, you are reinforcing the business that you currently have.

It's not a business that's being built out of vision. It is a business that is reacting. You are reacting from the need of money, of you need income. And so through that reaction, you're not making strategic decisions. You're basically in survival mode. You're making survival decisions. And this episode is meant to get you thinking differently, getting you out of survival decisions and get you starting to make strategic decisions. Okay.

And this is where I want to be really honest. If you want a different level of growth, you're going to have to do something uncomfortable. And I tell this to my coaching clients who come to me and they want to up level. And I say, this is going to be uncomfortable, but it's going to be worth it. You're going to have to stop taking certain clients and you're going to have to tolerate a temporary dip in your revenue. You're going to have to tolerate a less full calendar.

And you may have to make less before you make more. And it's hard for people to hear, but it is a reality. Because if you keep saying yes to the wrong fit work just to keep cash flowing in your business, you're going to keep your business stuck. You're going to keep your business stuck. And a lot of people say they want to get to the next level, but they're still feeding the version of the business they say they've outgrown. And they keep.

taking clients that they don't want.

Candice (10:11.928)

So with that in mind, let's talk about first what I would stop doing. Because before I feel like I can tell you what I would start doing, I think we need to talk about what you're probably doing right now that you can stop doing. I was going to cuddle you a little bit and say, well, maybe it's just start winding it down. Maybe you just start dialing it back. But no.

I think we need to just cut this shit out. So let's talk about what I would stop doing. Number one, I would stop booking out of panic. The exact cycle I just described to you, if I wanted to go from 100K to 250K, I would stop making booking decisions from a place of scarcity, from a place of fear, from a place of survival. And I would stop taking work just because I need money right now. And I know that...

that feels very counterintuitive because when you start a business, you're like, babe, I need to make money and I'm taking clients for experience. I'm doing this work. I'm so excited. I'll say yes to anybody. you, you, you, you, you doing the right thing, by the way, that's how you start to hustle. I don't know about all this, you know, no offense to my gen Z's cause I know you, if you're all listening to this podcast, y'all are hustlers, but I don't know about this all like, Oh, self care before work.

of vibe like, babe, if you want to launch a business and you want to build a brand, you got to get out there and work. Not to sound like Kim Kardashian when she made that nobody works anymore. But she kind of had a point. So I would stop taking work just because I need money right now. Because when you book out a panic, you're going to lower your standards, you're going to ignore red flags, you actually start bending your process.

You take on work that doesn't reflect where you want to go and you stay too available to the wrong people. And are you not so sick and tired of that? And while the money might help in the immediate moment, it does not build the business that you say you want. And it's actually going to keep you stuck. I want you to know that you cannot book your way into a premium business by saying yes to everything. The whole point of being premium, the whole point of being selective, the whole point.

Candice (12:30.99)

of that is, yeah, not everybody can get this. know, last week we talked about buyer psychology in the luxury market. And I, we talked about different brands and how they limit access to certain things, whether it's based on the fact that it's just simply too expensive for most people, or if you're going to Hermes, you got to spend like 35 grand on, you know, click clack bracelets and in

little slippers before you can be offered the opportunity to buy a back. You cannot book your way into a premium business by saying yes to every customer who comes along. So the first thing I would stop doing would be stop looking out of panic. The next thing I would stop doing is I would stop saying yes to misaligned clients. And I think this also connects back to that cycle that we're talking about. The wrong fit client costs more than you realize. It costs time.

energy, your confidence, creative bandwidth, referrals from the wrong part of the wedding ecosystem in your area. You're getting referred by the wrong venues. You're getting referred by the wrong DJs, the wrong photographers, the wrong planners. And space in your calendar that could have gone to a client that was a better fit opportunity is being usurped by the wrong fit client.

I have never been the type of person who thinks any booking is a good booking, but especially these days. And if you're trying to grow your business intentionally and you're trying to hit certain revenue markers, there are specific clients that you either, even if you enjoyed serving these people, even if you love this type of clientele, you know that they are not going to be able to afford the next version of your business.

