Candice (00:00.098)

Well, hey there, friends. We are celebrating 200 episodes of the Power and Purpose podcast today. And this episode is all about you, celebrating you, celebrating this show. And I thought we'd do something special for our 200th episode. And that special thing is all about the lessons that I've learned in hosting this podcast and mentoring incredible business owners like you. So do me a favor, turn up the volume, get something to celebrate, whether that's a cocktail,

something at the drive through in Starbucks, whatever. And settle in because you're in for a really special and delightful episode. 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 (01:28.748)

Hey there friends, welcome back to the Powered Purpose podcast. It's your host Candace and I love that I'm celebrating that today for the 200th time. I've said that on today's show. I'm so grateful to have you as a listener, whether this is your first episode, welcome to the podcast or you've been here for all 200 episodes. I'm so grateful to record this episode today and to share with you.

some of the lessons that I have learned as a mentor, as a business coach, and as the host of this podcast in the conversations that we've had here in the conversations that I've had with you online and in private. And I think you're going to appreciate all of the lessons that I shared today. I also feel like sharing these 23 lessons as we go into a new year is just going to get you in the right mindset and also kind of tee you up for thinking differently in 2026. So this episode,

has a lot baked into it, a lot of goodness, a lot for you to think about, marinate on, consider. As we celebrate 200 episodes together, I'm a little bit emotional about this. When I started my podcast back in 2018, I was terrified to do this. I was so scared to put myself out there, to share my thoughts. I felt like I was exposing myself in ways that I had never done before.

It was very easy to write blog posts and guest on someone else's show, but to host a show of your own and to put your own thoughts and ideas out there is scary. And any podcaster would tell you that their first couple of episodes were really difficult to record. So if you're thinking about starting a podcast in 2026, I can't recommend it enough, but also know that yes, it is hard. is scary.

and it gets better with every single episode. I feel way more comfortable and confident recording this show now that we're 200 episodes in. And also it took us a little while to get here. I'm not gonna lie. I didn't record an episode every single week. If I had done that, we would have celebrated this milestone in 2020. Not in 2025, but that also goes to show you that sometimes things just take time.

Candice (03:42.856)

And you don't have to show up every single day or every single week to still be consistent at something and to still deliver value in something. So that was a lesson that I learned a little bonus lesson in these 23 lessons today. But wow, I think about the original episode of the show, my original guest shout out to Beth Chapman. She's my business BFF and my

My first guest on this show, great episode by the way, hearing her journey from Ann Taylor to starting her Bridal Store. But either way, I think about all the conversations we've had here. I think about the growth that I've experienced, the growth that you have experienced in your business, the twists and turns that life has taken us, the stories that we've told here, the advice that we've dished out here. And it just makes me so proud. It makes me so proud, selfishly, that I've been able to consistently show up in this space and

and support an industry that I'm so passionate about. And it makes me so proud of what we've built here together because I mean, none of this would be possible without you listening to this show. Whether you listen every week or you pop in and listen to episodes that you're excited to hear, I appreciate you so much. And when I step down at my desk every week to record an episode, I have your face in my mind.

as I think about what we should talk about here on the show. And I'm so grateful for you and how you've welcomed me into your business and you welcome the guests here that we've had on the show and how you've trusted this space to help guide you through your entrepreneurial journey. One thing I want you to know is that we're just getting started here on the podcast. We're celebrating 200 episodes.

but we're only just beginning. And I feel even more passionate and more excited about this show than I have in years. I think that the format that we have here and what we're talking about here is really important. And I love that we are making space for hot topics and hot conversations. So we've got a lot more to come to 200 more episodes of the Power and Purpose podcast. So thank you so much for listening. Thanks for being here. Thanks for trusting me.

Candice (06:00.3)

with your business. am always rooting for you. Everything we do here is to support and benefit you. And so with that in mind, let's talk about these 23 lessons that I wanted to share with you today. I could think of no better way to celebrate 200 episodes than to talk about 23 things that I want you to listen to, to hear, to absorb as we enter into a new year. 2026,

is going to be a make or break year for the wedding industry. The wedding industry is changing at a rapid pace. We're going to be talking about this a lot on the podcast, so get ready. And I want you starting the new year, writing goals, thinking about your business with these 23 lessons in mind. Now, I know not every lesson may resonate with you. That's okay. For some of you guys, you may be like, yep, yep, yep, to all 23.

