The Power of In-Person Connection w. Juliet Tripp

I like to think of myself and other people within the events world as experience designers. We're not just event planners, we're not just party planners or wedding planners. We are in the art of experience design.

Hi, my name is Bunny Young, serial entrepreneur, retired stuntwoman, mother of 3 beautiful kids, and builder of a life I don't need to escape from. Welcome back to the Yes And Podcast. This season, we're diving even deeper with the most incredible difference makers and entrepreneurs who are breaking barriers, building empires, and designing lives and companies their way. That's why today I've brought on a really great friend, Juliet Tripp. So Juliet is an events business and mindset coach with more than a decade of hands-on experience in the global events industry. And I wanted her to help us dive into why connection is more important now, more than ever, and how business owners can tap into events to unlock their full potential and also just have fun with it. I really wanna go places with this conversation, um, to talk about how hosting retreats has allowed me to travel all over the world with my entire family and the special energy that comes with getting out away from our computers and off of the screens. So I wanna give you guys a little bit of the behind the scenes, but I also wanted to bring in the very best leading mind, thought leader, expert on all things events and how you can use events to not just travel all over the world, but also maximize the ROI for your clients and your business. So Julia, it's great to see you. Welcome.

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, I'm honored to be here and this is gonna be such a great conversation. And, you know, we have met because we go to masterminds together and events together. So it's definitely, it's definitely an important conversation. So yeah, delighted to be here.

I love that. And so, yeah, I mean, that's like a perfect segue into the aspect that you and I had the opportunity to spend some time together. As we're recording this, I'm in Southern California. You are in England, right?

Yep. Yep. Gray, rainy. Don't have the Cali sun.

Okay. It's not sunny yet because it's 5 in the morning here because we wanted to make sure we were recording this at a time that you were not about to go to sleep. And so I woke up at, I would say, the crack of dawn and the sun's still got like a solid 45 minutes of sleeping before it comes out in Southern California. But like, that's, that's kind of the specialness of us going to an event together is because we're coming together from your time zone, my time zone on this neutral territory. And so I kind of want you to explain a little bit why the energy shifts and the magic of being able to meet somebody in an event or that kind of space.

Yeah, I love this. So in terms of like defining an event, and I wanna be clear on this first up because so many people think an event has to be a, you know, a tropical retreat, it has to be a 2,000-person conference, a huge trade show. An event is a meeting of more than 2 people, right? It's, it's you coming together, it's you being together in community and when I speak to any kind of topics around bringing events into your business later, I'm framing that now because I don't want anyone to turn off thinking, well, I'm not experienced enough, I'm not, you know, impactful enough, I'm not a leader enough to run events. But the energy shifts when you're in the room, and we are so lucky that we have all these tools now that you and I can sit here thousands and thousands of miles and time zones away, and there is nothing more powerful than getting in person, in real life, because you are cracked open. You are cracked open. You, you have nothing to hide, and that's not a scary thing. It's a good thing because you are meeting people on a level which you simply cannot replicate on Zoom. And whether that is a meeting of a friend, um, it's you going on a date, it's you hosting a retreat for your clients, it's you speaking on stage in front of 10,000 people. You just have that connection, that level. Your barriers are broken down. And this is why events are, you know, where those connections are made, where business is done, and where the most impactful change happens. And, you know, I, I really think we need, we need more of them, and we need to be going to them more. And, and yeah, and, and I know you know this because you're always at different events. It's just different. The energy is just different.

It really is. I just got back from Phoenix. Um, I went and did James Wedmore's, uh, Business by Design Live. And like, first off, I signed up for the event because everybody just kept saying what you were saying about the energy, and they were like, you, you just can't miss this. Like, and I had two friends that I met in a mastermind. You're seeing a theme here on how I like collect friends. Um, but like I have two friends from Southern California that I met at a mastermind. I moved back to California in February. I have virtually connected with one of them. I have texted the other one. I have not seen them. And we all three of us fly to Phoenix, Arizona and end up spending more time together at this event in this energy. And since I've been home, we've been texting more. And so it, it's just like, it's so incredible how you're spot on that that's that connection. And so I wanna ask you what, like, what is that about? What is the magic that happens and that shifts when you step into an event space Like, I have a million questions because I also want you to be like the magician re— revealing the secrets of why does that happen and also like how to create that within our own events. But I guess my, my very first question, I have a million of them circulating in my head, so I'm gonna take a breath cuz obviously I'm super excited, is like, what connects people? Simple question.