So even if they're good people, nice people, I mean, not every bad fit client is like a bridezilla monster, but every time you say yes to a misaligned client, you're taking up space that could have gone to a better one. And I know that you understand that, but on the opposite side, you think, well, what if a better one doesn't come along? Well, you have to have some faith that the strategies

Candice (14:54.904)

that you're going to use to get to the next level are going to bring those clients to you. got to take a leap of faith. You've got to take a risk. The next thing I would stop doing is I would stop operating in avoidance. This is a huge one. A lot of people are stuck because they don't, it's not because they don't know enough, they're stuck because they're avoiding everything. And I see this a lot in coaching. I see this so much and it, I have to tell you, it upsets me. It gets me.

irritated because it's, it's the avoid, you're avoiding the very things that actually will change your business, your numbers, your pricing, hard conversations, raising your rates, tightening up your services, fixing your website, investing in a brand designer, following up with people, making decisions, asking for help, taking the next obvious step.

So many people are avoidant and I have had to really learn how to support people in decision making because so many of us are avoidant and we avoid the things that make us uncomfortable. But what I want you to know is your avoidance, whether you're avoiding all the things I listed or one or two of those things, it's going to kill your momentum. Avoidance also makes you feel really busy while doing absolutely nothing that is meaningful.

that is actually gonna create meaningful change in your business. Instead of reviewing your numbers, you're creating some kind of Canva document that is a masterpiece, but it's not going to make you more money. So you're doing things that make you feel busy, that's behind the scenes, that make you feel like you're making progress, but it's not actually impacting any kind of meaningful change. Avoidance is also just gonna keep you

spinning around like a top, confused, not sure what to do, listening to a million different people, fill your head with probably a lot of good advice, but just overwhelming you with ideas. So avoidance is one of those things that you have got to examine.

Candice (17:18.054)

And if you are avoiding the things in your business that you need to address in order to have an impactful change, avoiding communication, action, you need to work with someone. You need to address this because you can't build a 250k plus business avoiding the very things that would actually create it. Like you can't.

And you can't be passive. You've got to be active. This is a big one. And I see it a lot. And it upsets me because it takes all potential and it limits it. And I don't want that for you. Speaking of avoiding, the next thing I would stop doing is I would stop being afraid of my numbers. If I wanted to grow a 250k business, I need to know what is actually happening in my business financially. I need to know my revenue.

I need to know what my profit is, what my costs are, what my margins are, and what it actually costs to serve every single client. Not only that, I need to know what offers are actually profitable, where money is leaking out of my business, and what I need to sell to hit my goals. This is a lot of work that we do in WPI, by the way. This is a lot of work that we do in WPI. Every year we have a financial planning meeting in February.

And we work on this. And then we continue to work on it throughout the year. A lot of people want bigger revenue, but they do not want to look closely at the math. And I'm sorry, my friend, that does not work. Because if you do not understand the numbers, your numbers, you can't make strategic decisions. You're just guessing. And guessing can work in your favor. It might have gotten you to 100k, but it's not going to take you to 250.

You're never going to get there if you refuse to get intimate with the financial reality of your business. And you're making it out to be a lot harder than it is. I just want you to know that. The next thing I would stop doing is I would stop comparing, and I would stop chasing. I would stop looking sideways. I would stop looking to my left and to my right. I would stop assuming that because somebody else is doing something that I need to do it too.

Candice (19:40.652)

I would stop chasing trends. I would stop chasing service offers. I would stop chasing specific things that I see online.

Candice (19:53.382)

Most of what people are doing and trying and testing is interesting, but too many people are getting lost in chasing what other people are doing. And so many people lose time because they're too tuned in to what other people are doing and not tuned in enough to their own strengths, their own point of view, which I've told you is extremely important this year.

If you don't know what I'm referencing, go back to my operating standards episode a couple episodes back, extremely important episode to listen to. But back to my point, they're not tuned into their own point of view and their own path.

Growth in your business is going to get easier when you keep your eyes on your own paper and you focus on your own shit. And sometimes we do this unintentionally. We're in a group chat with a business BFF. We're all sharing information. And our natural human reaction is, want to go to that event. I want to do that too. I want to invest in this. I want to try that too. But you have to be more discerning about what's going to work for you.

your business needs versus what it doesn't.

I got more, if you can believe it, two more. The next thing I would stop doing is I would stop over delivering. In my business, in ways that drain my profit, a lot of wedding pros are so generous. And I think that's what makes our industry so wonderful. But there is a lot of fault in this. I see wedding pros adding more, staying longer, throwing in extras, responding constantly, revising things endlessly.