My goal for you today is if you could pick just two of the things that I share today and focus on that in the first quarter of 2026, you are gonna come out on top. There's no way you could focus on all 23, but if you could just pick two of these lessons and really sharpen your focus on two things that I'm gonna share with you today, I know that you will succeed in the first half, in the first quarter of 2026. So here,

our 23 lessons I wish every single wedding pro knew after 200 podcast episodes of the Power and Purpose podcast. First lesson, if you're bored, your audience is bored. And this goes straight to the heart of marketing. If you're posting boring, stale content, if you are bored with your marketing, with your Instagram, with whatever it is you're using for visibility in your business, you are gonna attract

boring people. You need to inject some personality, some flavors, some seasoning into your marketing in 2026. Boredom is your signal that creativity is suffering and maybe your creativity is suffocated. So see boredom as a signal for you to shake things up, do something a little bit different. When you stop having fun with your marketing, your content really stops working. I always tell the women in my mastermind, if you're excited about this post,

Candice (08:26.9)

If you're excited about this marketing concept, go for it. Because when you're excited about it, you'll do it. And when you do it with excitement, that comes through in whatever it is you're trying to say. So a single personal story in your marketing does more for your bookings than, you know, 20 beige Canva graphics with an editor's note font slapped on it, a little italic.

you know, word or two. I mean, it's going to do way more for you than some of the boring graphics we're all posting on Instagram. So if you're bored in your marketing, your audience is bored. Lesson number one, shake things up, inject some personality, get creative in 2026. Second lesson, if you don't grow by doing more, you grow by doing what matters.

Every burnt out wedding pro is drowning in tasks that they mostly don't need to do. Maybe they never needed to do these things. I want you to prioritize strategy over productivity in the new year and just going forward. As a business coach who has helped thousands of people throughout my programs, my students, the busiest people are often

the least profitable. And I've seen this pattern for years. I even did a thread on this a couple of weeks ago where I said, you know, I wish that more women understood that those of you who feel like you're not doing enough are often doing too much. Okay. So the busiest people are often the least profitable. And I've seen this pattern for years, even in myself, when I think about the early stages of my business.

You have to be ruthless about prioritizing what matters to you, okay? And that needs to kind of be your love language for 2026. You could probably double your income if you started subtracting shit from your to-do list, okay? Busyness is not a badge of honor. We've seen that meme, but it's true and it goes so much deeper than just acute saying.

Candice (10:36.846)

So if you were burnt out in this season, December is the month of burnout. It's where everything comes to a head. I would ask you to take a look at your tasks and ask yourself, do I really need to do all this shit or can I let some of it go? And how can I start focusing on strategy for 2026 over productivity? Third lesson, clients don't buy services, they buy confidence.

When you lead your business decisively, when you lead with confidence, people are gonna trust you and they're gonna pay you more. Confidence is everything. I teach this every single week in my masterclass. Confidence is key. And as a wedding pro and as a seasoned wedding pro, your confidence is what brings people to you. It is why people turn to you as an industry leader and it's why clients hire you.

And so the tone in your emails matters more and sells more than the PDF you attach to that email. If you sound unsure about your services, your pricing, what you're offering, people are going to be unsure about whether you're capable of delivering what you're promising. And so I don't want you to see confidence as bravado. It's not, it's not ego. It is knowing.

having the awareness and the expertise to know that you know what the fuck you're talking about. When I show up on this podcast every single week, girl, I am confident in what I'm sharing with you. You may disagree with me. You may have a different experience than what I'm describing here. All really valid. When I show up here every week, I am so confident in what I'm sharing with you. And it's why you show up here every week to hear what I got to say.

I need you to show up the same confidence that I have learned, by the way, I had to learn how to show up here with confidence over 200 episodes. want you showing up with a little Candace razzle dazzle when you're selling yourself, when you're marketing yourself, when you are putting out your hand to introduce yourself at a networking event, when you join a coaching program and you feel like everybody there is cooler than you, or when you go to an awesome event in 2026, you show up with confidence that you belong there.

Candice (12:55.894)

that you are worthy of being there and that you are amongst your peers, that people aren't, you know, 10 steps ahead of you. Clients don't buy services, they buy confidence. Okay. You need to inject some confidence in your business in 2026. Lesson number four, boundaries will make you more money than hustling and being accommodating ever will. As I

think back to every burnout story that I have heard, my own included, it all started with I didn't want to disappoint somebody. People pleasing is one of the most expensive things you will ever do in your business. It is expensive financially.

And of course it is expensive emotionally. It's also expensive physically. And in the wedding industry, we have a boundary issue because we're constantly trying to make everybody happy. Especially if you're a wedding planner. Wedding planners are the superheroes of the wedding industry. Okay. The amount of shit a wedding planner has to deal with on a daily basis. I don't wish on my worst enemy. Okay. And I got a couple. I got a couple.

