Candice (00:00.31)

Wedding MBA is right around the corner. And if you're going, you might be feeling the pressure to maximize every single second. What if you could attend wedding MBA and actually enjoy it without feeling like you need to do and be at everything? Join me on this week's episode as I share how to make the most out of your time if you're going to wedding MBA or really any conference this year.

You're here to grow a business, but not just any kind of business. You want to grow a profitable business with purpose, a business where you wake up every single day driven to serve your customers and make a difference in your own life. I'm Candace Coppola, published author, business coach, and your guide to building a profitable business with purpose. Join me here every single week as we explore how to build and grow your business with purpose.

Get ready to dig in and have meaningful conversations about the strategies and techniques that will help you build your dream business. This is the power in purpose.

Candice (01:16.472)

Hey there, friend. Welcome back to the Power and Purpose podcast. It's me, your host Candice, and we're talking about all things wedding MBA, which is quickly approaching. If you're going to this conference this year, this convention, then you're in the right place. I'm going to share with you some tips on how you can maximize your time while attending wedding MBA. And if you've never attended wedding MBA, you're kind of curious about it.

you definitely going to get a better understanding of this convention in this conference by listening to today's episode. So you're also in the right place. Now I attended my very first wedding MBA last year in 2023. Hard to believe that that was the first time I went, but it was. I just happened to host a mastermind retreat for the women inside my mastermind wedding pro insiders around the same time we hosted the retreat in San Diego. And then

Some of us flew from San Diego to Vegas in order to attend Wedding MBA. It was an interesting experience for sure. And I learned a lot more about the convention by attending it. And I think there are some key things that you should do as an attendee in order to maximize your time there. There are over 200 exhibits at Wedding MBA and 160 presentations.

So let me start off by saying to all my Enneagram threes, my fellow Enneagram three listeners that no, you cannot do it all. There's just no possible way that you can see and do everything. And so hopefully that puts you at ease, which is why it's important for you to be strategic about what you want to do and the goals you have for attending wedding MBA. Now, attending wedding MBA is relatively inexpensive. It's actually shocked at how accessible attending the conference is.

But with that said, going to Vegas is never cheap, ever. Going to Vegas only gets more and more expensive. And so between flights and hotels and food, outfits, entertainment, anything else you want to do like shopping, wedding MBA can actually be pretty expensive at the end of the day. Not the conference and convention itself, but the actual conference. And so I want you to maximize your time there while also leaving a little time to enjoy Vegas, play a little bit, have some fun.

Candice (03:37.538)

So that's what this episode is all about, how we can balance all those things. I want you to focus on what you should do to make the most out of wedding MBA instead of trying to do the most. So let's first talk about why you should maybe attend wedding MBA. I especially think this is a great way to get introduced to in-person events in the wedding industry if you've never gone to one before.

You might find that this is a great way to break the ice and just introduce yourself to what an in-person event might look like. On a much larger scale though, I will say, wedding MBA is not intimate. You have thousands of people there. Honestly, I think might work in your favor because it's so big. You can easily kind of just assimilate into the group of folks and find your way. We're in a more intimate experience for all my introverts. That might be difficult, but...

Let's talk about why you might want to attend Wedding MBA. The first is definitely networking. I think that Wedding MBA has great networking. You might be able to meet some of your favorite online friends. You can also meet other educators in the wedding industry who followed or who you've admired, maybe even learned from. And so the networking aspect of it is really great. You have thousands of people that you can chat with and get to know and make new friends and also

Just really nurture those friendships that you've made online. Networking is huge in the wedding industry and I built my business really based on connections. When people ask me, what's the secret to your success? And this is such a weird question to answer, honestly. Not because I don't know, but because it's like, I don't know, am I really successful? Like, I don't know, it feels weird. But anyway, when people ask me that question, I always say relationships, always relationships.

the networking and connections you'll make are great. And the wedding industry is always changing. So it's really nice to hear from educators and from brands in the industry, what they're focusing on, what's working for them right now. And in November, it's really nice to look ahead and project ahead at your business in the new year. And this can definitely give you some new energy and new eyes on your business.

