The Bridal Boss Behind Wedding Angels Bridal Boutique: Business, Culture & Dresses

[00:00:00] Speaker A: So someone had one baby, I had another. But I got off that plane, I was drenched in sweat. I had gummy bears down my bra. My hair was every which way. I was beat red in the face, and I just wanted to just, like, go lie down in a corner and cry. But the children were angels on the whole flight. And the lady seated behind me said, you're so lucky. They were so good on the plane. And the other lady said, it's seated next to her, turned to her, and she said, there's nothing about this woman that's lucky. She made sure those kids were successful on this flight at the cost of herself. [00:00:48] Speaker B: Welcome back to Riding the Big Wheel, where we delve into the personal and professional journeys of women across the world. Today I have the honor of talking with a truly remarkable entrepreneur, Jackie Westney. She is a former bride and current managing owner of Wedding Angels Bridal Boutique. Yes, you heard that right. Today we're going to talk about the bridal business. What everyone really wants to know, what you need to know, and what makes Jackie so unique and such a successful entrepreneur, how she makes it work from running a business to raising a family, and the importance of doing what you love and loving what you do. Jackie, thank you so much for being here with us today. [00:01:31] Speaker A: It's an honor. I'm so excited. [00:01:33] Speaker B: I know. So am I. And I have a little buddy over here with me. [00:01:36] Speaker A: Yes, you do. This is Pearl. She's very happy to cuddle with you at the moment, but I always say it that she is the vice president of employee morale for Wedding Angels. There we go. Yeah. She travels with me, and she's in whatever boutique I'm in, wherever I am, all over the place in our multiple locations. But she's excited to be on the podcast, too. [00:01:56] Speaker B: I am so excited. [00:01:57] Speaker A: So thanks for letting her nap on you. [00:01:59] Speaker B: Of course. I just love her. So we were having a conversation that. So I have two Jack Russells. [00:02:05] Speaker A: Yes. [00:02:06] Speaker B: And you were talking about Pearl and how, you know, how it's wonderful when our pets, who are really our family. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:02:14] Speaker B: When they're a part of what we do. And I was saying, you know, they appreciate it so much. And you were talking about how much, you know, Pearl brings to your life as well. [00:02:23] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. She is incredible. I mean, she's with me all the time, but she's a. She's an amazing addition to. To the boutiques. And we even, you know, we have brides. And I tell this story all the time. I had a bride. This is a couple years ago now. But I walked out of the back of the boutique into the lobby here in the Atlanta location, and there was this bride sitting in the lobby on the couch having a glass of champagne and petting Pearl. And I said, oh, my gosh, how are you? I thought you got married already. Like, are you. I guess I have my dates mixed up. And she said, oh, no, I did. I got married, like, six months ago, but I just had a really shitty day, and I just wanted to come in here and be with you guys and feel the wedding angels energy and pet Pearl. And I was like, that's it. I mean, that's the business we've created. It's not even a business. It's just a place for people to come and feel supported. And I just. That's. That was, like, such a highlight. And so that's amazing. That's what Pearl does, so. [00:03:14] Speaker B: Wow. [00:03:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:15] Speaker B: Well, Pearl and your energy and who you are, which. We'll get into that. So I wanted to just set a little context. You have a bridal business. Yeah, it's a $70 billion business worldwide. [00:03:26] Speaker A: It is. [00:03:26] Speaker B: And it's like, more than a business. It's like the. The epicenter of emotions, and it's a movement. [00:03:33] Speaker A: It is. [00:03:34] Speaker B: You know, it's just amazing. You have a very successful business here in Roswell, Georgia, and have expanded to Portland, Maine, which is amazing. That in and of itself, yes. [00:03:47] Speaker A: We're bringing our southern hospitality up to New England, so taking New England brides just the same way we do down here in the South. [00:03:53] Speaker B: That's very cool. So we talked about in. In your intro, I made a point of saying that you were a formal bride. [00:04:01] Speaker A: I was a wedding bride. Yes. [00:04:04] Speaker B: Now a managing owner. [00:04:06] Speaker A: Yes. [00:04:06] Speaker B: So let's talk about your journey a little bit. I think it's a great backstory you have. [00:04:11] Speaker A: It's so interesting, people. That's probably the number one question I get is like, how did you get into this business? And, you know, it probably wasn't the best idea, you know, at the beginning, but it's going pretty well now. But I like to say I learned everything that I know by doing it wrong first. But. So I was 24 years old, my husband and I got married. I got my gown at Wedding Angels. It was tiny at the time. It was two employees and two fitting rooms and less than 100 gowns. And now, company wide, we're almost 50 employees. We have over 1600 gowns. We multiple locations and a lot more than two fitting rooms. But I think that I can safely say that the what, the heart of what we do has not changed with our growth, and I think that's something I'm the most proud of. And we talk to our teams every day. And I even tell this to our brides. Like, you know, it's our intention for every single bride of ours to feel like our only bride. [00:05:06] Speaker B: Wow. [00:05:07] Speaker A: And I think that's, I think we're still doing that, so it's, it's a blessing. But, yeah, I, I, I said yes to my dress in 2005 and a whole lot more. Wow. [00:05:17] Speaker B: That is just incredible. [00:05:19] Speaker A: Yeah. So Wedding angels Atlanta is 25 years old this year, but I've owned it for 20 years now. [00:05:23] Speaker B: Oh, congratulations. It's awesome you ended up buying this business and had, so you basically had some kind of vision for what you wanted to do. [00:05:33] Speaker A: I did. I did. But I had no idea how to do it and what it meant. I just knew that long term, my vision and this is very interesting. I think it's because speaks a lot to, to, to how slowly things can develop, and I love to talk to young entrepreneurs about this, is that, you know, you don't have to set your sights on, you know, scaling and launching and, and selling your company for $150 million to a competitor. You just need to be the best at what you're doing every single damn day. And the rest of it kind of comes to you if you're lucky and smart. You have to be both. So. But yeah, I, my only goal when we, when I boug business was to earn enough revenue to make sure that our team could have health insurance and 401k, because I wanted the team that we work with to be able to call this a career. And I saw instantly when I first bought the business that there was this culture of like, okay, this is a fun job for you guys, but, like, you know, your dad paid for college, like, and he's asking you, like, when are you going to get a real job? You know, And I'm like, this is as freaking real as it gets. Like, we're coaching women through, you know, self love at the most important life moment, you know, that you could potentially think of from a garment standpoint. Right? Like, this is one of the most important garments you're ever going to wear. I mean, as a mom said to me so poignantly in one of, in our Portland location, she said, I told my husband, what we spend on this gown is none of his goddamn business, because these are the pictures we're taking to the nursing home. And I said, preach so, but so, so, yeah, it is a grown up job. And so that has, that is what began driving me is I wanted our team, you know, because we have the privilege in this industry and specifically our company of being the first job out of college or in high school as interns for a lot of the people, the women that I work with. And so it was really, that was it. I was just like, let's make sure that, you know, we can give them health insurance and 401k so they can, they can, you know, support themselves in a lifestyle that I'm proud to say I contribute to. And now more than 80% of our leadership team are the breadwinning members of their family. [00:07:56] Speaker B: Oh my gosh. That's amazing. [00:07:58] Speaker A: Sorry. I get emotional. It gives me goosebumps to tell you. [00:08:01] Speaker B: That's so great. I mean, so you answered a question that I was going to ask you, which is the. [00:08:07] Speaker A: This is very like to jump ahead. [00:08:09] Speaker B: Oh, no, you are not an overachiever. I think that you've overstated that one a little bit. But you know, one of the questions I had for you and you're answering it, you think about this business very differently. So when I was in college, I think I may have told you I worked in a bridal shop. [00:08:29] Speaker A: Yes, you did. Yeah. I was so fun. So enjoyed talking to you about that. [00:08:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I loved it. Everyone's so happy. And you're trying on the gowns. Yeah, because we have that other side. But we were also having the funny conversation about, you know, the pink chiffon was coming out at that time too. And I was like, ah, cotton candy. But it was just, you know, when I think about bridal shops and I think about the competition. Right. I think about the chain retail stores that are out there and there's online and other avenues. You know, I, And I think about the hourly employee and what the experience is really like. You just answered a very important question, which is what, what makes you stand out and why are you different? And you said, I mean, one of the. And I want to get more into that. [00:09:15] Speaker A: Sure. [00:09:16] Speaker B: You're gonna talk about why you're. [00:09:17] Speaker A: I