I'm just kidding. People-pleasing is expensive. Hear me when I tell you this, okay? Boundaries are necessary. And believe it or not, boundaries can actually attract really great clients to you. People respect boundaries so long as they understand what those boundaries are. I think high-end clients, people who are paying you more, respect structure. They expect structure. So not only do they respect it, they expect it.

Low end clients don't respect boundaries and they expect you to be available 24 seven. walking into 20, 26, if you want to make more money, you need better boundaries. Okay. And you need to protect your space so that you don't burn out. Lesson number five, your business model should reflect the life that you want, not the one that you've inherited from the industry.

Candice (15:09.004)

I talk a lot about, you know, when you joined my coaching program, Wedding Pro Insiders, I talk a lot about building a business that supports your meaningful life. I have said this from day one of this program. And what I want you to hear from me today is if it drains you, it's outdated and you need to explore a new way of doing something. Can you not deliver on your product or service? No, you can't. You have to plan the wedding. You have to deliver the invitations, right?

If the process in which it takes to produce the work that you do drains you, then it's outdated. The industry is evolving. And over the last year, it has evolved more than it ever has in any year that I have been a part of it. And you don't have to run your business like it's 2010. And in fact, you need to actually stop listening to people who are teaching you how to run your business the old school way. Okay.

When I look at certain programs and stuff, and I don't pay attention to a lot, I'm gonna call something out, certification programs for new wedding planners. When I look at what they're teaching, I'm like, girl, this shit is from 2011. why are we still teaching people how to operate a business this way? It's so outdated. So you first have to recognize that your industry's evolving, your business is evolving, and you don't need to run your business.

the old school way, a model also that works for someone else might end up being a prison for you. And so you want to explore how you want your business to run, what feels good to you, and then find support that will help you get there. Everybody who starts a business is running a business so they can have freedom.

But we all have different versions of what freedom is. And so you're building your business for a sense of freedom in your life. What does that look like? And has the model changed for you? I'm willing to bet it has. Lesson number six, you cannot design your way out of a bad fit client. This is for all my creatives out there, my planners, my invitation designers, my floral designers, my photographers.

Candice (17:31.916)

Okay, you cannot design your way out of a bad client just because somebody's ideas are cool. Just because somebody has a budget to do something doesn't mean they're a good fit for you, okay? The vibes, and we toss this word around a lot, but the vibes, they matter more than the vision. And this is a lesson that I want you to sit with in 2026 as you book clients. Red flags, they don't...

They don't turn green. They don't turn into beautiful greenery. They often stay red. And if anything, they double down on their color. So no amount of cool ideas or money can fix an emotional mismatch. And I know that we are all seeking more dream clients. We all are, myself included, okay?

But somebody's cool aesthetic is not gonna outweigh their personality. That is a nightmare. There's still gonna be a nightmare. So tighten up who you say yes to. And when you do that, it can completely transform your year. If you say yes to the wrong person, and maybe you did that this year, you know that it's a tornado, okay? It is a freaking.

hurricane in your business. It upsets everything and it has ripple effects. Say yes to the right person and it's the opposite. So you cannot design your way out of a bad fit client. The vibes, the energy, it matters more than the budget, the vision board and all the pretty things. Lesson number seven, your creative voice is your most valuable asset.

and most wedding pros that I meet silence it out of fear of being too much. Let 2026 be the year that you don't give a fuck about being too much, okay? I had a little fun on threads this week. posted like, I think my goal for 2026 is to be like, what would 50 cent do? And just like do that.

Candice (19:49.87)

You think 50 cent cares about what people think? Clearly he doesn't not. Is he always right? No. But I don't know. I kind of side with him on most things. What I want you to hear from me and have mentored so many women in this industry, the people who stand out and book clients don't feel like they're too much. And they actually double down on their thoughts, their ideas, their vision, their aesthetic. And so

Think about it like this. Your too much, your too much idea is maybe somebody out there is thinking, finally, somebody said that finally somebody came up with that idea. The top earners in our industry, they lean heavily into their point of view, their creative point of view, their industry point of view, and playing it safe is only going to make you blend in. It's only going to make you forgettable.

And I don't want you to be forgettable. Nobody's saying you got to go up on Instagram and do all this crazy shit. You know, you can be loud and, and double down on your vision in other places. So this is really, you pick your channel, but just be present and have personality and share what's on your mind and take a point of view. You have ideas, you have things you want to say, but you're editing yourself all the time.

