What if visibility wasn’t about being louder, but about being clearer?

In this episode of Mind Your Wedding Business, Kevin Dennis sits down with Renée Dalo for a candid conversation about visibility as a strategic and sustainable tool for growth in the wedding industry. They explore how showing up with intention builds trust, attracts aligned clients, and shortens the sales cycle long before an inquiry ever hits your inbox.

Renée shares her perspective on creating content rooted in authenticity, navigating nuanced or uncomfortable topics with confidence, and using creativity and collaboration to stand out without chasing trends. The conversation reframes visibility not as performance or self-promotion, but as service, helping clients pre-trust you by understanding who you are and how you work.

With 13+ years of experience leading luxury weddings, commanding stages across the country, and coaching creative entrepreneurs, Renée brings a grounded, empowering approach to showing up online and in real life. As a keynote speaker, certified coach, and visibility hype woman, her work centers on helping people stop playing small and start walking into every room like they belong there...because they do.

Highlights:

1. Why visibility is a business strategy, not just a marketing tactic
2. How consistent content builds trust before the sales conversation begins
3. Navigating controversial or nuanced topics with intention and clarity
4. The role of creativity in standing out without chasing trends
5. How collaboration amplifies visibility while maintaining authenticity
6. Why visibility helps attract the right clients, not just more clients
7. The evolving role of social media in the wedding industry
8. Reframing visibility as service, not performance

Connect with Renée:

Website

The Verve & Vision Club

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

LinkedIn

Connect with Kevin:

Wedding IQ

Fantasy Sound

Instagram

YouTube

TikTok

LinkedIn

All right, folks, welcome to another episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. We're here with the one and only Renee Dallow. And Renee is going to be talking to us about visibility as a business strategy, not just marketing. no, not just marketing, but all right. Renee, like we ask everyone, welcome to the podcast. And can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how we got you here today?

Hi, thanks for having me. A little bit about myself. How long is this podcast? No, I'm just kidding. I'll blow.

Of course.

⁓ jeez.

I've never had anyone say that.

Someone asked me that

10 years, I was going to say, happy anniversary.

Yeah, thanks. It'll be April. April is the actual anniversary, I'll hold onto that information in back of my mind. And how I'm here today is that, you know, my new soap box, not new, my two-year-old soap box is visibility. And specifically for those of us who've been in the industry for a bit, and maybe those of us who are over the age of 40, you know, the perfect cocktail of all the things when you're just like, I don't want to do that anymore. And it's like, actually, it's going to have to be.

Mm.

Sorry to say, still part of the business, big part of the business. And you've embraced it. I've seen your team and you.

Mm. Yeah, I agree.

Well, when we were talking about it before we started recording, have a young one and I joke, ⁓ her name's August and she comes up every once in on the podcast, but I joke when I introduce her to people, I'm like, yeah, this is the person I pay to make fun of me on the internet.

But

know what, Kevin, it makes people relate to you. I'm sure people who book you are like, my God, I love you. I love what you're putting out.

Yeah, yeah.

And it's the most random stuff that they follow. When Wicked first came out, we did this little short reel. basically, I was driving a scissor lift through our warehouse with Black Drapery on me, a witch's hat, and I had a broom. And still to this day, mention that. And we had to get creative when Wicked came out for the second one.

Of course, here's the thing, if you had told me in

2016 that we would have had this, the exchange we just had, I would have told you you were out of your mind. But everything has changed now. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I agree.

Yep, I agree.

you have to embrace it or be forgotten, I think.

Well, I think

I love what you said about like, you had to get creative, right? I think that's the part that we are forgetting as business owners in this landscape of like, I have to be on the internet, I have to be visible. Most people approach it as this thing that they are dreading doing. Whereas I always take it from the place of like, listen, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're especially in the wedding industry, you inherently are creative. So just turn that creative eye toward content creation. Even if like you did, you hire someone on your team.

Mm-hmm.

You have to be a willing and active participant in it though. And I think that is a lot of times where my coaching comes in to be like, how do we get over the, all of the things that get in the way, right?

