High Heels and A Hard Hat

High heels and a hard hat. Welcome back to the Elevate Polk podcast, and I am your host Chrissanne Long. With me today, my co-pilot, my friend, Nate the Great Kendrick.

Glad to be here, Chrissanne.

I feel like we need like music. I know, right?

I know.

Cheers and applause and everything right there every time I say that intro. Yeah. And I am so excited to have our guest today, my my dear, dear, dear friend Laura Gardner from Perfect Day Productions. Welcome to the show.

Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.

We are excited. And so I'm just going to start this by saying, when I invited you to the show, it was the cutest response that I have ever had by inviting somebody to the show. Because I guess I feel like I've been doing this a little bit now, so I feel like it's the obvious thing. Like, when I invite you onto the podcast, we're going to talk about you. But when I invited Laura to the podcast, Nate, she's like, what are we going to talk about? And I thought, well, we could talk about a lot of things, but really what we're going to talk about is you, your entrepreneurial story, your journey to Perfect Day Productions, and kind of how all things led to this perfect moment right here that we're in.

I think it's just a humbling experience, right? Like we go through lives and we're just doing our day-to-day activities, not really realizing or seeing necessarily the impact or the, the foundation that you build over time with individuals. And so when someone wants to like collectively say, let's hear your story, it's just a humbling experience.

So, well, and I think I think it's also maybe for me, realization that you're sharing is like, we see you, you know, to be seen as sometimes like an aha moment for ourselves. It's like we're doing our thing. And especially in entrepreneurship, we have our nose to the grindstone. I say that all the time, but that is really the world that we live in. And so it's hard for us to kind of see on the periphery, even though you and I are closely working together a lot on a lot of things, it kind of occurred to me. And this was the conversation that we had with Nate. I was like, I have some of these incredible stories right here next to me that I work with weekly or monthly basis, I want to get my friends, my connections into the story. So, I'm just excited to have you and I'm really looking forward to having this story told.

I'm excited too. Thank you.

So, we're going to start with kind of the beginning of your professional career because you did not come out of the gates ready to rock and roll and start Perfect Day Productions. So, kind of weave us through the story of where you began in the professional world.

I love this question. So, I have been very fortunate that I I can see from the time I was 7 years old, every point that brought me to where I am today.

It all starts at 7. It does.

It does.

I love it. And at 7 years old, I said, I'm gonna be an attorney.

Hmm.

Ah, for those listening, I'm not an attorney. But I said, I'm gonna be an attorney. And it was something that I had said from 7 to when I got my driver's license. It was, this was the goal. This is what I was gonna do. I was gonna be an attorney. And at 16, 15, 16 years old, I said, I'm just gonna go work at a law firm. That's just what you do next, right? You go work in a law firm. So I wrote a script and it said, hi, my name is Laura Drum. I'm an aspiring attorney. I'm in high school. I'd love to come work for you. And I opened the phone book. So I'm dating myself, opening the phone book. And I went to attorney and I literally called alphabetically and said the same script to anyone that would listen to me. Wow.

Wow.

And I got to the Gs and it was a company called Grumman Worldwide. And it was an international collections agency, which at 15, who, I had no idea what that meant. But they were under attorney, so I wanted to work there.

Got it.

And so I did my little script and they said, come in. And I worked 6 hours that first day. And I worked at this law firm for 3 years.

Wow.

And it was an incredible experience because I learned how to like fax and file and, you know, use a copy machine, like all these silly things that we kind of take for granted now. At some point we didn't know how to do these things.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

And so it really gave me this foundation to work in an office and kind of what those very entry-level steps were. And I was able to kind of grow there. And I met my then-husband. He did IT, and we dated, and he was the IT for the company. And he asked me out, and we dated, and he then left to go work for Pasco County Schools. Okay. And when we got married, I started in I needed a job. We moved from Hillsborough County to Pasco County and started working in procurement. So, that was again, just kind of that next transition and I needed a job and that's where I started. So, I did entry-level procurement and I remember that interview. They're talking about requisitions and purchase orders and I'm like, yep, mm-hmm, I absolutely, 100%. I know exactly.

I got this.

And everything. No, I like was, there was no Google, but I was literally like, what is a requisition? I had no idea. And so, I did that for a a number of years and then just, you know, grew from that from just entry-level procurement to buyer and was able to transition to Polk County as a promotion for buyer, which led me to Polk County Schools and then Polk County. And so I did procurement for 10 years. I had 5 certifications. I was certified 2 nationally and 3 in the state. It was an incredible time. I loved governmental procurement, but no one wakes up and says, "I want to go into governmental procurement today." Right. So it was just a career that I landed into. And then another opportunity presented itself to go into cooperative contracting. So, I then traveled around the Southeast and sold cooperative contracts to my governmental procurement peers.

Oh my goodness.

And did that for a number of years and then transitioned to a director of sales for a janitorial supply company here in Florida. And I sold janitorial supplies to federal, state, local, K-12, city, any kind of governmental agency to the procurement offices within these organizations. So it was this really kind of interesting transition to just continue to grow my experience in business, my experience in sales, networking, relationship building. It just was this long transition. And toward the end of that, I really started to feel like I didn't want to travel anymore. I had 9 branches, 13 states, Puerto Rico. I was in a lot of areas all the time. It was just time to, to make a change and they wanted to make a change. So it kind of converged correctly that they wanted to eliminate the department. So my job got eliminated at the same time that I was thinking I kind of wanted to step back and maybe look at doing consulting work in procurement or something like that. So that's when I, the first light bulb of, um, I think I wanna do something on my own started. And I had said for years, when I grow up, I wanna be a wedding planner. It was always in the back of my mind. It was always something like that. So we went from a Chrissanne Long. Yeah.

Turning to, I wanna be a wedding planner.

And I don't know that transition, how that happened. But it would just seem like such a great job. And I felt like it was every skill and everything that I had learned from the time I was 16 to that point, losing my job at this company. And I didn't know what to do at that point. Now I'm out of a job. My income is gone. What's my next step?

Right. So yeah, let's talk about that for a minute because a lot of people, at that moment of losing your job? It's, I mean, it's easy now that you're past it to kind of remember it as a fond, fond distant memory.

Yeah.

