Leah Stoudenmire - Rock It! Co. [Grand Slam Events Podcast]

Alright, welcome back to Grand Slam Event Organizers. My name is Andy Neary and I'm excited to have the one and Only Leah Stoudemire, CEO, founder of RocketCo. Leah, welcome aboard.

Hey Andy, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

You bet. This one's a fun one. You see Leah, for those of you who don't know Leah, Leah and her team at RocketCo host amazing events. I had the chance to speak at Plan Source Eclipse, one of the best events honestly I've ever spoken at from Environment Energy. It was off the hook. So I'm super excited to have Leah here. So Leah, tell us a little bit about Rocket company.

You're too kind. Thank you. Rocket actually is kind of a mentality and we try to bring that positive vibe that you're going to rocket into the event industry, whether it's in person, which we have been pretty COVID 19 and then now even in the virtual online events we try to bring that same positive vibe. And what we do is we do virtual and live events for tech, software and companies worldwide and we do everything from planning all the way to production and managing that whole process. So we create bandwidth for companies that need it or we work with their existing teams and we can just customize that however companies need it.

So that's awesome. So you got an interesting story actually how you got into event planning. You weren't always in this space, but take us back maybe, I don't know, 12 years ago to what Leah was doing and how you got into event.

Planning 12 years ago. Well, you're really kind, Andy. It was really 20 years ago.

20.

Thank you though, I appreciate it and I'll take it all day long. You just got an extra.

But yeah, 20 years ago. It was originally in advertising and then kind of ran comprehensive marketing campaigns for premier brands like Verizon, Raffles, Hotels and Resorts, even George Perez and the related group down in West Palm. And then the real estate market crashed in 2008 and I was laid off and then during the downturn decided to really take a risk because I couldn't get a job and co founded a lifestyle apparel brand. Yeah, I know, totally off the wall, but decided to do that.

Perfect timing.

Yep, perfect timing. But hit the ground running and was determined and got the brand into 85 stores in about 26 states and we had a good run four and a half years and then I ended up selling my piece in 2012 and decided to go back to the corporate world, which was interesting for a technology company and running and setting up their events Department. What I realized is that there was a huge shortage of event marketing specialists and how events can be capped, that that kind of position can be capped in the corporate world. So I was like, well, there's an opportunity here and you know, how can I build a company that meets this demand? So I decided to start Rocket.

And that's kind of where that kind of how that derives.

You know, it's interesting you bring up the whole.

Not a lot of planning goes into so many events at the corporate level. As a speaker, I can tell you, you see that from time to time where somebody was maybe involuntarily assigned the role of event planner. And unfortunately, what happens often is their events. It becomes more of a check the box versus really sitting down and going, man, how do we create excitement, energy and an amazing environment around this event? So I totally resonate with what you're saying. So, you know, obviously, let's get to the reality of the moment. You know, Covid hit us. The pandemic's hit us. A lot of event planners have had to try to figure out where they're going from here on out. How is RocketCo pivoted?

Yeah, first, Andy, you're right. You know, when it hit, we were in crisis mode for about two to three weeks. You know, one event canceled after the other to where we were with zero events. And we were looking at this bucket filled and no longer filled for 2020. So it's like, how do we, you know, it impacted everyone in the hospitality industry, speakers, all of us in the event industry. What do we do? You know, I couldn't think clearly there for a minute, you know, but then when you kind of, kind of get out of that crisis mode and you start thinking and you're like, how do I pivot? And you start talking to people and you start picking up the phone, you start brainstorming. We started thinking through what. Why do we do what we do? We do what we do because we want to connect people and connection is not canceled. So all we had to do is rethink how we were meeting and how we were conferencing. So, yes, virtual automatically came into play, but how do we, you know, what people decided to do automatically was just take their existing conference and turn it into a virtual conference. But where we saw an opportunity is. But that information might not be relevant at this time. How can we maybe create a series or bite sized content? People are now home with their kids and with, you know, with, with fur babies and all these other things going on, and they might not have, you know, two days non stop, full jam packed of content. So how do we think through the format and how do we listen to our clients and figure out what they need and how? Because they're also in crisis mode too. Right. So we're trying to have them to think for them. So we started there kind of shifting them and transitioning that piece of it. But then we also started to think through how can we scale this business? How can we scale something that we can only tap out at a certain amount of events a year. We have an opportunity to look inside and kind of look under the hood and figure out how to oil it up and kind of change it up a little bit, dust off the rust and kind of get that baby back on the road. And how we could do that is through coaching, training.