Yeah,

it's funny too, because they'll all get an idea and then they're like, so we have an idea. And in the back of my head, I'm like, ⁓ crap, what am I about to do or what am I about to get myself into? And I've learned I don't say no. And I just do what they tell me to do because we do get reaction to it. But it always makes me laugh when I know it's something really outside the box when they go.

Hahaha!

you're right, those are the ones that make the most impact and and most of the time there's absolutely no way to know what's gonna hit before you release it and so you just have to kind of go out on a limb.

I know and sometimes you'll release something and you think it's so amazing and it's a dud and it just for some reason didn't resonate at that moment in time.

yeah. ⁓

Well,

think about when we were in around a wedding MBA when you got controversial on the internet about theme, dressing and themes and, and, and that went, I like, I was with you a hundred percent on that because I get so tired of some of this stuff that we have to do and for it to go to a networking event. But it was, I felt like that thing just blew up.

Oh, I did. I did, I got a little spicy.

Well, so Kevin is referencing a reel that I did on Instagram, a talking head, which is direct to camera, just just speaking words, right? No crazy editing, no trending audio, just like I had something to say. I recorded it in my hotel room after I came home from a dinner where someone told me at that dinner that they had purchased a ticket to a networking event at wedding, NBA. And the ticket was several hundred dollars. And then once the ticket was purchased, many weeks later,

The dress code was revealed, the theme was revealed, and this person who was of an older age in a bigger body, not from a major market in the US, right, said to me, I could only afford the ticket, I couldn't afford the outfit, and so I'm not going.

geez.

And I was sitting at dinner thinking like my coaching brain clicked in and I was like, on one hand I was like, I'm gonna coach her to go to this thing. On the other, was like, could I buy her an outfit? Like I was trying to work, cause I was like, I cannot believe you've already put down $350, but you can't participate. And I made me so mad. And so I was stewing on it during dinner, we were talking, then the whole Uber ride back to my hotel. And I got to the hotel and I was like, you know what? And I...

Yeah.

put the camera on a tripod. I think I probably spoke into the camera for maybe seven minutes. I edited it down to ⁓ whatever it ended up being two minutes. Now the thing is that's what I always do because I'm a yapper and I also repeat myself a lot when I'm recording. I kind of already know that like I can get it down. That thing, I recorded it at night at like 11 PM. I woke up and it had been shared like over a hundred times like while I was sleeping.

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I have since found out, now that thing had, it took off. was like, it was like my number three reel of the year. And I released it in November. ⁓ I had found out previous, like now since then that two different networking groups actually got rid of their dress codes for some of the upcoming events because they were impacted, not just by what I said, which was impactful, sure. But the comments, Kevin, if you go back and read the comments, there are, there are people in the comments being very brave.

wow.

and saying, yes, I agree. Yes, I've not, I've felt excluded. I haven't gone. This year was tough. Why are we doing this to each other? Why are we, you know, ⁓ like hindering our creativity? Why are we being treated like children? I was like, I did not know the Pandora's box that I opened, but I'm so grateful for it as someone who teaches visibility to be like, all I had to do was be brave for like the two minutes it took to edit and post that, right?

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

That was the brave moment. I mean, the saying it sure, right? But I say a lot of stuff that doesn't make it to the internet. I can be, I can be, but there are a lot of things on this phone that I have never shared that I'm like, they all share, or not. The bravery piece just really comes in the, hey, I'm going to put that out in the world and see what comes back to me. That's the piece that I think a lot of us get stuck on. Not you though, cause you're all in.

Yeah. You're spicy. I feel like that. Yeah. Yeah.

You

Yeah, yeah. well, I try, but anyway, it

was funny, two weddings ago, like two Saturdays ago, I was at a wedding, and the talk around the vendor table was, there's a very popular conference, we won't mention the name, but literally they were talking about how much it costs to attend the conference, but then they're gonna spend that same amount of money, if not more, on all the dress that they had to, you know, so they're,

Yes.

Yeah.

It was very interesting to hear everybody's hot take on that, but it was very...

yeah. Well,

honestly, now I think it's it's kind of a lukewarm take cause a lot of us agree. We're just, no one had said it ⁓ publicly. I, I've said it private a lot, but I, know, and so now I still see people sharing that and I'm like, good, share it, share it. Let's make our industry a little more equitable, I think.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I agree with you. All right. Well, we digress on dress codes and all kinds of good stuff. But there was a point to that about how it took off and whatnot. So anyway, so when you say visibility is a business strategy, what do you mean? And how is that different from just marketing?