But where was there uncertainty about your future? I mean, did you, did you just feel like this is a thing to celebrate? Hey, this is a great opportunity. I'm gonna use it as a pivot moment and I'm gonna go in a completely different direction. Or did you kind of take some time to figure out what that next direction was gonna be? Obviously you just said you'd, you'd always wanted to be a wedding planner, but was it like the, the, this foregone conclusion, like boom, automatic?

No, it was definitely not that simple of, I lost my job, let's start a business. Okay. It, it was not that at all. It was, okay, what do we do now? Mm-hmm. Um, two-thirds of the income is gone. I'm a mom. I have responsibilities. What, what do we, what do we do next? And, you know, we were fortunate that we, I had some time. I was able financially to take some time and kind of figure that out. I knew I didn't wanna go back into travel. Um, but to have the same job at the same income, meant traveling. So then it was reshifting what that looked like for our family. And I applied for jobs. I actually looked for work for about 6 months and was told, "You're overqualified." So everything I applied for, I was overqualified. And I just got hit with, "You have too much experience." And that's defeating in a sense.

You've never heard that before?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's fascinating. But it's always fascinating to hear that because you build up all these skill sets, you build up a strong resume, and then you get to a point where people are like, nope.

Right.

It's, it's, it's, it's like, it's so backwards though.

Mm-hmm.

You know?

Yep. And, and there was a, about a 6-month period at the beginning of 2016 where I just, I didn't work. I, I could, silly enough, I couldn't find a job after all my skills. I couldn't find a job. And I actually ended up working part-time at an insurance agency. It was a friend of a friend who needed some office support, and I answered phones. And I filed and I just did what needed to be done for my family and bring the income in and learned a whole new skillset. Like I've been so fortunate to do all these different jobs, to learn all these just skills and knowledge. And it just, it's interesting to look back and use something now that I learned 5 years ago that seemed irrelevant at the time.

Right.

And so I did that. And then really in late 2016, my health started to decline and then I kind of dealt with health issues for about a year and a half. I went through a cancer diagnosis and went through surgery and went through radiation. And it was really in those moments of starting to feel better that I felt like if I don't do this thing now, it will never happen. It just, it took that 2-year transition of losing my job before really starting Perfect Day Productions of just recognizing the time is now and Being sick, I didn't work. Our financial structure made it where I could take this risk. I could take this gamble and start this business and, and know that my family at least would be okay, right? And that I wasn't pulling away from them.

So let me, let me pause. Let's pull up for a second. I want to talk a couple things. I want to, I want to know when Brian came into your life because I don't think I actually know that, that that part where he fits into the story. And I also want to know, um, I just want to point out the grit that we're— you're describing to us right now, the grit of, um, understanding life and coming to terms with life and not necessarily letting life keep you down, right? So you're in the middle of turmoil and then another turmoil. I mean, and, and the emotional impact of getting a cancer diagnosis. I mean, you say things today like you just gloss over them as if They're just part of life. And I'm just imagining the devastation and the emotion and the pain and the fear and the terror that is going on at the time that all of these things are happening. And here's Laura just casually walking in with her high heels and talking about them like they're nothing. And I want to just say that there's grit and hustle in the person that you are. And if that doesn't tell a story, there is no story. Like, this is the quintessential, like, success story of a woman who is overcoming one hurdle after another, because there was a divorce and there was a lost job, and then there was a cancer diagnosis. And so kind of, you're gonna have to get a little bit, you know, deeper in here, Mama.

That all happened kind of within a couple years of each other. Um, I went through a divorce about a year, I think, before I lost my job, and And Brian had come into the picture shortly thereafter my divorce. And he— I described him to my friends when I met him that he fed my soul. It was a different experience than I had had previously. I think with Brian, what was so beautiful about meeting him was that I could be my authentic self, that decisions made prior to meeting him, I think, was this is what the next person expected me to do. So this is the next step. Okay. You go to graduate high school, you get a job, you go to college, you get married, you have kids. This is the transition in life. And so I followed all of those things and I thought I was doing it all the right way. And meeting him, it was, I kind of took ownership of my life. It was really the first time that I I finally was like, I'm doing this on my terms. It's time for me to step up and do the things that make sense for me and my family and my children. And he just supported that. He's like, okay, I'm along for this ride. I am with you 100%.

And I get the goosebumps because I think part of this whole thing, I mean, you have Jess, Nate, you have Jess, I have Craig.

Absolutely.

Our partners are such an integral part of our entrepreneurial journeys, whether they're in business with us or whether they're just supporting us. And what you needed at that time was something to feed your soul, to strengthen you through all of that turmoil and uncertainty and, and what wrecked— so your business is The Perfect Day Productions because you want to do things the perfect way. That is, that is the Laura brand. Like everything is very very detailed, focused, and on point. Everything is on point. That is who you are. Thank you.

That's what I strive to give.

That is the brand. That is it. And then life wrecks it, right?

Yeah.

And yet here comes this man at the perfect time, perfect timing to just be there in your life to support you, to support your goals. You'd been supporting the family and kind of on point the whole time, trying to make sure that you were doing the right thing on the right path in the right way at the right time. And you didn't have that for a while. And then Brian comes in and just is like, "Hey, I'm here, and I'm here to help you." He wanted to live life with me.

Yeah.

And I think if we can all find someone that wants to live life with us, that blessing allows us to do anything. It really does. Because then we're not looking over our shoulder wondering, "Is this person still there? Are they smiling? Are they grumpy? Are they wanting to be there? Are you dragging them along?" You know, you want to look back and have them having their own conversations with somebody or beaming with pride or just supporting you and lifting you up. So that's what, what Brian has been able to give to me.

So I'm just gonna share, you just, you just celebrated a birthday. I did, and it was a monumental birthday for you, a big milestone. You're being the big 4-0, the big 4-0, and I was super excited. And you wear it so well. Thank you. You wear it so well. But what I love, and I'm just sharing this because we're talking about Brian, so I hope Brian is blushing right now as he's listening.

He thought this was live, so this morning he was like, so when do I listen? I was like, next week, honey.

Well, when he gets to hear it, I hope he's blushing because we love you, Brian. But, um, you know, what he did was so cute for your birthday, so throwing you a surprise prom party.

Yes.