can talk about it all day. It's one of my favorite subjects. [00:09:19] Speaker B: I wanna talk about that. And like the first thing is your people. [00:09:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:24] Speaker B: And so they are. [00:09:25] Speaker A: It's the only thing. Yeah, it's all that matters to me. Literally, it's them. Because, you know, as an entrepreneur, you have to learn real fast and real hard. You can't do it by yourself. And so you need to. You need to build a team around you that innately leads the same way you do. And that's something we've worked on really hard over, you know, our scaling years. But yeah, it's, it's, it's the, our team is at the heart of what we do. And I always, I saw, I think maybe I shouldn't even say who quoted. It's a wonderful quote. I can't remember the source, but I think it is Simon Sinek. Now that I'm, I'm confident it is because I'm a super fan. But, yeah, you know, he talks about coaching, you know, executives and talking with CEOs and having them say, you know, he says to them, like, what is your job? And it's. Well, it's to make sure the customer is happy. No, it isn't. It's to make sure your team is happy. So I'm blasting the quote a little bit, but I related to that so deeply because that he just put words to what I do every day. And I coach on that when I speak and when I travel and my mentor, it's truly, I coach other bridal boutiques on that, you know, because these girls are, they're the heart and soul of what we do. And, you know, it's the special connections that they're making with their brides that are making the memories of a lifetime. And so my job is to nurture them and make sure they're supported and they're inspired and that, you know, they're fed. Hospitality is at the heart of everything we do, you know, And I, I realized really early on, you know, you can't ask your team to create an experience for people that they've never had. So one of the very first things I did, and my husband was not amused with it, but he, he got it really quickly. He's. He's a saint for so many reasons. But it was interesting because, you know, he's 12 years older than I am and we had just gotten married and we met in our corporate career and I left Georgia Pacific to buy wedding angels. 24 years old, no experience in retail. Never worked in retail my whole life. I had a degree in biology and my work experience was mostly in fine food industry like Artisan Foods. And I had established distribution with that, so I had a little bit of retail knowledge, but it was all from the supplier side. And then I handled the big box retail accounts at Georgia Pacific, Lowe's, Home Depot. So, I mean, a perfect segue into weddings, right? What the hell? Like, who gave me Money for this. What a. What a bad idea, right? But again, it's going well. But I. The. One of the first things I did was take our whole team, and it had grown enough. It was about 10 people at that point, but I took them all to the spa and, you know, and they had a spa experience, and we couldn't afford it. I mean, absolutely not. The business could not afford it. I put it on a credit card and just figured it out later because I just somehow innately knew that if they didn't have, you know, the full exposure to someone caring for them in the way that I wanted to care for our brides, that it wouldn't be even feasible for them to understand it, because it's. What we do is so emotional. And so for them to have that experience and then turn around, add to it, synthesize it with their own, you know, contributions from their own deep emotional place. And. And so that began a very early tradition of. Of me nurturing the team the way that I. I hope for them to nurture our brides. And. And we're on our way to Turks and Caicos at the end of the week. To. To go. Not Turks and Caicos. I keep saying that this is the perimenopause thing. We're going to the Dominican freaking Republic. We're not going to Turks in. But anyway, we're taking that. That's where our retreat is this year. And they'll be spending several days. They'll be spending several days resting, relaxing, and experiencing, you know, things that we can take as inspiration and bring back to just add to what we do here to make our experience bigger, better, and more memorable for the team. So we've gone from, you know, a trip to the day spa to taking the whole team internationally now. So it's. It's something to really stop and appreciate. It's unreal. [00:13:47] Speaker B: That really is unreal. And, you know, you make me think about successful entrepreneurship, successful CEO. I mean, you talked about you brought him to a spa. You couldn't even afford it. Right. And now the Dominican Republic today, we can afford it now also. [00:14:03] Speaker A: We saved up all year. Yes. Yeah. [00:14:06] Speaker B: So that comes from my generosity. [00:14:08] Speaker A: Honestly. My parents are two of the most generous people I've ever met. Honestly, they're. They're so magnanimous and generous. And I learned at a really young age to treat the people that I have the privilege of working with the way that I do. Because of that, my. My dad would call my mom and. And say, hey, I've got, you know, a Bunch of sales guys in. They've been on the road for three weeks. They've been eating and, you know, crappy, you know, chain restaurants. They're exhausted. I'm bringing them home for dinner in an hour. And my mom would be like, okay, here we go. Sound the alarms. Get some chicken in the oven, you know, and. And then I kind of learned a lot about what I know about business. Kind of at the foot of, of the table, just, you know, just learning how to celebrate people who, for who they are as people, and then watch what they give you back as far as their productivity in, in your business. [00:14:56] Speaker B: Just incredible. So, so I've observed we share a building, you and I, you know, here we're neighbors. We are neighbors. Yes. And so we get to meet with and we see the women that work here all the time. I gotta tell you, it just feels like a real sense of community that they have. They truly do love what they do. [00:15:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:18] Speaker B: And I was telling. [00:15:19] Speaker A: They love each other. [00:15:20] Speaker B: Yeah, you can do. [00:15:20] Speaker A: It's wild. It's. It's wild. It. It always interests me because I'm like, we, we all are together eight, 10 hours a day, and then we leave here and we're still on the messaging and we're chit chatting and, you know, just still, you know, interacting with one another voluntarily all the time. [00:15:36] Speaker B: So just an amazing. [00:15:38] Speaker A: But I do feel like you can feel that. [00:15:40] Speaker B: Yeah, we definitely can feel it. And how you've, how you've gotten. That culture really has to do with you and the alignment of what I. What I think is fascinating is that there looks to be like this really cool alignment between you and who you are as a person and what you do and your people. Yeah, it's like, so talk about passion. [00:16:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:16:02] Speaker B: You know, you just really love what you do. All right, so I am going to ask you a couple questions because. [00:16:08] Speaker A: Fire away. [00:16:08] Speaker B: Some people downstairs want to know some stuff. [00:16:11] Speaker A: Yes. We're not just neighbors. We're your upstairs neighbors, which is a special bond. [00:16:18] Speaker B: Very special bond. And so it starts with every once in a while, we hear a lot of hooting and hollering, screaming, yelling during the day. And they want to know, like, particularly the guys. So for people that don't know, we have an advisory consulting business. Talk about a completely different business model down there. Working with B2B companies on sales effectiveness. Again, very different than what you're doing. So they want you. [00:16:46] Speaker A: It is. And it isn't because I come out of a commodities training by training, B2B commodities. So you Know, I can sell you fluff pulp or I can find your wedding gown, whichever you'd like. [00:17:00] Speaker B: That's really well said. So what is all the hooting and hollering about what's going on up there? [00:17:05] Speaker A: That's celebrating when we find the gown. Yes. And luckily for y' all, you don't work in your offices on Saturdays and Sundays. [00:17:14] Speaker B: Oh, right. [00:17:15] Speaker A: Cause you would need earmuffs and earphones and all the things. Emotional support. So. But. But yeah, yeah, there's. There's just a special moment when. When the bride finds her gown and says yes. I mean, every single moment of our journey, from the minute they walk in the door or the. Really, the minute we interact with them, even on the phones, is. Is starts the celebration. But yeah, we. We are. We are a culture of. Of celebrating. We're just having a big party in here and we happen to have a bunch of wedding dresses. So. [00:17:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Just happen to have. [00:17:46] Speaker A: Happen to have sliding around. [00:17:48] Speaker B: That's so funny. So next time I want to have a party. [00:17:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:52] Speaker B: Just bring a bunch of girls. [00:17:53] Speaker A: Absolutely. Just only clear liquids. Yeah. No red wine, just white wine. People do ask because, like, again, hospitality is at the heart of what we do. And so the, you know, we're all. We offer champagne and we have cookies and we're taking things around. And every. Every day someone's like, oh, my gosh, could I have a cup of coffee? And I'm like, you so could, but we're in a building full of white dresses, so. Sorry. [00:18:16] Speaker B: No, that's really funny. [00:18:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:19] Speaker B: So we talked a little bit about, like, what makes you successful as an entrepreneur. Now we discussed being really in touch with your business model because clearly you are. How has the wedding business. How has your business changed over the last two decades? And how have you as