Candice (21:38.08)

stretching themselves thin in the name of being agreeable and helpful and of service. But that generosity, it has limits and it becomes expensive. And eventually it trains people to expect more while the margins in your business shrink. So if your version of excellent service depends on you constantly giving more than what was paid for,

You don't have a premium business. You have a one that is leaking and you have got to address this. A coach can help you unwind this. I can help you unwind this. You can unwind this yourself if you really start paying attention. But I see this all the time. Not only is it a fast track to burnout, but it is very expensive.

The final thing I would stop doing is, of course, I would stop trying to figure it all out by myself. I think there comes a point where doing everything by yourself stops being scrappy and hustly and gets expensive, sometimes more expensive than if you just invested in the expert, the mentor, the shortcut, the team member you need to grow. And so when you're trying to grow, your blind spots actually do matter.

Support matters, perspective matters, speed matters. And one of the biggest accelerators in business is being around people who can see what you cannot see, who are able to show you in your rear view the things that you can't see, or in your side view the things that you can't see.

I think there is a point where DIYing things in your business stops being resourceful and it starts actually costing you more money. This is an expensive and important lesson to learn. And as a wedding pro, this is what you would tell one of your clients, no? I mean, you would be like, listen, if you're a planner, you can be like, listen, you want to DIY that? That's going to cost you more than if you just fucking hired the right person to do it for you. I know all my invitation designers listening are going, mm-hmm.

Candice (23:50.112)

Very costly to make your own paper when you can just hire someone to do it for you. Same thing with your business, my friend. At some point, you have to graduate out of writing your own website copy, designing your own logo, designing everything behind the scenes. If you want a more premium business, you need to start investing in the right people who are going to take you where you want to go. So with that said, let's talk about what I would start doing.

I really want your feedback though on what I would stop doing. while you're in Instagram already DMing me, tell me one thing you're going to stop doing immediately or one thing that really resonated with you in that last section. All right. So let's talk about what I would start doing now because growing to 250K is going to require me to build a very different business, of course, with purpose. So first,

The first thing I would do is I would elevate my positioning. We talk about positioning here a lot. think positioning is probably the most important thing.

a major move and it should be your first major move. This is the first thing you should do and you're not going to do this later. You're not going to do this after you book more. You're not going to do this once your new websites ready or once you feel more ready. If you want to go from a hundred K to 250 K, the first thing I want you to look at is how your business is positioned in the market because

You can't expect to have a 250K business if your brand, if your visuals, if your messaging, if your portfolio, if your overall presence still feels like a hundred K business. So this means looking at your branding, your website, your logo, your photography that you use to express your work, your portfolio, your messaging, your tone, the client experience you provide, and just the way the business feels as a whole. Now, you know, because I've told you,

Candice (25:50.338)

a million times, the eye buys. People buy with their eyes long before they buy with logic. And I see this all the time with wedding pros who say they want higher end clients, but they're branding their website, images, business presence. They're all telling a different story. It's like they're showing you Walmart when they want to be Chanel. And we talked about this last week for luxury buyers. If you missed that episode.

Listen to it immediately after this. You're going to love it. So you can't say you want to have a premium buyer while putting out a brand that does not visually support that. And you cannot build a 250k business on a brand that still looks and sounds like a 50k one. You just can't. So positioning first. Next, I would overhaul my portfolio. If I wanted to grow fast, I would make sure my portfolio reflects where I am going.

not where I have been. And I think a lot of people are trying to attract higher budget, more aligned, more creatively exciting work while still showing maybe a body of work that reflects lower budget clients, outdated styles, outdated photography styles, outdated floral styles, outdated, you know, invitation styles, or just work that no longer fits the direction they want to move in.

That is a mismatch. People can tell that right away. So upgrading your portfolio could mean doing a styled shoot. And I am a huge supporter of styled shoots. I know they get a bad rap and people like to rag on them and bitch. I don't care. They help people advance. So styled shoots, strategic collaborations, better curation of the work you have, retiring older work that makes you look dated.

being more selective about what gets featured on your Instagram, on your blog, on your website, and creating the kind of images and examples of the work that you're capable of that supports the next level of business that you want. So if your portfolio does not reflect a 250k plus business, you're not going to get hired like one. And if you want to work with somebody whose maybe budget starts at 250k or beyond, and you're showing weddings that are in 50k budget, they're not going to hire you.