What connects? Is it though? It feels like a loaded question. I think I want to make sure that I'm speaking to this in the tangible as well as the intangible, because it's, you know, we're very spiritual, we love the woo-woo, but also, um, it's not enough just to say, well, the energy is amazing. And like, yes, you can get someone message you and say you have to come to this event because of the energy, you just can't miss it. And it needs to be good enough for you to get on a flight, for you to travel with your family and do all the things that you need to do and all the steps. And I think what I really notice in terms of like the connection, and to answer your question, is we connect and the connection is that, that shared something. And this sounds really vague, but you share something, and you might not know it yet with those people. It might be a value, it might be a goal, it might be a challenge, it might be a trauma, it might just be a thought, it might be a starting, like a seedling for a new business. But you share something, and that sharing is deepened when you are together. And this is what I would call, um, like in, in my world, in the events world, a quantum leap happens in the room. And, you know, we hear a lot of talk about quantum leaps, whether you believe them or not, but you know that you could go to an event, let's take a business conference, like, or a business retreat like the one you just went to, and you could experience a timeline which is so sped up that you could birth a whole new business in a 2-hour masterminding session that would have taken you by yourself back home, figuring it out on yourself, even figuring out at home with a mentor. It could have taken you a year. But just because you are there, you're there to make a difference. Just the very decision of saying, I'm going to be in the room, you've got that connection. It's sped up, um, and you suddenly realize then, like, what connects us, these little moments, these little value touch points. You'll notice more and more of them, and those kind of come together to, to make that transformation, to make that quantum leap or that timeline leap.

Yeah, and there's only a select few amount of people who shared that experience with you.

Yeah, yeah, it's special, and it lives in for a very particular moment. And this is where the whole 'you had to be there' kind of thing comes in, and this is where we hear about the FOMO factor. And this isn't an event marketing question, but how do we sell events? Well, a lot of the time it is through FOMO. It's through the fear of missing out, but that intrinsically comes from the fact that unless you are there in the room, yes, you could get a recording or you could hear from your friends, but you're never going to understand the, the breadth and the depth of, of what happened.

Oh, I love that. I love that so much. And I want to get into the tangibles of something that you blew my mind with, of how to increase the revenue in your business with events, whether— I mean, some of the things that you and I were talking about is like selling from stage and having events be part of an experience to kind of increase that. So I wanna get into that. However, first, like, I have a picture in my head of little Juliette, like, wandering around in What part of England do you live in? North, south, east, west?

I live in the Midlands, in the middle.

Okay, there we go. Yes, and we're just— okay, so in my head you're like in coveralls wandering around like the countryside planning events for your dolls and like all the little ducks in the pond and all of this stuff as a tiny little child. Please tell me that was not the case. However, like, tell me how this started. Like, how did you get to be in the place that you're at where you're this artist that brings, not just brings the events to life for clients, which is, I believe, like where you started in the event space, but now doing it for yourself and then also doing it for other business owners?

Well, it's funny you should say that because Everything in my life always had to be, and always still is, an occasion. But I would send, like, I'd be the one like writing letters to my parents to be like, come to this dance show, it's in 5 minutes, bring this. And a story that my mum and dad would always tell people is, and this is I guess where my entrepreneurship journey started as well, they once had a party, must have been like a New Year's Eve house party or something, for all of their friends, their colleagues, And the bathroom in our house was opposite my bedroom. I was obviously in bed. I was probably about 6, 7 years old. But what I did was I put a hat outside my bedroom door and a sign and encouraged people to leave money to go to the bathroom at this house party. And all these drunk adults— The next day I woke up and I was like, "Yes, we quids in," because I'd monetized my parents' event. Um, so there was definitely something there ahead of time, which was just—

Absolute favourite. Was that your first event?