And I need you to stop doing that. Lesson number eight. And this one might be the most important lesson that I share with you today. Your nervous system is running your business more than your strategy. And we have to have a whole conversation on nervous system here on the podcast. I actually have an expert that I'm trying to get on the show. stay tuned, but

Nervous system work is essential for this industry because I know just how stressful this work is. And I know that your nervous system has been disrupted. might not be disrupted right now, but it has been disrupted over the course of running your business. Anxious decisions in business. When you are operating from a place of anxiety, you're going to create a chaotic business.

Candice (22:10.932)

We have to move you towards making regulated decisions in your business. Regulate emotionally regulated nervous system regulated decisions. Okay. This is too big of a topic for me to give you a one-on-one on nervous system. But when you're stressed, every decision that you make feels incredibly urgent. And I see this all the time. Okay. And that urgency doesn't lead to profit. It doesn't.

When you are regulated, and I can speak from a currently a regulated space, so I feel like I have a, I've come over the hump, at least for now, on nervous system regulated, but when you are regulated, you negotiate better, you lead better, you lead your team better, you lead your clients better, you show up better. Your body knows when something is off. It knows when something's not right before your brain does. And I need you to start paying attention to your nervous system in 2026.

I need you doing whatever it takes, girl. You want to be out in the sun for 30 minutes in the morning, you get a little red light therapy, take some nervous system supplements, do it all. Because when you operate from a nervous system that is regulated, everything changes in your business. I can't stress this enough and I want to share more with you about this in the new year. Lesson number nine, you will always...

always underestimate how much support you actually need in business. I see this all the time and support comes in many different forms. Most wedding pros actually need to hire someone to help them, not just a business coach, but a VA, somebody to work a couple hours a week. You can't automate and workflow out everything. Once your business gets to a certain point, you need to start hiring people. Okay. And real growth.

requires real help. So don't think of support, whether it's a virtual assistant, an intern or a business coach or a system strategist or a business manager. Don't think of it as a luxury. I want you to think of it as the foundation for scaling. You may not have to be able to hire a full-time employee tomorrow. Obviously that's okay. We have to build up to that. And the I can do it all era in business is keeping people

Candice (24:33.198)

broke. It's keeping people stuck. Systems obviously help, but humans solve your problems and you need somebody to come in and help and support you. Okay. So you are underestimating the amount of support that you actually need in business. And when you start hiring people to help you with day to day stuff, with your inbox, with client shit,

Even with your decisions, with marketing, I mean, I could go give you a list of people you could hire in 2026. But when you start hiring people to help, you can scale faster and make more money. Lesson number 10, stop waiting for somebody to validate you. Mel Robbins has some quotes, not all of them I agree with, but I do enjoy her podcast and she says, nobody's coming to save you. And boy, is she freaking right. No one's.

coming, stop waiting for the industry to validate you, stop waiting to be invited to something, okay? Your career will take off the moment you decide that you belong, that you're legit, that you are capable. Not when somebody else decides. Industry approval is cool, but I also think it's a little bit of an illusion.

Only psychopaths are keeping score. Only narcissists are keeping score of everything that you're doing against what they're doing, okay? Validation is delayed for everybody, okay? If you're waiting for the industry to validate your ideas, your brand, if you're waiting to feel accepted, if you're waiting to feel invited before acting like it, you're gonna wait forever, okay?

So stop waiting for the industry or for someone in the industry to validate you. No one's coming to do that for you. You have to validate yourself. And that leads me to lesson number 11. Unfortunately, the market does not reward talent in our industry. It rewards visibility. I would tell you that every wedding pro that sucks at marketing is

Candice (26:45.594)

absolutely fantastic at what they do. Like with 99 % accuracy and on the flip side, every person who is good at marketing is not always great at what they do in their business. So the lesson here is that the industry clients, your bank account rewards visibility, not talent. And if you are one of our quiet geniuses who hides behind

your marketing and does not put yourself out there, does not attend networking events, does not put yourself in position to be visible, you're going to stay invisible, okay? It's the visible and the consistent ones that get opportunities in business. And visibility compounds, like, it is like exercise in a way where the more you do it, the more results you will achieve.

Every post you make, every visibility tactic that you have is a breadcrumb to your business, is a breadcrumb to your brand. And the most talented planners and photographers in your city, they may not be the people who are the most booked, but I can tell you the people who prioritize marketing in all forms, relationships, social, SEO, they are booked. And they are actually closing out their calendar.

Your fear of being seen and showing up is the biggest killer of your income. And if you want that to change for 2026, you need to have a come to Jesus with yourself. You need to have what I like to call a shank and cuddle with your damn self and get real about what it's going to take to build the business that you want and prioritize visibility in the new year. Hey friend, hear that noise.

