Episode 269 LISA VORCE - The Intangible Soul Of An Event

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Hey everyone, it's Andy Kushner, host of The Wedding Biz, in which I conduct in-depth and revealing interviews of icons of the weddings and event industry.

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So, if you missed last week's episode on Monday, I released an interview with Kathy Sharp Ross.

Author of the book, Reinvent Your Life, What Are You Waiting For?

And on Wednesday, I featured a conversation with Colin Cowie.

Who's really wonderful.

And then last Friday, I released a bonus episode with Alan Shukowski talking about a task force out of New York City that put together suggested protocols for holding events during the pandemic.

So last week was quite a week.

And so now I'd like to introduce today's guest, which is Lisa Vorce.

She is a world-renowned celebrity event planner, receiving accolades from Vogue.

Harper's Bazaar, Brides, Biz Bash, Martha Stewart and more.

She planned several events for Kobe Bryant and produced some of the most iconic celebrations.

Including the weddings of John Legend and Chrissy Teigen and Kate Upton and Justin Verlander.

Lisa is also a speaker and headliner at conferences around the world.

Including WPPI, Engage and DWP.

So enjoy my conversation with Lisa Vorce.

Lisa, it is so good to have you on the show.

Thank you for doing this.

Thank you for having me.

Finally.

I know.

Well, you know, I've known about you for a long time.

And and I'm I'm glad, yeah, like you say, we were finally able to uh to do this.

So so this is great.

So, you know what I want to start with that I was looking through.

Your website and I saw this I saw this quote that I really, really love.

And I'd love to hear you say more about.

So I'm going to say it.

So it's my proudest moments aren't only about design.

They are about how my clients feel when they see and experience the design.

When they walk into a venue transformed and they experience pure joy.

It's so rewarding to create something that resonates with someone's soul.

I love that last part that resonates with someone's soul.

How do you come up with that?

What what are you thinking?

You know, it's crazy and we talk about it all the time.

And when I meet with prospective clients, I, you know, they always ask like, well, how how do you differentiate yourself?

And listen, like all my colleagues like love and adore them.

And we're all so good at what we do.

But I think for us in particular, and this has to do a lot with my upbringing.

Which I'm sure we'll go into a little bit.

But it you know, it's about a love for celebration and food and culture.

And um, family.

And for me at our events, we really try and create what we call the intangible soul of the event.

And that I think is really truly the magic ingredient of our events.

And you can't put a price tag on it and you can't train it.

And it's really difficult to explain because it's a feeling.

It's a feeling when you're there.

And the guests at our events, they they've all been to a million events.

And a million galas and, you know, all that stuff.

So how is it different?

And and for me, it's really tapping into our clients and what resonates with them and what they find to be beautiful.

And infusing their personalities into the event and the culture of their families.

The whatever that is, and then also the culture of wherever we are throughout the world.

And it helps ground the event and gives meaning to the event.

And, you know, we want everything to be really purposeful.

And I don't I don't ever want anyone to be able to put a price tag on our events.

Because, you know, listen, we're always going to deliver something beautiful.

Like we we know that.

And that's kind of the easy part.

But how do you feel when you're there?

And, you know, that's what you walk away from.

And that those are really the memories.

And it's it's that kind of the that that sensory, you know.

Between the the the music and the smells and, you know, everything that's happening.

And that's that's the soul of the event.

And that, you know, like I said, you can't really put a price tag on it, it's really hard to explain, but it's it's about listening to our clients.

Understanding our clients and and bringing in those things that have the deepest meaning to them.

Yes.

Well, you know, I definitely I want to get more into that in a minute.

But but I am curious about your upbringing.

You you mentioned that.

I I read that that you grew up with a very large family, uh that I mean really mixed.

Italian, German, Mexican, Spanish.

Is that it was all that?

Yeah, and sadly I speak none of those languages.

Because my my older sister Gina.

Who happens to be our executive director.

She's always spoken for me.

So she speaks for me in English as well as, you know, the five languages.