I think so. It's my first memory of having an event. But yeah, it's always been a thing, and I think I, I like to think of myself and other people within the events world as experience designers. We're not just event planners, we're not just party planners or wedding planners. We are in the art of experience design, and there is an art. And in terms of how I got into events, um, it's an industry that I fell into. I think so many of us fall into industries, as I then later did along the line as a coach. But I went to university in London. I was studying performing arts and English. Drama was always my thing, performing was always my thing, and then because I wanted this London lifestyle, I needed a part-time job to fund it. Ended up getting a job at at an events company. And what started as me kind of doing bar work or waitressing work was that, but it also took me to the most incredible places across London. So royal palaces, celebrity parties, huge award ceremonies, these like high security events where I was just a number, but I was a cog in a huge machine. And I realised, hang on, I have an impact here. I might not be the event manager yet, but I'm making a difference. And I saw the power of experiences, and from that point on, I was like, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Um, and then my career scaled pretty quickly. I had very kind of early, early on kind of trajectory in terms of getting all the promotions. I worked my way up within the events industry very quickly because I've always been so ambitious, got to do lots of different things, um, and then now my career's taken a different path, but it was always because of the experiences. It was always because I knew that we weren't just creating a party and event, a conference. It was, we're creating a moment that actually lasts and has a lasting impact and a ripple effect for a business, for an individual, for a family, way beyond just event day itself. And being part of that It's just magic. It is literally— you said a magician earlier, and it is magic.

I love that. I absolutely love that. I need to go back for one second. I'm choosing to go back for one second to the aspect that your very first event, you made money while you slept. Can we just appreciate that for a second?

Yeah, I mean, we're all talking about passive income, but I had it nailed.

I know, I love that, from the age 6. So I just want to celebrate you for that. And like, of course, of course, a lot of our listeners are Americans, so I'm going to give in to this fascination, myself included. Not that I'm American, but I'm also fascinated with this. So I want to know a story about an event at a royal palace, and I also want to know like your not necessarily biggest event, but like an event that just was the most magical. I mean, you mentioned magic, and, and I have my own that are in my mind. I'm just curious though, for you, what is the most magical event? And then I'm going to give in to the American fascination with the British royal family and take us to a royal palace, please.

Okay, let's talk about like the royal palaces first. So I mean, I actually didn't work the royal wedding. I had friends that did, and it was a whole thing. They had to go into hair and makeup even just to be like event staff or waiting staff. It was a, it was a big deal. There is one, it's not a royal palace, but the Tower of London. I did a lot of like private dinners there where the crown jewels are. And they have some bizarre rules. They have like a lockdown within the palace. So, myself and my team once got locked in because we didn't leave in time before these gates shut for this weird kind of ceremony thing that they do. So, I've been locked in the Tower of London before. Interesting. Um, wasn't on my bingo card. I remember another event. We basically got, we got sent to a meeting point in central London and then we got put on a bus and shipped out of London. Our phones got put away and we got told, you can't take any photos, you can't share anything about this event. You're not gonna be allowed in the main room. You're only gonna go in, like do the dinner service, do the event part of it, and then you have to get out. And it turned out to be a huge Scientology event. That was like hugely under wraps and locked down. I didn't know anything about Scientology at this point, but so many celebrities in there, so many, like, oh, it was just bizarre. And then in terms of like, oh, magical moments, I mean, there have just been, there have been so many, and that's what I love. And I love the intimate events, and what I now buy as a consumer going to events is going to be those retreats. But I think you always remember the, the events that made a difference for you. And in terms of an event manager, I would say the most magical one was the first international event that I did, which was in Singapore. And I had run so many events in the UK, and, and that was amazing, but I was at a point where I was goal setting so much. It was this— oh, I don't know how many years ago, maybe 8 years ago. I was doing a lot of goal setting. I was like, I really want to achieve this, I really want to achieve this. And just something that had been on my vision board for so long was run my first international event, and to get on a flight for 15 hours to go and be part of a team. It was, it was a conference. It wasn't anything, B2B conference. It was nothing special. And it was so special because it showed me another culture. It showed me bringing people together. It showed me, hang on, I can have an impact on a different continent with the work that I do. So I think that was, that was truly magical as, um, from the event manager side.

I'm sure that everybody listening can just feel the energy and like the magnetism when Juliette's talking about that. I mean, I'm like, wow, from UK, the first event to be in Singapore. I mean, that's a pretty hefty flight too. Like, international, you're in Europe. I mean, technically international, you could go to France and that would be a different nation.

Across the channel. But you, you went large.

I went big.

Yeah.

Yes. Yeah. I love that.

And it's amazing and it's great that we get to do these kind of things and that That was part of a job that I was at for a few years, and we travelled all over the world running events. And don't get me wrong, it was not glamorous. People look at the events industry and they're like, wow, you get to do this and you get to do this. And my friends and family were like, oh, look at you flying to Singapore. I was like, yeah, I'm in coach at the back, 15 hours and straight into a conference room. So please don't get jealous. But it was incredible and magical in all the right ways.

Amazing. I don't think that in my head I had you in coach, so you can just let me have the fantasy of like you being in a lie-down, um, first class, you know.