That's the sound of HoneyBook, depositing cold hard cash into your bank account. HoneyBook is an all-in-one client flow platform that helps you manage your leads, send wedding proposals, and sign more contracts all at the click of a button. HoneyBook also offers a variety of resources and materials to help you grow your wedding industry business. One of my favorite features of the HoneyBook platform is actually the community of creative entrepreneurs just like you.

Candice (29:08.078)

HoneyBook is offering listeners of the Power and Purpose podcast 35 % off any of their three plans for your first year. 35%. It's an amazing deal. Use the code PURPOSE at checkout or go to CandaceCoppola.com slash HoneyBook to learn more. That's CandaceCoppola.com slash HoneyBook. And thanks to HoneyBook for sponsoring this episode of the Power and Purpose podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by our partner,

Flowdesk. Flowdesk is an email marketing software used by thousands of creative entrepreneurs just like you to grow their business and their brand. What I love most about Flowdesk is just how easy and simple it is to create stunning and effective email marketing campaigns in just a few clicks. It's perfect for the wedding industry and for anyone looking to grow their business with email marketing. Go to CandaceCoppola.com slash Flowdesk to sign up for your free trial.

where you can start designing beautiful email campaigns while I teach you about marketing here on the podcast. That's candiscopla.com slash flow desk to start your free trial and use the code Candace 50 at checkout to save 50 % off your first year. Check it out and see what's possible. And thanks to flow desk for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. Now let's get back to the episode. Lesson number 12.

Every wedding pro that I meet underestimates how much visibility they actually need. So posting once a week, girlfriend, and hoping that, you know, your calendar is going to be booked out and you're going to have a multi six figure business is wishful thinking. I was going to call it delusional thinking. I think most people, included, you just underestimate how much visibility is required.

how much you actually, how much traffic you actually need to hit your goals. And people need to see you everywhere to trust you. And I don't mean that you need to be on every single channel all day, every day, every week, but you need to be maximizing your visibility. And if you're not showing your face, you're making things so much harder for yourself. Why, why are you doing this? You need to figure out why.

Candice (31:33.582)

The more eyeballs you have on your business, the more leads you will get equals the more choices you will have in selecting clients. So you are underestimating how much visibility you need. And I think for many people, you are just letting your visibility sit on autopilot when you need to be activated. You need to be flying the plane at all times. Lesson number 13, the biggest difference between somebody who is in demand

and somebody who is struggling is often how they talk about their work. I truly believe that language, especially in the era of AI where we have this language learning models that are taking over how we talk and talking for us. Language is leverage in your business. How you speak about who you are, what you do, what you like, what you dislike.

who you serve, when your messaging lands, everything else just gets easier. Pricing gets easier, sales gets easier, marketing gets easier, referrals gets easier. And I wish more people spent time in the messaging and getting that right. Because when that is dialed in, selling is simple. I see this all the time in the mastermind that I'm a part of.

And when I tell you that the business owners that I'm around, multiple six figure and in the million dollar mark, we talk about messaging and marketing and making sure that our offers, all of that is dialed in. That is what we spend the most amount of time on. And the people who've got it right are now doing like the least amount of work.

It's so frustrating and it's hard. I'm not saying it's easy, but the biggest difference between somebody who is making money and in demand versus somebody that is struggling is how they talk about their work. And I will even go so far to say that the people who are making it are people who deeply get their clients and have really good marketing messages. They get the psyche of their clients. They understand their clients. They understand how their clients think.

Candice (33:51.118)

how they operate and everything in their business is built around supporting that. Lesson number 14, you can't attract, speaking of better clients, you can't attract better clients until you become a better communicator. Every sales problem eventually traces itself right back to a couple of things. Unclear value, unclear boundaries, unclear positioning, unclear offers. Communication is leadership.

Communication is confidence. When you know what you're talking about, I see you light up. When I'm scrolling Instagram and I see a pro who knows what the fuck she's talking about and she's in a reel or she's sounding off or she's sharing something that she's passionate about, it just exudes through my screen. When you can communicate clearly, you know who you're talking to and you know what you're talking about, that shows leadership. And that leadership

Equals confidence, equals sales. Your clients expect you to be able to support them in a clear way, give them direction. And so when you are unclear, you're going to attract unclear people, like attracts like. And so remember this, the words that you use,

in your marketing and even with your clients will create the type of experience for them and for yourself. Okay, so you cannot attract better clients until you become a better communicator. And I think a lot of people need to learn how to communicate better. You know, when I was of college age, I never understood like communications. Like I was like,

This is like so stupid. Why would I take a class on communications? But as a 44 year old business owner for nearly 20 years, I can tell you that communication is absolutely everything. All right, lesson number 15, your reputation is built in the small and unseen moments of your business, not the published weddings, not the big splashes.