an entrepreneur been able to respond and pivot with that? And because this is a good message and good thing for a lot of people to hear. I mean, we're hitting another revolution. [00:18:50] Speaker A: Yes. [00:18:51] Speaker B: You know, within. Within retail. Now we've got AI, all the social, selling all these things. So let's. Let's get into that a little bit. [00:19:01] Speaker A: I would. I think you're going to be surprised by the answer. I think it hasn't changed because at the end of the day, what we do is relationships and it's. It's memories and it's moments and that can't be recreated with AI. And, you know, people ask me a lot, you know, what do you do? E commerce. Are you worried about online retailers? And, you know, again, I coach all and mentor all these bridal boutiques all over the country. And I'm like, I'm not worried about it. I mean, if the, if the experience is special and if the mission stays at the forefront of what you do, the numbers will follow. They do. And that I learned from a friend of mine, Wendy Rivera. She's an incredible mentor to me. But you know, honestly, when I heard her say that, it just kind of, I felt my earlobes come unglued from my shoulders and it just like my blood pressure dropped a bunch of points. And I just thought, you know, you're so right because I think a lot of times and you have to always, you know, be up on what's going on. You have to continue your, you know, your SWOT analysis. You've got to know your competitors, but you don't need to worry about it all the time. I think if, I think you have to focus on what you do and you have to believe as deeply in what you do as you say you believe and the authenticity there is, is the, is the, the game changer. [00:20:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:28] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's what I see over the years, of course we've evolved for, you know, our technology and all social media and the things, but everything we've done is, has only changed for the better. And you know, I was laughing the other day with some of our team that I remember when Pinterest first came on the scene and I was, I was laughing because, yeah, I'm, I'm 42 and I started this journey when I was 24. So being a 24 year old owner of a bridal boutique is very different than being a 42 year old owner of a bridal boutique. Now I have teenagers and I've been married 20 years and I just have a lot of different advice to give our brides than I did when I was 24. When I was 24, it was a lot more about my wedding and what I did and it was very much focused on like that and now it's more holistic and I'm just like enjoying that so much. It's incredible. Just the, just the perspective that is just so much more robust now on from my point of view. But every once in a while I get these like, oh shit, I'm getting really old moments. And this happened the other day with Pinterest. We were in a team, you know, we have like a positivity huddle every morning. And so we were in our positivity huddle and we were talking and one of Our leadership members said, well, I remember when Pinterest first came on the scene and I was in the seventh grade and I was like, oh, Lord, stop the cameras. I was in room four back there and I had two eight month old babies. And you were in the seventh grade. Lord help us all. You know, but you know what's great about this business, too? And now I'm, I'm known for this. You ask one question, you're gonna answer, oh, no, this is 500 other things. But one thing I love about what we do is that it doesn't matter your age. So our team, our youngest team member intern is 19, and then our oldest employee is 72. Yeah. And they are equally as bonded as, you know, anybody would be. And it's really neat because in our business, if you choose to learn, and in any business, if you choose to learn and grow and invest in yourself as a professional, you can be just as expert in a year as someone who's living that same year over and over and over again. Right. If you're choosing not to learn, it doesn't matter how long you've been doing it. [00:22:53] Speaker B: It doesn't. [00:22:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's another thing I learned from my friend Wendy, so I can't take credit for that either, but. [00:22:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I just love that. Well, it's a continuous learning mindset. [00:23:01] Speaker A: Yeah. But it also is very empowering to young women as they join us to hear from a leader like me who does have 20 years under my belt, you know, that you can, you can be a master of your craft without the timeline attached, depending on what you want to put into it, you know. [00:23:19] Speaker B: Yes, I really, I get what you're saying. So. Okay. There's so many things that you said that I want to get into, and the first one is just the. You mentioned this morning huddle that you do. Talk to us about that again. I'm thinking about, you know, just how people can be thinking about their own businesses just for a minute, and then we're going to get into the human side of this. [00:23:43] Speaker A: It's just a touch point that we have just to kind of go over anything specific that we have going on for the day, celebrate any accomplishments. Sometimes it's five minutes, sometimes it's 20 minutes. But we also end it by going around and having everyone in the room say what their positivity is for, for that day, both personally and professionally. So it's a really special little exercise that we do. And I treasure it because the opportunity to, to hear from the team about what their positivity things are, for me, as a leader, it helps me understand what makes them tick. So, you know, all of us have our own currency and our different love languages. And, you know, I think one of the things about being a phenomenal leader and an incredible manager is, is knowing your teammates as individuals. And, you know, there's not a boilerplate training program or, you know, problem solving solution or whatever. You all have, you have lots of tools in your toolkit and they can all be used. You know, the same tool could be used with a different person and have different results. But if you don't know your team well enough to know what really matters to them and what drives them, then you're just kind of spinning your wheels. And, you know, we never really realized, you know, we started positivity just because we thought that would be a great way to do it. But for me, as a leader, that's what I take away from it is, is to see like, oh, wow. I mean, me bringing her that coffee when she was having a tough day, like that really made a big difference. Or, you know, and it's often not the things you think. I cannot ever talk about that enough. It's. It's not. It. No one ever says, oh, I made my goal and I got a bonus. [00:25:32] Speaker B: Wow. [00:25:32] Speaker A: That's not what they say. They say, you know, so and so hugged me when I couldn't find my car keys and I was going to be late to pick my child up. You know, that's what they say. Or they'll say, you know, that their positivity was, you know, just a dinner that we had together or which. That one's more predictable. But I'm failing to come up with good examples from reality right now that are. Because I'm on the spot. But you get this, you get the point. It's almost always something small that's more of like a, of a individual based, positive thing that just illuminates how to continue to empower and inspire people as a leader. [00:26:12] Speaker B: So one of the things that I don't think women, particularly women that are running a business, tend to do is spend time with other women. Right. Like, they don't make time. [00:26:24] Speaker A: I'm lucky because I'm surrounded by women all the time. [00:26:27] Speaker B: Yeah. So I want to talk about the importance of that because I tell people it's not like a gift. It's something that's really necessary. [00:26:35] Speaker A: It's a requirement. And I'll tell you, I was just on vacation last week. I have three. We have three boys. The oldest is 16. And then we have 13 year old twins. Each of them have a best friend that is exactly matching age. So we had a second set of twins and another 16 year old and then my husband. So it was me and seven male energies for seven days in a beach house. Well, I'm not ashamed to tell you I ran away from home. As soon as we got back from the beach, I went to my parents house and I had my virtual therapy from there. And as I'm ending my therapy session in which we could talk about that in a second. But I think that's an important thing to talk about too. But my therapist said. All right, so I want you to do, you know, one thing for yourself today and then I want you to go find some female energy. [00:27:25] Speaker B: Wow. [00:27:26] Speaker A: So it's funny you bring it up because clinically it's recommended. [00:27:30] Speaker B: That's really unbelievable. The other thing that you brought up that I think is equally important, you talked about your youngest employee is 19. Your oldest one is 72. And I also think that it's really important for women of different ages and stages of life to spend time talking. [00:27:47] Speaker A: To each other and learn to value each other regardless. Yeah, yeah. [00:27:50] Speaker B: You know, and I'll tell you, my daughters love spending time with my mom. [00:27:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And they're 21 and 23, right? [00:27:57] Speaker B: Yes. [00:27:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:57] Speaker B: And my mom is in her early 80s and she actually has rheumatoid arthritis. Like she went from brutal. Yeah. You know, and she was limiting. Very limiting. You know, the, the woman that drove them to school all the time, that did everything with them and went to all the swimming, can barely get around. Right. But yet they still connect and spend time. [00:28:17] Speaker A: Sure. [00:28:18] Speaker B: And want to learn from her. I just think there's something really valuable for us to be spending time with people across the