We do that now, Bunny Young. All of that. Yeah, we, we do.

You know, girl, you're flying across Can— I'd say across the pond because, you know, I'm gonna flirt with that for a little bit. I don't know if I can say that. Um, with your baby, and you've done it. You're like in the past 6 months, you're gonna have done it at least twice that I know of.

Yeah.

Um, I, that's just a testament, I think, to how powerful it is to be in the room. And cuz I know as a mom, like I messaged you and was just like, if there's anything that I can support you with, even holding energy as you're doing this flight, I, I've done, um, Virginia to California multiple times cuz you know, we have the, the house in Virginia and the house in California and my husband's living in Virginia right now. And doing that with an under 1-year-old, it's not super fun all of the time. And you doing that from the UK to the US, like that has to be a pretty powerful motivation in order to make that decision and to get on that plane. And I, I know obviously you're dedicated to our CEO Mama Mastermind that you and I are a part of. But it's like you really believe in the power of getting out from behind the screen, and I do as well. And that's like from my therapy background, because I know what happens and the connection that happens and the relationship. Like, for, for everybody listening, Juliette and I have spent in-person time for 2 days. Was it 2 days or 3 days? Like One time, two days. And I'm in a place in my relationship with you where I know I can message you and ask you for support, ask you for love, and you can do the same thing. And like prior to that, we'd spent hours in a digital room, in a virtual room together, but that relationship wasn't formed until we were face to face. How important is it? Especially in a post-COVID world, to be able to break out of the digital realm and be in an in-person event?

It's so important. And, you know, post-COVID, we are truly in a post-COVID world now, but people are valuing experiences way more over things. And this is something that sounds very, very cliché, but when we look at the data and we look at what people are actually investing in, especially millennials. So if you work within millennials as your core audience, millennials right now are— their spend is going towards experiences. And an interesting fact, this was from an event survey, it was a research report by the Freeman, Freeman Report I think it's called, showed that millennials will typically spend over every time for a VIP experience, and they will. And that just shows the investment. And I'm not just talking people like you and I who are always investing in things for our businesses. This is just anyone. Any millennial wants to spend more. And I think, you know, the power is we lost, we lost something. When something is taken away from you, you want it more. Okay, so when we get— and we had that, this period where we couldn't, we couldn't be part of events. I was incredibly lucky to— the business I was with, we pivoted the whole business online, did virtual conferences. It was phenomenal, but it wasn't the same. It was not the same. And I think the longevity that you have, the impact that you have just from that time, it's like, you know, we've made friends for life and, and we will continue to do that in terms of these like rooms that we are a part of. And that's what Shifts, it's not just what I need people to think about, whether you're attending events or you are running them. Our events are not just a flash in the pan. It's not just a 2-day business retreat. It's— your life will be changed because you're in the room, and what happens in the room has that reverb, it has that ripple effect for the long term. And if you're on the other side, if you're hosting, the impact that you can have on your client's lives is truly phenomenal because it's the moment that they will, they will remember. And there is that Maya Angelou quote that we have to mention, people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. And that's the impact that you get to have when you're in the room, man.

We're going to pull that entire thing for LinkedIn because I want that soundbite for like to go out to the professional world for them to know, because there's, there's just so much opportunity here. I have done events for my business like unintentionally, basically since the go, because moving from being a therapist and doing this in-person kind of interaction to doing my— most of my first group work was actually equine therapy. And so I, I just unintentionally had people coming out to a ranch, a group of people, and creating this event. Today though, And, and you can coach me directly on this today though. Like, you know, we're a couple weeks from going and hosting our Costa Rica retreat. And I agree with everything that you're saying. When women step into that space, we've done two in Hawaii the past two years, and the first year was in Virginia Beach. When women step into that space, it's absolute magic. Like, I can't even put words to what happens in the transformation.. And we have had women sign up for the past 4 years straight. And next year, like, we've already planned going to Puerto Rico and we already have women committed. And last year, this is what I need the, the coaching on, and you can crack me wide open. Last year, the day before our Hawaii retreat, I messaged my team and I said, I'm not doing this again. Like, we are not doing this again. The logistics, the everybody flying in. And my 80% of my frustration was selling the event, right? Like, I'm putting the deposit down on this beautiful beach house. I'm getting a private chef. I'm putting out all of this money for this incredible event. I know it's going to be incredible. The women that come have an incredible time. And yet it feels like pulling teeth to get these women and these entrepreneurs out of their offices, away from their schedules, away from their families, which I know is big ask in order to do this. And I have this memory of telling one of my coaches that I was working with, she lives in Canada, to say that like, there's no way to make money on events because you're putting out all of this money and then you're trying to market to sell to people to come. And it just felt like pushing the ball uphill. So I'm open for all of the coaching and also tell me like, What am I doing wrong? And, and the Costa Rica retreat, we have one spot left, but we also have 3 weeks. And so in my head I'm like, oh, no one's gonna buy the spot in 3 weeks, which we'll do an update to this episode and see whether or not that's true. Um, what am I doing wrong? How am I thinking about this wrong? And like, what's, what is, what's the risk of events?