Candice (36:07.706)

It's how you email. It's how you fix mistakes. I always say it's not about the mistake. It's how you solve it. It's how you talk to people. That's how you build your reputation in this industry. Vendors will make or break your referral pipeline. So watch how you communicate with people, even people who you know are difficult and a pain in your ass. Because as soon as you're taking off the preferred vendor list and your referrals dry up, you will feel it.

Clients also watch how you handle stress, how you communicate with people online. Trust me, I have seen in my years, I have seen so much. I have seen people be absolutely unhinged in their marketing and start blasting people online. And my first instinct isn't like, wow, they're blasting so and so, shame on that person who's getting blasted. My first instinct is like, why would you do this on your

Like why? I have questions about you, not the person that you're screaming at. So you have to watch how you handle stress, how you communicate, how you show up and integrity in our industry and integrity in all things. It shows up in the tiny decisions we make and the quiet decisions we make. reputation in your business is a long game.

Every moment counts. And as soon as that carpet is ripped out from underneath you, as soon as your reputation takes a hit, it is like double the work to regain. doesn't mean you can come back from a ding, but a dent is harder to pull out. And you know, if you get into a wreck in total, your reputation, it's very difficult to come out from that. So

Your reputation is built in the small unseen moments of how you operate, how you talk to people, how you show up for clients, not in the weddings that are published. And I can tell you there are people out there with published work and gorgeous work and Alkalades and they fucking suck to work with and people don't like them because they suck. And I know you're thinking of somebody in your head right now and you're like, yup.

Candice (38:28.928)

She's right. Lesson number 16. This is an important one. If you find yourself comparing yourself to other people, want you to stop doing that. Curiosity is the antidote to comparison. So if you're jealous of someone, ask what they're doing. Stop worrying about what they have that you don't have.

and get curious about how they got what they got. If you were more curious about how your competitors did what they did instead of feeling jealous or feeling bad about what you don't have, if you were more curious, you could actually position yourself to have whatever it is you're jealous about too. I think comparison shuts us down.

Comparison, we then operate from a place of lacking something, but curiosity. Curiosity, we're open. We're like, how did you do that? That's cool. Good for you. How did you make that happen? You could learn more from a rival or an enemy than you can from a mentor sometimes. If you put your ego

to the side and you got curious. Also know that everybody that you're jealous of, and we all have people that were like, I wish I had that. I wish I could do that. I wish I was invited to that. Everybody that you're jealous of once felt like you, and then might actually feel like you too right now. So what you are jealous of is smoke and mirrors sometimes. Get curious about how somebody did that.

That is going to actually improve your situation than stewing in comparison or jealousy. Lesson number 17, money loves structure. Money loves structure. Every single woman I have mentored who had finally started tracking their numbers using the crazy spreadsheets I've got inside WPI and doing our crazy awesome profitability workshop every February.

Candice (40:53.162)

always has the same reaction. this is what I've been stressed about. This is why I'm stressed. Financial clarity in your business is gonna reduce your anxiety by so much. And I promise it's not as bad as you think. The debt you're experiencing if you have some, the sales numbers that you are ignoring, the expenses that you are ignoring, it's not as bad.

as it might seem, but it will get worse if you don't pay attention to it. Your money loves structure. It wants a place to go. And in 2026, you need to start making your dollars do something for you. You need to start making your dollars work for you. love what Erin, a recent guest that I had on my podcast, my colleague, we're in a mastermind together. She has this great program.

I love what she says about this and how she helps her students do that. Okay. You cannot scale in your business what you can't measure or what you don't measure. If you're not measuring your sales, if you are not measuring your numbers, if you are not measuring the data in your business, how are you going to scale that? By just wishing it would scale? By just setting a goal, but not having any information or any statistics or any data or any structure to back it up?

You have to start measuring things and paying attention to your money, how it comes to you, where it goes.

Lesson number 18, your clients want leadership more than they want options from you. Every day I see a well-meaning wedding pro sending out 18 packages and options to people, giving people a buffet, a buffet of things that they can choose from, flexibility is what is going to make me attractive. And while Gen Z wants flexibility,

Candice (42:57.944)

They want leadership more. People don't want to hire somebody who makes it so complicated. leave more con... Well, people don't hire somebody who makes it more complicated than it needs to be. They hire you to filter for them, the noise, the options, and make decisions simple. Okay? Decision fatigue is real. You're experiencing it right now.