ages. [00:28:26] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's, it's kind of back to that tribal model that we abandoned along thousands of years ago. Right. But you know, I always. One of my favorite works of literature is the Red Tent and. [00:28:38] Speaker B: Oh my God. I was just going to ask you, have you read. [00:28:40] Speaker A: Oh, it's my favorite. I need to get it out and reread it because I haven't read it in years. But in this phase of life I'm in right now, I feel like it'd be very poignant. I think I would have a lot of key takeaways that are very different from it this time than I did last time. So that might be going to the Dominican Republic with me in my bag. I might have to take a break from my acotar books. [00:28:59] Speaker B: I think that's probably a good idea. And I'm gonna pull mine out, too, because you're right. When I read it, when it came out, like, I was really young woman, and now I'm at a different stage in life. So I bet we will have some interesting takeaways. [00:29:11] Speaker A: I'm excited. I'm inspired. I'm gonna go get that book out. [00:29:14] Speaker B: I think that'll be really fun. All right, now we're gonna talk about what everybody wants to talk about, what it's like to work with brides and work with mothers of the bride and the families of the bride. Like, just, you know, the whole human side of it. Because here's what I want to get out of it. Yeah. We'll have fun and talk about stories and things that make you laugh, things that make you cringe, make your hair curl, girl. I am sure. [00:29:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:39] Speaker B: And then at the same time, though, like, taking it home around, you know, some of the best advice, what I want people to take away is, like, what we need to be thinking about. [00:29:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:29:48] Speaker B: As the future. [00:29:49] Speaker A: This is. I'm so passionate about this concept because so people ask me, that's the number one question I get. I mean, it's like cocktail party conversation. A number one question. Give me a Bridezilla story. Right. It's like, I'm like, if I had a nickel, you know? But I think that. And this is gonna sound so Pollyanna, and it's not easy to do, so I don't want to misrepresent that. It's just easy breezy. Like, oh, we just have this philosophy, and we're unflappable and nothing bothers us. We go in our office and we yell into, you know, some sample gowns, and we, you know, there's crying in the kitchen some days. I'm not gonna lie. You know, this can be a. A exhausting business sometimes. I see it in our. In our team because they are giving so much emotionally. And then also something that I really have never talked about publicly is that, you know, it's very difficult for our team when we are observing family dynamics that maybe we are also dealing with ourselves. And those are triggering. [00:30:48] Speaker B: Wow. [00:30:49] Speaker A: And so there's some, you know, some deep exhaustion sometimes that's emotionally just taxing on our team. And so, you know, I'm always working with them on refilling their own cup because you can't pour from an empty cup. I did not originate that analogy, obviously, but I. I do stand by it for everyone except myself. Which is a whole nother subject. But yeah, it's, it's funny. So we, we go into every interaction with every bride, sister of the bride, cousin, aunt, uncle, father, fiance, gay best friend, whatever it is, seeing them as people with needs. And so when, when you see someone behaving in a way that is puzzling to you or maybe off putting, if you see them as just a person who has needs that are unmet and you see pain there, you can't be angry with it. So that I realized a long time ago, and it was a conversation I was having with one of my dear friends up at our little camp on a lake in the middle of nowhere in Maine. And you know, she said that to me, when you see pain, you can't see anger. [00:31:59] Speaker B: Wow. [00:32:00] Speaker A: And I was like, are you. When you see pain, you, you don't meet it. You don't need to meet it with anger. It lets you, it lets the anger just fade away. And, and that's really the heart of, of kind of how we approach every interaction that we have. Because, and I don't, I. People are always disappointed, but I don't have a ton of Bridezilla stories because we, we work really hard to make sure they don't have to happen. So it's kind of like when my infants, you know, my kids were infants. And I remember this one flight I had, my oldest was 4 and I had twin 6 month old babies with me. And I was flying alone, my husband was, you know, working and he was meeting us somewhere. And so I got off the plane and you know, my son had been in his own seat. And then I guess I could have been by myself because I had two infants, but my mom must have been with me. So someone had one baby, I had another. But I got off that plane, I was drenched in sweat, I had gummy bears down my bra, my hair was every which way, I was beat red in the face, and I just wanted to just like go lie down in a corner and cry. But the children were angels on the whole flight. And, and the lady seated behind me said, you're so lucky. They were so good on the plane. And the other lady seated next to her turned to her and she said, there's nothing about this woman that's lucky. She, she made sure those kids were successful on this flight at the cost of herself. And it just, I'll never forget it. And that's what I think about when we talk about the Bridezilla moments or the Momzilla or the Groomzilla moments is if we're meeting the bride's needs to the best of our ability, we're making sure they're successful and they don't need to go to escalated 3 year old tantrum on a flight level to get seen, heard, validated and get their needs met. So we really just make sure that doesn't happen. It still does every once in a while. And those are good stories, but it's much more rare than you would think because we make sure of it because. [00:34:07] Speaker B: Of what you're doing. Yeah, but what, so tell me this. You, your kids are young right now, but imagine, and imagine you've got a daughter. [00:34:16] Speaker A: So I imagine that every day, but I don't. I actually have thousands of thousands of daughters a year. Right. That's what my husband says. That's my daughter. [00:34:25] Speaker B: That you have thousands of dogs. [00:34:27] Speaker A: All my brides, they are, yeah. And he says they want your advice. Any child of ours wouldn't. So don't worry about it. That's the thing. [00:34:34] Speaker B: That is the thing. So I may send my daughters your way? [00:34:37] Speaker A: Yes. [00:34:37] Speaker B: All right, so you're talking to, let's say me, let's start. You're talking to me. And I've got two daughters that neither one of them are in a serious relationship or anything. So they're not quite ready, but when they are, we know where they're coming. [00:34:50] Speaker A: That's right. [00:34:51] Speaker B: But what, what would you want mothers to know? And like, because you've seen it all. So what are like some things that you've seen? Just beautiful stories, things that work well, relating to your daughter kind of thing. [00:35:06] Speaker A: And I think that, I think that it's incredible, you know, again, I'm going to talk about needs because as women I think we're socialized from a very early age to put our needs last. And that's rewarded a lot. It's, it's heroic, you know, in a lot of senses. And the best stories that I have of success and joy have come out of mother daughter pairs where I see them naming what their needs are and, and one, one, and maybe they don't get met. But just having their needs spoken aloud and entertained momentarily is helpful even to bring it into a very real like, example of like what veil we're choosing, you know, if, if I'm in the room. And a lot of times this happens where like, you know, we have eight bridesmaids with us and you know, the twin sister of the bride and all the things and mom is just, mom is mommy in the corner, like letting everybody have their experience but she'll, you know, the successful ones, you know, instead of sitting in the corner being bitter that no one's asked for the opinion, you know, they'll say, you know, can I have just a quiet moment? Can I just have a quiet moment with Sarah? [00:36:25] Speaker B: Wow. [00:36:25] Speaker A: And I saw that a couple times and, and now I've been able to invite it happening. And it just shocked me at the time because I was like, oh, like, you know, me being who I am, I was like, we're in trouble. She's mad at something we did. Like, this is gonna be a one star review. What happened? And it was just, she wanted a minute to like process that moment with her daughter. And it was so incredibly cool to see her just say I needed it. And then, and then it was like two minutes. And then we came back in and they were crying and hugging and the bride was like, I'm saying yes. And it was just so cool that that was like their special connection time. And so I think, you know, I think that the most successful people are realizing that everyone has a stake in this. And, you know, I think about my niece, you know, she's nine, pardon me. And you know, when it's time for her to shop for an Easter dress, I'm like, let's make a ceremony out of it. Like, so let alone when this child gets married, it's going to be another damn royal wedding. Like, you know what I mean? So. But I have, I have been thinking about her wedding since I knew that my sister in law was pregnant with a girl, like since she was in utero. Right. But I'm not going to step in front of my sister in law in line and things like that. But I just think we fail to recognize sometimes how much meaning weddings have for everyone involved because it's a life moment. It's something you think about and you, you envision for years. And it's, it's so symbolic because it's the end of this chapter of you being an individual person who is, you know, reforming your bonds with your family of origin now in a new way and building a nuclear family with your, your husband or wife, you