And I just found that to be the kind of thing that, you know, you just— it tells you about the character of the person and what kind of husband and what friend he is. And then everyone showing up in their prom dresses shows how much they love you. And I just think, what a great story. Unfortunately, I had, I had a conflict, so I wasn't able to go. But thank goodness, because I don't know that I was going to get in a prom dress.

What was really cool about that party is there were people from every part of my journey, practically. Um, you know, I was president of the honor society in college, and I had my Phi Theta Kappa peers there, and our kids played flag football and soccer, and there were parents that we had made friendships in when they were little, and friends that I had known literally for 30 years were there, neighborhood friends. So it was really cool, and then my grandparents were there, and you know, they're in their late 70s, and so it was really this cool mix of just all of these people in my life. And you mentioned at the beginning of this that, you know, we as individuals want to be seen. I've always felt forgettable and I've always felt invisible most of my life. So when someone remembers me, I get kind of surprised by it. And so it was just kind of cool to walk in and see all of these people and literally 32-plus-year relationships in this room. And it was very humbling.

Yeah. And to that point, you make an impact. People don't drive for a prom party if they're in their 40s for somebody that hasn't made an important impact in their lives. And so you are that kind of person. So that was good. That's cool that Brian did that and that you were able to kind of have that moment and that experience because to be honored in that way and to be seen in that way, I think is huge.

So it goes back to what you were saying, Chrissanne, about that support system.

Mm-hmm.

Because that's, that's huge.

Yeah. Yeah. And what a, what a cool party because you're an event planner. So I want to kind of shift now. You, you've kind of walked us through the journey to get to the point where now you are an event planner.

Yeah.

And you, you plan weddings, you plan corporate events, you help me with my Bridge Local meet and greets and events on an ongoing basis. So when I met you, that was that transition. That was when you were rolling out into, I have a business, I need to start networking. And so you start showing up and, and all of this fantastic person that you are, being present, being consistent, being supportive. Now you enter my life. So let's talk about that time. You start the business, things are good for health. You've, you know, things have kind of, at that point in time where we were better, at least.

Yeah. I had been, so I was diagnosed in July of 2017, had surgery August of that year, radioactive iodine in September, got married in February. So we were planning our wedding throughout this, this whole thing, not even sure that there was going to be a wedding at certain points. We got married February 11th. And March 1st, Perfect Day Productions was born.

Ooh.

And we just had an anniversary. We just celebrated 3 years, which is amazing. Congratulations. Thank you very much. And, uh, yeah, so, so it happened very quickly and we became a business March 1st. Mm-hmm. And I like put it out on Facebook on like March 10th, and that was terrifying cuz you know, all I had was a name. Mm-hmm. And I think a logo at that point. And we just saw this incredible immediate success. Um, we had started booking weddings within 3 weeks of opening, within a month of opening, and we have just— it's just continued to grow ever since then.

And I know that when I met you, it was with our amazing friend that we have in common, Victoria, at End Results.

Yeah.

And I believe it was her— she always does our meet and greet in October, and it was that, that October. So you started in March and then I met you in October, or did you actually kind of start on the down low a little bit before?

So you and I had met way before that. Really? Yes. So I don't know that there's many people in this community that don't know me without Brian being in my life, but the first LBL meeting, uh, that I went to was a meet and greet in March of 20—

2013.

Yeah. And I met Victoria there, and Eileen, uh, Figueroa was there.

Okay.

She actually is the one that invited me. I was doing a charity event, and I got invited to the meet and greet. And you and I met then. Um, you didn't know who I was. I didn't know who you were.

Good.

It's been that long.

Wow.

Um, and so I wasn't a business owner, but I would come to LBL events every once in a while. I'd pop in, you know, I knew a lot of the people, so that was great, but I didn't have a business. And so I remember when I started Perfect Day Productions, I think I called you and I said, all right, Chrissanne Long, uh, it's time to, to actually be a member. I've been circling the wagons for a long time. Yes. It's time to now become a member. And I used to joke that I was a longtime listener, first-time caller.

Uh, I think you're the first person that ever said that. And I loved that. I've loved that ever since. Yeah. I usually kind of say that to people.

It's like, it's okay.

You can listen as long as you need to. You can call whenever you're ready. Call whenever you're ready.

And so it was, I was, excited to actually be a member of Lakeland Business Leaders. And then of course it transitioned to Bridge, but it was almost instant. I knew that when I started this, that part of the success that I would find in being an entrepreneur and in Perfect Day Productions was the relationship building. It wasn't possible to be successful, to be a strong, have a strong business without ties to my community and without those relationships within my own community. So I knew the importance of bridge Lakeland business leaders immediately, that I had to get connected.

Well, and we appreciate that. I, I appreciate that. And I also appreciate the thing I said earlier is the consistency, you know. And I think one of the things we as entrepreneurs all have to realize is that showing up once isn't going to get you anywhere. Showing up and being consistent and committing to whatever area of focus you're going to be showing up in is extremely important. I know that there's sometimes there's frustration for people who feel like it should be automatic. I should Show up and, you know, everything should start flowing. And the example that you have set for so many, I think, is just to, to see you and to follow you is to see that consistency being displayed in everything that you do. Um, and, you know, I want to stop for a second and Nate, I want to, I want to get some of your perspective as you've been listening to Laura, cuz this, you guys just first met. I mean, yeah, I know. I walked in, start recording.

I know.

Hi, it's great to meet you.

Um, but what a story.

Yeah. So, so listen, listening and reflect back to her what you're kind of hearing and where you kind of feel that connection that all resonates with you.

I think the, for me, the thing that's ringing so true across the board is the perseverance to go past all of these obstacles that you were dealing with, you know? And it was almost like it, it's, it's like when life hits, it hits so consecutively and it hits All at once. I think that's the biggest thing that, that is really ringing true to me is perseverance, no matter what the obstacle, because let's be frank, not, not everybody has to deal with, um, the, uh, high frequency of obstacles all at once, you know?

Yeah.

And it takes a certain type of person to be able to be mentally and spiritually strong enough to get past that.

Mm-hmm.

So that, that's huge.

Mm-hmm.

