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058: Adrienna McDermott of Ava & The Bee

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Release Date: 09/25/2024

076: Ali Phillips - Thinking Beyond Your Market show art 076: Ali Phillips - Thinking Beyond Your Market

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi Planners! In this episode, I sit down with the vibrant and adventurous Ali Phillips, Chief Wedding Orchestrator of Engaging Events by Ali. Named one of Chicago’s top wedding planners, Ali shares her journey from a fast-paced career in trucking logistics to becoming a celebrated name in luxury and destination weddings. Ali opens up about: Her adventurous childhood that sparked a love of travel Pivoting careers at 29 after discovering wedding planning by chance The lessons learned from early years navigating the Chicago market Transitioning into the luxury and destination wedding world Her...

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075: Rethinking Your Networking show art 075: Rethinking Your Networking

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi Planners! In today’s episode, I’m diving into the world of networking—but not the stiff, awkward kind that makes you want to turn the car around in the parking lot. This is all about meaningful, energizing, and actually enjoyable connections. I’m sharing how one last-minute decision to show up at a networking event led to a Martha Stewart feature and a dream client—and how shifting my mindset around networking transformed my business (and my attitude). You’ll hear about common mistakes planners make when networking, the power of preparation and follow-up, and how generosity and...

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074: Wedding Content Creation with BTS Bride, Stacey Moran show art 074: Wedding Content Creation with BTS Bride, Stacey Moran

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi Planners! In this episode, I sit down with Stacey Moran, the visionary founder of BTS Bride, a wedding content creation company that’s redefining how couples relive their wedding day. With a background in fashion, beauty, and social media marketing, Stacey launched BTS Bride after recognizing a gap in the wedding industry during her own wedding in 2022. Since then, her team has captured over 150 weddings and received accolades from Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, and beyond. We dive into: The origin and evolution of BTS Bride—from supporting vendors to serving couples directly What it...

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073: Workshop Recap, Template Bundle show art 073: Workshop Recap, Template Bundle

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi Planners! Today, we’re diving into a special topic that I’m so excited to share – a behind-the-scenes look at the Mastering Management Workshop and why coordination is more valuable than many planners realize. If you’re looking to level up your wedding coordination services, streamline your processes, and boost your profits, this episode is for YOU. In this Episode: Why wedding coordination is a valuable service and not just a stepping stone. How coordination can improve your profitability and flexibility as a planner. Highlights from the recent Mastering Management Workshop,...

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072: Fallon Carter & The Importance of Mentorship show art 072: Fallon Carter & The Importance of Mentorship

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi planners, welcome to this week's episode. It's one that is equal parts laughter as it is filled with nuggets of insight. Meet my next guest, Fallon Carter.  Fallon is the founder and creative director of Fallon Carter Events. She has been named one of the top wedding planners in the world by Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Brides Magazine. Fallon is well known for connecting southern hospitality with international luxury.  As you'll hear in this episode, Fallon's journey began after helping a friend with her three-day Paris wedding. Fallon soon fell in love with the organization,...

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071: Green Flag vs. Red Flag Inquiries show art 071: Green Flag vs. Red Flag Inquiries

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi Planners!  Recently I have been getting a lot of questions from planners about streamlining their inquiry process. The pros and cons or offering a few options or more limited options. How to suss out if the client is the right fit and so much more. It got me thinking about one of my favorite topics - the green or red flag system for evaluating if clients are a good fit for you.  So today’s episode is just that. Entitled Green Flag vs Red Flag Inquiries. I’ll walk you through what this process is, how you can adapt it, what an important tool it is and when you should use...

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070: LIVE from the Mastering Management Workshop - Planner Panel Discussion show art 070: LIVE from the Mastering Management Workshop - Planner Panel Discussion

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi planners! Welcome to this week’s episode. I have something special for you and I am really excited to share it. We recorded live the Planner Panel from the Mastering Management workshop. My guests are both returning to the podcast - Christine Garrison owner of CMG Events and Candice Sanders of Engaged Events.  In addition to a great conversation, you can hear a bit about what the conversations are like at our workshops. If you want to learn more about Wedding Management, be sure to be on the lookout for the new Management Template Bundle launching soon!  In this episode:  ...