You've probably got 15 podcast episodes that you need to catch up on, 10 blog posts, eight emails, know, a course you've been eyeing, something you've got to do before the end of day to day, act now, buy this, listen to this, this is going away. You've got so many decisions on your plate right now. And the person that eliminates some of those decisions for you will get your money. When you do that for your clients,

you're gonna get their money. So you need to start leading in different ways in 2026 and part of leadership requires you to filter options for people. That builds trust for people a lot faster than here's my 15 packages that all have a little bit of a different flavor to confuse the shit out of you and make you feel more overwhelmed than when you arrived.

You need to be a guide for people. Okay. Your people will pay you for less. They will pay you for doing less and offering less. All right. Lesson number 19. Success is not linear, especially in this industry. The industry has seasons. has cycles. And if, if you do anything, I need you to chill the fuck out.

Okay. You're not failing at everything. You had a bad month, a bad week, a bad quarter of shit. You had a bad year. That's okay. Your slow season is maybe a season where you're actually growing. You just don't realize it. And failure is something that we need to talk about more. I have a whole podcast episode that I have been dreaming about recording and you know what? Fuck it.

Candice (45:24.864)

I'm going to record that next about failure. So I'll save a little bit of what I want to say about that, but success is not linear. Okay. We have seasons in our industry. You're going to, in order to have a, a most profitable year, you have to have a least profitable year. Okay. Businesses like weather, we have patterns, we have good days and bad days, and you just need to ride the storms.

and the fluctuations. Okay. One bad month in business is not a bad business. All right. So chill out. You're going to take a step back in order to move forward. You're going to cycle through things. It's okay. Lesson number 20, playing small costs more than anything else you do in business. And I did a whole podcast episode on this. Every time somebody is staying safe,

They're losing out on something that they really want. Every time that you bet on yourself, that you do, you stretch yourself, you push yourself, you see what you're capable of. And you often open something up that you didn't realize existed. Playing small feels safe. It feels cozy. It's like that cozy flannel pajama set that you have, that you've had for years. It's got a hole in it. Your husband might be telling you, when are you going to throw that?

Is that just me? Is that my husband who's like, are you going to throw out those pants? There's like holes in them. And I'm like, leave me alone. These pants are emotional. They help to regulate my nervous system and I feel safe in them. We all have safe pants that we love to wear. They feel cozy and comfortable. But playing it small and feeling safe feels good, but it's very expensive. You need to take a risk in your business in the new year.

You need to get out of your freaking office. You need to get out of your comfort zone, get out of your sweatpants and do something that feels risky. It's gonna push you. You're gonna learn something. And who knows, you might actually take a risk, discover the shortcut or the next step, get clarity and actually do the thing that you've been saying you were gonna do for the last three years.

Candice (47:50.926)

Lesson number 21. It is easier to build your confidence than it is to rebuild a reputation. We talked about reputation already, but I wanted to include this lesson because reputation is something that we have talked about on this podcast and it is something that quietly kills businesses.

I need you to hit send. need you to have the hard conversation. I need you to fix mistakes that you have made quickly. You are human. Most of the mistakes that you make are forgivable, but the longer you wait, the worse it gets. The more you ignore it, the worse it gets. Leadership is built in the moments that you want to hide, but you don't. So see this as a season of

Communicating what you should have communicated earlier, offering a quick apology to somebody who might deserve one from you, and having the courage to have hard conversations so that you can move through this industry and with your, move through this industry and relationships with confidence, because it is easier to rebuild your confidence around something.

If you make a mistake or you do something that is out of character, then it is to rebuild your reputation. Lesson number 22, if you're bored, your business is begging you to evolve. If you are bored with what you're doing, if you don't love it anymore, if it's not exciting for you, that is a message. Reinvention is the work and we're

Constantly being asked to reinvent aspects of ourselves and our business. I know that you've reinvented your business or reinvented yourself more than once and look where it has gotten you. Every year is the chance to evolve. It's a year to do better, to be better. And if you are bored right now in your business, that is a sign that something needs to change. And I think reinvention is actually

Candice (50:09.834)

a privilege for those of us who are entrepreneurs. Cause we do get to reinvent ourselves where people who go to work every single day and clock in and clock out may not have that luxury. It is a privilege and it is a privilege bestowed upon the entrepreneur. If your spark is gone, then something is saying to you, you need to shift. You need to change. Listen to that. I have reinvented myself more than once.