That she speaks.

Oh jeez.

Wow.

She's really handy throughout throughout the world.

With our destination events.

But yeah, I mean that it's so crazy.

Because um, we're we're still doing this.

To to this day.

I mean, we grew up just going to these huge extended family.

Christmas parties and gatherings.

And it you, you know, you could hear Italian and Spanish and German being spoken.

In the distance.

And we had piñatas and mariachis at every Christmas.

And we, you know, every Sunday was the big Italian family.

Get together dinner.

Like you see in the movies.

And um.

That that is what we did.

We just grew up.

You know, going to celebrations.

And that's like it's truly in my blood.

And it started with when my dad was a kid, started, I think the first family photo of our extended family.

Christmas party.

Is from the 50s.

Wow.

And so it's been going on for years.

You know, my great-grandmother.

Lived to be 101.

And she was just there every year.

And we, you know, we there's so many traditions in our in our family parties.

And I think that's where my love for weddings and destination weddings.

In particular, kind of comes from.

Yeah, but was there anything perhaps in junior high, high school where you were involved.

Outside of your own family experience with celebrations like this?

I mean, did it manifest in some other way what you're doing today?

No, not until uh post college.

Well, I can tell you that really how I started.

Uh-huh.

Might be kind of segueing a little bit to that.

But no, not in high school at all.

Um, although we continued those family celebration.

I mean, that was, you know.

Yearly, monthly thing for us.

And and like I said, we still do it today.

Which is extraordinary.

And now we're doing zoom family gatherings.

But the way we were raised.

Was, you know, you go to a prestigious university, you enter corporate America and you start your 401k.

And it it was very safe.

And so that's what I did.

And so I ended up living in Colorado and I was uh doing coding for IBM.

Oh wait, wait, wait, IBM.

Do you you ready for this?

Lisa, that was my first job.

I did the same thing.

I saw that somewhere.

Yeah.

It's so funny.

Well, and the same thing.

I thought and it didn't it didn't come from my parents.

I don't know where it came from.

But this whole thing about, you know, majoring in a in a major career business, something like that and getting a career with a Fortune 500.

So I did the same thing.

My first job was selling for IBM out of Boston.

Isn't it interesting?

I mean.

It's so crazy.

Because we're both so out of that.

I know.

I know.

When were you there?

In the.

Well, I was going to say like, I think it was still like kind of everyone was still wearing suits.

At the.

Oh.

White.

Listen.

You know what?

Everyone, all the guys would have uh these conservative dark suits.

You know, with with very preppy.

With with white Oxford long shirt.

I didn't do it.

I immediately.

I had hair cut down and Calvin Klein and different colored shirts and ties.

I was totally like no wing tip shoes.

But anyway, so you started in IBM coding.

That's interesting.

Right, exactly.

Which was a very obvious ill fit for me.

And my parents always wanted us to be happy, but I I think like by nature, we always chose the safest route.

And it I'm not like that today.

Because I'm a big risk taker.

Obviously.

And what I do, but you know, at the time that was kind of the path I followed.

And then um the blizzard of 97 in Denver, Colorado, I met James, my husband.

And it was this crazy night and it was, you know, love at first sight.

Blah, blah, blah.

And so I ended up moving with this crazy romance and I ended up moving back to Southern California.

Because James was living there at the time.

And he was taking care of his uncle, um, Uncle Roger.

Who I reference a lot.

Um, in, you know, my Instagram posts and things like that.

But I I don't know.

Do you know APA, the agency for the performing arts?

Um, I've heard of it.

I'm not real familiar.

But yeah.

Okay, so it's a talent agency based in LA.

Well, Roger, Uncle Roger was one of the original founders of APA.

Huh.

And he he passed a couple years ago.

But when I moved out to Southern California, James was taking care of Uncle Roger and so I moved in with Uncle Roger and James.

Wow.

And, you know, Roger was a talent agent, so he was constantly throwing parties and events.

And, you know, having to entertain his clients.