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069: Let's Talk About Confidence show art 069: Let's Talk About Confidence

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi planners! Today I want to talk about one of the biggest struggles that every planner faces. I want to share with you one of the main reasons planners come to Planner Life Academy. Now these planners might be coaching with me, they might be taking the online course, or they might be attending an in-person workshop. But what seems to be universal when I ask these planners why they are here...one of the most common answers is to improve their confidence. So let's talk about confidence. Let's talk about the steps we know can improve confidence.  In this episode:  Focus on your...

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068: New Year, New Feels show art 068: New Year, New Feels

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi planners, welcome to a solo episode today about the new year and the new feelings that come with it. In this episode: How I push my new year start to February. The steps that I take to reset for this next chapter of life and business. What about the way we get to reset each year.  How when you take the time to reflect and start fresh, you get to improve your personal and professional life in a really meaningful way.   This episode is supported by Planner Life Academy. In case you didn't know, we created Planner Life Academy for planners to have the education, tools and resources...

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067: Holly Gray, 067: Holly Gray, "No Is A complete Sentence"

Planner Life Podcast | A Podcast For Wedding Planners

Hi planners! Meet my next guest, Holly Gray.  Founder and CEO of Anything But Gray Events, Holly Gray is a Los Angeles, California second generation wedding planner and community builder. As you'll learn, Holly is a former stage manager of theater, TV, improv, and she brings a fearlessly theatrical perspective and unique skill set to the event industry.  Holly is known for her use of color, creativity, and bold design aesthetics. Anything but great events weddings look and feel as unique and out of the box as the couples they are crafted for. Holly's work has been featured in Equally...

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More Episodes

My next guest is Adrienna McDermott of Ava And The Bee. As a former wedding professional and current agency owner who has served over 250 vendors around the world, Adrienna is a sought-after thought leader in the world of wedding marketing and strategy. After spending many years as a bridal boutique owner, wedding planner, and florist, she intimately understands the challenges that vendors face in the always-changing digital world and how important it is to stand out from the rest. 

Ava & the Bee, is the in-house marketing studio for wedding professionals ready for inclusive, results-driven marketing that creates freedom in their business and cultivates a client connection and experience before they even speak with you.

In this episode Adrienna shares her story and how she got an early start by leaping into a wedding business and partnership. She shares how an impactful moment in her life led her to shift gears and how Ava and the Bee was born. 

As I am sure you can tell by the guests we have on here, I love experts that are or were formerly planners. I think it’s so helpful for us all to hear their stories and to learn from experts that really understand the unique struggles the wedding industry faces so you have solutions to those challenges as well as the advice and insight into how to improve your business strategies. 

In this episode:

  • Adrienna’s Story
  • Balancing the Client Experience and Business Strategy
  • Reinventing Yourself in the Wedding Industry
  • The Importance of Supportive Wedding Community
  • Starting a Marketing Agency for Wedding Professionals
  • The Importance of a Strong Website
  • Building Trust and Consistent Messaging
  • Advice for Planners at Different Stages
  • Leveraging Your Vendor Network
  • Services Offered by Adrienna's Agency, Ava & the Bee

Connect with Ava and the Bee

Website | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest

DIY Website & Social Media Audit

https://avaandthebee.myflodesk.com/website-audit

 

Today's episode is brought to you by the Planner Life Academy online course. 

What is the most important thing to do when you want to become a successful wedding planner? 

Whether you're just starting out or you're ready to level up, these questions constantly creep in. How can I charge more? How do I book more clients? How can I do this better? This must not be this hard. Everybody else seems to be doing better than me. I've been there.

And I've learned so many things the hard way so that you don't have to. The thing is, the path to overcoming doubt is different for everyone, and you can't Google your way to success. I have done over 900 weddings and events, and I've learned so many ways to improve my customer experience, organization, design skills, and wedding day process. 

And after years of hosting in -person workshops for planners, we created an online course so planners can learn what they need to succeed from the comfort of their own home. 

If you want to do this, you can, and we're here to show you how. 

And this just isn't any wedding planner certification. It's everything I have learned over the last 20 years poured into an easy to learn online course that will teach you how to start your business, implement processes. How to create templates, how to guide your clients through each and every step of planning, how to be a great leader, and more importantly, how to build a great reputation so that you can build a sustainable wedding business. 

The Planner Life Academy online course is 45 topics, over 16 hours of video lessons, and all of our templates to help you make immediate upgrades to your business. 

Friend, please stop doubting that you have what it takes to succeed.

Get everything you need to build your career as a professional wedding planner. 

Visit plannerlifeacademy.com to start today.