know, and it's like it's, it's a, it's a sacrament, you know, and I'm not a religious person like deeply like, you know, but I mean it in a, like in a holistic way. Like it is, it's, it's a ceremony and it's a celebration and, and everyone has something to either win or lose in it. And so you have to Just be tender. Just have to be tender. [00:38:38] Speaker B: All right, now I'm going to talk about somebody who is really important in the wedding process but sometimes gets forgotten a little bit until you're walking down that aisle. And that's dad. [00:38:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:51] Speaker B: So, you know, what, can you. What advice would you give brides about dads in the process, you know, what you've seen or not? I hear from people, you know, that. So in my consulting business, and my children aren't married yet, we've talked about that and how dad isn't really involved, you know, and so what can you tell us about? [00:39:15] Speaker A: Well, I think it's. We see all things, which is really, really fascinating to me because my dad, when I got married was like, let me, you know, know who to write the check out to. Like, that was. He was just. He's a guy's guy, you know, he's actually really into details and like, he's an incredible party thrower. But. But, you know, he was definitely not going to come to bridal shops with me. Like, no way, no how, you know, Absolutely not. He's somewhere in a deer stand, but. Or on a fishing boat. But my, my. It didn't even occur to me to involve him just because that's our dynamic. But, you know, he was certainly very involved in, like, the celebration part. But I see everything. It runs the gamut here. Sometimes we have dads who come in and they've obviously been told they're going to be here, period, end of discussion. And there are other dads who come in and they're like, super involved. And they're like, well, I think that one, like, flatters you more. Or, you know, I think that you should do a fitted one. Or, you know, they're giving feedback and they're interacting in a way that's very similar to how the, you know, the women in the room are interacting. And then we have dads who come in and they're like, third dress. That's gorgeous. How could you beat it? What else do we need to do? Let's go. You know, there's a golf game I want to go see. Or, you know, so it really runs the gamut. And so I guess my advice is, I think if you. I think. I think it would be great if, ideally when you get engaged and you start a wedding planning process, I feel like if people treated their personal relationships a little bit more like we treat our business relationships and you and you have a kickoff meeting, you know, you guys have a consulting firm. [00:40:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:57] Speaker A: You don't onboard a New client and just. Everybody just goes and does whatever they think that client needs and then wait and find out till someone's crying that they didn't feel represented or advocated for. Right. That's not how we run our businesses. So if we ran our personal lives, like, okay, wedding, like, let's have a kickoff meeting. Dad, what would you like your role to be? You know, I just think that would be incredible. I mean, that's my advice, because I had no idea what interest level or capacity either one of my parents had to be involved in our wedding planning process at the time. And, you know, I was 22. I didn't have a freaking clue what I was doing with anything. But, you know, I just think that would be amazing to give people the opportunity to say what they would like their involvement level to be and then let it be intuitive. I think that's such a struggle I see in almost every one of my brides is the pressure to have the experience be what they have conceptualized it to be or they want it to be. And I feel like, you know, it comes with age sometimes that when you. You learn that when you force things. [00:41:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:59] Speaker A: They just. They don't work out as well. So let dad do dad. And if you've had a relationship your whole life where he's, you know, a huggy, lovey dance dad, then that's what you should continue to expect from him at your wedding. If. If you've had a, you know, let's go fishing together in the, you know, on a Sunday morning, and, you know you're gonna beat your own hooks kind of daughter, and that's your relationship with dad in your rest of your life. That's probably gonna be a similar way to how he approaches your wedding. So, you know, we always talk about brides. As soon as that ring is on your finger, it's like something snaps in the brain chemistry and you become a whole different person with a new version of reality. So. But. So I think, you know, letting it be intuitive for everyone involved, not just dad, but especially for dad, I think is important. [00:42:47] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great. [00:42:48] Speaker A: But not fiance. Fiance. You need to say what you want and make sure they're willing to, you know, also join forces with you because you guys are creating a new team. So. [00:42:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:57] Speaker A: Yeah. So. But yeah. [00:42:59] Speaker B: Oh, very good advice. All right. Stand your ground now. [00:43:03] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. If it bothers you when you're engaged, it's really going to bother you after you have three kids, you know, so fix it now. [00:43:13] Speaker B: So speaking of that, let's talk about second weddings, too. [00:43:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:17] Speaker B: Right. So we're talking about how I just went to a wedding recently and the second wedding. [00:43:23] Speaker A: We love third, fourth, fifth weddings too. [00:43:25] Speaker B: So let's. [00:43:26] Speaker A: A wedding is a wedding. Love is love, you know. [00:43:28] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's kind of your mantra. [00:43:30] Speaker A: It is. And you know, we just had a bride this week that came in and she, she had made herself a mother of the bride appointment. And she came in and, you know, was talking to her stylist and we found out it was really a wedding, but she was embarrassed to book herself an appointment for a bridal gown. And she's in her 60s. And I said, you know, you've lived a lot of life. There is. This is a celebration of you finding another person that you're ready to commit your life to. You know, second chances should be celebrated just as much. You know, there's a. Done a lot of living. And so I think whether, you know, when you find your person, whatever, you know, whatever lights you up and makes you feel, you know, connected to that person should be celebrated. And I don't. You know, we have one bride who's been married four times and all four of her dresses are from wedding angels. So she always says the dress didn't do anything wrong. [00:44:28] Speaker B: So for those women that are out there and they'd really love to have that wedding. [00:44:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:33] Speaker B: They shouldn't be so. [00:44:34] Speaker A: No. [00:44:35] Speaker B: You know, concerned about that. [00:44:36] Speaker A: No. [00:44:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:37] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, and we have gowns that are more simple, that are a little bit more understated, a little bit more sophisticated elegance. And we do have gowns that are for a special occasion or a formal gown. We had. Our oldest bride to date was 94, but she wore a proper wedding dress, lace sleeves, fully fitted silk gown. And she was incredible. And it was, it was phenomenal. So, you know, you don't have to wear a knee length blue suit just because you're, you know, you've already been married once Those days are over. [00:45:13] Speaker B: I just love that, I love that we've got more freedom around that and people should feel comfortable doing. [00:45:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:19] Speaker B: What really makes them happy. [00:45:21] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:21] Speaker A: And if we're gonna have a wedding, let's have a damn wedding. You know, that's what I say. So. And again, it's about how you feel in that garment. Um, you know, and I, I say every day, like, we can only comment on what we see, but as the bride, you tell us how you feel in the dress and you deserve to feel like a million bucks when you're walking down the aisle. And if that feeling comes to you in a black formal gown with feathers on it, then rock and roll. We'll design the whole wedding aesthetic around that. But if you never. I have so many brides that didn't have a. Didn't have a wedding, you know, and. And I'm like, this is your chance that. Let's do it. Let's put on a big ball gown. It's just, you know, so. But, yeah, try it and see and just follow your heart, you know? Yeah. Stop worrying about all the rules. [00:46:07] Speaker B: So you're the boss. [00:46:08] Speaker A: Nobody's in charge of you. [00:46:09] Speaker B: See, that's how it should be. [00:46:11] Speaker A: Yeah. I was doing something the other day, and I was rushing and rushing, and I stopped and I thought, I'm in freaking charge around here. Like, I was at home and I was like, I don't have to finish this laundry before I go take a shower. Like, you know, it just occurred to me one day, I was like, oh, you know, this is not a chore list when I'm 12 years old that I have to get it done before noon or I lose my allowance. Like, you know, I think we just forget sometimes that, you know, as long as we make a decision and then follow it with confidence, you know, that's all you need to do. [00:46:41] Speaker B: That is really great advice. You are full of wisdom and great advice. So I'm going to ask you about. [00:46:47] Speaker A: A lot of other things, too, Michelle. [00:46:48] Speaker B: Yeah, but, you know, so my daughter was mentioning. We're going to talk about this social world and how people meet each other. [00:46:55] Speaker A: I love