Episode 7: You started a business... what the hell were you thinking?

hi, Adrian. Hi, Leora. I missed you. I missed you too. Well, we've seen each other. I know. That's totally true. Yeah. I wonder if anybody else missed us. I hope so. I guess we'll find out. People were asking about us. That's true. We've been busy. You started a new job.
I did start a new job. I love it. Good. I'm not in hotels anymore. Yeah. Back to doing what I started doing and catering. Awesome. So that feels great. Running a team, all the things that go along with that. Yes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So I've got lots to say about all that stuff. Gives you good content. Totally. Yeah.
Yeah. We took a hiatus, we started out, just because of the holidays and stuff. , And then life got busy. Yeah. New job for me and. Some personal stuff. Some stuff, yeah. For me, some family things. Yeah. And uh, and, and then it was March. Yeah. And then it was March. We both cut [00:01:00] our hair. We did.
That's probably the most important thing. Awesome. , Okay, so again, , we took some time off during that time. , i've been able to start working with. Some event business owners and helping them with all kinds of stuff and working on that consulting business.
Yeah, that's been cool. But, um, it's given me almost a bank of stuff that they all seem to have similar problems with. Yeah. So when we talked about the next evolution of the show We talked about the original trajectory was to help small event businesses.
Yeah. Being that we, are, are both business minded women. You know, you are working on your MBA. You're almost done. Almost done. I have mine. Woo hoo. So, trying to focus on, on the business side of things, might as well put all that money we spent to good use. Right. I mean. It's gotta do something with it.
Gotta do [00:02:00] something with it. Yeah. So , there was just some reoccurring themes that came through. We're gonna start this new series. We're gonna have fun. We're still gonna do, . Would you rather and bring on cheeky guests, but we're also gonna focus on a series that we're gonna call, I think event Business 1 0 1.
Yeah. Or whatever. You started a business, what were you thinking? I think that's probably, what the fuck were you thinking? You know, it's not too late to bail, just No, no. If we can't help you, maybe. Yeah, exactly. We had a -conversation, about our event business peers and that, , they probably just woke up one day and they were like, holy shit, I have a business.
Yeah. Right. And why they started, Maybe they had a passion for something, creative people, but now all of a sudden they have to file taxes and learn what a p and l is. and they're like, what? When did this happen? Right? Yeah. When did I have to become an expert in all of these things?
Yeah. So that's what we're gonna talk about. We're not gonna teach you what a p and l is. We're not gonna teach you if it's a p and l or whether it's a PNL.[00:03:00]
'cause I know some of you are wondering. but we're. Here to kind of help focus in a little bit on why you got here, where you're trying to go, and how to carve out a path so that you can be successful, and make it a little bit easier along the way. Absolutely. Through this series starting today.
Absolutely. And , your event business, you started it with the best of intentions and somewhere along the lines it became this huge burden. Right? And just huge stressor. and there's probably a few things that you guys can do that can help with that.
And hopefully we can help you out with that. Yeah. A little bit. And maybe have some fun again along the way and tell some stories. Always crack some jokes. Talk a little shit. Talk a little shit. Because that's what we do best. Absolutely. So here we go. Here we go.
leorah_2_10-30-2025_173326: Entry song Do, do. Welcome to, it's just My Face with Adrian and Leora. It's just my face is the after party where event pros get real about the work, the wins, and the what the fuck moments We're gonna be mixing [00:04:00] stories, strategies, and yes, some rants. But we're here to help you grow your business, lead your team, and keep your sanity in this chaotic world we call the event industry.
leorah_3_03-07-2026_122447: So before we get into talking about all nuts and bolts, We need to talk about the high level stuff, why people started their businesses, what are their motivations? What do they believe? How do they set goals for themselves and their business? Mm-hmm. So let's talk about that today.
Okay. Let's do it. Why do you think that? People start businesses. I think there's a few different reasons I think. a lot of you guys are passionate about what you do and what you can contribute. All of you creatives, you take beautiful pictures, you make beautiful music, you have great design aesthetic,
there's some competition in you, you think you can do it better than somebody else? There are those who Planned their sister's weddings and thought, oh, that's easy. I can do that. But none of them are listening to this podcast, so that's okay. Or maybe they evolved, [00:05:00] maybe I'm your optimist. So, yeah, there's those, folks. , And I think there's those who are definite entrepreneurs who, , go into it because they wanna start their own business and they can't imagine working for somebody else. Mm-hmm. , And who definitely, , come from a business background and acumen who.