Look, there's always going to be a risk, but there's going to be a risk to everything that you do, and there's always going to be— is the risk greater when you actually play it safe and you don't do the event, and then your clients go to someone else's event because it's exciting? Now, what you said at the start— what you said at the start around like, I've already got people signed up for my retreat next year, they come back time and time again, so you've got your client retention rate is really strong for your event. But it's getting someone in the door for the first time. And I think people do need that handholding. They do need that, that understanding of what they're gonna get. And it isn't enough to say, you've just got to be there. Yeah. Oh, okay, so you want me to spend thousands, come away from my baby, and take time out of my business? Well, I've just got to be there? No, give me more than that. So it's always, you know, in, in the personal development space, we speak to the transformation. I would say definitely speaking to the transformation of the event, but also just knowing that your, your guests, your attendees, your ideal clients might need just a little bit more handholding. And once you've got them in, they are going to see that transformation and probably become real long-term clients who stick with you for the long term. Any of my clients, my coaching clients who have come to in-person VIP days, mastermind days, retreat days with me, have now become longest time, longest term clients because they've, they've got that transformation. However, in terms of your funnel and your customer journey, there might be an invitation to bring them in earlier on in the journey. And one thing that a lot of coaches— I mean, this could be a whole episode on what coaches fuck up when it comes to events, because, um, and this is because I'm an event manager and I'm a coach, I see it from both sides. I've got a different perspective that a lot of people don't have, but we need to be able to market our event in an experience lens as well. So anything in terms of— and this is just general advice for you, for others— can you create a container to a group experience container which is then going to kind of pre-warm your leads and market so you're not just coming— someone coming in cold on an Instagram post or a LinkedIn post that you've done. They get to experience a mini transformation within a group experience, whether it's like a Telegram container or a mini, mini mind or something, and then you sell them in because they're already seeing, oh, this is the power of a group, this is the power of a, you know, an event in time. And I think as well with events, we need to market differently in different stages. And you, you're aware of buyer psychology, and you're going to have your FOMO buyers at last minute, You're gonna have your logistical buyers, you're gonna have your like, yeah, of course buyers who will buy with no information and they might get a presale discount for doing so. But in these final stages of your event, we wanna make it so easy for it to be a yes for your client. So I would be looking at like, what's the, what are those concerns that they might have? Is it flight costs? Okay, so here are the average flight prices from US destinations. Is it time away from your family? Okay, this is exactly how much time you're going to be spending doing this stuff. This is maybe, maybe they need the itinerary to get them to seal the deal. Can you share that? But yeah, just a few ideas there.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Okay. So I'm going to make a reel that's going to have all of the costs versus the ROI. Like I'm going to tag you in it. So you, you get to see this and You know, we've talked so much about the, that the event is magical. Like we've talked so much about this intangible. So then how do you describe the tangibility of the event? Let's take, let's take a retreat for example. Like how do you describe the ROI to your business and your personal life when it's a transformational retreat?