And so I was telecommuting for at that time I was working for a bank, um, who poached me from IBM.

And I was still doing kind of technical stuff for them.

And, you know, I was bored out of my mind and I was watching Roger do these events.

And I was like, Roger, I can help you with that.

To my blood.

I can I can do this.

And so that that's truly how it like truly that's how it started.

I I Rosemary Clooney, George's aunt was um one of Roger's dear, dear friends.

And so one of the events I did for for Roger was Nina Clooney.

George's mom, her birthday party.

And at that event, people were, you know, asking for my my number.

And my business card, which of course I didn't have.

Because I wasn't doing this.

Right.

Professionally.

Right, and so I just wrote my number on a cocktail napkin.

And and that's pretty much how it like truly that's how it started.

But still to take that leap.

Because I'm I have a similar uh in a sense.

Similar way of doing it, I mean, here I was with IBM and then Lexmark.

And I started a band for fun because I had them when I was a teenager.

And started to get really popular.

I started getting calls.

But, you know, that's one thing.

It's still a whole another thing to actually leave a fortune, you know, a major career.

Fortune 500 company, go full-time.

Which I know you did, apparently in 2001.

Which was just a couple years later.

Can you tell me about that transition?

And how you were able to to do that?

I mean, did you feel were you thinking about it for a while?

Was it more impulsive?

How how did you make that transition?

Uh, very impulsive.

I was just really unhappy.

And that wasn't a good fit for me.

And, you know, it's kind of like do what you love and the money will follow.

And I truly experienced that.

And I like, listen, and that's why I reference Uncle Roger so much is because I had, you know.

I had the support of my family.

And we were raised like you can do anything you want to do.

And so I always had that great kind of foundation.

And then, you know, I was living with Uncle Roger and James at at the time.

And Roger just adored me and, you know, he's like, listen, we let's let's just do this.

And so he helped me set up the company.

And I kind of had the stability and security of Roger by my side.

Which kind of gave me the bravery to do it.

But there is honestly, if I knew then what I know now, there is no way in hell I would have done it.

Like absolutely not.

Why is that?

It's so stressful and challenging and crazy what we do.

And I mean, I'm at a very different level now, obviously, then, you know.

I was in 2001.

But still, if I could kind of look through that crystal ball and see, there would have been way too much fear.

I I was fearless when I did it.

Because I was like, yeah, I can do this.

You know, because I I didn't know what I was doing at all.

And I'm so grateful that I was naive.

Because that that just allowed me to do it and ignorance is bliss.

And I'm just I have an insane work ethic and an insane drive.

And if I don't know how to do something, I will figure it out.

And that's really how I built it.

You know, and and then just having that piece of me in my blood where I just want to make people happy.

And I want to celebrate with people.

And that's, you know, again, what I grew up doing.

It was a very natural thing for me.

So I'm very much into the guest experience.

And kind of what it takes to keep people happy.

And kind of keep the energy and the flow and everything of an event, you know, on high.

And then I happen to also love making things look pretty.

So it's kind of a a perfect blend for me.

Did you begin, you mentioned you started with the birthday party for George Clooney's mother.

Were you doing social events?

How quickly did you jump into weddings?

Because I imagine doing the first wedding is dramatically different than a birthday party.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So the my first wedding was um for Roger's assistant.

Roberta, her daughter got married.

And I mean, it was a it was a lovely wedding.

We had a great, but I don't remember the budget.

But it was a it was a good budget for my my first event.

And, you know, again, I was fearless.

Because I didn't know what I was doing.

But um.

I just did it.

And then I think I got a referral from that.

And just kept getting referrals.

And then seriously, I just put it out into the universe that I do destination weddings.

And it was interesting, I got a call from an NBA player.

Assuming because they saw the Kobe thing.

And um.

It was Elton Brand.

And we did his wedding in Asheville, North Carolina.

And that was our first true destination wedding.

And then from there, it just kind of took off on the destination scale.