Know what it takes the rest who have fallen into it. So yeah. That's a smattering of everything. Right? I agree. Yeah. Yeah. Why did you start your business? A few things. So I lost my job and I was. , Given a severance, which was cool. So it gave me a little bit of time. I grew up and my parents were entrepreneurs.
Yeah. , And I got to see their business evolve from, , not making any money to making money. , And I got to see all that firsthand. I was actually their secretary. Oh, fun. In high school. I don't think I ever told you that, but I answered phones. I filed, I made coffee, I greeted the clients. , So I got to see a lot of that.
Yeah. And I started mine because honestly I fell into the, I can do a better [00:06:00] category. Okay. , I was a really good event coordinator, planner. , I came up with creative corporate themes, so I loved all of that. And then I would see online , oh, these people are planning these parties and they're making money.
Like, I can do that too. And I would go to events and I would be like, this is poorly run. Yeah. I can do a better job. , And I know some of my, , photography clients will see photos of. Other photographers and they're like, that's terrible. Yeah. I can do better. Yeah. So, I think event people have a little bit of that fuck you energy, which is nice.
Some of us. Yeah, I think we do. It could be good and bad, but , I think in this case it kind of can help you. Yeah, I really, really admire that. I mean, the times that I've been in between jobs, I've never for a second considered going out on my own to starting my own thing. I do not have.
I, I just find it absolutely terrifying. I actually bet you'd be a lot better at it than you think you would. Now I do. In my younger days, absolutely not. Now I have much more confidence in my ability to do [00:07:00] that, but, uh, no. No. Well, a lot of event people have just, um, blind, uh, optimist, delusional type Yeah.
Mentality. Well, I think for me it's like the sheer responsibility. Yeah. And the lack of safety net is just, um, terrifying. Mm-hmm. And, you know. The not knowing where the next paycheck is coming from and then, you know, if I had employees and how to take care of them, and all of that stuff is just.
Just terrifying. Terrifying is the only word that I have in my vernacular. It's stressful to explain how I feel about having my own business. But do you think some people like that feeling? I guess they do all you chaos. Bitches out there. Chaos bitches. I feel like that needs a hashtag. Chaos. Bitches.
I think it will by the time we're done with it. Yeah, so when Leo and I talked about this subject, we brought this up, this idea that you guys are almost addicted to this level of chaos, Uhhuh. And that means, you know, obviously in [00:08:00] events, they're chaotic. Shit goes sideways. Somebody's gotta be the superhero.
Doesn't matter if it's the photographer, the dj, the coordinator, the catering captain, like someone's gonna step in and fucking save the day. , But then , you continue that mentality into your business. Uhhuh, I'm gonna pull payroll out last minute 'cause that's just what I do. But then that sort of mentality, , you don't create systems and you avoid things you don't wanna do or things that you think you suck at.
'cause you're just gonna live over here in chaos. Now, God again, terrifying. I don't know if it's a point in my life I really liked it. I'm not sure now that I reflect on it. I think I did kind of like it. Did you maybe, because that doesn't seem like you at all. I know I am fairly, , conservative.
I'm a big rule follower. My husband's like, oh my gosh, , you love to follow rules. Yeah. And I'm like, I am a rule follower, but , maybe that's how I get, , I get my rocks off. I don't know. I love being a superhero, but one of my favorite things to do when I ran a sales team was step in and save the day, [00:09:00] which I had to stop my self from doing so that they would learn lessons, but if they were getting yelled at, I'd be like, gimme that fucking phone.
I'm gonna kill this guy. I mean, Adrian, don't get me wrong. What I love about events is our ability to solve problems, right? And I think what makes us smart ass fucking awesome people is that we are. Problem solvers. Sure. And we can solve problem, , like that's awesome. That's what makes us smart.
But this chaos shit constantly is, but you know what's wild is the chaos addicts, but then you also talk to them and , another motivation we see is that they want a life. Yeah. Yes., They want to be able to work. Not full time and take vacations and hang out on yachts like they want a life.
Right. Oh, well that was the other big motivation I was gonna say, but I think a lot of people started their own business is because they want work, life balance. Sure. And sometimes you gotta wonder once their business starts taking off, are they getting that?
Probably not. I know I didn't, , I think that that is, again, maybe a little bit of an optimistic delusion, , that you [00:10:00] think that it's gonna be this one way and it becomes this other nasty kind of dirty machine Yeah. That you built. Yeah, totally. But yeah, you might have gone into it thinking like, oh, hey, I wanna have,
that work life balance. I wanna be able to have time for kids and vacations and dogs and family. , And now you don't. Yeah. You literally have this beast that you have to keep feeding or it's going to kill you. Yeah.
