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Speaker 1: Ruby.

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Speaker 2: The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast are

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Speaker 2: solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent

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Speaker 2: those of into It QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone

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Speaker 2: brands or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal,

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Speaker 2: or other professional advice or services. No assurance is given

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Speaker 2: that the information is comprehensive, accurate, or free of airs,

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Speaker 2: and the information presented is for general information purposes only.

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Speaker 2: Intowit QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or

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Speaker 2: revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying

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Speaker 2: on them.

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Speaker 1: Welcome back everyone.

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Speaker 3: This is Mine the Business Small Business success Stories, a

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Speaker 3: podcast brought to you by Intowit QuickBooks and Ruby Studio.

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Speaker 1: I'm Jennie Torres and I'm.

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Speaker 2: Austin Hankwitz Genius. I'll tell you what, sometimes it just

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Speaker 2: boggles my mind knowing that we are living in the

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Speaker 2: year twenty twenty five. I mean, I remember growing up

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Speaker 2: and watching movies like Back to the Future too, or

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Speaker 2: shows like The jets and I'm like, where are the

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Speaker 2: flying cars at?

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Speaker 3: You know, I wouldn't mind a personalized robot assistant like

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Speaker 3: Rosie from The Jetsons. I've definitely seen the self driving

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Speaker 3: cars and it just continues to boggle my mind how

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Speaker 3: quickly technology is rapidly evolving to make our lives and

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Speaker 3: work easier. I'm talking specifically about artificial intelligence and machine

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Speaker 3: learning powered technology.

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Speaker 2: These two incredible buzzwords absolutely have some potential use cases

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Speaker 2: in business, and they are incredible. I cannot wait to

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Speaker 2: dive in.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, I'm a big fan of AI for marketing purposes

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Speaker 3: in my business. It helps me write emails, it helps

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Speaker 3: me break through writer's block, it gives me inspiration for

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Speaker 3: social media content. The list goes on and on, and

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Speaker 3: even our guests that we're going to speak to on

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Speaker 3: today's episode has had clients using AI to help her

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Speaker 3: in her business.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. As an event planner, I mean, everyone has their

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Speaker 2: own dream for what the perfect wedding or birthday party

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Speaker 2: might be in so being able to use AI and

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Speaker 2: bring that dream to life, I think is really important.

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Speaker 2: It's crazy to think that these days we can just

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Speaker 2: go on these specific websites and say, make me an

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Speaker 2: event on a lake house that has specific fireworks in

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Speaker 2: the background and you see a photo of it.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, there is so much potential for AI. But before

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Speaker 3: we get ahead of ourselves. Let's meet our guest. Alexa

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Speaker 3: Critis mancuso of Alexa Critics Events in Tampa, Florida. Alexa

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Speaker 3: grew up on Long Island and she credits herself with

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Speaker 3: being a workaholic since middle school, having started working as

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Speaker 3: early as fourteen years old. By her senior year of

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Speaker 3: high school, she was employed in a bridal salon and

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Speaker 3: one day she went across the street to the wedding

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Speaker 3: planner to see if they needed any help, and it

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Speaker 3: was there that she realized what she wanted to do

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Speaker 3: with her career. After a brief stint in fashion and

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Speaker 3: a move to Florida, Alexis found herself pursuing her dream

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Speaker 3: career as a wedding planner.

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Speaker 2: At first, she was working as a planner for a

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Speaker 2: large corporate company with aspirations of striking out on her own.

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Speaker 2: Powering through the role and a job at a high

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Speaker 2: volume catering company, she launched her own business, Alexa Cretis Events,

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Speaker 2: and never looked back. Today, she runs her Tampa based

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Speaker 2: business and the luxury and ultra luxury wedding and event

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Speaker 2: planning space, where she prides herself in quality over quantity

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Speaker 2: and in giving her customers the very best experience from

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Speaker 2: start to finish.

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Speaker 1: Alexi, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me.

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Speaker 3: So let's start off with your origin story. I know

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Speaker 3: you're a Long Island girl. I'm a former Jersey girl.

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Speaker 3: We're both now Florida girlies. What brought you to Tampa?

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Speaker 4: After I graduated college, I really wanted to find a

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Speaker 4: job in the wedding industry, couldn't find anything.

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Speaker 1: Went on the good old Internet.

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Speaker 4: Found a job at a five star hotel in Palm

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Speaker 4: Beach to be a wedding coordinator, and within thirty days

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Speaker 4: of interviewing, getting the job and moving down to Florida.

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Speaker 4: It was a really quick turnaround. And then I accidentally

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Speaker 4: met my husband while living there, and we've been in

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Speaker 4: Tampa for about eight years now.

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Speaker 3: Okay, you got hooked by the Florida bug and the

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Speaker 3: event planning bug both.

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Speaker 1: Yes.

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Speaker 3: Okay, tell me more about why event planning because I

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Speaker 3: think of it as probably my worst nightmare.

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Speaker 1: Just because I feel like people put a lot of.

