THE Podcast for Wedding and Events Industry Professionals
All Episodes
All Episodes
74 Christian Oth: Innovative Wedding Photojournalism
As any Creative knows, getting started can be a challenge. Christian Oth is no stranger to the effort that goes into success. He moved to New York City when he was 19 years old in order to go to photography school, and he went from having to pawn his only camera, to owning his own wedding photography business. Today, Christian sits down with Andy to tell his story and to offer advice to aspiring photographers and Creatives.
73 THE NEXT LEVEL: Roy Yamaguchi: Cuisine, Culture & Community
In today’s episode, Andy and Melissa dive a little deeper into Chef Roy Yamaguchi’s interview on The Wedding Biz. Roy is our first Chef to appear on the show and he really brought the value.
72 Chef Roy Yamaguchi: Cuisine, Culture & Community
On today’s episode, Andy shares with us the honor of sitting down with renowned chef Roy Yamaguchi, as he shares his story. Roy shares his experiences from coming to the United States for the first time to attend culinary school, starting his first restaurant in Los Angeles, and finally creating Roy’s in Hawaii.
Listen in as Roy shares with Andy, as well as the rest of us, his passion, his mission, and his hopes for the future.
71 THE NEXT LEVEL: Mindy Weiss: Setting the Standard
In this episode of The Next Level, Andy and Melissa unpack all the lessons and strategies that Mindy Weiss shared in her interview. Mindy was so open with her knowledge and she gave some very specific strategies tips that you can implement in your business.
70 Mindy Weiss: Setting the Standard
Mindy Weiss is a force in the high-end wedding and event planning business. Since her early beginnings, she has delighted celebrity and non-celebrity clients alike with her ability to build meaningful relationships every step of the way.
On this episode, Mindy shares her wealth of knowledge about what it’s like to maintain an A-List clientele. But while there certainly are additional factors to consider when planning luxury events for celebrities, Mindy’s insights from years of experience working with families and couples are applicable to anyone in the event planning industry.
From getting to truly know your clients– both financially and personally– to how you might be able to successfully evade the paparazzi, Mindy Weiss dives in with honesty and humor to share her wisdom on this episode.
69 THE NEXT LEVEL: Mark Held: A Lifetime Of Floral Innovation
Considering the incredible success Mark Held has had by focusing on doing one thing – flowers – and doing them better than anyone else, it’s no surprise that Andy and Melissa are able to extract many strategies from Mark’s interview.
68 Mark Held: A Lifetime Of Floral Innovation
Mark Held didn’t originally see himself as a florist. His first arrangement– a project assigned to him at summer camp as a young boy– turned out to be poison ivy. But after a successful dance and theater career as a young adult, Mark wanted to continue his creative expression. His partner, Richard David, had just the outlet: a flower shop he was opening up. And he convinced Mark to join him for a bit. At the time, Mark thought it would be a temporary arrangement.
Fast forward a couple decades, and Mark Held is a prominent name in floristry. As a grounded, creative mind, he believes that flowers “breathe life into events” and is always looking forward to the future of his business and clients.
In this episode, Mark shares his perspective on career development, crafting a quality event, and the way he navigates the Hollywood scene as a professional florist.
67 THE NEXT LEVEL: Preston Bailey: Designer for the Ages, Part 1
Andy and Melissa take a second listen to Preston Bailey’s interview about his design process. There’s so much that can be learned from Preston’s interview!
66 REVISIT: Preston Bailey: Designer for the Ages, Part 1
REVISIT: The year is 1980. The place is New York City. And the person is Preston Bailey, who at the time was just looking for a way to pay the bills and not get evicted from his apartment. What started as a small time floral business blossomed into what we know as Preston Bailey’s immaculate and stunning work.
65 THE NEXT LEVEL: Stephanie Bradshaw: Dynamically Branding Your Business & Events
Today, Melissa and Andy are recording this episode of TNL from the Engage! Conference in Banff, Canada! Listen in as Andy answers a listener question that may also be a question you’ve been wondering about too!
Stephanie Bradshaw’s interview was amazing for a lot of reasons, but certain aspects of it particularly resonated with Andy and Melissa. If you haven’t listened to Stephanie’s interview yet, definitely make sure you listen because it is packed full of value!
In this episode, Melissa and Andy take a deeper dive into the following topics from Stephanie Bradshaw’s interview:
64 Stephanie Bradshaw: Dynamically Branding Your Business & Events
Stephanie Bradshaw has more than just impeccable taste, she has a knack for project management and has a very diverse business portfolio-which in our opinion has lead to ultimate success!
Growing up in a traveling military family, she quickly found inspiration through other cultures, colors, and textures from around the world, and she’s translated that into her love for event design and production. But even more than the art of an event, Stephanie is a fearless business leader who has endless inspiration and skill to offer when it comes to team development, taking on the right clients for your brand, and creating truly inspiring events– all while balancing print publications, industry summits, and raising a family.
63 REVISIT: Edwin McCain: Creative Hit Wedding Songs
REVISIT: This week, Andy talks with the artist behind three enormously-popular wedding songs—Edwin McCain. His hit songs “I’ll Be” and “I Could Not Ask For More” are both favorite “first dance” songs, and his song “Walk With You” is always a moving choice for the father/daughter dance. Edwin’s songs have formed the soundtrack to some of the most pivotal moments in people’s lives, that couples and their families will always remember.
62 THE NEXT LEVEL: Tara Dowburd, Makeup Therapy: “Achieving Success in the Client Experience”
This episode of The Next Level dives deeper into the interview with Tara Dowburd. You may be wondering what a makeup designer can tell you about your business, but Tara is full of great ideas.
Andy and Melissa discuss the particular wisdom that Tara shared about networking for your business. As someone whose business depends on relationships, networking has been the key to propel Tara to success.
61 Tara Dowburd, Makeup Therapy: “Achieving Success in the Client Experience”
Tara Dowburd has always known that creativity needs to be at the center of her career. She’s an artist. What she didn’t expect was that makeup would be her medium. But after seeing how involved she could be in the lives of her clients and the craft of building confidence inside and out, she realized there was no other place that would be more suitable for her.
After spending over 20 years in the field, Tara has the skills and experience to give solid business advice in the wedding and event makeup realm.
60 THE NEXT LEVEL: Kevin Lee: Dedication and Finding the Flair
Join Andy and Melissa for today’s Next Level episode, where they break down the amazing interview with Kevin Lee. Kevin sat down with Andy and shared his story of coming to the US and in the process, completely changing careers. What started as a love for flowers, quickly blossomed into the event planning business he has today. Kevin became known for some of the most glamorous events and his over the top flair for artistry made him a beloved movie character.
59 Kevin Lee, Celebrity Event Designer: Dedication and Finding the Flair
Kevin Lee loves living a glamorous lifestyle, and he’s proved time and time again, he’s willing to work for it. He learned the value of true discipline early in life through ballet and becoming a talented clarinet player. Coming from South Korea to America, changing lanes and opening a flower shop-he created his business from continual learning, humility and a true thirst for creating the best and most beautiful experiences possible for his high end clientele.
58 REVISIT: Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce, Engaging Concepts
REVISIT: Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce are powerhouse team is the force behind the wedding and honeymoon industry consulting firm Engaging Concepts. In this episode, we talk about their road from their Disney Weddings days to their own Engage! Summits events.
57 THE NEXT LEVEL: Harmony Walton – The Bridal Bar and Jet Fete
Join Andy Kushner and Melissa Fancy as they digest the value-packed episode with Harmony Walton!
Tune into this episode to get some major insight on how to maintain a creative and flourishing business with multiple revenue streams!