And I I it's terrible to say like it kind of just happened.

But it truly because.

You know, I get asked all the time, I try and mentor and kind of guide, you know, these kind of new up and comers.

And I'm like the worst case study.

Because it was kind of like, I just said it.

And then it happened.

And I know I kind of downplay how much.

You know, I worked seven days a week and 17 hours a day.

And built it from from nothing and kind of everything was self-taught.

And, you know, now I could not live without my team.

And we have an incredible team.

But, um, it it wasn't an easy road by any stretch at all.

But I'm so happy where we are today and so proud of what we built.

And so proud of the team.

Yeah, and I want to come back, you know, in a few minutes to the team.

I, you know, I I'd love to get into the business aspect of it.

Because I think that that is a challenge for creatives.

But before we do that, can you tell me something about your general process?

Um, from the time you first meet with a a potential wedding client.

And and going through just, you know, generally speaking how you do your process.

I don't know if I already said this, but we're we're intentionally.

Um, very small, right?

So we're we're very boutique studio.

And we keep our client base very very trim so that we can be incredibly hands-on with them.

So we try and keep it to six or fewer clients per year.

Six weddings.

Basically.

Mhm.

Yeah, and then we'll we'll kind of pepper in a few very few social events.

For for some clients.

But yeah, six six weddings per year.

Um, and and sometimes we go over that, you know.

Just because we can't say no.

But that's really what we try and and focus on.

And, you know, I think the thing with us is we know there's not a one size fits all.

There's no one process that's going to work well for every client.

And that's really what I try and tap into, not to oversimplify it, but it's really just about connecting and listening.

And when clients are interviewing me, I always tease them, I'm like, look, I'm interviewing you just as much as you're interviewing me.

Because there needs to be a really great connection there.

And that's really important to me.

And, um, process-wise, it's different for each client.

I have some clients that are like, Lisa, do your thing.

I'll meet you at the wedding.

And other clients where, you know, I speak, which is actually terrifying.

Because I'm like, oh, jeez, I hope they like it.

You know.

And then we have the, you know, the other clients where we speak with them nearly every day.

And, you know, some clients are only visual and some clients are visual.

And they need but they need spreadsheets to to back the, you know.

They want the data at the same time.

So we really do adapt our process to the the process.

That's going to work best for the clients.

Because my whole thing is I just want to make sure I'm, you know, mitigating and eliminating any stress.

And that has, you know, part of that is is understanding their brains.

And how they work.

So I know I'm very in tune to what causes stress for my clients.

And what's going to resonate and not resonate well with them.

And so we adapt the process that way.

But in terms of the big picture process, we meet with the client.

And and once they're ready to move forward.

It's really important to me that they know they they obviously are contracting me.

And they have me.

But my, you know, I cannot do this without my team.

And they are just as important as I am.

And each person on my team has a very specific role.

So I want them to to know and meet the team from the beginning.

And know that they're going to have a very big piece.

Um, and important role in in the planning of their events.

But we start very big picture.

I focus, I I for me in particular.

I focus on the design from start to finish.

So from, you know, save the dates to welcome gifts.

And then we've got Nicole from our team who kind of manages.

She builds the event from the ground up.

So she's kind of the vendor.

Um, she she works with all the vendors.

And she's doing that with with the clients.

Taylor on our team does all the guest management, so she's managing the guests.

Doing the RSVP list, listening to all the personal writers.

Blah, blah, blah.

And then Gina is just making sure everything runs well under the hood.

As we say.

And keeping us in business.

But so everyone has a really specific role.

Through the through the process.

But I'm driving the process.

Um, Nicole keeps me on um on target.

With all of our kind of target milestones and and deadlines.

With the client.

And we try and do, you know, at least like I said.

I speak with the clients quite frequently.

And then there's the the the rare birds.

Who are like, meet me there.

Which there's that.

But for the most part, I speak with the clients quite frequently.

But I I tend to have a standing call with them once a week.

Where we're going through everything, their homework, our homework.