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Speaker 3: Weight on events, right, like you know, these are milestones

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Speaker 3: of their lives. They can be very defending clients. There's

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Speaker 3: a lot of things that can go wrong, that can

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Speaker 3: go out of your control. So what is it about

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Speaker 3: you that makes you a little bit of a massachist

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Speaker 3: that wants to do this for a living.

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Speaker 1: It's notuch a great way to describe it.

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Speaker 4: I love that so part in the pond, but it

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Speaker 4: is a beautiful marriage of using both the business side

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Speaker 4: of my brain and the creative and also working with people,

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Speaker 4: which I get to do all three of those things

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Speaker 4: when doing weddings, which is I would say most of

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Speaker 4: what we do, but also pretty big social events and

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Speaker 4: some corporate events as well.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so you just just a natural love for this stuff. Yeah, it's.

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Speaker 4: A blessing and a curse. It's incredibly stressful, but it's

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Speaker 4: incredibly rewarding.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I can imagine, you know, when you see the

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Speaker 3: end result of all that planning, you're just like, Okay,

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Speaker 3: this is why I do it, because these are lifelong

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Speaker 3: memories that you're creating for people.

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Speaker 4: Totally, And in the past couple of days, I've had

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Speaker 4: the realization that it's not only about helping customers and clients,

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Speaker 4: but it's also giving business to my creative partners, and

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Speaker 4: that is a really surprise rewarding factor of what I do.

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Speaker 4: Being able to support other small businesses. It's even more rewarding,

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Speaker 4: I think sometimes than like helping clients.

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Speaker 3: It's the ripple effect that you don't actually realize you're

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Speaker 3: creating when you start a business. It's just so much

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Speaker 3: impact goes around one hundred percent. So was this always

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Speaker 3: the original vision? Did you imagine that you'd be spending

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Speaker 3: your life helping people create these lifelong memories?

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Speaker 4: So for like a minute, I wanted to be a buyer,

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Speaker 4: Like I went to fashion school.

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Speaker 1: How nice.

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Speaker 4: And then I did an internship in a basement of

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Speaker 4: New York City and I was like in front of

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Speaker 4: a spreadsheet and I was like.

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Speaker 1: This is awful.

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Speaker 4: No put me with people, which is ironic now because

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Speaker 4: I do spend a lot of time in front of

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Speaker 4: spreadsheets working out budgets anyway.

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Speaker 1: But it's on my own terms. I get both.

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Speaker 4: I get to do the budgeting spreadsheet, but I also

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Speaker 4: get to work with really great clients and really great

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Speaker 4: creative partners.

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Speaker 2: That's amazing, Alexa. Now I've seen the website. The website

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Speaker 2: looks incredible. Your branding is excellent. But I'm pretty sure

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Speaker 2: your company was called something else. So what led you

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Speaker 2: to change the name of your business? And when did

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Speaker 2: you realize that your name should be the name of

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Speaker 2: your business.

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Speaker 1: That's a great question.

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Speaker 4: So it was Long Aisle Events, which was a nod

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Speaker 4: to my background of growing up on Long Island, and

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Speaker 4: then I felt like it was a little too kitchy.

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Speaker 4: I always knew I wanted to move into the luxury market,

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Speaker 4: and I just didn't feel like the clients were going

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Speaker 4: to connect with that sort of branding. So I just

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Speaker 4: changed it to my name, because when potential clients call

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Speaker 4: or email me, I'm the one that's answering. It's not

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Speaker 4: this like giant conglomerate of wedding planners. It's me in

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Speaker 4: my office, and I'm the one that's there throughout the

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Speaker 4: entire planning process, as well as first one there on

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Speaker 4: the wedding and event day and the very last one

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Speaker 4: to leave. And I just felt like naming the business

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Speaker 4: after my own name would be a total better representation

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Speaker 4: of that.

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Speaker 2: I think that makes a lot of sense. We've talked

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Speaker 2: with a handful of small business owners so far in

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Speaker 2: this season, and naming a business is something that is

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Speaker 2: probably the hardest thing to do, and so kind of

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Speaker 2: having this perspective of understanding the client tele who you

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Speaker 2: want to attract with this name, who you think is

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Speaker 2: going to resonate with that name, as well as how

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Speaker 2: to best represent yourself, I think is a really hard

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Speaker 2: thing to balance, and you must have nailed it obviously

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Speaker 2: with this new name.

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Speaker 4: It also doesn't hurt that there's the Alexa electronic. I

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Speaker 4: don't play into it too much, but like Alexa planned

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Speaker 4: my wedding is a really easy thing for people to

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Speaker 4: connect with. Or if I'm on the phone with a

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Speaker 4: new potential client and they're like hey, Alexa, and then

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Speaker 4: they're like, thing is going off in the background, it

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Speaker 4: then is an easy way to create rapport and get

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Speaker 4: people to relax. So that's a nice, fun little aspect,

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Speaker 4: unexpected aspect as well.