Visibility is as a strategy. think visibility kind of is the strategy, right? So I know none of us when we decided to open a business in the wedding space thought we'd be full-time marketing our business, but unfortunately, right? It is something we have to do and we are well past the time of just like putting up a listing on the knot and hoping for the best. The reason I say visibility is a strategy is because in order to do

Hmm.

Mm.

content creation on the scale that we need to do to attract new clients. There's a lot of work that we have to do for ourselves as business owners to know what we want to say, what direction we want to take the marketing, who we're trying to attract. If you don't have those foundational things, right? Even if you hire someone to do your social media, they're not going to be able to do it. You need to know what you're selling, who you're selling to. But more than that, like you need to figure out what the personality of your business is and

and how you're going to move forward with that. Like, I love that you're so willing to be silly because you work in a branch of the business that doesn't have to be so serious, right? I'm sure a lot of people come to you and they don't really understand what it is you can do for them. You already have to break that barrier of like, this is something you don't understand, let me be accessible to you, right? I think you're doing such a great job of that in being like, we're really likable, come work with us.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

You're never gonna feel stupid by asking us a question, because we're already being a little stupid in a fun way, you know?

Well,

it's funny you say, because the one thing that always sticks in my head is that we get older, but our clients stay the same age, you know? And so it's if I can connect or relate to them, even though I am older, I'm probably old enough to be a lot of their dads, you know, right now. But it's just like, but if they can relate with me, then I'm all I'm all in because it keeps me relevant for a little bit longer. So.

as the gaps figure.

Yes. 100%.

We had a client in my wedding planning business last year who was a music producer and I live in Los Angeles. So we, have all kinds of clients. have clients. Yeah. But even the non-famous people that are behind the scenes that are influential, right? And, and, this was a music producer who has like a stage name. So when I met him, I, and one of my associates brought him in as a client, I did not know really who I was talking to, right? Like I knew he was music producer, but you know,

All the famous people.

Yeah.

And he started talking about music and I'm a music girl, you know, in my way. And so we were referencing Sabrina Carpenter's new album and he was talking about their production and I said something about the video and he turned to me and he was like, how old are you? And I was like, you cannot ask a woman that question. he said, you seem young. And I was like, I seem young because I'm keeping myself relevant because I know what's going on in the world. It's the same thing about

Hahaha

showing up on social media, understanding the trends, understanding that wicked is trending. Like you're not saying, we're too good for that. We're not gonna comment on that. You're saying, yeah, we're gonna go all in, because that's what's happening in the zeitgeist of the world that we exist in.

funny we did an event for ⁓ E40 and I didn't know it was E40 until we were like halfway through the process because we were dealing with the wife and the name on there was Earl the whole and like I and I met him for like a quick second and I didn't you know I'm not good with faces and names and all that stuff and then he showed up to like a like a tasting at the venue and he showed up as E40 you know and anyway everyone yeah it was like ⁓ okay

Yeah, you're like.

Yeah, I think the thing with the visibility as strategy is that right now we've been talking about social, course, right? Because that is the most accessible. It's free. It's available to anyone. You and I can post right now and say we've done marketing today, right? But I also think there's so many levels of visibility. so like, yes, social media, but also podcasts like this, getting yourself published in ⁓ major magazines, not only your work, but your thought leadership, right? ⁓ Also, know,

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

in some markets and maybe some smaller markets, probably not you and I, but in smaller markets, like getting on the local news, like that is a visibility. How that starts, like you don't just one day wake up and go, I'm to go on the local news. You start by making your own content because then they go, ⁓ that person's really good on camera. That person can put a sentence together in a way that makes sense. That person is pleasant to be around, right? And honestly, like that's what it is. The people that I coach that come to me for coaching who are like, my business is down.

Mm-hmm.

One of the first things I do is I go to their entire who they are on the internet and say, okay, what's missing here? The other thing, and you said something similar to this, but I want to put a finer point on it. You know, as we get older in our, in our business and our clients get younger, the gap gets bigger. Those of us who know what we're talking about, who aren't talking about it online, we're not getting the full benefit that

Hmm.