So I think in order for anybody to make any progress in their business, they have to unfortunately analyze themselves. Meaning . Why they like chaos, or why they believe certain things. Like do you believe that you are type A or type B? I'm Type A. I did not pause before I answered that A, that was a faster response. Yeah. So what I'm getting at is I think therefore I am.
Yes. So I am a creative person. I'm going to push and put all of my energy into being creative 'cause I love it and I feel like I thrive there versus I suck at finance Uhhuh. So meaning do you think if I said that I'm gonna spend any [00:11:00] time. Learning my finances and understanding why I'm not making the money that I wanna make.
I'm gonna avoid that like the plague. 'cause it makes me uncomfortable. Yeah. And it makes me feel like I don't know what I'm doing. And that's a shitty feeling. Totally. So I'm gonna avoid that. I am going to avoid that feeling. I'm gonna hang out over here an extrovert town. Yeah. Versus getting into my, , QuickBooks and understanding what's going on.
You know, it's funny that you say that because now in my career I very much. Thrive in the strategic financial analytics world. And I think back to when I was a child and I hated math, like I did not understand math at all, and I thought that I would spend my life avoiding math at all costs.
Like I was a theater kid. I was in the arts. But I was avoiding math. Because I did not think that I was good enough. Or that I liked it. And then as soon as I started using it within something that I liked and that I found application in, because it [00:12:00] served me and it served what I wanted to do, there it is. It was like, oh, boom. I love spending time in my spreadsheets understanding how numbers serves what I do every day.
Absolutely. And. Math is my jam. I have to do math every day to be successful at my job, and I don't mind it. Superpower unlocked. So what you did there is what everybody kind of needs to do, right? Correct. They need to understand that their quote unquote inadequacies or their skills that they don't think they're very good at.
Like using them, thinking about them in a long-term goal type way that yes, if I know more about X and I'm more comfortable here, this is only going to help me get to here. I can spend more time doing what I love or you know what I mean? So yeah. So you were able to kind of understand that this. Led to that.
Yeah. So that's what everybody really needs to do. Totally. And if you wanna have a big business and you wanna grow a business and you wanna have a team, but you avoid your finances, [00:13:00] those two things are very much not in alignment, right? So they do not support each other. So Adrian, let's get on the therapy couch here first.
And just say, you gotta be self-aware here because you gotta understand where your strengths are, where your weaknesses are, where your perceived weaknesses are. Mm-hmm. And understand what you need to work past in order to be successful in your business and what's holding you back.
Yeah. Because if you think that you are not financially savvy. And that's holding you back, but it's only because you haven't let yourself try. Mm-hmm. Because you're afraid to fail. 'cause you're afraid to fail at it. Yeah. And all you have to do is put in some time and maybe raise your hand and ask for a little help.
Yeah. And then it's not so hard and it becomes something that you can do well then. Boom. Amazing. There's always gonna be stuff that at some point will challenge you. You're gonna wanna stop, , you're gonna have to figure out what's on the other [00:14:00] side to keep yourself pushing through.
. It's, it's a hard thing. Think about other things in your life that you've been really successful at and pull from that. So there's always been something that I'm sure that's challenged you that was difficult, but you were able to move through it somehow. Yeah. There was something that kept you motivated.
You just gotta tap into the same thing here.
. I wonder how many people, when they start their businesses, they start out with goals and ones that are just kind of winging it.
I would imagine that. A lot of people make big goals to start more than small goals to start, like I want to work on my own and work on my own time and go spend most of my time on a yacht. I wanna do three weddings a year and , whew.
Girl. That is a big fucking goal, man. That is a big goal. That is in 20, 25 years, that's a great achievable goal. Right? But year one, probably not. [00:15:00] Probably not. You know? And so , how realistic are people's goals? That's my question. Mm. Yeah, I have definitely created some unrealistic goals in my time, and I think you get caught up and you're like, okay, maybe you had a really good year and you're like, next year I'm gonna crush it.
You know? , You hype yourself up. Yeah. Right. And you create these unrealistic goals. But to your point, they have to be attainable. I think about, , fitness, right? So somebody wants to get in shape, right? And they're over here , okay, 90 days man, I'm gonna get a six pack.