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Speaker 3: So tell me about getting that first job as Alexi

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Speaker 3: critics events, how did that feel? And kind of give

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Speaker 3: us a timeline too, because I think one thing that

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Speaker 3: happens for a lot of small business owners is they

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Speaker 3: don't necessarily understand like how long it takes to get

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Speaker 3: that first gig.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely, So when I moved to Tampa, I was working

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Speaker 4: in a super high volume catering company, so I was

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Speaker 4: getting my business started working at this high volume catering company,

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Speaker 4: still getting to do what I am used to doing,

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Speaker 4: working catering, working at weddings, working at events, while also

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Speaker 4: starting my business. And then at one point I was like,

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Speaker 4: I don't need this job anymore.

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Speaker 1: I have enough.

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Speaker 4: Business where my day job is getting in the way

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Speaker 4: of growing my business. I knew when I was going

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Speaker 4: to give my two weeks, and they actually came to

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Speaker 4: me and they were like, hey, we see that, like

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Speaker 4: something is.

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Speaker 1: Going on with you. Are you gonna be spending the

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Speaker 1: fall with us anymore?

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Speaker 4: And I'm like, no, you beat me to it, Like

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Speaker 4: I actually am giving my two weeks in two weeks,

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Speaker 4: but consider this my four week notice. I will not

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Speaker 4: be moving forward. And they were super understanding. They knew

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Speaker 4: they could see that, like I was finishing my job

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Speaker 4: that was a forty hour work week in like twenty

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Speaker 4: five hours, and the rest of my time, every other

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Speaker 4: waking second I was working.

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Speaker 1: On my business. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I had a pretty similar experience in the sense I

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Speaker 3: think my boss knew I was like mentally checked out, yep,

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Speaker 3: and called me into a meeting was like, so I

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Speaker 3: heard your quitting.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, you know what, Actually, yeah, I am consider

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Speaker 1: this my school, yaste is.

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Speaker 3: I think it's you know, once you got that one

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Speaker 3: foot out the door, you kind of just give this

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Speaker 3: new energy because you just know what's coming and you're

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Speaker 3: doing that quiet quitting thing that so many people talk about.

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Speaker 1: Before it was before it like had an age. Yeah.

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Speaker 4: The other thing I was doing was I was taking

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Speaker 4: awful lot and that's because I was freelancing for a

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Speaker 4: lot of other luxury wedding planners.

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Speaker 1: So that was another way that.

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Speaker 4: I was able to get really great exposure to the

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Speaker 4: luxury market with multiple days of setup working on a

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Speaker 4: really big team. And I didn't want to not have

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Speaker 4: those opportunities, so.

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Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, time to go.

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Speaker 3: Once the day job starts getting in the way of

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Speaker 3: the business, that's when you know, yep, can you.

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Speaker 2: Talk more about how you found those freelance jobs, because

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Speaker 2: I feel like a lot of small business owners start

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Speaker 2: in a very similar sort of strategy. Right. It's like,

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Speaker 2: I'm weirdly passionate about this very specific thing, and so

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Speaker 2: I'm going to go, you know, freelance or work as

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Speaker 2: an intern or do something and not to get more

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Speaker 2: exposure to this idea. And then as this passion takes hold,

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Speaker 2: and begin to form a business around it. I quit

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Speaker 2: my job and go all in on that. So how

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Speaker 2: did you really execute on that strategy for yourself?

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Speaker 1: I started cold emailing good for you. Just say good

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Speaker 1: for you. Hi, my name is Alexa. This is what

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Speaker 1: I do.

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Speaker 4: I'm that you have a lot of events that you

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Speaker 4: need extra hands for. I'm not another employee. You don't

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Speaker 4: have to pay a salary, you don't have to pay benefits.

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Speaker 4: Here's my day rate. These are the other planners that

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Speaker 4: I've worked with, And once I started to work with one,

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Speaker 4: then that was all the clout that I needed to

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Speaker 4: get all of the other ones on board. So I

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Speaker 4: just needed to do a little name drop in some

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Speaker 4: of those cold emails and I was in.

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Speaker 1: It was easy.

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Speaker 2: That's amazing. Now. An often understated thing about the event

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Speaker 2: and wedding planning industry is how much of a visual

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Speaker 2: industry it is, from designing the layouts and the venues

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Speaker 2: to having competitive marketing and branding. So can you talk

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Speaker 2: a bit about how you balance the creative and the

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Speaker 2: logistical right, how are you designing the logos and the

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Speaker 2: website and do on that fun stuff while also filing

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Speaker 2: the LLC paperwork? And the tax forms and everything in between.

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Speaker 4: So in the beginning, I definitely knew what my strengths

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Speaker 4: and my weaknesses were as far as what I.

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Speaker 1: Was able to manage on my own and what.

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Speaker 4: I needed to outsource as far as getting the business started.

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Speaker 4: So when I got started, for or the legal part

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Speaker 4: of it, I used legal Zoom. When I was getting

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Speaker 4: ready to do the creative side of it, I tapped

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Speaker 4: into graphic designers. And one of the things that nobody

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Speaker 4: tells you also in your starting a business is that

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Speaker 4: not one person does all of the things. So you

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Speaker 4: have somebody who makes all of the branding, then you

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Speaker 4: have somebody else who does all of the website, and

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Speaker 4: then you have someone else who does the copy.

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Speaker 1: And that's such a.