Hmm.

someone who is in their 20s, who is just beginning in their business, but who doesn't have that fear. They're all yapping on TikTok.

Mm-hmm.

Are they qualified? Maybe. Are they as qualified as someone who's been doing this for 20 years? I'm going to say no. So in my mind, sometimes what I say to people is, I think the wrong people have the microphone.

Yeah.

Ooh, I like that.

Yeah, and not to say that the 20 year old shouldn't speak up, of course, but there's just different lived experiences. And what we have now is like the elders in our industry are so quiet and it doesn't make sense to me.

No, yes.

Yeah, well, and I even can see that happening even when you're working the wedding. Sometimes I'll look at them and they're like freaking out. I'm like, guys, relax. We've been through this. Yeah, I'm like, let's do X, Y, and Z, and then ABC, we're going to be fine. We'll be fine. Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah. You know what I've

always wanted to do and maybe your team could do it for you. I'm mentioning it now. So, I'm a, I'm new to the NFL watching because I'm a Swifty. ⁓ I really love when they mic up Travis and he, they just might come up during the game and then they clip it all together. think that your team should make you up during like loading. Yeah. And then during a wedding and like clip it together. Cause like, I would love to hear what you're like that moment when you're like, we're good. It's fine. Don't worry. Like that kind of stuff is really cool for a client to hear because they won't ever hear it other.

⁓ during a wedding.

Yeah.

unless we share.

You just gave August in her office something to come up you got got something to do New thing I love it and it's funny to me because my father-in-law and I who are not Swifties Have been watched because we we do family dinner. We've been started watching the her documentary So we're only four episodes in we have two more to go But it just is cracking us up because we're so in on

August.

Mike, coming up, NFL style.

it's so good.

how she's done what she's done and how nice she is to everyone and how she's like empowered everyone. It's amazing what she's done behind the scenes.

Yes.

Yes. Even if you're not as 50,

there's so many lessons in the documentary about good ownership, right? There are so many, ⁓ and even visibility too, like just how she was able to, ⁓ there's a whole, so much culture around the errors tour and like, ⁓ there's a whole culture around it on tick tock as well. Like that concert was live streamed. Every single, every single concert was live streamed on tick tock by the fans and she never stopped it. Amazing.

Yeah, which is amazing because those

well we had it on because a lot of the office so we have a conference tv so every concert That was on we had it on. Yeah They had them going and it was this one kid and i'm like how much money does this kid make? Finding the streams and getting them locked, you know, like because he always had his venmo and paypal and all that there. Yeah, I know it's just like Yeah

Yes, I watched it.

Yeah. Anyways, that's also entrepreneurship.

Go Taylor Swift supporting small creators. Take it. Do it.

Yeah.

everything. Yes.

She went all in. She went all in. And listen, to tie it back, right? That is kind of what I want business owners in the wedding industry to do is I kind of want everyone to go in all in on visibility this year. Because the thing is that the longer you wait, the higher that mountain is gonna seem to climb. And then the more you're gonna be like, well, I'm never gonna have a million followers, so who cares? That's not what it's about for a business owner, right? It isn't necessarily about going viral. It's not about becoming an influencer or getting a brand deal. I mean, sure, maybe that might happen, right?

Mm.

Mm-mm.

What it's about is attracting the right people to you. And quite simply, many, many, wedding pros are just not putting out enough content about who they are and what they do and their perspective on it.

Yeah, and it's kind of interesting you say that because I think a lot of people they'll say I just don't connect with this couple. don't get I don't understand why they didn't hire me and I'm like, well, you're not using the right bait. You know, you're not putting up. Yeah, you're not putting it out there. Yeah. So it always.

That's That's great. And also,

one of my people that I'm coaching right now, she's like, every time I post a reel, I lose a couple of followers. And I'm like, okay. And she's like, don't you care about that? I'm like, never. It's like, well, I'm like, one, they're probably robots. Two, if they're unattracted, great, bye, go. The internet is vast. Go find someone else that you enjoy watching. I mean, I know for me, and I'd love to know if this is true for you, but...

No.

Mm-hmm.