Yeah, I would say look at what's kind of the cost of staying stuck. So for example, if I'm going to a transformational retreat, I know that what I'm going to get on the other side of it is saving myself a heck of a lot of time. So I would say in terms of a transformational retreat or something like this, we do want to make it tangible because obviously if it's a business expense, if it's a life expense, we need to be able to justify it. So I would be looking at what is the time that I'm gonna save by being in that room versus the time that I'm going to take if I am stuck figuring everything out by myself. So we really want to look at, well, what am I going to get in terms of being there in the room? If you are a coach, maybe it could be you could map out the next 12 months of your business. Now that might actually take you a lot of time to do by yourself. That's time that you could be getting paid, working with your clients or doing your thing, whatever your thing is. And ultimately the, the price that you put on transformation is if there's something that's been holding you back and holding you stuck, um, the quickest way to dislodge that thing is by being in the room, in the energy. We talk a lot about shifting energy, shifting blocks, releasing trauma. You know, being in the room, there are modalities that we can use that we just simply can't really tap into in depth as much as we can on Zoom. So, um, the cost is really, you know, it's the cost of staying where you are or the cost of where you want to go. And from someone that travels, you know, repeatedly worldwide to events that, you know, they cost me thousands every time, and they cost me even more because at the moment I have to bring my baby and I have to bring then a caregiver for my baby, and that's That's something that I'm willing to do because I know it would take me a lot longer to be working through those things. And the cost to my business of me being, you know, staying stuck would be way more than the thousands that I'm spending to fly across the world to go to events. So yeah, there's always, there's always gonna be a way. There's always gonna be a risk, let's face it. And, and I just wanna honour the fact that if you are running events right now in your business, you're brave, because it is— they are expensive, right? But it's like, what's the— what's the expense? And the lifetime value of your event lives on as a legacy. So we actually need to be bringing, um, event costs into your, like, whole annual business budget and expenditure, rather than just seeing it as an event itself. Because you mentioned selling from the stage, but if you host a retreat and you signed 5 mastermind clients off the back of it, you're gonna be having, you know, that amount of income coming in, which is gonna be, um, really impactful for the long term in your business.

I think that it's so important that we talk about the selling on the backend, right? Because whether it is like, um, a webinar, a mastermind, a retreat, all of that kind of thing, um, that I've been a part of, and you see like in the webinar chat when, like with Natalie's webinars, when she starts to share like what's next, people are like, oh, you know, this was just like a sales pitch. Well, my perspective as a business owner and as a coach is that everything is this sales pitch in the aspect that you're constantly encouraging people to take that next step. And why I think that it's so important and what I'd love for you to share, um, to be able to sell from stage at an event for your business is not just for the ROI, But it's also because of what we talked about when we started this podcast is like people get activated, people get moved and transformed, and they're literally in their minds, whether consciously or subconsciously, they want you to tell them how to take the next step. And so how important is it to a business? First off, how important is it to have events that move your clients in this way? And second, how important is it to— I don't want to say like upsell, but to offer something at an event? And what's the best way to kind of create that experience where it's seamless and it doesn't feel like a sales experience?

Yeah, okay, great question. So we definitely want to be thinking about events within your business strategy for 2025, and I truly do believe that we are moving into a year where experience is going to be something that people are craving even more. And as part of their business, not just in their life as well. So I do believe that the coaches and the experts who are not going to be running events next year will get left behind. So we want to make sure that you are, um, you are bringing that in. Now, this isn't meant to be, um, a kind of intimidating thing. Events for, for your business could be VIP days. It could be, um, you know, small meetings, it could be huge conferences, but we just want to have an element of experience for your clients and community wherever they are in your, um, buyer journey. They, it might be their first time in your world, they might not be aware of you yet, but events can bring them fast track from non-aware to like raving fan, I want to be with you for the long term. Events speed up that process. So definitely start thinking about that. And then in terms of selling from the stage, I think selling from the stage is, is one of those things that has almost got this bad rep, um, over the years. Now, there are people who do it absolutely phenomenally, but these people, the Tony Robbins of the world, like, they're at the top of their game, but people feel intimidated by the idea of run to the back of the room with your credit cards. And quite frankly, that just feels a bit icky, even for me, for someone that loves to buy and loves to sell. So when we reframe sales as a service and sales being of value, and you alluded to it in your question, but it's like the obvious no-brainer for someone to continue. And it's just, you're keeping the door open. That's the way that I want to think about it. If you had a friend round to your house and you were saying goodbye, you were wrapping up, and it was maybe their first time coming into your home, you'd probably say like, you're always welcome, come back anytime. Like, oh, you're welcome here. Let's, okay, we've already got the next date in the diary for a glass of wine together before you leave. That's the analogy. That's what we wanna bring into our events, no matter the scale of them. And when you are planning events as part of your wider business structure, not just a flash in the pan one-off day, it's gonna be so easy for you to see where they fit in and for you to make them make sense. So if you've got a mastermind launch, let's get an in-person retreat coming in ahead of your mastermind launch because it slots in. It's going to be a lot harder if you've got an event and then you're like, oh shit, I need to sell from the stage like all those sexy coaches tell me I need to do, and then you've got nothing to sell that makes sense. It's going to feel forced. It needs to feel natural, so it needs to fit into that flow. And then it just gets to be an invitation. It gets to be a no-brainer for them.