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Speaker 4: Learning curve of knowing who to hire for what all

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Speaker 4: of those different things are was a little bit stressful

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Speaker 4: at first, but you know, get through it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's definitely a trial and error situation. You're not

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Speaker 3: always going to end up going with the first vendor

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Speaker 3: the first software, right, You kind of have to find

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Speaker 3: the thing that works for you.

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Speaker 2: And earlier, Alex So you mentioned how being in this

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Speaker 2: industry allows you to sort of marry your left side

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Speaker 2: of your brain and the right side of the brand.

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Speaker 2: Talk to me about how you went and really began

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Speaker 2: to design this first venue and sort of laid it

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Speaker 2: out from scratch to show someone sure.

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Speaker 4: So when clients like walk into a ballroom for the

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Speaker 4: first time, it's an empty space and most people are visual,

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Speaker 4: so they can't imagine you have this empty ballroom and like,

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Speaker 4: what are we putting in it? How are we going

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Speaker 4: to make this into what I see on the internet?

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Speaker 4: What I actually still do now is just a two

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Speaker 4: D floor plan.

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Speaker 1: But with the development of AI.

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Speaker 4: We're able to make it a little bit easier for

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Speaker 4: clients to be able to see the potential of what

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Speaker 4: their events are able to look like in a way

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Speaker 4: that like ten years ago, we weren't able to do that.

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Speaker 2: It's amazing.

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Speaker 3: So we already know owning and running a business requires

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Speaker 3: a lot of work. There's some really great platforms that

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Speaker 3: make that necessary work easier. So, for example, into a

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Speaker 3: Quick Books uses AI power tools to help their user

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Speaker 3: track revenue that comes in expenses, going out marketing costs,

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Speaker 3: payroll and all the other things that we have to

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Speaker 3: manage as entrepreneurs. So that you have more time to

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Speaker 3: focus on the creative aspects of your business, and they

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Speaker 3: also auto generate invoice emails so that you don't have

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Speaker 3: to remember to send those out. How have you personally

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Speaker 3: found AI to be helpful in managing your daily task

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Speaker 3: as an entrepreneur?

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Speaker 4: So what's great about it is that when clients come

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Speaker 4: to us, they see one events that have already taken place,

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Speaker 4: as well as AI generated images. So it's nice to

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Speaker 4: be able to balance those two and also say, Okay,

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Speaker 4: so this is something that is real and feasible, it

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Speaker 4: has happened before, versus something that's AI generated, like an

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Speaker 4: entire tablescape set up in the middle of a pond.

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Speaker 4: Practically that's a nightmare for anybody to execute. So it's

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Speaker 4: nice to be able to say, okay, that was AI generated.

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Speaker 4: That is absolutely not going to happen in the real world.

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Speaker 4: But this is something else that is real or that

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Speaker 4: can be executed that was created by AI. And it's

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Speaker 4: nice to be able to manage expectations from that perspective.

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Speaker 1: Can you share some of the tools that you're using.

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Speaker 1: I do use into a.

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Speaker 4: Quick books I have from the very start to help

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Speaker 4: manage all of our invoicing, bookkeeping, so they make it

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Speaker 4: really easy to every day I just go in and

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Speaker 4: log all of our transactions.

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Speaker 1: So you're personally doing that. Oh, I personally do it myself. Wow,

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Speaker 1: good for you. Yeah. Yeah.

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Speaker 4: When it comes to like the tax time, I let

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Speaker 4: the pros take over, but into a QuickBooks makes it

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Speaker 4: so easy that every day, at the end of the

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Speaker 4: day I can just say, Okay, I can do my

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Speaker 4: categories of what it is.

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Speaker 1: I'm checking on our p and ls for the week,

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Speaker 1: for the month, for.

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Speaker 4: The year to see what we need to forecast what

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Speaker 4: else we need to do for the rest of the year.

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Speaker 3: So it's really easy from that perspective, it's great. Any

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Speaker 3: other tools that are your favorite. Right now in the

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Speaker 3: AI space.

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Speaker 4: We're using Canva to create design decks for client and

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Speaker 4: they have an integrated AI system, which someone who's for me,

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Speaker 4: I'm pretty new to it, so they make it really

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Speaker 4: easy to seart to integrate learning AI, as well as

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Speaker 4: having things like remove the background of this photo so

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Speaker 4: I can then insert it into what my clients have

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Speaker 4: in mind.

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Speaker 1: That's awesome.

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Speaker 3: I think those types of tools make it easier to

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Speaker 3: create really engaging content then can convey the message that

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Speaker 3: you want to your client, which is they want to

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Speaker 3: envision what it is that's in your head. And so

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Speaker 3: any time you have the opportunity to take advantage of

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Speaker 3: those tools, I think that's a move.

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Speaker 4: And also if they change their mind, which clients do

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Speaker 4: every second, it's really easy for me to just be

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Speaker 4: able to type in like blue linen instead of white,

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Speaker 4: and like boom, it's it's changed.

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Speaker 1: I love it.

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Speaker 3: I don't know how we got along in like business

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Speaker 3: without AI tools. At this point, I feel like I'm

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Speaker 3: very codependent.