Candice (05:57.474)

I always love investing in myself too and just a little behind the scenes, nothing to do with wedding MBA, but just in my personal business, I made three pretty big investments in my business, in my own education over the last two months. I mean, big. It's been a game changer already. Just the exchange of transaction is already leading to transformation. Sometimes we have to put money down.

on our business, investing in ourselves in order to commit to doing things differently or going big. And something like Wedding MBA can do that. I think it's also good to learn from people who have been where you are and where you want to go. So a lot of the educators there are currently in the wedding industry or can speak on specific topics that they specialize in, which is nice. And if you ever want to grow as an educator and a speaker, which I know many of my listeners are very interested in this,

If you ever want to speak at Wedding MBA, girl, you need to get your booty up in there to see what it's all about. And you should attend as an attendee any conference that you desire to speak at. And if you want to grow as a speaker or you want to become an educator, you need to start getting in the rooms where these things are happening and observing from the when I'm on that stage perspective. Those are some reasons for you to attend. Let's talk.

about how you can make the most out of your experience if you're going to wedding MBA or going really to any in-person live event in the next six months. The first is I need you to prepare. Wedding MBA is massive. I don't think I was even ready for the size and scale of wedding MBA. And I've attended some big conferences. I would say the biggest though probably is Engage.

And engage, at the last time I went, it was like 350, 400 people, and that was a lot for engage. Wedding MBA is like many times more than that. It's massive. You don't want the time you show up to be the first time that you look at the schedule. So you don't want like, as you're on your flight to Vegas, the first time you open up the MBA schedule and you're like,

Candice (08:11.15)

So that's what this is all about. I want you to prepare in advance, look at the schedule, do some research ahead of time and identify maybe which sessions and workshops you're most interested in or what align more closely with your goals. And so that also means taking a step back and actually identifying why you're attending in the first place and what your goals truly are for attending. Anytime you attended an in-person event, you should really set some goals for yourself of what you hope to achieve.

some intentions. Whenever I host a workshop online, this is one of the questions I ask attendees to set their intentions for our time together. And I want you to do the same as you head to a wedding, MBA or any in-person event. I want you to set your intentions for what you hope to achieve. And that might mean, you know, kind of thinking ahead to 2025, asking yourself, what are my goals for next year? What do I really want to zero in on or focus in my business? And then what is happening at MBA that can help to get me there? What can be a

bridge for me from where I am right now to where I want to be. I also like just setting some goals in and of itself for attending conferences are a big investment both in money and your time. So maybe some of your goals for wedding MBA this year could be a list of new marketing ideas from some of the speakers or some of the exhibitors, new connections that you want to make, maybe identifying some people who are going that you want to meet in person and introduce yourself to.

learning about something specific, especially if it's not inside your wheelhouse. I think some of the best talks to attend are the ones that have nothing to do with your industry because you get to learn a little bit more about what it's like over here in photography or in planning or in another industry. And goals will also help you focus. One of the goals that I had in attending wedding MBA was I wanted to meet brands. I wanted to meet brands and establish or reconnect.

with brands who I might have a relationship with to deepen our partnerships moving forward. That was one of my major goals. So I spent a lot of time on the trade show floor meeting and talking to people. I also think that before you go in your preparation, the last thing you're going to want to do is update your networking material. Now, if we were in 2012, I'd tell you to go print some new business cards.

Candice (10:33.486)

So in 2024, I want you to update your Instagram, your website, make sure it's on point for anybody who you might meet. And you might also want to think about doing a quick run of wedding MBA specific business cards that have a QR code on them that lead people to a wedding MBA landing page. Maybe you want to drive people to a networking page to sign up for something on your email list. I don't know. There's so many different things you might want to direct people to.

Much like a link in bio you would have on Instagram, you can create a landing page for Wedding MBA and drive people to that. But you want to make sure that these connections you're making, maybe you have a place to send them that's not just your homepage, if there are certain goals you have for attending Wedding MBA and making connections. After you prepare, it's time for you to create a schedule. And this is where you want to create a simple itinerary. Keep it simple for yourself.

You also need to leave a little wiggle room in case you're tired, you're hungry. You need to go back into your hotel room and introvert, include some breaks for yourself, and also make sure that you spend some time exploring the exhibitors on the exhibitor floor. You wanna meet brands, you wanna meet people. I found that to be really the best part of wedding MBA was getting to meet brands and talk to

founders and the people who I had been talking to via email. You have this great opportunity to meet some of the founders of softwares that you might use in your business. And I think it's great for you to spend some time having those conversations because when you have an issue, you know who to call, you know who to talk to. When you are looking to do something with these brands or make a suggestion for improvements, you have somebody that you can call. So that's really important.