Repackaging our existing packages for events that might come up in the fall. Like maybe it's not larger conferences, maybe it's smaller road shows and multi city tours and events with maybe not as many speakers or just toning down the agenda and just thinking through that and kind of getting ahead of that for our clients for fall, winter and for 2020.

I said a couple things there. I hope everybody heard. Number one.

Though, events are canceled. Connection is not. I love that. Number two, one of the biggest pivots you can make as an event planner right now is one, going virtual. But then two, is the content we are sharing relevant to what's happening. And so you pivoting not only with the style of the event, live to virtual, but pivoting in literally the content and what you're sharing, making it relevant to what's going on, that is a very smart move.

And so, okay, so we're talking virtual. That's what everything is for the time being. But there's going to come a day where we're allowed to come back and hang out at live events and host it and have live events. Leah, you got in and started Rocket co back in 2014. What is it you love about live events?

Hands down, Andy? The human, the human connection, I mean that's the differentiator, that's what you can't get from, you know, the virtual online events. Yes. When you take them side by side, what is great about virtual is the data backed ROI you can get from that and the analytics you're able to pull from it. But the in person events, I mean it's been time, over time, over time. It's that human connection that you just can't replace.

Well, and again, I can tell you Firsthand, from speaking at one of your events last year, that energy makes such a difference. Number one, the environment, the space you're hosting the event in as a speaker. Number two, the energy that the event brings to the entire audience and attendees that are at that event is second to none. The biggest priority or the biggest impact I see on events. I've spoken at a lot of events and you can tell quickly the ones that are absolutely full of energy that you're super excited to get up on the stage for. But the other side is the ones where you're just like, man, I've got to do something to liven this place up. And so, like I said to speak on your behalf, the events, the one event I spoke at for you, man, kudos to the level of energy and excitement you brought. Which brings me to an important question you said something earlier I want to come back to. For a lot of event planners, scales a concern.

Do we need a big team so we can host bigger events? Do we need a bigger team so we can host more events? And I think that's a fear for a lot of event planners is how do they scale their business?

What advice would you give them and what are you doing? You're doing something pretty cool to kind of help other event planners start to scale their business. If you don't mind sharing.

Sure. And I've learned from previous experiences of my past business and things like that. One thing with Rocket that I wanted to do was to keep the overhead low and the team small.

And I wanted our culture and core values to be wrapped around life, work, balance. And in order to do that, I didn't want a huge team that we had to manage. So we had two full time and then one part time. So just three of us kind of, that is on the core team. And then we outsource other areas and partners and we partner with people in the industry and use them exclusively for like av, video, photography, marketing, communication. So we have really amazing partners that believe in the Rocket core just like we are. And they believe that, you know, we've got to wow these audiences so that, you know, and give them something that they remember and that is memorable and they can't stop talking about. So we've built out that network and those partnerships and that's how we have kept our team small and effective and also created bandwidth for companies that don't have event experts in house.

That's really important because if I'm somebody who wants to host an event and I'm going to need to partner with an outside event planner, I've got to believe a lot of corporations or whoever's doing it, thinking now. And now we gotta go find av, we've gotta go find this. And they feel like they have to piece the parts together. What you've done so beautifully, if you, you've built the team, it's not all rocket company, but you've partnered with the right resources to build that team that you now can bring to those organizations hosting the event. Such, such a powerful thing. Now how do we pivot? How do we spin? You're doing something for other event planners in the industry right now to help them make sure they can host high energy, highly efficient events. Would you mind going into that for a second?

Yes, I'd love to. So we've been asked, we kind of did. When this all happened, we said, hey, how can we help? So we hosted what we call jam sessions. Get it? Rocket Jam sessions. Yeah.