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Speaker 4: It's also really great for writing difficult emails too, because

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Speaker 4: the clientele that we work with, they are spending six

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Speaker 4: figures on their events. And when we get emails for

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Speaker 4: clients and everybody has.

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Speaker 1: A budget, we always respect what it is. AI.

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Speaker 4: If I type in to say like, hey, these are

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Speaker 4: the budgets that we normally work with, I'm really sorry

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Speaker 4: we're not going to be the right fit. AI is

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Speaker 4: able to make it sound a little bit warmer because also,

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Speaker 4: like there's no body language, there's no tone when you're

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Speaker 4: writing emails.

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Speaker 1: So AI is able to give it a little bit.

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Speaker 4: This is ironic to say a little more of a

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Speaker 4: personal a little bit more of a personal feeling when

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Speaker 4: delivering a little bit harder news.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes sense.

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Speaker 2: Coming up on Mind the Business small business success stories.

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Speaker 4: Everybody is so busy, so sometimes I have that self

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Speaker 4: feeling of like I don't want to bother this person

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Speaker 4: to help me with this thing, but like I can

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Speaker 4: bother the AI.

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Speaker 1: They're never going to complain.

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Speaker 2: We'll be right back. Welcome back to Mind the Business. Now.

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Speaker 2: Something I'm really curious about is how AI perhaps has

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Speaker 2: maybe helped you generate even more revenue, because if I

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Speaker 2: were you, I'm saying, Okay, I've got this really cool

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Speaker 2: tool that every time I sit down with a new client,

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Speaker 2: I can help them just bring their dreams to life

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Speaker 2: and show them how much cooler it would be if

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Speaker 2: they could, you know, maybe up their budget to this

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Speaker 2: and really show them what that looks like.

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Speaker 1: Definitely, because there's trust there then.

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Speaker 4: So if there are people who have a hard time

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Speaker 4: envisioning what something's going to look like, if we use

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Speaker 4: AI and say hey, here's where your money is going,

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Speaker 4: this is what you're spending all of this money on,

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Speaker 4: then they're way more likely.

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Speaker 1: To go ahead and invest in it.

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Speaker 4: So I think I've seen it a little bit, but

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Speaker 4: the potential for it is I think really great.

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Speaker 1: At this point.

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Speaker 2: That's amazing because I'm not a very visual person. So

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Speaker 2: if I was sitting down with the wedding planner or

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Speaker 2: a big event planner, and to your point, I walked

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Speaker 2: into the ballroom and it was completely empty, I would

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Speaker 2: just have no idea what it would turn out and

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Speaker 2: look like. And so being able to lean on AI

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Speaker 2: for that I think is really important. How has AI

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Speaker 2: helped transform maybe the way that you run the processes

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Speaker 2: of your business and onboard new clients.

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Speaker 4: I think because there's essentially no limit with AI that

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Speaker 4: I still like to go to the client first. So

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Speaker 4: I still like to go through the process of asking

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Speaker 4: them what they like, what they've seen, their likes, their dislikes,

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Speaker 4: and then use AI to help them maybe also recognize

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Speaker 4: something that like they don't realize that they want. In

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Speaker 4: another sense, for our creative partners, I think it also

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Speaker 4: helps them if there's something that they've never done before.

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Speaker 4: There's such an opportunity for uniqueness to then be able

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Speaker 4: to go to a vendor partner, creative partner and say, hey,

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Speaker 4: I generated this in AI. Is this something that you

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Speaker 4: can make happen in real life. So the potential also

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Speaker 4: for doing something really customized, really unique, really high design

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Speaker 4: is also there, which I love too, because I really

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Speaker 4: love to create unique designs for our clients. We're not

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Speaker 4: just like copying and pasting exact things.

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Speaker 2: One of my favorite phrases as it relates to AI

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Speaker 2: is not going to take your job. The person who

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Speaker 2: knows how to use AI better than you is going

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Speaker 2: to take your job. And so you're using AI to

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Speaker 2: help sell people on this vision of the event, the

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Speaker 2: visuals everything to help them, you know, visualize what the

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Speaker 2: heck's going to go on on your specific wedding day.

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Speaker 2: The person who knows how to use it to their

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Speaker 2: advantage to help sell their products or their services in

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Speaker 2: a more intimate manner, I think we'll probably have that

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Speaker 2: extra edge, which seems like that's what you're doing.

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Speaker 4: And it also allows me to then have more of

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Speaker 4: these human moments, more of these personal moments, because I'm

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Speaker 4: not spending so much time figuring out how to show

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Speaker 4: my clients what this is going to look like because

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00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,639
Speaker 4: AI is doing it so quickly, So if I have

447
00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,959
Speaker 4: help on the technical part of it, I am getting

448
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,000
Speaker 4: to spend more of my time on the personal part.

449
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,320
Speaker 3: That makes a lot of sense. And I think when

450
00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,879
Speaker 3: AI first started becoming a little bit more mainstream, a

451
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,960
Speaker 3: lot of entrepreneurs were kind of like intimidated by it

452
00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,200
Speaker 3: or maybe even scared by it because of the implications of, oh,

453
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:45,560
Speaker 3: is it going to replace me? I find it really

454
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,639
Speaker 3: interesting that you've actually like embraced the technology versus kind

455
00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,880
Speaker 3: of shying away from it. Sometimes there's so much going

456
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,160
Speaker 3: on in here that when you can have something assist

457
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,120
Speaker 3: you to get the task done, it's like, why wouldn't

458
00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:57,720
Speaker 3: you want to use that?