Sure. Right, right. , But very few people do that. , I wanna lose five pounds. Realistic. So then I don't know why in our businesses sometimes we create these crazy goals. That we don't have the structure to support, right? Maybe we don't have the finances to support. If you wanna double X your top line, you better have a lot of fucking money to spend in marketing.
Yeah. Half of me, Adrian is like, but good, [00:16:00] you're setting goals. , Congratulations. At least you've gotten that far because , I get concerned that some people don't set goals. Yeah. I think there's a fair amount of weighing in it going on. Yeah. I think that goes into the chaos. Addict Maybe a little bit.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, um, 'cause setting goals is important. It's good to have a big picture, but setting smart goals is equally as important. And , I mean, smart, the acronym SMART and I mean smart, like common sense intelligence. Smart, right? We gonna teach a workshop, and again, we're not gonna define S-M-A-R-T acronym smart.
Now again, Google that hire us for consulting later i, appreciate . The fly by the seat of the pants people. But yeah, to your point, you do. Yeah. I But do you, because there's a little bit of,, fuck it, I got one life to live energy that sometimes I feel like.
I kind of have, but I'm scared of it. I can appreciate it when I see it in other people. But do you, because it gives me [00:17:00] diarrhea. It gives me anxiety that, you know, there's no plan. There's no focus. But I honestly feel like if, if some of these people could harness that in such a powerful way, they'd be a fucking unstoppable.
They would be the superhero if they make goals. Yeah. So just, you know, put some goals behind your chaos and like imagine what you can achieve. You know, when you put that chaotic energy and you put it in a. Funnel, you know, and you synthesize it. Yeah. And then what could you create? Totally. Yeah. So I think that's more of it.
Like I can appreciate the energy. I just feel like it's gotta be channeled and processed. Uhhuh in a different way. Uhhuh, because yes, like I have created sales goals that have been nuts, you know? And I've also been given sales goals. Ambitious. There are goals. Yeah, exactly. Yes, exactly. Yes. But then like, you know, so what are fair goals?
Yeah. So how many events they do per year. Mm-hmm. So yes, you should set a goal around that every year, right? So if you did 25 last year, maybe your goal this year is [00:18:00] 30, but you have to understand where that five extra five is gonna come from. Right. And if it's attainable to your point, so is there enough demand in the market to support it?
, Your price point? Is it competitive? , Do you have the relationships to support that lift? Right? Right. So all of those things have to go into making just what might seem like a simple goal, but make it, come up with that number and then see if you can support it. That's , what I would suggest you do.
So that's one how much are you charging per event? Oh yeah. Your . Average average revenue per job. Yeah, absolutely. 'cause if you can charge more per event, then you don't need to take as many of the.
So maybe you're going in the opposite direction. Yes. And your weights,- your balance is being skewed in the other direction. So maybe you wanna take less events, but you wanna be charging more and you're trying to change your market share. That's perfect. So yeah, you talked about some of these goals of like partying on yachts and doing less events.
So, yes, over time, maybe your goal is to charge more per job. Mm-hmm. So it's like, what [00:19:00] do you kind of need to jump every year or every season to support that end goal? Right? And do you know your competitors and have you done your secret shopping and all of those things to support that goal. And then we have to be looking at what do we need to be doing on the backend to support whatever that goal is.
To your point, we should be building our businesses to support the vision of our lives, ? So if somebody's vision is to party on yachts and hang out, , and drink champagne all day, that sounds amazing.
, What sort of business, what sort of revenue? What sort of structure? Is it big or small? Is it just you and one other person? And then you should run. And put all your energy towards that, supporting that vision, ? How many new clients do I need? What sort of revenue do I need to generate for those clients? Uh, how many people do I need to support that revenue? So then I would start working into goals that way.
But I think what's super important is coming up with goals that are realistic. Absolutely. I think part [00:20:00] of the Chaos bitch problem is that we're like, oh my God, I'm gonna two x my events this year. I'm not sure how, but it's gonna be fucking amazing. The successful goals have to be realistic. I mean, we can talk about that.
We should definitely be talking about that, but I think that there's many types of goals. There's the overarching goals, the long-term goals. Mm-hmm. 10 year goals. Five year goals, one year goals set at the beginning of the year, and then the shorter terms.
. And so you have to set the shorter term goals , back into the bigger ones. Mm-hmm. So what I mean by that is you want to eventually sit on the yacht. . But then what are the , shorter term goals that are gonna get you there? You want to two x your business? What are the shorter term goals that you're gonna set to get yourself there?