Okay, let's pretend it's my very first event. And like talk me through that. However, I think the majority of our listeners have had at least one event, whether they've hosted a retreat or they've hosted a mastermind, whatever that is. So how do we think through optimizing our next event? Like what you, you've said kind of the common pitfalls, but what are some other things to be thinking about? The shoulds, the shouldn'ts, and the surprising things that maybe we don't think about as coaches or as entrepreneurs, but you think about from, like you said, that event brain and the coaching brain.

Yeah. So an event should be an extension of your brand, and every single touchpoint of your event should be an extension of your brand. So from the first time someone lays eyes on your event, whether it's a registration page, an invitation, we wanna be showcasing your values as a brand, as a business, as a coach. And we want to be basically immersing them into your world. They already feel they're immersed into your world. Now that can come from everything from how are they greeted at the door to what the vibe, what's the creative, okay? The creative theming. So many coaches go wrong by just hiring like a generic Hilton meeting room, right? And then they don't theme it, they don't brand it. Don't just shove a balloon wall up and hope for the best, like make it be an extension of. So if we're, if we're doing like a Yes And vibe for your events, like how can we bring your brand to life? Like how can we make people realize that this is literally a room that you're gonna walk in and have all of the and moments, all of the like, yeah, we truly do get to have it all and be it all in that event experience. And, and that is it. That's, it's the experience design. It's how can we bring your brand to life? In the 4D, um, it's going to go from like, what are the Instagrammable moments that people are going to be sharing? What are the community touchpoints? So this isn't just networking, it's how are you intentionally bringing people together? Because people's drivers for attending events in 2024 and going into 2025 too have changed. It used to be very content-heavy. They want to come listen to the keynote. Now it's really just to connect. That's the main driver. So again, intentionally design your event around your brand, your brand values, what you offer. So it's not just panel discussion, keynote, panel discussion, keynote. What are those intentional connection moments? People are gonna make connections. They're gonna wanna stick around. Oh, look, there's a mastermind you can join with these women. Okay, great. No brainer. Um, and make sure you've got those kind of brand advocates there for your brand that already know you, like you, trust you. Who are going to be kind of in the room and talking about you subliminally without you even asking them to. Mm.

Like, rewind that and listen to that again, because that's such good advice for your business to be thinking about on the touchpoints. And it's not just about, you know, what you know in your wisdom and sharing the knowledge and sharing the, um,— the thought process, but it's about the connection. And I think that brings us totally full circle. I had this question that I was gonna ask you on like what keeps you motivated in this space. And I think that you've talked so much about it, but I still just wanna ask this question. I have this question and then I have my yes and question, um, that's left for this episode. Um, there's so many other things that I want to talk about. But in the interest of time, like, I want to know what keeps you connected and motivated and just so aligned and inspired in this space and the work that you're doing.

It's because I walk the walk, and I don't just say I love events, I work events. Like, I was always the person that would use my vacation time in full-time jobs to go and attend events. I was attending, you know, I was spending hundreds and hundreds and probably more attending like the Girlboss Rally in LA when I was on a really low salary and I couldn't really afford to go. I made sure that I could go. I was the one that I was always pitching. And I think that's the thing, it's being the embodiment of your brand, it's going to the events, it's running the events, it's being immersed in that industry. And you know, there's a lot that I have fallen out of in, in the events industry. And that can be a whole other podcast episode on like the hustle culture and all of that. But I, you know, I, I want to change the industry. I want it to be a life-first industry. That's why I'm now a coach, um, and consultant as well as just an events manager. And that's what I've shifted, um, but, but yeah, it's just experience is everything. So that's what, that's what keeps you motivated for sure.

You can hear it, like you can absolutely hear it in your voice. Um, I, I like, I'm like, I want to go to a Juliette Tripp event, you know? Like, I, I think that's amazing. I'm like, can you, can you plan the next Boss Babe Retreat? Um, I'll send this over to Natalie and be like, I want to go to a Juliette event. I want to experience that because you can just hear the passion that you have for it, not just about the event but about the connection and about the behind the scenes. And I just, I wanna thank you for sharing all of that with us. And then I also wanna know, like, what is, and you knew this question was coming, but sometimes it's always like the, the final question that's like, what? Uh-huh. But what is your definition? I'm gonna ask this two ways for you so you get even more. What's your definition of a yes and? Event experience? And I think you've so beautifully lined this up. And what's your definition of a Yes And life?