So it's interesting the reflection that you guys have about it because 'cause I guess it all happened at once, but I never saw it that way. It was like, this is the thing we're dealing with now. That's the thing we're dealing with tomorrow. That's the thing we're dealing with next week. I don't know that I've ever thought about it in this collective, like, let's deal with all of these things at one time.

Yeah. It reminds me, my cousin Justin was in town from Miami, which was the conflict that I had for your party. And we were talking about Viktor Frankl's book, "Man's Search for Meaning." And he had just finished reading that. And if you have not read that, it's an incredible book. Story of a man who was in a concentration camp, and he kind of— he was a doctor. I mean, he was extremely, extremely intelligent and successful, and just his journey, his story of survival through a concentration camp. And Justin's takeaway was, you deal with the task at hand. How he survived a concentration camp is what you just described. You deal with the task at hand. Right now, this is what I have to do. The next thing I do is the next thing I have to do, but only when I get done with the task at hand. And I think That is just an incredible message to the resilience and to the understanding of the reality of life, right? We get so overwhelmed and so overworked and so, you know, hyper-focused on the what-ifs and the should-haves. Those are the front and the back of where everything is going or has been, and it's not the thing right here in front of us right now. So that is how you are describing your survival and your success, because you've overcome all of these things in spite of what many people would probably just disintegrate. You know, they would fall apart. Who's going to start a business in the middle of all of that? There's so much risk. It's just, what are you thinking? And then here you go, taking it all in stride. And at least from the observation side of it, that is how we see it.

Yeah. And I struggle with that sometimes too, because my mom is like, you're too positive. You just, nothing bothers you.

We've talked about that.

I hear it so much. And I'm bothered. I cry. I have bad days. I struggle. I worry. You know, I go through all of those normal emotions. I do it a little bit more in private, I think, than I do publicly. And I have friends that are like, "You can call me on those bad days. It's okay." And I'm grateful for them when I do have those moments where I can just cry and have it be okay. But I think my response when someone says, "You're too positive. Nothing bothers you," is, God has not blessed me the way that he has to take it all away.

Oh, so good.

And so for me, when I have those moments, that's what I hang on to, that he didn't— you know, when I had my relapse last year, he didn't bless Perfect Day Productions to take it away. You know, he didn't give me these amazing children and let me go on this journey with them to, to take it away, or bless me with this husband and this new marriage to, to take it away. So I just, I I really have just, through all of the things I've described, really, I'm blessed despite all of those things. So that, to me, that's the word I hang on to.

You're bringing tears to my eyes because it's such a beautiful story, and what a beautiful message for people listening to be able to understand, you know, we— and, and these are the things you and I have had enough of a conversation in the past to help me help you know that it's okay It's okay to not have a perfect day.

Yeah.

And those realities of entrepreneurship and leaning on others in times of despair, because there are those days, there are days when I have had challenges and I guess I'm fortunate in some ways to have Craig as my partner in life and everywhere else, because I can go to him and say, I wanna walk away. I'm done. I can't do this anymore. I'm tired. It's not working. I'm frustrated. Whatever it is in the moment, you know, just things aren't feeling right. And then he's, I always say, he always talks me off the ledge, you know? So it's good to have that person who you can go to in those difficult times to be able to say, it's gonna be okay. But you have such a good sense of self that it, I'm sure it's, you're, again, you're painting this beautiful picture, but I know better, right? And I know, 'cause we're all human and there is no perfection among any of us. But when you're talking about how your mom was telling you, you're so positive, it makes me think of the movie Pollyanna, which hopefully you've seen.

That's so funny that you say that, 'cause there's a coworker of mine that I worked with years ago, and that was her nickname for me was Pollyanna. And she would, I had the book Pollyanna. That's what she always called me. So this goes beyond.

Well, and that's one of my favorite movies from my childhood. It's a Hayley Mills Disney classic. Absolute. And it is available on Disney+. So if you are interested, I didn't know that, in, in watching it and hear it, it's just fantastic. So recently we were talking at, I'm doing a shout out for my friends Scott and Dion who used to own Lakeland Liquidation and have now moved to Brevard, North Carolina. And we were visiting them in Brevard. And we were having this conversation about— I don't remember how it came up, but Scott is always picking on me. And he treats me like a sister, you know, kind of that kind of picking on me. And I was saying something. And he was like, well, what do you watch? What did you watch growing up or something like that? I don't remember. He's going to correct me. He's going to hear this. He's going to correct me. But somehow I said Pollyanna. And he's He was like, "What are you talking about?" And so I said, "You have to watch it. You absolutely have to watch it." And so because of that, I was like, "Craig, let's watch it." So we watched it recently. And it's so funny because now Craig wants to play the GLAAD game whenever I'm not having a moment of positivity. And so in the movie, Pollyanna talks about the GLAAD game. So it's, what can you find positive about this moment in the moment when something isn't very positive? And it's just an adorable story. So we are kindred spirits in our Pollyannaism.

Yeah, I'm definitely a Pollyanna. But I think what people don't see, they're seeing the now, but I spent a year in bed.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I spent a year in my mind in darkness. Mm-hmm. You know, it was a weird transition of, I don't wanna be around anybody, but why isn't anyone around?

Mm-hmm.

And that's a hard thing to kind of wrap your mind around. Mm-hmm. And you know, my husband, fiancé at the time, he became mom and dad. You know, when, when I said my vows, that was one of the things in my vows was that, you You know, we have been through for better or for worse, richer and poorer, in sickness and in health. Like, by the time we were at that altar getting married, we had been through every single thing that you vow when you're standing up together. And he was the person that stepped in and cooked the dinners and cleaned the house and took the kids to school and did the, "Hey, kids are having a birthday party." He took them. I literally spent 2017, the end of 2016, most of 2017 in bed. Sick and not knowing why I was sick and not having doctors hear me and listen to me when I'm telling them something's wrong. So that's kind of the darkness that if I can get out of that, yeah, then I'm okay, you know, that all of that, I don't want to go back to that. I don't want to go back to just feeling and probably clinically depressed throughout that time of just knowing something's wrong and feeling so sick and the inability to get out of bed. I just, I don't want I don't want to go back to that.