this. Yeah. [00:46:57] Speaker B: So my daughter was talking about how. Mom. It's, like, harder. [00:47:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:47:01] Speaker B: Than it was. She's like, I don't want to meet somebody in a bar. [00:47:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:47:04] Speaker B: And sometimes, you know, friends introduce each other, but it's, you know, not the same. Work is less traditional than it was. Some people, you know, a lot of times you met in a workplace or maybe you met in church. [00:47:17] Speaker A: Right. [00:47:17] Speaker B: Or maybe you met through, you know, some of your parents knew. But people are also waiting a little bit longer. [00:47:22] Speaker A: Sure. [00:47:23] Speaker B: And so she was talking about the pros and cons of. Of what it's like dating in this social world. You know, And I. Yeah. You got people in here that are meeting someone. They're gonna probably online in person, different ways. [00:47:39] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:47:39] Speaker B: What is it that you're learning from these people? [00:47:42] Speaker A: You know, I think it's really interesting. It's. I think it's just kind of. It's liberating for people, but it's also Exhausting. You know, I think that the process of meeting people online has a lot of merits, and we hear it more and more because it does bring people together, especially as, like, our socialization patterns change. And then, you know, Covid. Right. We're still. We're still in the post dating. The post Covid dating, slash getting serious enough to get engaged cycle. So a lot of. I don't know if that makes sense, but a lot of our brides that we're seeing now met their fiance's during COVID Right. Still. Because we're kind of in that four to five year period out from it. So that's interesting too, because we hear a lot of like, yeah, we moved in together on the first date because it was like, you know, we were all in isolation. And so, I mean, we decided to be each other's pot. And so, you know, here we are. You know, one of our. One of our leadership team members actually kind of really tells that exact story with her husband. [00:48:48] Speaker B: Great. [00:48:49] Speaker A: Yeah. So, you know, it's. It's. Everything is. Everything is acceptable. And it's really about your personal values and, and what you feel. But, you know, the online thing is fantastic if you, if you give it a chance. But I know it can also be exhausting. But. And I don't have a ton of dating advice because I, you know, met my husband when I was 21, and yeah, we were engaged six months later, so I didn't do a whole lot of adult dating out of college, but I have a lot of wedding advice. [00:49:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:17] Speaker A: So, yeah. [00:49:17] Speaker B: Yes. [00:49:18] Speaker A: But I think wherever you find your person, you just have to trust the process. [00:49:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:22] Speaker A: Yeah. And stick to your standards. And, you know, we talk all the time because part of coaching our younger team members is, is through some of their personal life, you know, journey. And, you know, I just heard one of our leadership. We share an office in both locations. All of our leadership team, we don't have, like, desks and offices that are private because we want everyone to have a seat at the table. And so that's just one of the. One of the many nuances of our leadership philosophy here at Wedding Angels. But so when I keep saying our office, that's what I'm talking about. So someone came in and was talking about, you know, something this guy they were dating was doing. And, you know, just, you know, Emily, who's incredible, she's our. One of our leaders here, she says if that's not what your husband would do, then I guess we're done dating this guy. Like, you know, and it's. It's not a new concept either, but it's like, would your husband do that? Like, is that what you want between now and dead? If you're gonna marry this person, that's great, you know. [00:50:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:18] Speaker A: So if it's not going to be acceptable, you know, in 10 years, it certainly isn't acceptable now, you know, so. But I feel like no matter where you meet your person, that's important. [00:50:29] Speaker B: You are very real and transparent with your people. So let's talk a little bit about what makes you a successful leader. And like, you know, when I think about that, I'm not just talking about. I'm not just talking to other leaders, but women. [00:50:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:45] Speaker B: You know, you're a leader in your home. [00:50:46] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:50:47] Speaker B: You're, you know, out with your friends and just how you present yourself. So what do you think are the things that have served you really well and some of the standards that you stand by for yourself? [00:51:00] Speaker A: I think one of the most incredible and most important parts of being a leader of any type, in any capacity is humility. Period. End of sentence. The first thing, you know, I do when I pull into the driveway is look and see if there's trash in the parking lot, and I pick it up. I've never asked anyone on my team to do a task I wouldn't do. If they're carrying something, I'm gonna try to take it from them, you know, and, and, and do the work for them. But because of that, for whatever reason, they're. They're always willing to, like, reach deeper and digitized by Google, dig deeper. And when we just feel like we're out of gas, they find it and we. We keep our pedal on the accelerator. I mean, our. Our foot on the accelerator. So I think that there. And I do think this is an original quote of mine, because you know how blurry it can get. But there's no ego in leadership. None. You can't have one. Get rid of it. [00:52:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:52:06] Speaker A: For. Best thing you can do for yourself as a leader, just get rid of it. Because you have to take things that people do and behaviors that they exhibit as purely information. And in order to separate the behavior from the emotion that it creates in you as a leader, you need to be able to isolate it and think. Okay, I'm just. Discipline yourself to think. This isn't attitude. This isn't. I mean, it is, believe me. I don't accept. I think you could probably tell quickly. I don't accept any bullshit from anyone. I have high standards, but I hold myself to them as well. And our, our leadership team in general does. We all follow the same standards that we set out for our team. But you have to look at why someone's behaving the way they are, why someone's saying what they're saying. Is it fear based? Is it anxiety based? Is it exhaustion based? Is it. Are they not feeling supported? Are they. Are they just putting too much pressure on themselves? Have they not been educated the right way? Like, where is this coming from? And in order to really be able to find that, you have to set your own ego aside because you, you. You can't be reacting to their behavior and also be mentoring at the same time. You cannot come from a reactionary place in order to be coaching in the moment. And coaching in the moment is. Is the foundation on which our entire leadership team is built. So, you know, with our leadership team, you're not. You don't have monthly reviews. You have, hey, that dress doesn't go that way. Let me show you. I'm going to hang it up with you, and we're going to figure out how it goes back or, you know, hey, walk with me a second. I want to talk with you about what decision you just made. And, like, let me know, like, tell me about that decision, you know. [00:53:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:53:54] Speaker A: And it's very much side by side. It's very much hand holding. But it's not like we're gonna wait, you know, 30 days for your monthly performance review to tell you that, you know, you were completely against brand standards on Tuesday morning when you came in, you know, with that graphic T shirt. Like, that's, that's not. That's not productive. And all it does is create a culture of anxiety where you're waiting for feedback. [00:54:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:54:21] Speaker A: And so, but it's difficult to onboard new employees because it's very rare. I feel like, in most people's career experience to have a culture of coaching in the moment. And especially with people who join our team who do have former bridal experience, it's difficult because they come in and they're like, yeah, I've been doing this for 10 years. I know how to do it. You know, I'm excited to be here. I'm finally, you know, on the Wedding Angels team because they're always like, wedding Angels is never hiring because our employees stay with us forever. And so they're excited to be here and they want to show their skills. And so that can be very difficult to hear, like, hey, great job on this. But on this, this is an improvement area. And so on Our next bride. Like we're going to do it together. And I want you to listen to how I talk about the subject of price point. [00:55:12] Speaker B: Yep. [00:55:12] Speaker A: Right. So it's, but it's, it's all comes back to as the leader, you have to have absolutely no ego whatsoever involved in it. [00:55:22] Speaker B: I really love that. So now that's a difficult conversation when you're talking about immediate feedback. And I'm also an advocate of that. I think it serves people well in their personal as well as their professional life. [00:55:36] Speaker A: Yes. [00:55:36] Speaker B: So let's, I was curious about having the conversation around budget and price point. So you know, because it can be a little touchy sometimes. Right? I would assume sometimes a bride may have some indication from her parents. [00:55:52] Speaker A: Yes. [00:55:53] Speaker B: Maybe sometimes not. [00:55:54] Speaker A: Yes. Oh my God, you'd be surprised how often they come in and you say like, you know, what price point can we be respectful