I also don't want you to spread yourself too thin when you're looking at the schedule. You can only absorb so much information. A sponge does get filled, and so it's important for you to take that into consideration. Overscheduling yourself is honestly a surefire way to make sure you miss great opportunities that are right in front of you. And ew, I know that's so hard because we want to try and do everything, but you have to leave space for the unexpected, like being invited to grab lunch.

Candice (12:52.386)

with people who you admire or getting to sit down and spend some time with a new friend who you just met and debrief a session. So create a schedule for yourself, but be very open to changing it. I also think you can just maybe even prioritize one or two talks a day that are your must visits. Like I have to go to this. And then anything outside that you can just check in with yourself and see if you still want to attend.

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Candice (15:09.934)

Check it out and see what's possible. And thanks to Flowdesk for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. Now let's get back to the episode. The third step in preparing for winning MBA is to prioritize networking. I've said this already, but your network is your net worth and you've got to make some space for networking. I think often networking can feel like you're not making the most of your time because you want to sit down and learn.

Or maybe it's not as valuable as the information sessions that you could be attending, but that could not be farther from the truth. Connecting with people is important. And even connecting with people before wedding MBA begins is a good idea. So I would invite you to start looking to who's attending wedding MBA in your current network and start networking. Maybe set up a plan for attending an event together.

are going to a talk together or meeting for coffee. And you can look at people's Instagram stories, comment on posts, join the Facebook group. And if you need a little boost, I would tell you to go listen to my New Girl Energy episode, which is episode 109. If you need just a little come to Jesus and get your head in the game and networking. If you're already like, I don't want to, not because you don't want to meet new people, but because you're just like overwhelmed.

or just overstimulated with networking. Go and listen to my new girl episode. You're going to love it. That's episode 109 and I talk about infusing new girl energy into your business. Remember the key for networking to my philosophy around it is not what people can do for you. It's what you can do for others. So enter into wedding MBA with a networking spirit thinking,

What can I offer the people I'm meeting with on the trade show floor, the brands, but also the new friends I'm making. Can I connect them to somebody I know? Can I offer an idea, suggestion, support, friendship? What can I do for them? Next, I want you to attend the sessions and workshops. Now it's time for you to actually get your butt in the game and attend some of these great talks.

Candice (17:32.202)

and listen to what the speakers are teaching you about what's happening in the wedding industry right now, what's working. Also, everyone's learning and retention style is different. So I would invite you to take notes and look for opportunities to connect with the speakers afterwards. This is always nice. As a speaker, it's always nice to hear from people if you enjoyed their talk.

if you found something of value. So even if it's DMing them after, even if you can't see them in person, which can be hard, DMing them after and just saying, hey, listen, Candice, I loved what you said today at MBA. Here's what really resonated with me. Here was my biggest takeaway. And just sharing that is very motivating. It's also great to get on their radar. So that's also just a nice thing to do. Make sure you connect with speakers and also with some of your other attendees.

inside these sessions and workshops. You may want to think about if you know people who are going, setting up a bit of like an accountability pod or a debrief pod where you can also trade and share information from sessions and also discuss some of your biggest takeaways. I think this is a great strategy. All it really takes is finding a few friends who are also going.

maybe even dividing and conquering some of the sessions if you want, and scheduling a post-MBA Zoom call or connection point where you can all come together and share some of your biggest aha moments and takeaways. It's nice just to talk to somebody about what you learned, what you observed, but then also to hear from some of your peers what they uncovered during their time there. And that leads me to my next step, what you do after wedding MBA match.

So you're there, you're networking, you're listening, you're creating connections, you're walking the trade show floor, you're meeting people. You have to schedule time to do that. Okay, you have to. It's so important. But what you do after matters, and this goes for every conference you might attend. It's easy to go and listen to all these great things and meet all these great people, and then you fly back to your life and the chaos of

Candice (19:51.608)

Thanksgiving if you're in the States, holiday season, all the things. And just to be like, yep, I can't wait to reach out to that person or I can't wait to implement that thing. It's so easy to go back and be like, yep, do that later and then never do it because you are just in the thick of it. Plus if you're taking time off for MBA, you get back to your desk and you're like, you know, got a million emails to answer and all those things.