And, you know, whatever.

But on the design side.

I'm again, just listening to them.

And that's the fun part is really kind of understanding what they find to be beautiful.

And then I will translate that into taking into consideration wherever we are in the world.

And that like I said, the culture and the artisans.

That I know I'm going to be able to work with.

Well, can I also interject just for a second, Lisa?

So earlier you were saying that one of the ways that you are when you're really listening to them.

Is you find out what causes stress for couples.

What are some of the biggest stresses that you've found?

That when you do that.

I think honestly, the financial side of a wedding is one of the biggest.

And the unknowns of that.

So we're, you know, I'm really kind of typical Southern California.

I'm very laid back in in the process.

But the one thing where we are not laid back about is the budget.

And that's something I'm very like, I don't want to say aggressive.

But I'm it's, you know.

I always tell my clients like, look, this is for your protection.

We are very, um, aggressive in the beginning with the budget in terms of making sure it's identified and established.

And all people involved have agreed to it.

Because, you know, there's many situations where the bride is like, no, no, no, it'll be fine.

Like, go for it.

But the person that's writing the check is not okay with that.

So you really push them to really get specific about it.

We actually won't let them sign a contract until we have the financial parameters.

Even if it's a range.

Like they can say two to four million.

That that's actually okay with me.

We need that range at least.

So that I know what we're getting into it.

And most importantly, like we we work with them to we we ask, okay, who are the key players?

Who's writing the check?

Who's the final decision maker?

Who are my clients?

Because it might be five people.

You know, and that's really important to understand.

Because it makes the process much smoother along the way.

Because I know, you know, who's making the final decision.

So we get those financial parameters established in the beginning.

And, you know, part of that too is like, I don't want to con someone to contract me.

If it's not something I can deliver.

So I really spend a lot of time with them pre-contract to understand, okay, what you're looking for.

Is it, you know.

So we have this, you know.

And with our clients, it's my gosh, it's not even.

Rehearsal dinner, wedding, brunch.

It's like the daytime, you know, boat excursion and, you know, the pool party.

Like there's like 17 events in in our destination wedding.

I was going to say, so most of the weddings you do are destination.

And they're multi-day.

Yes, absolutely.

Absolutely.

And that's what we love because it's such a like incredible bonding experience.

For everyone.

But but anyway.

So with the with the financial parameters and like kind of who the key players are.

That's established in the beginning.

And we don't let them make a move.

Because also I can't design properly.

And, you know, when clients come to us, probably 90% of them are coming to us without their venues.

Which we love and prefer.

And, you know, that's the biggest kind of decision, you know, that's going to impact your budget.

The most is is the venue.

And how do you lead them to that decision?

If since that's such a big one.

Yeah, again, it's just deep conversations.

So I I really.

You know, and sometimes clients kind of they, you know, with Instagram and Pinterest and everything.

It there's kind of like information overload.

So they're like, well, I like this and I like this and I like this.

So, you know.

Part of what I do is really help hone in on on at the core what are they really attracted to.

And what kind of really speaks to them the most.

And that, you know, with some clients, it's like, you know.

They'll show me something from Provence, but then they'll show me Bali.

And then they'll show me Mexico.

And I'm like, okay.

Um.

So we like culture.

That we know that.

But anyway, so we we help hone that in.

And then for me.

You know, I always tell the clients like, look, like when you're looking at a venue.

Most likely you're just looking at it to see, do you connect to it?

Is it beautiful?

You're not looking at it as, you know, are there going to be bugs, how many restrooms are there, you know, are there, how many generators are we going to need?

I'm looking at it from line items on the budget.

First and foremost.

And then, you know, practicality and like what are my weather backups?

And, you know, there's so many factors involved in that.

So, you know, our clients are amazing about letting us guide them in that process.

And, you know, like I said, I'm laid back.

But I, you know, we'll always have very strong opinions.

Because I'm going to that that's my job.

To to help guide them.

So, yeah, that that venue decision is the thing that's really going to impact the budget.