No, I hear you and I can relate to that on so many levels. And it's just a joy to see you now. Like, it's a joy to be around you. You are a person who brings that level of energy and positivity. So I want to shift gears now. I want to get a little bit now towards some of the— I mentioned it, but now I kind of want you to promote Perfect Day Productions. So I want you to talk a little bit about what you do, how you do it, what your perfect client looks like, you know, kind of just talk about the kind of business that you have.

Yeah. Sweet Day Productions is a full-service wedding and event planning company, um, so we can help our couples and our clients really from any part in the process. So when they decide they're going to have a wedding or they're going to have an event, they're going to have to have a place to hold it, they're going to have to have food and a bar and photography and entertainment and decor and aesthetics and a theme. We can do all of that for our clients, so we get the ability to help them create their perfect day. What does it look like for a wedding? What does couple looking for when they are inviting their closest family and friends, and how can we execute that for them? So for my wedding couples, I say, you know, we're from hair and makeup to final exit. You know, we can, we can do it all, from knee to knot is what we say. From the time they get down on the knee and get engaged to the time they tie the knot, we're there to help and support them and execute their vision. And we've been really fortunate to work with amazing businesses as well. You know, when a business chooses to put on an event, their Their goal is focus on the attendees. They want to make sure that the people they're inviting are taken care of, they're getting their full attention, whether it be networking, fundraising, education. They don't need to worry about whether or not the room is ready. They don't need to worry about if the food is coming out. They don't need to worry about if the entertainment and the lighting is in place. That's our job. So, we allow our corporate clients to focus on their attendees and the purpose and the vision of their event, and we're there to execute and make sure everything behind behind the scenes is going on.

And I can attest to the fact that that is exactly what happens when Perfect Day Productions handles events for us. The problem is, for many people who have been doing their own events for so long, it's hard to realize that that's the point of having the event, is for you to engage with your attendees. For— because for so long I was running the event. I was standing behind the table. I was the ticket taker and the, the question answerer and the, you know, everything that was going on at that moment. And then— and so I still have a, it's still not a habit for me to walk in and feel like there was, there's nothing that I need to be doing, but I'm getting better.

If you walk in and have nothing to do, I've done my job. Exactly. So that's always the goal.

So I wanna kind of pull back just a little bit. So you, you have this event business. I, I would assume it's year, year and a half, year 2 when this thing called COVID is coming into town.

Mm-hmm.

What, what did that transition look like?

So I'd mentioned earlier that, you know, we had, I say, we, the me, myself, and I, I guess is the we.

It's the royal we.

It's the royal we. So immediate success. So, you know, when I started Perfect Day Productions, my goal was within 5 years, I want a studio. I wanna bring clients into a space and I want to design their event, whether it be a wedding, a corporate event. I want, I'm visual, I'm, I'm hands-on. So for me, I like to work with clients that are the same way, right? So they wanna touch it and feel it, see it, let's design it together. And then Perfect Day's gonna execute that. And that was my 5-year goal. Within 18 months, we were there.

Wow.

We were probably there a little bit sooner, but I had realized that Perfect Day had reached a ceiling. I was working outta my home, all of my inventory, 'cause we can do decorating in, in addition to design, was in my garage. Untapped potential sitting in that space every day. Traveling to meetings from Orlando to Pinellas County to Dade City um, everywhere because I had no space.

Mm-hmm.

And so I realized in order for us to, to grow and to scale, one of the next steps was finding office space. And that happened, um, within about 18 months. So in November of 2019, uh, we signed a lease on an office. So we had a brick and mortar and we were able to move in. And it was really exciting to kind of be able to have the studio, have my inventory, have my offices. The day before I signed the lease, I had 4 meetings meetings at 4 different Starbucks in Lakeland.

Wow.

So I was like, it's time. I promised my husband my Starbucks budget would go down. I don't think that's happened. Sorry, honey. Um, so that happened in November. We opened the doors right after Thanksgiving and celebrated our second year in business March 1st. And then COVID. Um, when you plan events for a and your whole mission is to bring people together and give them a perfect day. And the world says, sorry, you can't come together anymore. It's devastating, not only for event planners. And I've said this, Chrissanne Long, you and I've talked about this a few times. The event industry was one of the hardest hit and it's not talked about. And I've just spent a year talking about that. We really need to like love on our event industry businesses. Because they could not work practically for a year, and they're surviving, and it shows the tenacity of this industry and the strength of this industry and what these businesses have had to overcome, and we're no exception. From March to September, we didn't have an event. We didn't work. We were shut down. We were proactive in that once we saw things happening, we immediately reached out to our clients, reached out to our couples, and literally were giving them real-time information. As soon as we knew something, we picked up the phone. So they felt an ease. They felt like, okay, we're going to get through this. They weren't lost. They've got, literally, they're supposed to get married next month, then in, or in April or May or June, what are they going to do? So we've really had to step in and it shows the value of hiring an event planner in that we helped pick up their weddings literally and put it on a new date. Everything that was needed to happen have that. We planned all new events. We had to. Things changed, logistics changed, vendors changed, guest counts changed. We were replanning all new events, and for some of our couples, their dates changed 2 or 3 times. Venues changed a couple of times because of guest count restrictions. And so it really was, um, an interesting time, but I think us being proactive is what allowed us to, to serve our clients to the best of our ability.

That's huge.

In the midst of all of this, you also created kind of an organization to support people in the event industry.

Yeah. So two things happened at the same time. So just prior to COVID, I was re-diagnosed with cancer. So I was going through tests. They were pretty sure the cancer was back. And so we were trying trying to figure out what was going on health-wise. But at the same time, I'm putting this together now, it happened the same month, I decided that when I first started Perfect Day Productions, there was no networking just for our industry in our community. I could go to Orlando, which was such great information. I could go to Tampa, but there wasn't anything for Polk County. And as I started to build relationships with my frienders, I realized the amazing talent that we have in our community, and it was important to me to figure out how do we get this talent together? How do we support, elevate, and educate? Those are my three kind of catchwords. And so in February, I started the Polk County Wedding and Event Pros Association, and I called a few of the vendors that I had worked with and said, "Hey, I think I want to start this. What do you guys think?" And a couple said, "Laura, this has been tried so many times. This is not a new thing. The community's tried." It's, it will go to a meeting and then nothing will happen after that. And I said, well, I'm, I'm gonna do this. I think it's important. And so in my conference room in February, we had 6 businesses and we put together a structure of what we thought it could be like, kind of what my vision was for the group. And I was the new business really. I mean, I had been in business less than 2 years and I was sitting across the table from individuals who had had their business 10 years, 15 years, 7 years.