So we hosted jam sessions. And what we did there is that we just, we met with events, other event professionals, event companies, corporations, internal event teams, and how we could help them just rethink how they were currently meeting and conferencing again. Just that brainstorm, just talking it out, kind of getting through it together, right? And what we realized is like, hey, you know, not only are we having to, we're not going to be able to move forward with in person events right now for the current time being, we're having to shift to virtual. But now our budgets are getting cut too. So bringing in someone, you know, looking at the budgets and how could they manage that? They said it would be really awesome if you could kind of pull together this event in a box, give us all the tools that we need and we could do it ourselves. And I was like, well, that sounds like a perfect plan. So that is what we did. We went back to the table, got my two team members together, the three of us sat around and we came up with kind of an event in a box. Then I'm able to, you know, coach and train people in the industry, or whoever needs it, of how to execute their own wow factor experience, whether it be virtual, whether it be in person. Because we do have to think about 2021 coming up and also being on top of all the standards and the hotels and the venues and the spacing requirements and things that are going to be new to our event plan and world. So making sure that we're on top of all of those things and standards as well for our clients is going to be huge for 2021. So we're coming in and coaching and training professionals out there and helping them, and that's all we want to do. We just want to do that cost effectively and to be able to do that and help and affect and scale the business and scale and our impact and be able to impact more than just, you know, just whoever we impact right now with live events.

Well, and that's huge, Leah, because let's face it, events are going to come back, but the face of events or the way they are hosted, the rules around them have changed forever. And so if I'm an event planner, how do I adjust to that? What's the future going to look like? Having somebody like you as a resource to help me make sure my event is the best it can be is going to be so impactful. So if there is an event planner out there listening, what is the best way he or she can get a hold of you?

Yes. Go to our website. So it's going to be www.therockit like Rocket Co.com and you're able to fill out the contact form and get in touch with us and we'll be back in touch with you asap.

So, and make sure, point of clarity. Rocket rock it. Not rocket launch. Rocket rock. R O C K I T.

All right, last question. Leah. Yeah. As event planners, if you are one, I should say you got punched in the face, right? Let's call it what it is. It's not like your business was impacted a little. For many like you, it went from 7, 8, 9, 10 events to zero overnight. What advice could you give an event planner? Would you give an event planner right now who might be sitting there going, I have no idea what the future holds. What should I be doing? What would be the best advice?

Yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah. Because we were not only impacted for the next, you know, 12 months, but everything that was planned and just rolled over. That's also impacted, too, because all the work's been done. So it's like 18 months. So how do you look at that? And, and I think that if you could just block the noise and evaluate.

And pick up the phone and call your resources, because a lot of times when you're trying to, you're in crisis mode and you're stressed and the answer is not at your fingertips, I'd see them get even more stressful. You're just not thinking clearly. So pick up the phone, start talking it out, brainstorm, if you haven't already, and really think about the purpose of why you do what you do and it's, you know, to connect people. And how do you do that and how do you think outside of the box to keep doing that, whether it's. And how do you help your clients or future clients do that with their. Because they're also not thinking clearly either. And they haven't had time to really think about it probably because they're having to think about other things and not just event marketing or the event space. So if you can think through that for them and pitch them, which is things that I did like my teams, they were kind of like, all right, in person, events are done. But they weren't thinking about virtual. Had to go to the table and say, hey, have you thought about this? And maybe it's not creating a whole conference virtually. Maybe it's just a webinar and maybe it's taken at bite sized content. Maybe it's not a whole hour speak or keynote, but maybe it's taking it and dividing it up into bite size content. You know, 15 minutes, a couple speakers, get different perspectives and then what you can do with that is showcase because you can showcase the data back. You know, it's data backed ROI. You can say, hey, we had 500 people on this webinar and look at the, you know, look at the outcome and then they'll start to listen. So you can start small, start with, you know, even you don't have to go this big. You know, conference is online right now. Start small, start something with, you know, you might have to pick up a new skill, you might have to learn something. Keep an open mind. And again, when you have questions, if you're learning a new skill set, pick up the phone. Not email. You don't have to text. Pick up the phone, have a conversation, talk to people and they will help you. Everybody is like in this together. And I think that that is what has been the biggest takeaway for me and the only way I would have been able to build this model out and revenue revolutionize the current model.

So yeah, what you just said speaks volumes. If you're an event planner right now, the worst thing you can do is do nothing. Be paralyzed, caught in fear. Reach out, Start making human connections. Reach out to our other event planners. Like you said, you are all in this together. Start strategizing and you never know what ideas can come out of that. So Leah, Leah Stoudemire, CEO, founder of the Rocket Company. Thank you. You are awesome. I appreciate the time.

Thanks Andy and everybody, rock it. And if you need me, definitely reach out.

All right, folks, take care.