Candice (28:11.394)

The next thing I would do is I would get crystal clear on who I serve and what I'm known for. This is so important. Your ideal client is shifting. As you move into a higher, more premium position, and as you look to attract more premium clients,

Your client is changing. so in order to serve that client, you have to know who they are, what they care about, what problems they want solved, what they're willing to invest in, and what they expect at a higher level. But also what you want to be known for amongst those clients. We actually recently talked about this inside WPI, my mastermind. Every Monday I go live, I share something on my mind. Sometimes it makes it to the podcast.

And we talked about this idea of what do you want to be known for when somebody recommends you and somebody refers you and they're like, you have to go talk to Candice because she's the best at blank. What do you want people to say about you? Vagueness does not scale. And it also doesn't support. So if you're a generalist, if you're a jack of all trades, and by the way, I'm so guilty of this because I'm

I hope this doesn't come across as audacious, but I'm good at a lot of things. So I can help you do a lot of things. So I have suffered from being good at a lot of things, which has not supported my business. And I've learned that generalists don't always win. And truly being very specific for the right types of people is what

actually pulls those clients to you. And as you become clearer about who you serve, who you're for, and who you're not for, that's going to create demand. And that's what you need in order to build a business that gets to 250k and beyond.

Candice (30:17.612)

The next thing I would do is I would refine my services, my offers, my products, and make them more strategic. I'd look at my offerings, my service suite, my product suite, and I would ask, is it clear? Is it profitable? Are these aligned with the kind of clients I want? Is this service, is this product designed around what I'm best at, what I'm really good at, where I shine? And

Is my offering easy to understand and easy to buy? You would be shocked at how complicated people make their services, their offers, their products. I'm guilty of this too. So I would simplify. I would tighten. I would remove things that are clouding my positioning or making it difficult for people to,

understand what I'm known for or just creating unnecessary complexity. I see a lot of unnecessary complexity in people's businesses. A business is trying to do too much for too many people, does not grow. And in fact, I think we can all, you can see the pattern now, right? I think we can all agree that it's a fast track to burnout and to closing your doors. So the clearer and more strategic your offers, your services, your products are, the easier they are to sell.

And speaking of that, the next thing I would do is I would elevate my pricing. Once I have my positioning in line and my services, my products are aligned, pricing has to follow. And I would evaluate my pricing. I would not price from fear. A lot of people do this. We've all been there. We're scared to ask for more money. We're scared people are going to say no. So I would not, in this new era of my business, to get to 250k, would not price from fear. I would not price.

based only on what feels comfortable. I would not price based on what my competitors are charging. I would not price according to what I think random people on the internet might tolerate. I see a lot of pricing mistakes based around people worried about

Candice (32:33.612)

what other people are going to think about their price. And by other people, I mean random people on the internet, faceless people, imaginary people, what they might think. And to be honest, people don't care. People aren't thinking about your pricing. They're obsessing over their own. Instead, I would apprise my services according to the value I provide, the demand, my margins, my expertise, my experience.

my excellence, my triple E's, my capacity, my positioning, and the type of client I want to attract.

Candice (33:17.728)

And there's a lot that goes into that. I believe you are capable of doing this. If you want my help, you know where to find me. But if your pricing is not evolving with the version of business that you're trying to build in the version of this 250k business, your goals have evolved, but your pricing hasn't. There is a huge disconnect. So here's the thing. If your demand, your expertise, and your standards are going up, but your pricing isn't,

You're probably undercharging. I can't say for sure because I don't have your pricing in front of me and I don't have all these metrics in front of me, but so many wedding pros are undercharging. And I know this because people in my mastermind raise their price all the time. And then they, and they're nervous about it, of course, but they have faith. They listen. They're like, okay, I'm going to do what Candice says. I'm going to do it. They switch up their pricing model. They change their pricing. Then they come back to me and they're like,

That was easier than I thought it was going to be. I love hearing that. I love hearing that. I promise you, this is a lot easier than you think. But you have to stop avoiding your numbers to make it happen. Once I update my price, I would then move into refining my sales process. And this is a very important part of the conversation. As you know, last week we talked about the luxury buyer.