459
00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,399
Speaker 4: And everybody is so busy, So sometimes I have that

460
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,520
Speaker 4: self feeling of like I don't want to bother this

461
00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:04,760
Speaker 4: person to help me with this thing, but like I

462
00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:05,720
Speaker 4: can bother the AI.

463
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:10,600
Speaker 1: They're never going to complain. That's great. The AI was

464
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,240
Speaker 1: such a millennial thing to say.

465
00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:14,280
Speaker 3: So there's so much data that you can gather from

466
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,399
Speaker 3: into a quick books that lets you then plan that

467
00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:18,679
Speaker 3: next phase of your business. Can you tell us about

468
00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:19,760
Speaker 3: what that looks like for you?

469
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:24,679
Speaker 4: So the way that into a QuickBooks makes it easy

470
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:28,520
Speaker 4: to see what I'm categorizing each one of my expenses are.

471
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,600
Speaker 4: Then lets me know, Okay, I didn't really invest that

472
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,480
Speaker 4: much in advertising and marketing last year. Maybe if we

473
00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,200
Speaker 4: invest a little bit more this year, we'll see more growth.

474
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:40,640
Speaker 2: Yeah.

475
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,760
Speaker 3: I think that high level view really helps you make

476
00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,720
Speaker 3: those strategic decisions without getting caught in the weeds, which

477
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,000
Speaker 3: is very easy to visualize, Oh we might be spending

478
00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,120
Speaker 3: too much money here, or maybe we're not investing.

479
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:54,800
Speaker 4: Enough absolutely, like where has all of the income that

480
00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:56,680
Speaker 4: we've made? Like where is it going? Am I using

481
00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,200
Speaker 4: it wisely? Am I taking enough of it home? Also,

482
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,560
Speaker 4: because that's important too. It's not about how much you make,

483
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:02,560
Speaker 4: it's about how much you keep.

484
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:04,800
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I'm always shocked at looking at my p and

485
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:06,720
Speaker 3: l'ms like, we really made that much.

486
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 1: But we also spent this month? What is happening? What's

487
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:10,320
Speaker 1: good to know?

488
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:12,760
Speaker 2: Some of the smum business owners we've talked to this

489
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,560
Speaker 2: season have talked about how challenging it can be sometimes

490
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,080
Speaker 2: to find the right people that you want to hire

491
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:22,159
Speaker 2: and work with. Can you maybe share your experience with

492
00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,520
Speaker 2: finding the right hires and training them and making sure

493
00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,480
Speaker 2: that they align well with what you're building and follow

494
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:29,160
Speaker 2: these processes?

495
00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:30,159
Speaker 1: Sure?

496
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:35,720
Speaker 4: Other wedding planners are the best help, because one there

497
00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,400
Speaker 4: is enough business to go around here in the Tampa area.

498
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,399
Speaker 4: It's really important to me the wedding community that I

499
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,560
Speaker 4: have other planners that I'm friendly with. It's not a

500
00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,560
Speaker 4: competition thing because they are really great when it comes

501
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:54,119
Speaker 4: to like needing their help. So that is something that

502
00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:57,199
Speaker 4: I really feel strongly about. As well as when it

503
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,920
Speaker 4: comes to finding help for office things behind the scenes.

504
00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 4: I know what my expectations are for our clients, like

505
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 4: what their experiences, and then being able to put that

506
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,240
Speaker 4: down on paper and then look for those same qualities

507
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:16,199
Speaker 4: in someone else when looking for an assistant that I

508
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,480
Speaker 4: know my strong points, I want them to have some

509
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:21,719
Speaker 4: of the same. But also if there are things that

510
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,240
Speaker 4: I'm not great at, it's amazing to have someone else

511
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:25,840
Speaker 4: who has those sort of qualities as well.

512
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:27,760
Speaker 2: I think it makes a ton of sense, right, higher

513
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,320
Speaker 2: tier weaknesses. And then also something I've heard more recently

514
00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 2: is slump business owners going out and to your point

515
00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,479
Speaker 2: hiring other freelance kind of like what you did before, right,

516
00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 2: you were very a self starter, so not a freelancer.

517
00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:42,919
Speaker 2: So I've heard a lot of success stories around that

518
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,720
Speaker 2: strategy as it comes to hiring and bringing on team

519
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,720
Speaker 2: members that have that self started mentality. As well.

520
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,680
Speaker 4: Yeah, the wedding community here in Tampa is really wonderful,

521
00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,879
Speaker 4: So it's been really easy to grow that network of

522
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,879
Speaker 4: other planners who I can call just for if I

523
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,280
Speaker 4: need advice as well as Hey, I have a really

524
00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:04,120
Speaker 4: big event I need like a team.

525
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:04,680
Speaker 1: Of five of us.