of? Because our gowns range from a thousand dollars up to 10,000. And so we ask about price point immediately because I don't want to help you fall in love with something you don't want to be in love with. That's not a fun surprise. So we do not do that. But you would be sure shocked, Michelle, how many people go like deer in headlights. Like, I don't know, we haven't talked about it. I'm like, no, you came here in a whole ass limousine with sashes and you didn't decide how much money you're spending? Like you didn't ask anybody. Like, how much are we like going in on this? Like, so it's funny, but for the most part people know. Or the, the other funny thing is that this is hysterical. It's a little bit too much behind the scenes. But I'm going to tell you anyway because it's hilarious. People when they make their appointments, you know, we record request just price point information, just as a guideline so that we can be sure we're being respectful of it. And so they'll let, they'll list like $1725. [00:56:52] Speaker B: And I'm like that specific. [00:56:54] Speaker A: Yes. I'm like, and $0.89. Like, like it's so funny. But. And then sometimes people put their whole wedding budget, you know, it'll, and we're like, woo, we can have anything. Three dresses, you know, so it's really funny. But so we try to, we try to approach pretty much everything with a sense of humor, but especially price point. And we never, it doesn't have to limit you. So we have worked for years on building our inventory and we have the largest inventory in the Southeast and the Northeast under one roof. And we do it because I personally believe with every fiber of my being, and this has been something that has been my ideal from day one of having acquired the company, but that every single person deserves to have the same experience regardless of what the price point is. And to me, the price point is just about the fabric or the beadwork. Like, it's not, it doesn't have any value associated with who you are as a person. You know, I mean, and you might come in here and say, oh my, my price point is $8,000 and your dress might be $1500. If that's your gown, that's your gown. You know, and happy day. We have extra money to, you know, have a bomb ass bridal shower. Right. But, but, you know, so it has no relevance to anything other than just making sure that we're being respectful and, and not ending up where, you know, yeah, we don't want to be. So. But yeah, talk about it ahead of time and then also, you know, be thinking about what you want to contribute. So as a, as a, you know, as a bride, you're, you know, a grown up, going into a very grown up relationship and, you know, think through it, talk with fiance in advance. I mean, I, I think there's an overarching theme here, is just communicate, communicate, communicate. I mean, you can never over communicate, I don't think. Especially when things like this, this emotionally high of a stakes, you know, as weddings are. [00:58:50] Speaker B: Yep. [00:58:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:52] Speaker B: So now let's shift back and talk about you. Because let me tell you something. You make it look easy, Jackie. You make it look like every day is fun. You make it look like, you know, you got this whole thing. [00:59:05] Speaker A: I already told you, I ran away from home and went to my mom's house yesterday, so. [00:59:09] Speaker B: But you made that sound like fun. Like I'm thinking, I want to run away from home. That sounds like a really good idea. [00:59:15] Speaker A: Sometimes you need to. There's nothing wrong with it. [00:59:18] Speaker B: Yeah. So, like, what are the things. But the reality is, right, you're running a family. [00:59:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:24] Speaker B: You're running a business. You travel a lot. I know that. And just a lot going on. You're in an emotional business. [00:59:31] Speaker A: I speak. I mentor. Yeah, that's right, you speak. I not only have my team, but I have, you know, when, for instance, tariffs, you know, came out, my phone was blowing up because I'm, you know, I'm, I'm so lucky to be involved in a community of other leaders across the bridal Industry. So. So yeah, so that's an added layer of, of pressure and people who need me is, you know, kind of, you know, as an advisor industry wide. Not to sound self important, but. No, you're part of the picture advisor. [01:00:02] Speaker B: Yeah, all these things are important. It's a lot some days and trade shows, I mean, it goes on and on. Right? [01:00:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:08] Speaker B: So tell me how you. [01:00:11] Speaker A: I'm on several boards of directors. Yeah. [01:00:13] Speaker B: Are you? [01:00:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:00:14] Speaker B: So what boards are you on? [01:00:16] Speaker A: My. Where my favorite thing to do is raise money for children at risk. And so that's something that I'm really passionate about. So we do a lot of work there. But I am on the board of directors for the national association for Caterers and Events Managers as well. So we do a lot of education for wedding industry people. The wedding industry is fabulous. I saw a really cool quote I think this morning actually about. It is like one of the most beautiful things about a wedding is that it's 99% small business people coming together to make a dream come true. [01:00:54] Speaker B: Oh, very well said. Wow. [01:00:56] Speaker A: And we're not a small business anymore, but, but we're a big business that, that still has, you know, small business ideals and. Well, that will never change. And if it does, that's how we'll know that we're not opening any more locations. Right? [01:01:09] Speaker B: Right. [01:01:09] Speaker A: People ask me that all the time, like, when are you gonna stop? Like, why are you opening more? Are you bored? No, I'm not bored. But we're growing our company so that we can grow our team's careers. You know, a lot of times in small business, you have this concept of, you know, I have to wait for someone to die or retire before I can be promoted. And I didn't want that to be our culture. So that's why, that's why we're always, always growing. But I love mentoring and coaching young entrepreneurs coming onto the scene. And I get to do that a lot with, with my board of directors work for, for that group. But so I, you know, people ask me all the time, like, how do you do it all? And the answer is not very well sometimes. And that's okay. And that's when you text your therapist and say, I'm having a really rough day and I need a coach. And you know, it's funny, I said to someone recently, a really good friend of mine, I've known her for 20 years, she's an incredible leader herself. And I've realized, by the way, like, the value of breakfasts on our. From a social standpoint, Because a lot of times as women leaders, our careers and our families demand so much of us that we don't have time for our friends or we think we don't. But if you look at your breakfast calendar, it's often open. And so if you have any crazy friends like I do that are willing to go work out at 7am and then go to Waffle House with you, it's a phenomenal way to add time back into your day for socialization. So anyway, a little good takeaway there, but I was having, I was having breakfast with her and she said, you know, I was telling her about my therapist and she said, you know, I was, you know, I was looking at something, something there. And she said, you know, you know, I have like a career coach now and that's part of what I'm exploring. And I thought, you know, God, I love the word coach so much more because I think there's such a stigma, you know, and I've, I'm wide open about therapy. I think it's the best thing anyone could do for themselves. I think everyone can benefit from it. Just if, if only just having the time on your own calendar to sit and think about your needs. Um, and so if that comes from, you know, you can, if you can hold yourself accountable to do that with meditation, or if you can hold yourself accountable to do that with, you know, journaling, fantastic. I can't. I need somebody to be waiting for me on the other end of a zoom call, you know, being like, tick tock, Jackie show up for you, right? Because, you know, I've made a career out of showing up for everyone else and that's, that's not sustainable and it's not scalable, right? And so we run everything here at Wedding Angels through the filter of, you know, is it sustainable, is it scalable? And then you can't just go home and not hold yourself to that same standard. So sometimes I don't do it well and, and that's okay. But I always try to educate women, you know, and I, I talk about this with the young moms on our team and we, we celebrate it with the old moms on our team is that, you know, you, you can be incredible at work and be on the top of your game. You've got, you know, all your tasks are completed. You're, you know, your, your, your project management software is, you're killing it. You have no unread messages. You're inspired. You're, you're writing a kick ass slide deck presentation for your next speaking Engagement. But you definitely forgot to take your child to the orthodontist. Like, it's just. That's. That's the reality. [01:04:31] Speaker B: Yeah, that's been my reality. [01:04:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And it took me years to just be like, yeah, okay, well, I screwed that up, guys, and I'm sorry. And there's other times where, you know, you're at the orthodontist with your kid and you realize you're supposed to be in a performance review, Right. And then you have to go the other direction and be like, hey, guys, I screwed that up. I'm sorry. So you're always apologizing to someone, but I think that building a strong team who supports your initiatives at work and at home is imperative. And again, I find that it's very inspiring to lead by example. For my team, I have one of our leaders. Her number one improvement area is taking time off. I mean, I literally have to call her and be like, I don't