And if you're looking to grow into a 250K price point, you don't have to work in the luxury market. Although I am basing a lot of what we talk about today into moving into a higher bracket market. Because if you work with clients who have more money, you're going to make more money. It's just the easiest route. But if you want to grow to 250K, it's not just about attracting better clients or better opportunities. It's also you have to convert them. I see a lot of people who are great at marketing and who suck at delivery.

I also see a lot of people who are great at marketing and are not great at sales. So your sales process also has to evolve with your positioning. And so in our previous episode, just last week, we talked about the difference between luxury buyers and affordable buyers and how they make decisions. High end buyers do not buy the same way. They're not always looking for the cheapest option. They're not always focused on what it costs. They're not always responding to

Candice (35:38.582)

heavy value convincing. And they're not, like I said, always making decisions from pricing alone. So this means your brand and your sales process cannot operate like you are constantly auditioning or trying to prove yourself. So what's going to change here at a high level is your sales process needs to be more intentional. It needs to be more confident. Your messaging, everything that you do needs to have more

Confidence and more audacity your consultation your inquiry process should feel more guided less focus on the dollars and the cents and the big-ass checklist of shit they get and more focused on your leadership your point of view your Authority and your brand should be doing some of the selling for you before you ever get on a call I mean, do you really think some of the big heavy hitters in our industry?

Pick the first person that comes to mind for you, maybe a person that you aspire to be, a person that you admire, who's working with crazy ass clients. You think that they're sitting on a consult call going over the five calls they give you and the one hour walkthrough and the guided checklist? No. That's because the way that you sell at 100K is not the same as

selling at 250 and beyond. So if your sales process feels like you're trying to convince people or you're auditioning for the job,

your positioning, your marketing is not doing enough of the heavy lifting for you and you need to adjust your sales process.

Candice (37:23.97)

I told you guys this was a dense episode. I told you guys this was a dense. I have more. I have more. I'm trying to see what page I'm on in my notes. I have so much to share. The next thing I would do is I would become the biggest supporter of my own brand. I would start taking my brand more seriously and start thinking about my brand more seriously, not like a casual,

of side project, a side hustle. Not something that I'm minimizing constantly or apologizing for my pricing and my services, but I would start thinking like a real brand. A brand that people can experience. A brand that people step into. A brand that has its own character, has its own energy, its own feeling, its own personality.

Think about a restaurant that does this really well. Think about a fashion brand that does this really well. Think about something that feels very distinct. When you're in this brand's orbit, whether it's on their website, wearing their shoes, on their Instagram page, watching one of their videos, you feel like you're immersed in it. And what I would do is I'd become the biggest fan of my brand and I would start advocating for it. I'd start standing behind it. I'd start speaking about it with confidence.

with conviction and start treating it like something worthy of attention and investment. Nobody is going to sell your brand better than you. Yet, I see a lot of small business owners lacking confidence about their brand and not fully embodying the essence of their business brand.

And if I wanted to make more money, this is one of the biggest things that I would do. I would start treating my brand differently and become the biggest support.

Candice (39:25.708)

The next thing that I would do is I would get in the right rooms because proximity to power, to people, to ideas, to fresh ideas matters. So I've mentioned this to you many times for the year about getting in the right rooms. And it bears repeating because I want you to get more intentional about where you show up, who you know, who knows you, and what spaces you are.

participating in. So this means industry events, networking events, vendor relationships, venue relationships, creative communities, high level conversations, and getting into professional rooms where the perception about you because you're affiliated with that room changes.

Most people think their referrals are going to come from just doing great work. But great work, while it matters, of course, is not the only place where referrals come. Referrals come from being known by more of the right people. And I think so many talented, creative, dynamic, successful wedding professionals limit their potential

because they don't get out there and network.

You need to be in proximity to the level you want to reach. That is the fastest, the smartest, the easiest way to get to where you're going. So stop hiding behind your computer. Stop making excuses. Get your ass out there and start introducing yourself. And better yet, imagine what would happen if you became the biggest supporter of your brand and then you started to get into the right rooms. How magnetic you would be.

Candice (41:21.09)

And that leads me to my next point because I would establish more authority behind my brand.