I often find myself at the end of the day, instead of watching TV, I'll just maybe scroll TikTok or Instagram Reels and that's what I watch as entertainment. You do it?

That

so I will know I do it in a different time though. I'm a weirdo. I'm a sport. I love sports. So I generally have sports on at night, whatever much to the dismay of my wife. And then and then usually after the after the you know sports is over then we watch our shows or whatever, you know, like whatever but I find if I'm waiting for something or I just scroll and that's my and I'm older so I'm an Instagram. I find that I'm on Instagram more and

Yeah.

and I'm looking at all the different reels and different things and I get sucked into certain people's drama and different, you know, all that good stuff.

Yeah, of course.

We're going to social media for entertainment. And if we're doing that, our clients are too. So if you entertain them and also teach them a little something, that's going to go so much further than just posting a pretty photo of a wedding or not posting at all. So many people come to me, especially with this new membership that I have, and they're like, I haven't posted in months. And I'm like, okay, well, let's start. Cause like there's no time like the present, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I always say

if I had gotten serious about video creation five years ago during the pandemic or six years ago now, my God, six years ago, I'd be a millionaire now.

Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. I'll never forget. Well, you were part of them when we were doing ⁓ the state of the wedding industry across and you and I were the ones that were locked up and, poor, ⁓ what's her name? ⁓ Bri was Bri the girl from Seattle. w the three of us were, yeah. And then, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Utah and Texas, they were doing whatever they wanted, but any, yeah, yeah, we don't want to, no, no one want to talk about it. All right.

huh.

Great. Locked up in spicy. And then it was floating, doing whatever the hell they want.

Well, that was a time.

So as we, know, relationships are huge in what we do here in the wedding industry. So why is visibility especially critical in relationship driven industries like the wedding industry or the events industry?

Well, I think especially when we think about visibility, we think about it as like in a bubble, right? Our own little bubble, which I never, I don't think of it that way. I always encourage everyone to do, to collaborate, right? So especially when the idea of creating content feels so major, it's like, if you're actively having weddings, then I would love to see more creative collabs happening during those weddings. Most of the content that I create at a wedding day takes about

two minutes to film. Like a B-roll seriously is 20 seconds to film. Once you have a facility with this stuff, it doesn't take over your day. Most of it is in the, I have a good idea phase, right? So I think anytime you can as an individual owner, go to another business owner and say like, Kevin, I have a great idea for this wedding we have next week. We're doing that crazy chandelier. Why don't we do like a Phantom of the Opera thing with the chandelier? And then your team will be like, my God, that's funny.

Mm-hmm.

Hey, what if we just did this? It'll take five minutes to film. That's the kind of relationship building that can come with visibility. And then that's, mean, that's just in the creation, right? Then in the posting and the association with one another, like your clients are just going to get to know that you're a trusted source because they're gonna see you everywhere. And they're gonna see you aligned with the right people. And I think like, remember when we were all starting, at least when I was starting 15 years ago, everyone was like, do a styled shoot, do a styled shoot.

Mm-hmm.

I know,

yeah.

Great,

do a styled shoot. In that styled shoot, do a ton of social media collabs. Like figure out creative ways to play together, play together in social media land and leave the shoot with that also because if you're not, you're missing a big part of the relationship building between the vendors. And then also the relationship building between you and your audience is also, it's major and unless you've had the experience of that, you're gonna be like, I don't know what you mean.

But the truth is that once you put yourself out there regularly, people feel like they know you. You get to choose what parts of you they know. You don't have to be an open book if you don't want to be. But then people will like, for instance, Kevin, I mean, you and I know each other in real life, but I think anyone who follows you knows what your favorite seat on an airplane is.

Which is going away so sad

Anyone who has... I

know, no, that's true, Southwest!

No, but the brand new, so they just bought brand brand new planes and my little seat is gone. Like it's, yeah, gone. It's not even there. I just rode on one of those and I got on the plane and I'm like, I looked at the, I looked at the stewardess and she was looking at me she goes, are you looking for the seat without a seat in front of it? And I'm like, yep. She goes, they're gone. So I know I should, I should.

⁓ we need to

You need to do a funeral on social media for it with like black and white images and like sad music and you can do a voiceover.