Mm, yes, of course I knew it was coming, and I'm ready to answer it, I think. And I'm also caught off guard. Um, in terms of a Yes And event, it's an event that allows you to show up as your full self, as your truest self, and do the deep work and also have a ton of fun in the process. Like You know, drink the wine and plan your business. Do the things, you know, show up messy, show up as you. That's a Yes And event that, that leaves, and the and is the reverb afterwards that you can't stop thinking about when you walk out, when you get on the flight, when you, when you're still talking to people about it. And a Yes And life for me is a life without limitations and a life where you do get to have it all, whatever all means to you. And, you know, being in an industry that tells you you can't be a mum and be in events, you can't be an entrepreneur and be successful in events, you can't do this. I've just always just said, yeah, and I'm just gonna kind of do it my way anyway. And, and that's worked out. And that's why it's so incredible that now I've got to meet you. And this is— I was like, I wonder what that actually means. Like, what am I trying to say here with, well, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do this, and then You've beautifully, um, brought it into your, your 'yes and' catchphrase and, and life. And yeah, that's it for me. Like, we, we truly do get to have it all. We just need to define what all means to us. And yeah, and be there and, and just keep showing up.

Mm, so beautiful, so beautiful. I know that so many people, coaches, female entrepreneurs that are listening to this podcast are feeling so inspired right now, and you have taken what can be a really intimidating and scary topic of hosting our own live events in our business and so beautifully created not just an opportunity and the excitement around it, but also some really incredible tangibles. And I also know that you have so many more tangibles that you share, and so Where can we go and find some more of your expertise and your energy for those moments where we're like, okay, Juliette, you talked us into doing this event and now I don't know what the fuck I'm doing and I'm doubting myself and I need a little bit of your magic in my life. Where do we connect with you?

Yeah, so find me on Instagram and LinkedIn. That's mainly where I hang out. So I'm @thejuliettrip and then if you search Juliette Tripp on LinkedIn, I'm sure I'll come up. Somewhere. It's not a super common name, so I'm around somewhere. And yeah, just, just stay in touch. I have a podcast as well. Um, it's a co-hosted podcast called Like an Event Boss, and it's all the, like, behind the scenes, lots of things on events industry trends, things like that. But yeah, just connect with me, send Bunny Young and I a message, let us know what landed for you today. I would love to hear any takeaways. And then in terms of a deeper level, I don't advertise the work that I do with coaches because I— it generally gets booked out. But if you wanted any kind of strategic support on your events, just send me a message.

Yes, please book Juliette and fly her over to the States so I can spend more time with her. She's an absolute genius at what she does and she breaks it down just in a way that not just makes sense, but it also makes you excited to be able to do it so that you can feel free to bring your zone of genius to your clients at an in-person event and not have to worry about all the logistics. Because I can tell you from experience, There are a lot of logistics, but the way that you've broken it down makes it feel almost like super exciting to be able to plan my next event. So thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you so much for being here and sharing your expertise, sharing your love, sharing your heart. Like, you are just an incredible human being, and I appreciate you coming on the show.

Oh, so are you, and thank you so much for having me.

Thank you to everybody at home as well for listening, or wherever you took us, whether it was a long walk on the beach or you're maybe at your own event. My, one of my favorite places to listen to podcasts is when I go to a conference. Like, I wake up in the morning, depending on the time change, and go for that early morning walk and get into the zone and just listen to all of my favorite business friends. So if you find this show helpful, which I know that you do, so since you find this show helpful, my ask for you is that you hit the follow and subscribe button. I know you've probably already done that. So my second ask would be that you share this with somebody else so that they know that yes, you can be an entrepreneur and you don't have to do it alone. Yes, you can have it all and you don't have to do it all. And all of your reviews, all of the comments that you leave just mean the absolute world to me. I want you to know that I read each and every one, and when you share it, so many more people can find this show organically. That's how we've grown it, and that's how I'd love to continue to grow it, is having you be the ambassadors for this Yes And show and this Yes And lifestyle. If you have any questions about anything that we've talked about, please drop me a line on Instagram, or you You can send us an email at hello@bunnyyoung.com. I read each and every one of these emails and the messages that I get from you guys. I love that. Whether it's an episode idea, a guest recommendation, or just a simple hello about how this show has impacted you, I'd love to hear from you. I'm Bunny Young, and I'll see you on the next episode.