Wow.

and that was inspiring. And yeah, we had a meeting in March, and in the March meeting, our phones were blowing up with cancellations. I mean, it was happening in real time as we're meeting to discuss what our industry, what we want to see in our county for our industry, we're now getting hit with COVID And throughout all of that, we still met monthly. We did Zooms. I mean, there was a need for this. If any time in our industry we needed to come together, it was throughout what we experienced the last 12 months.

Just to be there for each other and, and cry on each other's shoulders and say, what are you doing? And how are you going to make it? And what do you need?

Well, that was it. It was like, okay, what's happening with you? Are you getting cancellations? Are you getting reschedules? Okay, how are you handling those? How are you handling refunds? How are you handling the communication? Let's come with consensus of how we want to approach our clients so we're all on the same page, so there's no confusion. Because some of us have the same clients. I might do planning and she might do photography, and that company's doing the catering. Let's be united in how we want to approach our, our customers. And how do we get through this? And so that was really valuable. And it was exciting to see that every meeting there was just more people showing up and good conversations. And I always knew the potential. I always like, we need a website, we're gonna have membership dues, we're gonna have a logo, we're gonna have educational classes. I saw it. But I didn't wanna be that first one to say, okay, let's everyone pay dues and let's everyone— What's that line of realizing you've got this amazing thing, but again, in order for it to grow, We've got to do the next thing. And it was really exciting. In one meeting, there was this kind of organic conversation and someone said, "Do you think we should collect dues?" And someone was like, "Well, yeah, we're going to have to because look at all the things we want to do." It wasn't like what Laura wanted to do. It was, "Look at what we want to do and okay, let's invest in this." And these businesses have. We have 20+ members. We have consistent— we have meetings every single month, educational opportunities for our members, and it's growing. And it's really, really exciting to see that happen and where it's— we've gone in the last year.

That's fascinating, especially because you, like you said, compared to these people that have been in the industry for so long that have tried to do what you've been doing. It's fascinating.

Yeah, I think one of the highest compliments to me was someone who had been in business for 10 years that I go to him for information and services a lot. He said, we've tried this. This, but if you're doing it, I'm on board. If Laura's gonna be in charge of this, if Laura's gonna start this, we're gonna, we're on board. And that was such a high compliment because I was the new business. And the fact that they're willing, I don't wanna say follow me, 'cause that's not the right terminology, but if they're willing to kind of get behind this vision that I have for our community, it's astounding to me.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's super cool. And so if someone listening is in the event industry and would like to know more about this organization, How do they find you? How do they get connected?

They can reach out to me separately. We are in the process of getting our nonprofit status. We're in the process of our website, getting our logo finalized. So we're, we're in that, you know, we're a little past the pen and napkin stage. Uh, we're, we're working on, on building a strong foundation. So they can just reach out to me at Perfect Day Productions. Okay. So Laura, L-O-R-A, mm-hmm, at pdpweddings.com.

Okay. So we'll put that in the show notes, but if you're listening somewhere other than our website, you will be able to contact you. Contact her, or you can send a message to us at Elevate Polk and we'll get you in touch with Laura. Great. Hey, Elevate Polk podcast listeners, are you ready to level up? If you're interested in starting a podcast, or if you need a studio setting to record video to grow your business, our podcast production team is gearing up to serve the community of people with great ideas who want to share their message with the world. If that sounds like you, get started today by visiting maximizedigital.com/studio to learn more about the podcast and video packages available. Just mention you heard about the studio on the Elevate Polk podcast and you'll unlock exclusive pricing just for our listeners. Um, and so now I want to kind of talk about our title.

Yeah.

So we put a title on this show, High Heels and a Hard Hat. And you said something before we started recording that it is kind of a vision for you in the future. So why did we name it High Heels and a Hard Hat?

So the fact that somebody else is saying those words is astounding to me because it has been—

High Heels and a Hard Hat sounds like a country song.

High Heels and a Hard Hat. Yeah. So this has just been a title For my life, I think for my whole business life, I think as an adult, I, if you know me at all, you know that I love high heels. I have a fabulous high heel shoe collection that I can't wear now 'cause I broke my toe. So I'm not in high heels today, unfortunately. But I like stilettos. The higher the heel, the closer to God. It's just how I have gone through life.

I need to quote that. I am not a high heels person, but maybe I should be 'cause I need to get closer to God.

The higher the heel, the closer to God. So, love high heels. And the hard hat kind of represents the, just that I have not given up, you know, that there are things that I've had been so fortunate in life, but it hasn't been because it's come easy. You know, things have not been handed to me. I have not had the growth of the procurement life and the growth of the corporate sales and the growth of Perfect Day Productions because someone just gave it to me. It has been tenacity and hard work and sacrifice. And time, late nights, and literally blood, sweat, and tears to make this grow. And I think that's kind of where the hard hat comes in is that, you know, you think of a construction site, you go in, it's dangerous. You've gotta protect your head. You've gotta protect your asset. And that's kind of when you go through life, you sometimes you're walking through a construction zone and we have to figure out how to protect ourselves. And so that's the, to me, I love the juxtaposition of this kind of frilly girly girl high heels and the this like, you're just going to get out there and make it happen and do the hard work. And so high heels and a hard hat has just always been this kind of vision that I've had for, I think, my career.

So we need to see you in high heels and a hard hat holding a sledgehammer or something. And just that's the vision that I have right here.

I have like a book cover image. You know, when I, when I write a book, it'll, that'll be the title. And, you know, we'll have, we'll have an image on there.

And the hard hat will be what color?

It'll be pink. 100%. The sledgehammer, it would all be pink. I'll be in like a tutu dress or something and it'll be fantastic. And I have walked in high heels and a hard hat. I used to, when I worked for the county, I did a lot of the FF&E for new construction. And so I would—

Wait, what's an FF&E?

Furniture, fixtures, and equipment. So we procured the furniture and the fixtures and some of the equipment for new construction. And I would go to new buildings and tour them and get a lay of the land. And I would often I would often have on my high heels and they would give me a hard hat to walk around.