526
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,159
Speaker 4: If you guys are free, I would really love to

527
00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:08,160
Speaker 4: have you on board with me.

528
00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:08,560
Speaker 1: For the day.

529
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:11,840
Speaker 3: I think that speaks to the strength of the entrepreneurial

530
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:13,440
Speaker 3: community here in Florida.

531
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:15,480
Speaker 2: So you've been in the game now for about ten

532
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 2: years plus. What was going on before with the freelancing.

533
00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:21,440
Speaker 2: What would you tell the Alexa ten years ago that's

534
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,840
Speaker 2: just getting started, who's really excited about building this and

535
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,399
Speaker 2: taking this new chapter of her life to the next level.

536
00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:31,480
Speaker 4: Well, one that it gets wilder than you could ever imagine,

537
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:36,080
Speaker 4: first of all, and second of all, to be patient

538
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,000
Speaker 4: and be kind throughout it. I think those are the

539
00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:43,680
Speaker 4: kindness part has really gotten me to this point, because

540
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:47,720
Speaker 4: you don't get anywhere by having an attitude being.

541
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:48,439
Speaker 1: Nasty to someone.

542
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:51,200
Speaker 4: Emotions are high, there's a lot going on at super

543
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,600
Speaker 4: fast piece, but that's the one thing that I always

544
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,879
Speaker 4: remember at the end of the day, Like just kindness

545
00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:58,080
Speaker 4: is always number one.

546
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,679
Speaker 2: I think it makes a tonest and so I'm right

547
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 2: there with you. Right if you do good business and

548
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,480
Speaker 2: even if you aren't the right fit for the customer

549
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,280
Speaker 2: at that time, and you recommend them to maybe a

550
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 2: competitor that you've vetted and you know is also a

551
00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:15,639
Speaker 2: trusted event planner, that experience of the customer saying, Okay,

552
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:17,639
Speaker 2: I wasn't the right fit for this person. I had

553
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,879
Speaker 2: a great experience over here because they trusted me to

554
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,359
Speaker 2: go over there. Now I trust Alexa because Alexa is

555
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,639
Speaker 2: always going to have my best interest in mind.

556
00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:26,240
Speaker 1: Totally.

557
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,399
Speaker 3: What is your favorite kind of event to plan? This

558
00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:32,880
Speaker 3: is like choosing your favorite child.

559
00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:38,439
Speaker 4: Yeah, so they're really tough. But private home events, Oh,

560
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:39,960
Speaker 4: is that becoming more popular?

561
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 1: It is.

562
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,800
Speaker 4: We do quite a bit of private homes private estates

563
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:49,119
Speaker 4: because they are so unique and everyone is so different.

564
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,120
Speaker 1: It's not like the same four walls of a ballroom.

565
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:57,200
Speaker 4: It's an entire property and there's so much more opportunity

566
00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:58,120
Speaker 4: for customization.

567
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 1: So they're really tough.

568
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,879
Speaker 4: No one realizes how putting one hundred and fifty people

569
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,800
Speaker 4: in your house for eight hours and they need to

570
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 4: be fed, and they need restrooms and they need lighting,

571
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,560
Speaker 4: and they need somewhere to sit, and they need water

572
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 4: and food.

573
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:14,720
Speaker 1: But I love that challenge. It's really fun.

574
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,040
Speaker 3: One hundred and fifty people in my house that sounds

575
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:18,280
Speaker 3: like the stuff of nightmares.

576
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:22,439
Speaker 2: I could probably fit maybe twelve.

577
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, ye, people are going to be That's really cool though,

578
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,120
Speaker 3: because I think it just adds like another personal touch

579
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,160
Speaker 3: to an event when you're like literally welcoming people into

580
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 3: the space that you call home.

581
00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:35,480
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and that's why we do it.

582
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,520
Speaker 4: Over the summer, we did a big tended wedding at

583
00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 4: a property in Michigan, and that was exactly what they wanted.

584
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,720
Speaker 4: Was the bride's childhood home, and they wanted to welcome

585
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,840
Speaker 4: all of their guests there or back because it's friends

586
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:52,959
Speaker 4: and family, so they've probably been there before. But to

587
00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 4: be able to celebrate such a huge milestone in the

588
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,840
Speaker 4: home that the bride grew up in, the bride's parents

589
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,000
Speaker 4: obviously still live there is really special.

590
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,640
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it's like making me teery eyes. That's

591
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:03,119
Speaker 1: so cool.

592
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:07,399
Speaker 2: That is so special. Yeah, if you could pick a

593
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:12,520
Speaker 2: favorite event or wedding that you have planned or thrown

594
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,040
Speaker 2: to date, does anything come to mind?

595
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,840
Speaker 4: So one of my favorite events that I planned was

596
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:22,920
Speaker 4: for a client who absolutely loves the Grinch, so we

597
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:28,440
Speaker 4: turned her home into Whoville. So I took inspiration from

598
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,960
Speaker 4: both the nineteen sixties version with like the big pink

599
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,240
Speaker 4: archway entering into Whovill. We did that at like the

600
00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:39,480
Speaker 4: archway of her home. We had the big wonky Christmas trees.