The, you know, the most.

Yeah, could you perhaps take us through a story of of one couple.

Um, in particular and maybe walk me through how you came to the the venue decision.

And and, you know, as much as you want to tell about the design for that wedding.

But could you give us an example?

Sure.

Um, I'm looking at my website.

Really quickly.

Sure.

That's okay.

Let's see.

So, Pulia, Isabella and Jake.

Because Pulia is such a, oh.

That's such an amazing wedding.

Yeah.

So we always start with, you know, guest count is going to dictate.

That's going to be your strongest thing.

Because can we fit, can we not fit?

So how many did they have?

Do you remember the rough number?

Yeah, they started at 200.

I think we ended up like at, you know.

Like 180 or so.

Okay, so pretty average group.

Size.

Okay.

Yeah, exactly.

And that's pretty standard.

And then they wanted it for them.

They wanted everyone to stay at the same location.

So that's also a tough one.

Because with our clients.

That's pretty common, they want people to be at the same location.

Yet they don't like the larger, the kind of vibe and look and feel of larger resorts.

Oh.

So that was a tough one.

And we run into that all the time.

And then we also needed kind of that tiered pricing approach for the guests.

Because you have guests that can kind of stay in villas.

And then you have guests that like we can't go over, you know.

450 euros or whatever a night.

So there's that.

And then they I know they wanted.

We had to limit it to two flights.

Two flights of stairs.

Um, sorry.

Air airplane.

Oh, flights.

Oh, right, right.

Okay.

And then they wanted the welcome reception.

Rehearsal dinner, wedding.

And then kind of the day after, not really a brunch.

But kind of farewell.

And they wanted the ability to have kind of daytime excursions for people.

And good weather.

And keep it on budget.

You know.

Typical for everybody.

Yeah.

So we I know we sent them to Lake Como.

Because it kind of ticked all the boxes.

And they also wanted something different.

Because again, you know, all these guests have kind of been to, you know.

Lake Como and Tuscany.

Whatever.

And we knew they they really were um really focused on Italy.

So we came up with Pulia and Borgo Egnazia in Pulia in particular.

I don't know if you actually went to engage there.

But they had a great engage there.

Um, because Borgo Egnazia, you know, it's a large resort.

But you kind of it's it's still feels incredibly intimate.

So we we sent them.

Kind of all over Italy.

And they ended up staying there.

And just absolutely loved it.

Because culture for them was incredibly important too.

And they wanted something that, you know, people hadn't really experienced.

And that Apulian culture is just so spectacular.

Why was that?

Oh.

It was unbelievable.

Because it was so, first of all, it was in a one of the piazzas of Borgo Egnazia.

And it was very typical Apulian where we had Apulian dancers.

And we had a giant bonfire.

And we had a bunch of local artisans.

So they were like, we had like a mozzarella, you know, man.

And he was making mozzarella.

And we had all it was kind of like a street fair.

And we had these wonderful women.

Kind of weaving head wreaths for the guests.

And I don't know.

It was it was like it was a little like folk art.

At the same time.

And the food was incredible.

And it was just like.

If you wanted to learn about Apulian culture, you just got culturally immersed.

In those two hours.

And it was.

You know, people don't forget that.

That is an incredible experience that people haven't gone through before.

And that is, I mean, what an amazing kickoff to a destination wedding weekend.

Is just a great dose of the the culture that you're in.

You know.

Yeah, I can see how that would be special.

Yeah, I mean, I remember.

You know, my sister and I were flying back from that wedding.

And some of the guests were on the plane.

And they they one of the the women started crying.

We're like, oh my gosh.

Are you okay?

She goes, no, that was just like, I just have to tell you.

That was the most incredible experience.

And she was so moved by it.

And I was like, okay.

Well, this is this is why we do what we do.

And that's why we love it so much.

If we can get that reaction from people.

That's, you know, we've done our job.

Well, also, you know, I'd like to ask you in terms of process, I I read a quote too.