Candice (41:32.268)

I would not just focus on being seen, visibility is important, but I would focus on becoming known. Known for something specific, known for excellence, known for taste, for leadership, for the way I work, for the experience I create for people. And what I see all the time is that when wedding pros start consistently showing up in the right spaces, doing strong work, being...

The advocates of their brand, brand's biggest fan, services are in line, visibility's in line, shit's looking good. They start building a real presence around their business. Something shifts. People start perceiving them differently. People start looking up to them. People want to meet them. People talk about them like they're not talking shit. mean, talking like there's somebody important in the industry. And I see this happen all the time.

Women in my mastermind will come to me and be like, the coolest thing just happened. Somebody said they were excited to meet me. Somebody said they were nervous to meet me. Like, can you imagine? That's so weird. Now the wedding industry has this kind of sense of celebrity, which is kind of corny when you think about it. you know, I mean, there are people in our industry who are very cool and, and, you know, work with interesting people, but I think we're all very cool and we're all very interesting.

But it's very surprising when suddenly now you're the type of person that people want proximity to. And people are like, well, I want to know her because look at what she's doing or look at what they're doing. So that shift in perception matters. because authority changes how people buy from you and how they perceive you. They don't question you the same way. They don't shop you the same way.

and they're more likely to trust you, respect you and come in already seeing that you are established. So when people respect you and they trust you and they see you as an authority, selling yourself gets a lot easier, a lot easier. So you can see how establishing authority and you can't just be like, I'm an authority and your brand looks like shit. Your website's not great. You know, you're not working with the type of clientele people would say.

Candice (43:51.974)

is authority building. But you can see as you're stacking this roadmap and you're working on things in the order I'm presenting them to you, this almost naturally happens. And you're going to be shocked when it happens. Maybe it's already happened for you, which is so exciting. The next thing I would do is I would create rooms. And that's what authority does. It doesn't just invite itself into a room. It doesn't just buy a ticket to an event.

and show up like an attendee. An authority in the industry starts to create space where people can gather. And the people that I see grow quickly, they're not just participating, they're creating. So they're hosting gatherings, they're bringing people together, they're curating experiences, they're becoming what I like to call connectors. know, connectors, not everybody can be a connector, but when you become the person that connects people together,

that's like, you should meet my business coach, Candace. She could totally help you with that. Would you like me to introduce her? Or, you should meet this photographer. I think their style would be perfect for your portfolio. When you, do you want me to introduce you? I know them personally. When you become a connector, something magical happens. People, they become almost indebted to you. They're like, my God, that's so nice. You would be willing to introduce me?

And people look at you differently. They think about you differently.

And that's very powerful. But not only would I become a connector, I'd try to find ways to facilitate important conversations. And I would build a community, not just around me and my work, but a community where the people who I want to connect with feel safe and comfortable. When you create the room, you also position yourself differently in the market. You're no longer just a peer. You're somebody who shapes conversation. And this matters a lot.

Candice (45:52.728)

for reputation and authority. This doesn't mean that you need to host some giant luxury event tomorrow, by the way. Creating a room can mean inviting a small group of people to dinner. It could mean doing a co-working session together, maybe a creative kind of meetup, collaborating on a styled shoot, maybe bringing in an expert and inviting some people to come and listen. It could mean a bigger networking event or maybe even creating a space online.

I love more in person though, I'm going to be honest. think in person is necessary for the work that we do. So there's a lot of different ways that you can create this environment for people.

And an important lesson that I have learned over the years about authority is it's not always anointed. It's not always given. A lot of the time it's built because you're willing to create space and you're willing to be seen as an authority. And being an authority doesn't mean that you know the answer to every question. It doesn't mean that you're perfect. It doesn't mean that you're not still growing and making mistakes.

You don't need to have it all figured out to be an authority. Do you think I have it all figured out? Because babe, I don't, okay? I don't. I talk about my mistakes here all the time. I've made many and I will continue to make mistakes because I'm a human being. But am I an authority? You bet your ass I am. Absolutely. Do I position myself as one? I try.

And I'm not waiting for somebody to anoint me as an authority. am speaking from my experience and speaking with conviction. And I want you to start doing the same. The fi- we have reached my last tip. I'm, I wonder where I'm at on time. I'm almost at an hour. Shout out to my podcast editor. I make it pretty easy for her though. I have to be honest. I'm a pretty good podcaster. I don't do retakes.