I don't want you to miss the after opportunities. think about and strategize how you're going to make time after MBA to do certain things like send a personalized follow-up email with the person that you connected with, connect with people on social, book a coffee chat, a virtual coffee chat with somebody. You have to think about this in advance and schedule the time to do it. Otherwise, if it's not on your calendar, it just probably won't get done.

I think you also want to make it a point to nurture the connections you've made. actually have a little system set up in Asana for myself. It's called my connections project. And anytime I make a connection, I create a new card for that person. I put all their contact details, a picture of them. I do all these things so that I can keep that connection fresh and top of mind. I would tell you to find a system that works for you where you can take the connections you meet from wedding MBA and you can act on them.

You can nurture them. You can put intention behind those connections. And you've got to take time to implement what you learned. I think an implementation day after wedding MBA is a great start. If you're flying home from wedding MBA, that flight home is a great time to debrief, create a bit of an action plan for yourself. But when you get back to your desk, your priority needs to be, how am I going to follow up with these things and implement?

So scheduling a full day post MBA at your desk is important. I might not do it the first day you're back. That can feel overwhelming, especially if you've got a lot of work to catch up on. But I would do it in the first week you're back. So take the time you need to solve the problems that arose after MBA and the time you took off and all the emails and all the things. But midweek, block a day off for yourself. Put your inbox on pause and get

Candice (22:19.042)

to work. If you have a coach, if you have somebody, if you have a mentor, somebody you're working with, this would be great to schedule like a check-in with them post-MBA and talk about some of the experiences you had and what you hope to do. If you're in WPI, you know, I want to hear all about your MBA experience. So just a shameless coaching moment to my mastermind ladies. Go and schedule that call with me now if you want.

to talk about post-wedding MBA, but that's also a great thing to do to keep yourself accountable. Talk with your coach, talk with your mentor about what you learned, and then seek their guidance and advice on how you can start to implement the strategies. Attending wedding MBA can be a great investment in business.

Any conference, any in-person event can be a great investment in your business, especially if you approach it with intention and focus. I just returned from a mastermind retreat for one of the masterminds I'm in, the Millie Club with Amy Porterfield. So this is really top of mind for me right now. I'm really thinking about all the things Amy taught us, all the conversations that we had amongst

our peers, like I've got so much on my mind. And now it's time for me to have intention and focus on all the things I learned. And I followed all these steps, by the way, in preparing for my time with Amy and all the ladies in my mastermind in Nashville. So let's recap really quickly how you can prep for wedding MBA. Create a schedule for your time, leave wiggle room for just random occurrences and fun moments. And also just like,

introverting. It's a lot to put yourself out there. Prioritize networking. This is probably the biggest takeaway. Most wedding MBA folks will tell you, talks are great. You learn a lot, but it's the connections you make, the friendships you forge. Attend sessions that are of interest to you, and even think about attending sessions that maybe aren't in your niche, but they're interesting to you.

Candice (24:34.946)

and make sure that you have a system in place for how you're going to implement and follow up. Remember, it's not about doing everything. It's about doing the right things that meet your goals and be intentional with your connections and the knowledge you gain and give yourself some permission to actually go and enjoy yourself. You're in Vegas, baby. I don't want you blowing whatever profits you made this year on the craps table, but I do want you to go and enjoy yourself, girl.

I don't know if Adele has any tickets available. Probably not, but get yourself at a show, have some fun, treat yourself to a nice meal. Girl, go shopping. Get yourself into Prada. Buy yourself something. Get yourself a bag, a wallet, a pair of shoes. You earned it. This is me telling you to buy the shoes. Go have some fun in Vegas. Go learn a couple of things. Go make some new friends.

And just a reminder, check out episode 109, my new girl energy episode, all on how you can just bring some new girl energy into your business, especially going into wedding MBA where you might need to just pump yourself up. All right, friend, thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you've enjoyed it and I want to remind you there's so much power in your purpose. I'll see you next time. Thanks so much for tuning in to this week's episode of the Power and Purpose podcast.

If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode and consider leaving a review. Head over to powerinpurposepodcast.com to access all of the resources and links mentioned in today's episode. That's powerinpurposepodcast.com. I'll see you next time.