That you said where you said, when I'm designing an event and transforming spaces, I look at lighting first.

Can you tell me more about that?

Absolutely.

I mean, lighting to me before anything else.

Is is the most important.

Because never mind the flowers or any before that.

You need to just set that beautiful tone.

And that, I mean, even, you know, if you just look when someone's taking a photo.

If you have good light or bad light, it makes all the difference in the world.

It's the same as at an event.

So I I mean.

Sometimes I think I I drive, not sometimes, pretty much all the time.

We drive the lighting designers crazy because there's always that challenge with event planners where we want beautiful lighting.

Which involves a lot of instrumentation.

But we don't actually want to see the instrumentation involved.

Right.

You know.

And we also I I have such an aversion to color.

I'm not I don't want, you know, colored lights at all.

Because I want everything to be as natural as possible.

So it it tends to be a bit boring sometimes for lighting designers.

Because they're like.

I'm always like, you know, mimic candlelight.

Um, and I think there's there's sick of hearing that.

But lighting before I will always put, you know, for looking at the budget line items.

I will always put more in lighting than anything else.

Because if you don't have beautiful lighting, the rest is just it's just not as pretty.

Does it change much during the event?

Does it change much and are you personally very directive about it?

To the LD.

Yeah, so I mean, listen, the lighting designers know way more than I do.

So I think with them, you know, it's it's about communicating.

This is true with with all the vendors.

It's kind of communicating the the overall vision.

And then we rely on them.

They they know their craft.

That's right.

Yeah.

And everyone want vendors.

Which I call I like to call uh creative partners.

Yeah.

Are dying to know, you know, the best way to do this.

So yeah, I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.

Absolutely, so I mean, for us.

And I what I explained at WPPI is like, listen, you have to understand from our perspective.

The stakes are really high for us.

We have a lot of pressure on us.

And we, you know, with with our client base, like it's not like we can experiment.

And take those risks.

So what I had told them and this has this has happened with us.

Is, you know, one of the it's a little bit difficult to do, but, you know, some photographers have brought clients to me.

And that for me is a very safe.

Obviously, very safe way to start a relationship.

Because I'm like, okay.

The client has already worked with this photographer or whatever, that's their selection.

And they're bringing me in.

So that that's amazing.

But that, you know, that's hard when you're talking about the type of budgets that me and my colleagues are typically working with.

So I understand that.

But what I told them at WPPI was that, you know, when I kind of grew up in the industry.

We all started and kind of built a, you know, with like Aaron De Lacy and Mindy Weiss.

Like we were all really young in the industry at once.

And you look at them now.

And we kind of grew up together.

So, you know, one of the things I told them that I think is a very practical approach.

Is building that team.

And building that alliance with this kind of younger generation.

And you have to, you know, we didn't just get here by snapping our fingers.

It was a lot of work along the way.

And we, you know, like I said, I started at $750.

And so it doesn't just happen overnight.

But if they can align themselves with like-minded individuals and kind of build their own team.

And kind of stair step it and grow up in the industry together.

That that honestly.

Like they need to be the next generation.

It is so difficult to get in to our generation.

Yeah, but how do you suggest how do you suggest they approach someone like yourself?

If if someone wants to have you be aware of them.

You know, be on your radar.

How would you suggest they do that in an appropriate way?

And effective way.

A good example is James and Otto.

They're photographers.

I don't know if you know that.

It's James and Schultz is the is the company name.

We have not worked together yet.

But they they have very gently and diplomatically.

And politely, um, been um trying to get in.

To to work with us.

And one of the things they came to me with was they they obviously had done their research.

And knew kind of what was important to me.

And animals.

Are my love for animals.

Is at the top of the list.

So they came to me and they said, listen, like they they got it.

They're like, listen, we know it's so hard to break into.

We know that's a, you know, it's a big kind of leap of faith.

For you to take, can we come shoot you doing one of your volunteer.

Things with one of the animal associations.

Oh.

What a great.

See now.