Candice (47:54.902)

It's all done in one shot. But with that said, my final tip here is I would invest in support. This could be a coach, a mastermind, an advisor, team support, operational help, systems help, some type of strategic support. But in order to grow your business, you need to be supported. And one of the biggest patterns I see in women who grow quickly is they do not stay isolated.

They get around to people who challenge them, who expand them. Remember that rear view mirror, those side mirrors, those blind spots, sharpens them, and also helps them see the things they can't see on their own. Support often creates speed in your business. It's why I have a coach, and it's why I pay her a lot of money, because I don't want to just wait around to figure it out. I don't want to piece it together.

I want to go to her, ask a question, and have her give me an honest answer. And she does it. And that's because growth happens so much faster when you stop trying to build a business with no support or with small support. So what got you to 100k is not going to get you to 250. With that said,

Once your position is elevated, once your business model is tighter, and once your sales process is stronger, you can start scaling. And scaling looks like raising your price. This is the most obvious lever to pull. It's also the one that we've already established people resist the most. But if you've improved your positioning, clarified your offer, tightened your offers,

strengthen your authority, then your pricing will naturally evolve. And I do believe you'll feel more confident in raising your price. The next lever is you've got to increase your conversions. A lot of people jump straight to, I need more leads. I need to be bringing in more volume. And sometimes that is true. Sometimes you actually do need more volume. have a traffic problem. But most businesses don't have enough leads to grow. And you're also not converting enough of the leads that you do have.

Candice (50:11.31)

So I would look at your inquiry process, your response time, the flow of your sales calls, how you are qualifying, how you are selling, how you're following up, and how you're handling objections with your ideal clients. Because if you can convert more of the right people, you can actually grow a lot faster without having to chase more people.

Candice (50:39.682)

You also have to consider how you're going to increase your capacity without burning out. And I think this is where support and systems matter. If I wanted to make significantly more money, if I wanted to more than double my revenue, you're going to need to know whether or not you have the capacity to support that kind of growth. And if you don't, how you're going to hire to support you and the clients. So this could look like administrative help.

production support, hiring associates if you're a photographer, a planner, a videographer, better systems, simplified systems, streamlined systems, better templates, automations kind of, using AI smarter, better project management, better client workflows. So capacity isn't just about you taking on more. It's also about the support system you put in place to...

to provide a safety net so that you can increase your capacity. Because the only way you can increase your capacity is through support systems, a better strategy. You're not going to work your way. Work harder. That's not going to work. You've got to have support. You've got to have the right systems and the right people in place. The final lever that I would pull is increasing your revenue per client.

One of the smartest ways to grow is you have to look at the clientele that are hiring you and ask yourself, how can I make more money off the clients that I already have? Instead of chasing more clients, how can you build a business where you increase the revenue that you make per client?

How can you create deeper value per client? How can you increase the size of the opportunity that you have with each client? What are their upgrades? Expand a premium tier, a higher level of service. And for some people, this might mean multiple day services, expanding the scope of work that you're doing, giving people a premium add-on, a better upgrade, higher level packages.

Candice (53:00.014)

better upsell pathways, something that we work on a lot in WPI, especially with photographers, a more elevated experience that just justifies a bigger investment. So sometimes the fastest way to 250K is not more clients, it's actually going deeper with the clients that you already have.

Candice (53:21.614)

And there's a lot of missed money on the table here that you probably could improve your circumstances almost immediately by coming up with a strategy to sell better to your existing clients. Now, people who are operating at 250K beyond are doing things differently. The people who make this jump are often more decisive. They're visible more.

They are more strategic. They're more willing to be misunderstood. They're not so hooked up on what people think about them. They're willing to say no. They're less reactive. They're less avoidant. They're more rooted in their point of view. They're more serious about their brand. They're more willing to be supported by team members or to invest in support. They're more focused on the

fit of a client rather than the volume. And they learn how to get more comfortable being uncomfortable.

I think there is a tolerance for discomfort here that I hope you will start to build. Because a lot of people want a premium business, but they don't have the tolerance for the discomfort that comes along with saying no to clients, taking a few steps back, making investments necessary to grow.