But they weren't pink.

No, they were like yellow or white or something boring. I should just carry a pink hard hat with me is what I should do. So yeah, the fact that I am breathing life into this title is— thank you for the platform to do that. Sure. I have held it very close to the vest for a very long time. Yeah, that's kind of, kind of crazy to say it out loud.

So you heard it first. You heard it here on the Elevate Polk podcast. And what I love about this episode, not only the opportunity to hear things about your story that I have not heard yet, but also your connection to Polk, because we are Elevate Polk. And one of the conversations Nate and I have a lot is, you know, really expanding this conversation away from just a Lakeland discussion to a Polk County, Polk County-wide type of thing. So you've created this Polk County event professionals group so that you can help in, you know, elevate the industry of that organization or the, those that elevate the industry. And just, I just love your sense of self in the place that we are called Polk County. 'Cause you have an understanding that not all entrepreneurs have because you worked in the procurement, because you know government. And so you have this wisdom and this insight and this awareness of how things go, right? How things run. And a lot of businesses don't really come to business ownership with that awareness that you carry. So I almost feel like there's like a podcast waiting for you to start talking about maybe the event industry, but also kind of how to succeed in, in given getting government contracts as well as other things, because you carry that information in your head that I'm sure is in your heart to be able to share with others.

That was what I had thought I would do before Perfect Day Productions was born. I thought I consult, and I thought I would help small businesses in navigating the procurement world because it is what I had done for so long. So I think I've always had, in reflecting, a heart for small business. I've always liked my local community and Lakeland, you know, people talk about when they move into a community, they feel home, like there's something that happens to their soul that's settling. And I grew up in Tampa. I'm a Tampa girl, and Brian's an Orlando boy, and we live in Lakeland now. And there's something about Lakeland for me. I call it a small big city that it's just, it's home and it's comforting. And I love this community so much and I love my county. But I mean, Lakeland just feels so much like home to me.

A lot of us feel that. And you know, I think it's another part of the story. Well, you know, we might need to have a conversation on our show soon about the draw of Polk County. I mean, there's my story. I always knew I was going to live here. I never really wanted to live anywhere else. I went to college, came back. But, um, but I also think I want to explore— when are you going to be ready for your podcast? Because, you know, I'm shameless plugging, like, we have a studio, we have a producer, you have a title. I mean, it just is all starting to come together.

You have a fascinating story. And like, to Chrissanne's point, you, you have all these skill sets that you brought to industry, which I feel like is, is really what really helped you scale in a very short period of time. Because you were, in my mind, approaching it from a very different perspective just by hearing the things that you're saying to me.

I think for me, what I have gone through, and I mentioned this to you a little earlier, Nate, that in the last kind of 6 months, 8 months, I think I've gone through kind of a mental shift in what why Perfect Day has been successful, why I've been able to build the relationship, like what's the purpose, what's the next step, right? And how do I share my story? And what I'm working on now is really laying the foundation to allow my clients, my customers to be taken care of to the level of service that I, they deserve to be taken care of while I can still carve out the time to share my story, to, to do a podcast, to do more community activism, to, to do more.

Yeah.

Um, but I don't wanna ever sacrifice my, my couples to do that or my clients to do that. So it's finding that balance where, um, the consistency can, can still be in place. So that, that's, that's the foundation I'm working on laying now. And, and part of that has been growth and scale. Perfect day came out of the pandemic and we're strong and we're growing. And it's so incredible to look back at the fear of last July and calling Chrissanne Long and saying, "I just don't know that the doors are gonna stay open. I just signed this lease. I can't see what the next few months look like." And going—

In spite of all of that, you hired, you had somebody leave and go, you know, and advancing into somewhere else.

Yeah, I lost everybody.

Everybody had to kind of go relocate where they were going to go. And so now you're rebuilding your team. We're all rebuilding. I mean, everyone's rebuilding in some sense of what we did and what we went through. Absolutely.

It was cleansing in a sense. You know, I have said for a long time that I think history will look back on 2020 positively. Can I say that? You know, I think we're going to look back and say, if that had not happened, as devastating as it was, to not gloss over the severity of what we all experienced. But I think that there's gonna be some really beautiful things that we're gonna be able to look back on with family time and quality time and what it has done for our environment and what it has done for our businesses. And I think we're gonna see it very cleansing because we were able to view things differently. We can streamline, we can be more efficient, we can downsize if we need to and still operate effectively. We can, businesses have grown. There's a lot of industries that have grown because they've seen, they've been able to change and morph and figure out a better way to do things, which has caused growth. You hear the story of when a hurricane comes through and how devastating it is, but it was necessary for the growth of that area. And so I think that maybe what we see on the aftermath of COVID is that it was this devastating thing, but look at the beauty and the growth that came out of it.

Yeah, I see that. I feel that as well.

And I think that's what it's done for my business.

It's definitely something You know, if you are a believer in God, you know that there is a plan, that God has a plan, and maybe he was seeing us not necessarily working hard together and now we're coming together and this was one of his ways to help us do that. As we wrap up, I don't know, I would like two things. Any shoutouts for your team? A lot of people just like to know, "Hey, I'm a part of this story, too." So let's do a little shoutout for the girls that you're working with now and who's on your team, and then I want to know I want you to get thinking about real quick, one piece of advice for a Polk County entrepreneur.

Yeah, absolutely. I was about to say that.

Okay. So Perfect Day Productions could not function if it were not for Skyler and Brianna. They, Skyler has been with me since October. Brianna's been with me about a month and I already value and need her. So neither of you can leave. But they—

Listen, girls.

Listen, you're, you're, you're stuck. Sorry.

It has been said on the Elevate Polk Podcast, so it has to happen.

Done. So, you know, Perfect Day Productions can't just be Laura, and that is a lesson that I have learned, um, and, and since I started is that there, there's more to it than, than just Laura's planning events. We have the opportunity, um, to, to help our couples and our clients have these, these moments in their life and give them these perfect moments, and it takes a team to do that. And so I've been really blessed to have these two ladies. Ladies who would not be with me had it not been for COVID and me having to rebuild. They are invaluable. And they are— you're going to see them and hear them. And our couples and clients are going to get to know them even more. They're phenomenal women.