That's a brilliant, brilliant idea.

That's a great idea.

Absolutely.

Absolutely, and for me, they had taken a step back to to really understand me.

And what's special to me.

And that that was important because I think that showed a lot to me.

And then, yes, of course, come shoot me and my dogs.

I would love that.

Or shoot me, you know, at whatever association we're working with.

Like that was genius.

And like we, you know, I've met with them several times since then.

We we've pitched them for multiple events.

And it hasn't worked out yet.

But, you know, I've built a relationship with them and I've, you know, kind of been looking at their work.

You know, along the way.

And, you know, it was a very genuine approach.

And I think that's kind of the key element.

Because, you know, we get hit up and and like my colleagues do as well.

We get hit up all the time.

And we I know we all try and be as gracious as possible.

But honestly, it's kind of like a full-time job.

It is.

But I've got to say that example you gave has got to be one of the best ways that I've heard to do that.

It's it's not invasive.

It's it's very giving.

It's a it's a gift.

And how why would you say no?

Exactly.

And I, you know, I told I tell photographers too.

Like until I see it's like a, you know.

A makeup artist as well.

Like until you actually put the makeup on my face, it's really difficult for me to kind of talk about that experience.

Because it hasn't happened to me yet.

And that's what I say to photographers.

Like, I need to see how you shoot my stuff.

And that is such a great way because I know like what the lighting was like.

And I know the challenges.

Was the lighting good or bad and how did you handle that?

And also like, what's your personality like?

Right.

That's that's really.

I hear a lot from a lot of planners, it's it's not it's obviously not just the talent.

But how easy are they to deal with?

How flexible?

Yeah, 100%.

Also, Lisa, you know, my last question for you, you have accomplished so much.

What is it, what what else would you like to do, you know, whether how you see yourself five years from now?

Or just, you know, a particular event or something like that.

What else would you like to do with your career at this point?

That's a really good question.

I mean, there's a lot of places we haven't worked in.

So, you know.

I'd love to keep exploring and dragging the team.

Wherever we want to explore.

But.

You know, I for me, it's it's really new new places.

I think lots of people have kind of products.

I don't know, we don't quite have the product yet.

That's going to be revolutionary.

So like that would be amazing.

But I really do.

I love consulting.

I would love to consult for hotels and kind, you know, because I think that's one of the challenges with hotels.

That are trying to sell these, you know, um, high-profile events.

Um, and big budget events.

But they don't quite have the service to support them.

Or kind of, um.

I don't want to say the skill set.

But the infrastructure to properly support these events.

And, you know, it's so easy to make some really simple changes.

And I think consulting for some of those locations throughout the world.

Would be such a great thing to do and a really easy thing to do.

And would really be beneficial.

Well, and also having, you know, that kind of additional income coming in.

It kind of protects you in a in some ways.

Yes.

With the ups and downs of an economy.

So I think that's a great idea.

Absolutely.

Well, Lisa, I guess I there was so much more I wanted to ask you.

I might just might just have to have you on again.

But this has really been wonderful.

I really, really appreciate you taking the time to do this.

My pleasure, thank you so much for having me.

I really enjoyed my chat with you.

Yeah, my pleasure too.

Thank you for listening to my conversation with Lisa Vorce.

Uh, please check out her site at lisavorse.com.

You can find her on Instagram at Lisa Vorce.

And on Facebook at Lisa Vorce Co.

And you can find all of this in the show notes at our website.

Of theweddingbiz.com.

And if you enjoyed today's episode, please give a great review.

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Which I also am always very grateful for.

And don't forget to listen to our follow-on segment with each interview.

Comes out every Wednesday called The Next Level.

In which I have a guest co-host.

And together we tease out some of the highlights of the interview to help break them down and deliver specific tactical tips.

Strategies to help raise your own business to the next level.

And this week's guest co-host is going to be Michael Uncapper.

From Mark's Garden.

And finally, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram at The Wedding Biz.

And we'll catch you next week on The Wedding Biz.