601
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 4: We had the best Grinch I have ever seen. The

602
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,359
Speaker 4: clients were like, we went to Universal a couple of

603
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 4: weeks after our event, and our Grinch at the party

604
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,320
Speaker 4: was better than the theme park Grinch. And I was like,

605
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,159
Speaker 4: that's how I know I've done my job right. And

606
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 4: it's a party that like I'll meet people for the

607
00:27:57,960 --> 00:27:59,439
Speaker 4: first time and they'll be like, oh, you did that

608
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:00,359
Speaker 4: Grinch park right.

609
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,280
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, that was me. It's my claim to fame,

610
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:05,879
Speaker 1: the Grunch Party. It's like one of those things you

611
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:08,400
Speaker 1: never knew you needed. Yeah, exactly.

612
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:10,840
Speaker 4: And that's the fun part about doing this as a

613
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:15,080
Speaker 4: career two is like most of these events it's like,

614
00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:17,240
Speaker 4: do you need any of this? No, But the people

615
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,480
Speaker 4: who have the money to spend on it, they go

616
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:21,680
Speaker 4: above and beyond and it's really great.

617
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:23,600
Speaker 1: Wow, I mean, good for you.

618
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, There's something about an event that like when it's

619
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,920
Speaker 3: done right, this is something people talk about forever, so

620
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:33,520
Speaker 3: it leaves a mark. I am very excited to potentially

621
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 3: one day go to one of your events, but they

622
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:37,119
Speaker 3: sound spectacular.

623
00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:39,320
Speaker 1: Thank you. We want to wish you so much success,

624
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:40,840
Speaker 1: and thank you so much for being here. Thank you

625
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:41,560
Speaker 1: so much for having me.

626
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:50,680
Speaker 2: It was a pleasure, Denise. I had such a great

627
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,680
Speaker 2: time learning from Alexa. What are some of your biggest takeaways?

628
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,200
Speaker 3: I really love the fact that she has embraced AI's

629
00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,080
Speaker 3: this new technology, right. I think a lot of folks

630
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,920
Speaker 3: are intimidated by it, especially if they don't understand how

631
00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:03,479
Speaker 3: you can utilize it as a business owner. So I

632
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 3: just love that she jumped in, she's using it to

633
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,840
Speaker 3: her advantage, and she's also open to continuing to use

634
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,040
Speaker 3: new tools as they come about to continue to make

635
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 3: the solopreneur life.

636
00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 1: Just a little bit easier.

637
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:17,080
Speaker 2: How about you, Austin, I'm right there with you. AI

638
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 2: tools all about them, I love them. But I think

639
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:24,360
Speaker 2: my biggest takeaway was this idea of Alexa freelancing into

640
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,800
Speaker 2: the event planning space before she jumped in headfirst and

641
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:29,960
Speaker 2: quit her job and went all in right. I think

642
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,240
Speaker 2: a lot of small business owners and solopreneurs and even

643
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,280
Speaker 2: entrepreneurs out there, we have these grandiose ideas off, I

644
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 2: want to start this business, or I want to be

645
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 2: this type of entrepreneurs, I want to sell these products,

646
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 2: I want to have these services. But we say those

647
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,960
Speaker 2: things without yet sometimes having even done that in the

648
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,560
Speaker 2: first place. And I think Alexa did a great job

649
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,160
Speaker 2: of freelancing a bit in the industry to get a

650
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 2: foot in the door, and then once she started working

651
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,000
Speaker 2: alongside some of the awesome other event planners in her

652
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:57,200
Speaker 2: space and in her area, she was able to say, Okay,

653
00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,520
Speaker 2: this is something I really like. I think I'm seeing

654
00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:01,160
Speaker 2: some moments. I think I can do this on my

655
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,400
Speaker 2: own and really build a business over the next decade

656
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,480
Speaker 2: doing it. So I think that's just super powerful.

657
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:07,240
Speaker 1: Absolutely.

658
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 3: Well, it's a wrap on this episode of Mind the

659
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,440
Speaker 3: Business Small Business Success Stories. You can find me on

660
00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 3: social media at Joctrodneto podcast.

661
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 2: And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can

662
00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,320
Speaker 2: follow into It QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks.

663
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,880
Speaker 2: To get the tools you need to start, run and

664
00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 2: grow your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today don't.

665
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,680
Speaker 3: Forget to follow this show wherever you listen to podcasts

666
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:31,720
Speaker 3: so you can stay up to date on future episodes.

667
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 2: We also want to hear from you, so be sure

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00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,600
Speaker 2: to leave us a rating and a review. See you

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Speaker 2: next time. Money movement services are provided by Intoit Payments, Inc.

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Speaker 2: Licensed as a money transmitter by the New York State

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Speaker 2: Department of Financial Services.

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Speaker 3: This podcast is a production of iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and

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Speaker 3: Into It QuickBooks. Our executive producer is Molly Sosha, our

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Speaker 3: supervising producer is Nikia Swinton, and our writer is Eric Leja.

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Speaker 2: I had to post production is James Foster, and our

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Speaker 2: mixing engineer is Paul Vitrulen's of Audiography