see any time off requests on your calendar. Take a damn week off or I'm gonna come to your house and lock you in it with your husband's bike. You know he needs you. I know he needs you. You know you need him. Like, so I try to make sure. Holding myself to those standards, too. And. And so. So giving yourself grace as a leader is not a selfish thing to do. It's actually. It's actually selfless because it teaches the rest of your leadership team how to be successful as well. And then, you know, when you're at home, there are days where I don't think my kids have a clue what I do. I think. I think I go to work and they're like, oh, mom's having a party. And, you know, it is a party, but it's. It's a hard one some days, you know, But I have to just kind of trust that eventually they'll understand it with their maturity. They're old enough now. The. The oldest one comes in, and he's our dress runner. Although we've recently lost him to Chick Fil A because he has a job there now. And they evidently pay better than we do for children of owners. So. However, this is a funny story. This is. This is how you know as a leader that your entrepreneurial story spirit is permeating your family dynamic. And in a beautiful way, we had. We had a tough winter. We had several people injured all at the same time. Somebody out on maternity leave. And so we were really short staffed. And, you know, it takes a village and a team of excellence to make what we do happen in the boutique. I mean, it's, we see 50 brides and all of their friends and family on top of that on, on a weekend, on a Saturday. Just one Saturday. And again, our, our entire mission is to make every bride feel like they are our only bride. And so it's, it's a very well orchestrated process to make that happen. Until I told my son, I said, hey, like, man, you know, so and so is out tomorrow. We're gonna be like, swamped. Do you mind coming in? You know, I'd love it if you could run dresses for us. And so he said, sure, Mom. He said, but I just, you know, I want to have a little chit chat with you about it beforehand. He said, because it sounds to me like this is a pretty high demand situation and, you know, when supply is in demand, the price goes up, doesn't it? So he said, I mean, I'd like to propose a temporary increase in pay because. Because you have an extremely high need right now. And he said, you know, your need to resource ratio is really off. [01:07:49] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [01:07:51] Speaker A: I said, approved. Because I appreciated the entrepreneurial spirit so much, I wanted to reward it. And so I said, for one day only, you know, I'll pay you, you know, what you asked for. And then his time card went right back to his normal hourly rate after that. But he does. All my kids do make less money than anybody else that works here. As it should be. So they haven't put their time in yet. [01:08:14] Speaker B: So that's a riot. You know, you're reminding me. So I'm also an entrepreneur. [01:08:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:08:19] Speaker B: Of a story. My daughter, she wanted some investment dollars, right. For this professional dog walking business that she wanted to do. And what did she do? She prepared a PowerPoint for her mom. [01:08:31] Speaker A: That's awesome. [01:08:31] Speaker B: She was 11 years old. [01:08:33] Speaker A: I love it. [01:08:34] Speaker B: And she's walking me through each page. And, you know, she got the funds. [01:08:38] Speaker A: Amazing. [01:08:39] Speaker B: Yeah, she did. It was really pretty good. [01:08:41] Speaker A: Did you give her a good interest rate? [01:08:42] Speaker B: I wasn't proud of her. You know what, I didn't charge her any interest. I just decided, you know, this time we're going to just. Just let it go. Yeah, right. It was a good case. [01:08:51] Speaker A: We charge interest, but it goes in their college fund. [01:08:53] Speaker B: Well, that's very wise, you know, interesting, because my daughter. All right, I'll tell you another story. I think it's always good. I think it's great for kids to work. [01:09:03] Speaker A: I do too. It's. I started working when I was 10 years old and it. See, it's it's why I have the drive I have. It's. It's the work ethic. I think it's still in you from early on. Absolutely. [01:09:15] Speaker B: So I had. My daughter was 12, and she was. At the time, she hadn't had a job yet. This is my oldest daughter, and she was feeling very entitled with her life, right? Oh, yeah, Very entitled. [01:09:25] Speaker A: I've experienced that in my household, you. [01:09:27] Speaker B: Know, so there was this particular camp that she wanted to go to this summer on top of all the other things she was doing. And I said, well, how would you like to pay for that? [01:09:36] Speaker A: Right? [01:09:36] Speaker B: And she kind of looked at me like, what the hell is going on here? Like, how do I pay for this? And I said, I think it's time maybe you got a job. She was 13, actually. Time you got a job, maybe. [01:09:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:09:49] Speaker B: She had never worked yet. [01:09:50] Speaker A: Okay. [01:09:51] Speaker B: She was my entitled daughter, Right? [01:09:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:09:53] Speaker B: So I said, how are you gonna pay for this? And she said, oh, God. Right? And I said, get a job. Yeah, get a job. You know, raise half the money. Your dad and I'll pay the rest. Okay? So she gets the job. She saves it all, you know, whatever. She is ready to pay for this. And I said, well, good for you. Your dad and I are paying for the whole thing, and the rest is going into your account. [01:10:18] Speaker A: That's amazing. [01:10:18] Speaker B: You know what she said? Why did I have to get a job? [01:10:22] Speaker A: Then. [01:10:25] Speaker B: I went, you're kidding me, right? Like, she was too young. [01:10:30] Speaker A: She was too young. [01:10:30] Speaker B: But what was interesting is she ended up keeping the job, right? [01:10:35] Speaker A: That's amazing. [01:10:35] Speaker B: Moved on from McDonald's somewhere else. And I'll tell you what, it was really good for her because she wasn't sure really what she wanted to do. Heck, she still isn't sure what she wants to do. But it was a really good experience for her. Then she had money for these other things, and she became my most independent daughter. [01:10:53] Speaker A: Yes. And that's what I've seen with all of our kids work in some capacity. Our younger ones, our twins, are 12, so they're not working in. In a public setting yet, but they definitely work here. And they. They have chores at home and they. They work. My parents have a horse farm, so they work on the farm and. [01:11:10] Speaker B: Oh, how cool. [01:11:10] Speaker A: Yeah, they do all kinds of stuff, you know, to earn money. And then. And then when you get to see them spend it and they get. They get the satisfaction out of buying something they didn't have to ask permission for. Even you see them, you're like, there's a light inside of them, and it's like, ooh, now I'm addicted to my independence, you know? [01:11:28] Speaker B: You know, have you also noticed, though, they're a lot more careful when they're spending their money than yours? [01:11:32] Speaker A: Absolutely. Absolute. Absolutely. [01:11:37] Speaker B: As well. [01:11:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:11:38] Speaker B: Okay, so I want to have a little fun with you. [01:11:42] Speaker A: Oh, I'm a fun. [01:11:43] Speaker B: We can do some rapid fire stuff. [01:11:46] Speaker A: You got it. [01:11:47] Speaker B: Okay. What would be one thing that you would say every entrepreneur should not do? [01:11:58] Speaker A: Stop dreaming. Stop dreaming. Never stop dreaming. [01:12:01] Speaker B: Never stop dreaming. [01:12:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's at the basis of all the entrepreneurial spirit. [01:12:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:12:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:12:10] Speaker B: Most underrated part of owning your business, the relationships. Oh, amazing. [01:12:17] Speaker A: Yeah. I think people probably don't realize it, what I learn from what I do and what I take away from what I do and what I. What I get back from brides, we talk all the time about what brides give. What we give to brides, but what brides give back to us is fascinating. Yeah, it's. It's incredible. I have so many things in my life that I've learned from a bride or, you know, I had a weight loss surgery a while ago that got me way healthier than I ever was, you know, because a bride inspired me to do it and she had had it. And so there's. There's so much. So this isn't rapid fire anymore, but. Sorry. But yeah, what we get back, what I get back out of what I do, I think is probably surprises most people. [01:13:04] Speaker B: I think that's great. So if you had, if you had to describe the wedding angels in one. [01:13:12] Speaker A: Word, the team or the business or business. Magical. [01:13:20] Speaker B: If you could describe. Now you've got me asking a question around one word to describe your team. What would you say? [01:13:28] Speaker A: Fearless. Yeah. [01:13:33] Speaker B: Well, Jackie, I can't top that. So this has been a really amazing time talking with you. I've loved it and I so appreciate you making the time. [01:13:43] Speaker A: Oh, no, I'm so excited for the invitation. Anytime you have more questions, have me back. [01:13:48] Speaker B: Oh, I would love to have you back. [01:13:50] Speaker A: I would love it. [01:13:51] Speaker B: Thanks, Jackie. [01:13:52] Speaker A: Thanks, Michelle. [01:13:53] Speaker B: Hey, it's Michelle. Thank you so much for listening today. If you enjoy our podcast and know someone who you believe would make a great guest, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and let's talk. I'd love to hear your feedback and as always, may it inspire you in your own personal and professional journey of life. Run toward the unknown. When you're riding the big wheel, you're not alone.