So if you want bigger revenue, bigger clients, a stronger brand, you have to be OK with the tension that comes along with making those types of decisions. You have to be OK with a short-term dip in revenue, which I told you is a reality. You have to be OK disappointing people. It sucks, but you can't be for everyone anymore. You have to be OK raising your rates. You have to be OK trying something different. You have to be OK saying no.

Candice (55:25.804)

And you also have to be okay outgrowing the current identity that you're in. And you know, an interesting way that this shows up that I hear a lot that, this might really resonate with you is people feel very uncomfortable serving a type of client who has more money than they do or who has a lifestyle and just a different type of, or in a different type of environment than what they're used to.

And I'll put it simply, I experienced this. I grew up in a blue collar town in the Nogatuck Valley, blue collar workers. My mom was a waitress. She was a single parent. I did not come from wealth. I had grandma Vera who had expensive taste, but grandma Vera worked in the mall. Grandma Vera was not a rich housewife. She was not, she owned her own business at one point, but she worked at Chico's in the mall. She was a store manager.

I come from a blue collar family. I come from very humble beginnings. Every dollar that my mom had that was extra went to trying to buy me a shirt at Abercrombie in high school, went to try to help me have a little bit of a better opportunity in life, nicer things, but it came at a cost. Her work. I did not grow up with a silver spoon. I did not grow up with nice things. Like my clients did.

So there was friction there for me. I had to figure out how to operate in an environment that was very foreign to me. And it was very uncomfortable. I felt like an imposter, like I didn't belong, like I wasn't cool enough, like I wasn't bougie enough, I wasn't rich enough, I wasn't pretty enough, I wasn't smart enough, I felt all those things. But I got over it and I learned how to

operate within that environment. And I built a business that could honor my humble beginnings and serve clients who have in a different task tax bracket than I was. And for many people in our industry, this is something that we struggle with. And I need you to move through the discomfort that you might feel subconsciously, consciously and have

Candice (57:50.858)

a bigger tolerance for the discomforts, including working with people whose life you just don't understand.

Candice (58:03.938)

Now to be clear...

In this episode, I'm not saying that every wedding pro needs to want to have a 250K business. That may not be your goal and that's okay. I'm so glad you tuned in because we had a very important conversation that will benefit you regardless. But if this is your goal, I want you to understand that it is probably going to require more than a few surface level tweaks, more than a rebrand, more than a styled shoot, more than a pricing adjustment.

And it's going to require that you start thinking differently about your business, that you start thinking differently about your position, your sales process, your authority, your standards, your offers, and your willingness to stop feeding what no longer fits in your business.

Let's recap.

I would stop booking from panic, saying yes to misaligned clients, operating in avoidance. Big one.

Candice (59:05.634)

being afraid of my numbers, comparing and chasing, over delivering in ways that shrink my profit. And I would stop trying to figure everything out by myself. Instead, I would start by elevating my positioning, upgrading my portfolio, getting clear on who I serve and what I'm known for. Foundational shit. It's not rocket science, but it actually works. And that's the beauty of it. I would tighten my services and my products. I would eliminate.

the stuff that I don't like doing or that I put into my service package because I'm trying to book a client. I would elevate my pricing. I would refine my sales process. I would take my brand more seriously. I would focus on getting in the right rooms so that I can build my authority.

and start creating rooms that help to position my authority. And I would, of course, invest in support that would allow me to scale. And speaking of scaling, I would pull these levers, pricing, conversion, capacity, and revenue per client. As you think about today's episode, I want you to ask yourself, what is the one thing I know I need to stop doing if I want a different level of growth in my business?

Next question, what is the one thing I need to start doing that I've been putting off because it feels uncomfortable, it feels expensive, it feels hard, or even it feels vulnerable.

If you want support figuring out what this would look like for your specific business, make sure you check out the show notes for more information on how you can work with me inside WPI. We have some amazing spots opening up. I'd love to chat with you about the mastermind, my coaching experience, and if this would be the right fit for you. So feel free to email me or go to weddingproinsiders.com, sign up for the waitlist and you of course can email me from there too and ask.

Candice (01:01:11.566)

questions. Thank you so much for spending this time with me today. I'm really glad you were here. I hope that you go back and listen to this episode as you continue to reposition your business and grow this year. Thank you so much for listening. I want to remind you there's so much power in your purpose and I'll see you next week.