Sure. To do that, you need to hire another person. Right? You need to increase your client base by XX. Sure. Right? You [00:21:00] need to. increase your marketing spend by why you need to do all these other things. Yeah. In order to get to these other goals. Mm-hmm. And I think that's the piece that people miss, is that you have to set small goals to achieve large goals.
So you need to back into them. Yeah. It's the, the science of business is what we're talking about here. You know what I mean? It's , taking these big things and breaking them apart. And I know you have some experience with this, but if anybody wants an extra book to read, it's, traction. Yeah. by Gino Hickman.
and that's what it talks about. It talks about taking these huge goals that you might have. And let's be honest, a goal is just made up. So, but then you have to have the evidence to support that goal. So meaning like, let's say I wanna book five more events this year, nice reasonable number. Mm-hmm. But I have to have the steps, the data, is it a reasonable goal?
And how am I going to achieve that goal? What are the small things I'm gonna do in order to make that happen? and for me, once an entrepreneur gets really excited by the science of their business, [00:22:00] that's normally a big click over. Then they're like, oh shit, here it goes. Then all of a sudden they're not avoiding things they don't wanna do.
They're interested in the finances, they're interested in the really nitty gritty, dirty stuff because it's a, they understand that it's a part of the wheel that supports that big vision. Like if I'm a DMC and I wanna build it to sell, right? Yeah. I wanna sell it someday. I don't wanna fucking work in this business.
Yep. But what I build a business that's so reliant on me as their chief salesperson, right? Absolutely not. I would not, I would build a sales engine that anybody could operate. Right. Because that supported , my end goal. Right? Right. But that's the science of understanding where you're trying to get Right.
And if people can, again, they can click over to that, then it becomes really fun. To me, that was the funnest part of my business, was really breaking down these big things that sounded nuts. Into what you're talking about. Right? And you're like, okay, if we do this every day, imagine where we're gonna be in six months.
Yeah. Holy cow. Whatcha trying to get? [00:23:00] What's the important thing? And this is the interesting thing, just to pull it back to events and like what we're all here to do and how we engage with our clients. And I think this is kind of a good way to close too, is. We have to ask ourselves the same question that we ask our clients.
What do you want this experience to be? Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. What are you here to get out of this? You know, I ask my clients this all the time, what experience do you want to create for your guests? Mm-hmm. What's important to you? Yeah. Right. What are you here to get out of this? Mm-hmm. What's important to you is.
Your lifestyle, your, is it your day to day? You know, is it profitability at the end of the day? Yeah. What is it? Impact? Whatever those things are. What is it? What is it? Name it. Name it. Yeah. And then you have to drive your business towards that. Yep. So if we gave anybody homework today, maybe that's the homework, right?
It's to start there, to start really big, like the vision you have for your [00:24:00] business. What do you want it to feel like? And it might not feel that way today. And that's okay. You know what I mean? Yeah. But , what do you want it to feel like long term? Mm-hmm. What is that day like? Like you said. Yeah. Do you spend your whole day in the field, grinding it out?
'cause maybe you like it. Cool. Do you spend your whole day coaching your team because that's what you like? Cool. , Maybe start there before we get into so much of this other stuff. Yeah. What's the garden that you're growing? Right. Before we start plucking weeds. Totally. That was so beautiful. We're like, what are the weeds?
So this was a fun trip back. It was. So, yeah, I think what you guys can expect from hopefully this new series is again, like we're gonna break apart subjects. A new season, a new season. , Our goal is to keep it super easy.
I think that sometimes. [00:25:00] We're afraid of things 'cause they seem so complex and so hard and so obscure. But our goal is to maybe break down a few things for you guys and make it kind of easy. Yeah. And maybe a few things you can tweak and fix and think about that might help you. We're all really good at overthinking everything.
Yep. So we'll just make it super simple for you, right? So you can stop overthinking your business we'll overthink it for you and then just boil it down. Yeah. You can focus on overthinking all the other stuff in your life. Yeah, but amazing.
I'm gonna get a little cheesy on you guys, which I can be from time to time.
She can. It's true. Despite all the challenges that small business owners face. Like you're here. Like you're doing it. You started it anyways. You beautiful psychopath. Oh, Jesus. So all I'm saying is like sometimes these things can be harsh and shitty, but take a little bit of pride in what [00:26:00] you've done and know that not everybody chooses this road and it's a hard road.
So good job. Thanks, Adrian. You're welcome. Till next time. Till next time. Bye bye.