I'm excited. I see it. I see it as well. And I got to meet Brianna when you did our— when we had our meet and greet at your place. And it was instant. Like, I could tell immediately she's gonna— she is gonna fit in. In right here. And I love Skyler because every time I call her the wrong name, she doesn't get mad at me.

I call her the wrong names because I don't mean to.

I'm sorry. So we love you, Skyler and Brianna, so much. So in tight— tied into that, was that your piece of advice, is to maybe realize that you can't do it all on your own? Or do you have another piece of advice?

I think relationship building. I think, you know, if we're— we can't do this alone. I think I said on our recent Clubhouse, you might have been on it, that when we have goals and we have dreams and we have aspirations, we have to to give it power. And in order to give it power, we have to say it. Um, we have to say it out loud. We have to let others know that these are the goals and the dreams and the aspirations that we have. And part of that is building relationships and having that be a safe space and meeting people that are different than us and having open dialogue and sharing our strengths and our weaknesses. We're so afraid to share our weaknesses. Um, so building those relationships where it's a safe space for me to call Nate and say, Nate, I'm having a really bad day. I don't know how I'm gonna get the funding for this. Or Chrissanne Long, I just, I've lost my whole team. I have no idea how to rebuild. That's part of being an entrepreneur. But without those relationships, when we go through something, we sometimes think we're by ourselves and we're not. Oh my gosh.

Yes.

So I, that I think is the number one advice. Get connected some way. Every community has it. Obviously here in Polk County, we have Bridge, we have the chambers, and we We have SCORE. We have all these incredible organizations here in our community, but you've got them in your community. So if you're listening outside of Polk County, find them and get connected. Volunteer. If you're not really sure about walking into a space and you feel awkward, the best thing you can do is just volunteer at the welcome desk. You're behind a table, there's a barrier, but you're talking to every single person just by giving them a name badge.

Yeah.

So start, start somewhere and then that's gonna help you continue to build those relationships and get connected. So I think that would be my number one.

Absolutely fantastic advice. And I also feel like what it says to me is you're not alone. And every time you think that you are is the time you're supposed to pick up the phone and scroll down your text messages and think of the last person you chatted with that is an entrepreneur and text them and say, hey, you wanna go get coffee? Let's talk. Because you're not alone. And all it takes is you reaching out and telling somebody, hey, I need a hand. I need a friend. I need to talk. I need something.

And if you feel called to do that, I, again, I'm, I'm, I'm a believer, but if you feel called to do that, I think that's God letting you know that that person needs it, sometimes even more than you do. If you scroll and you come across a name, that's the person that's maybe needing it in that moment.

Well, and we had a moment like that because I was listening to a song and you were having a moment and you shared something with me and I said, "Here's a song I want you to listen to." Yes. And I can't remember the name of the song, but I know that it was a moment that that's the space that I had been in very, very recently and that you were able to helped me, like, give the sense of resilience by helping someone else. It's like anchor. It's like an anchor for you. Like, it lets you get out of your own space and get into the idea of helping someone else. And I think that's a huge opportunity to, to grow as a human being, but also to, to build that relationship with someone else.

Well, I think we all have something to share. We all have an experience. We all have a moment. We all have a story that somebody else can use. And so we can't be afraid to share that and, and to be vulnerable and to be willing to say this thing happened and it was great, or this thing happened and it wasn't so great. Someone's going to be able to learn from that. So we have to be willing to share with each other.

I really appreciate that, that, uh, other piece of advice about you talking about being okay with talking about your weaknesses, because I feel like a lot of times people— and even I've done it before— where you're, you're putting up this block and people can feel A lot of times that's a barrier to getting into a relationship that can open up an opportunity, a business opportunity, or, uh, whatever it may be. And so I, I love that you shared that because I think that's a key thing that especially when you're starting off, you're just being honest and you're saying, hey, look, I'm small, I'm new, I don't understand. There's grace in that.

There is. And I, and I, and I love that you said that there's grace in that because people want to help. I think innately we want to help. And so if I don't know I don't know your challenge. I don't know what you're going through. Maybe I can help you, but if I don't know you're in that moment, how can I help you? And I realize I don't take my own advice.

I'm sure Chrissanne is like, "Laura, how many times have I said to you—" I was just actually just getting ready to say, I'm holding up the mirror and I'm gonna have you have to play this on repeat whenever you need to hear it.

100%. But I think sometimes we do feel alone, and when someone's willing to share, then you go, "Oh, I had that exact same thing happen to me last year. This is how I dealt with it." I dealt with it. This is how I handled it. Maybe we can try that together. Um, and if for any, not just entrepreneurs, but so many different parts of life, if we're willing to, to share the vulnerability, there's growth in that. I also think that some people feel like you, maybe you're, you, you've been in business a very long time. What, what problems could you have? Mm-hmm. You've got it all figured out. Yeah. I, I'm intimidated by you, so I'm not gonna tell you that I'm vulnerable because I'm gonna look look less to you as someone who's been doing it a long time, and there's some intimidation I think that can happen. So when others, I think especially in leadership positions, are willing to do that, it's even more powerful because it lets those that are kind of coming up through the ranks go, well, shoot, if they have been experiencing this, look at the position they're in. Okay, that there's, there's room for me in that space. Yeah, that's so good.

That's so good. I think we just launched High Heels and a Hard Hat podcast though. I really feel like you just— some of the stuff that you just said. It needs to be a consistent part of a conversation. You and Brian, you and Skyler, you and Brianna, whoever. I have ideas. There's so many opportunities. I hope that you will take that challenge on. I'm going to give you 30 days. Okay. Challenge accepted. Awesome. We'll figure this out. It launched right here, guys. I'm excited.

Podcast launching a podcast. I mean, that's great.

Nothing better. There is nothing better. Well, we hope you guys enjoyed the show. We're going to wrap up today. Thanks for listening. And remember, we have a new episode each week, so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or Google Podcasts or wherever you listen. And remember to leave us a review. We promise to read every one. You can always find all of our episodes at elevatepolk.com. And if there's something or someone, or if you would like to be featured on an upcoming episode, reach out to us on Facebook at Elevate Polk. Woo! Lady, you are rocking it. Rock and roll!