And I have changed as a person over the years. I'm not the same person I was when I started this podcast. I'm not the same person I was when I started 2025. Neither are you. So if you're bored with clients, if you're bored with your systems, if you're bored with your business and you're feeling stagnant, that's a clue to shift things up. There is a little asterisk here and I can hear my coach in my ear. So I'm channeling my coach.

And she's like possessing me to tell you this. Just because you're bored though, and if things are working, just because you're bored doesn't mean that you should just go and like fuck it all up for just the excitement of it. Okay. So here what I'm telling you, if you are feeling pulled to reinvent yourself or do things differently or shake up your business, follow that. But if things are working and you're just like, well, everything's working as it should, and I'm making money and things are pretty good.

I do not need you like burning it down. That's what my coach would tell me. She would be like, Candice, you're looking for something to do. Just relax. Okay. We have made it to the final lesson. And I didn't put this lesson at the end because it bears any significance over the other lessons. So when I share this lesson, I want you to know that. Okay.

Lesson number 23, the industry's loudest voices don't always represent the majority of the people who operate within the industry. And I share this because we see a lot of highlights in places and we see repeated louder voices. Maybe my voice is included in that. I think I could be a little louder if I'm being honest, but just because the loudest person in the room is saying something doesn't mean it's true.

Candice (52:31.82)

I think most people in the industry are quietly struggling with confidence and marketing and pricing and wanting to shift things around and trying to find balance and capacity in their life and raising kids and trying to have a life outside of work. And they're trying to balance those things. And I feel like the industry just deserves more honest leadership here.

So with that said, don't judge your journey by someone else's, you know that, but it bears repeating. And there is a silent middle in most instances and the silent middle of our industry you might be a part of. And that middle is craving authenticity, it's craving connection, community, in-person community, offline community.

It's craving conversations around, you know, managing a business, managing stress, managing your love of work versus your love of rest. It's craving, you know, talking about difficult clients, but doing it respectfully. It's craving all these things. And it is so easy to pop into threads and hear a lot of people complaining and then going over to Instagram and seeing a lot of people showboating.

and to feel like you're not doing enough or you're maybe doing too much or you're doing things wrong. And I just want you to know that none of those things are true. Okay. There are more people like you in our industry. And my hope is, that this place that I've cultivated here on the podcast is a place where those conversations are happening and continue to happen. All right, friends. Well, that

leads me to the end of our 200th episode and the conclusion of my 23 lessons. I would first of all love to hear from you. So I'm asking you to do something and I might regret this, but I'm asking you to reach out to me either via email or DM. I don't care which, whatever works for you. And I'm asking you to share which lesson resonated with you the most.

Candice (54:46.99)

I show up here every week and try to share with you what's on my heart and what I'm seeing and what I'm thinking. And I love it when I hear from you. And so I want you to flood wherever you want my inbox or my DM inbox with a message to me. That would really warm my heart and it would be a gift you could give me on my 200th episode.

and I'd love to hear what lesson resonated the most with you. So please share that with me or which lessons I would love to hear from you. I'd love to meet you if we've never spoken. I'd love to learn more about you and just know that you listen to my show. I'm always so surprised that people who reach out to me, they're like, I've been listening to your show for years. And I'm like, I had no idea. And that I love that this is a community. And in 2026, we need more community and I want to build this community more. And I want to be connected to you more.

I'm not just the face you see on YouTube or person you hear while you're walking or driving or washing the dishes. I'm not just an email in your inbox with some anecdotes, some insights, and maybe something to sell you. I am a person who is, wants to be connected to you. And I hope that you feel the same way. So inviting you to do that. And I want to thank you again for being a part of this journey and motivating me to show up in this space and inspiring me to do that. I love this show.

I love everything about talking to you here. I look forward to it most days. Some weeks I don't always look forward to it. It feels like a to-do list on my calendar, but I would say 85 % of the time I love the conversations here. And just like working out, once I sit down and start recording an episode, I get fired up and you I love my soap box and I love talking shit with you. So anyway, thanks for being here. Thanks for trusting me as a part of your routines and your rituals.

And I would love to hear from you. I'd love to be more connected to you in this new year. So that's an invitation to connect with me. All right, friends, cheers to 200 episodes. didn't pour myself anything. I water in my Stanley. So I'm going to pour myself an espresso martini later and cheers to 200 episodes. Cheers to you and cheers to this journey. Thank you so much for being a part of this community. And I want to remind you.

Candice (57:09.854)

as always, that there is so much power in your purpose. I'll see you next week.

Candice (57:21.71)

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.