It was like a memor- in memoriam to your favorite. See, here's the thing. Once you start creating content, your brain, my brain is always looking for what's interesting, funny, smart, cute. Like I'm always looking for like, what are different ways we can communicate this? I find it so fun and so creative that like,

Yeah.

It's easier for me to be all in now than it was a couple of years ago when I begrudgingly was doing things because I just decided that this is, this is what, you know, this is the thing now.

Well, and it's a mindset, I think. You got to go in with the right mindset. And if you don't have the right people to do it, then don't do it with that group of people. Then find the right people that think like you do and have the right mindset. We found that out when we tried to do collaborations and different things. And it always comes out so well. And then the people that kind of are curmudgeon about it are the ones that are like, I wish you would do that fun stuff with it. I'm like, we tried. And you told us, yeah. And you told us no.

This is huge.

We tried. Yeah. You

know what's interesting about the mindset piece though, Kevin, and this is something that was really interesting for me to learn on. only learned it late last year at wedding MBA. So at wedding MBA, one of my talks was about Instagram reels. It was like 10, 10 techniques for Instagram reels. And then, what I did with my booth was I made it a content studio and we had ring lights and we had tripods and I had a big bowl of prompts. In fact, I have them somewhere here, prompts, and I gave everyone this card.

Mm-hmm.

You

Right? And was just, this one says, what is the best business advice you've ever got? And I was just taking their phone and running camera, right? I was, I was interviewing people basically and getting them to talk on camera. One person comes to the booth and they say to me, I really want to do this. But every time I turn my phone on myself, I have a panic attack. And I said, are you sure you want to do this? They said, yes. I'm like, you want to do it here at the expo floor? Well, there's a marching band and fluorescent lights.

Yeah, with all those people.

and they said, yes, I wanna try. So brave, right? I stood there, I was taking about three minutes with people, my husband timed it. With this person, I took about seven minutes, because I was like, we're deep breathing, we're closing our eyes, we're regulating, right? And they did it. They didn't, they've never posted it, right? But somehow just the act of getting over the fear, that intense fear of doing something new, of being seen, of using your voice, of all the fears.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It occurred to me in that moment, because I have a BFA in acting, right? So like, even though I was really hesitant to go all in on content creation, the skillset was sort of there. I just had to shine it up. This person was like freaking out. And yet they came so bravely to say, I know I need help, please help me. I think about it all the time. The people who come to my membership, people who come to me for coaching, I'm always like, what level of fear are we at? Because there is a level of fear. We just have to figure out which one it is.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

That's a good way of looking at it. Yeah,

no, and that's a really good way, a really, really good way of looking at it, because we all are afraid. And the one thing I learned, just even in the stuff that we're doing, is that we can do multiple takes. And you can do it over again until you get it right, because what you're doing is not live. And then I always get so excited when we do do it. I'm like, one take, we're out. And I always get so excited when we get it in the first take. Because sometimes,

Yeah, and honestly...

doing those TikToks and having to mimic your words to the there. like, I get sometimes I trip up on that stuff, but yeah.

Lipsy.

Yeah. And sometimes it's really cute when you trip up, when anyone's,

cause it's like, they're trying so hard. I also think like the multiple take situation, like everybody does multiple takes. No one's going to see your drafts, but you, but then also some of the stuff that I've done on the absolute fly has been the best stuff. Cause you just don't care. You're just like, it's fine. I wouldn't tick tock at your Tri-Valley wedding association one. Um, that was a wicked audio.

Mm-hmm.

It really, yeah. Yeah, you're in a hurry. yeah.

which was like, does anyone want me to sing No One Warns the Wicked before we leave? Because I was a guest at that event, not the speaker. I was like, it'd be really funny if I were like, if I'm not the speaker, does anyone want me to speak before I go? Like that, is like, does anyone want me to do five minutes before? And the answer is like, no, no. And it's just like a very fun moment. That did such numbers, people were like, oh, she has a sense of humor about herself. People want to see us having fun.

Hehehehehe

Yeah, yeah.

And it was weird having you there as a guest and not speaking. that's a whole other thing. Yeah. And enjoy. And they did, that's the, did you get one of the, that was the, where they did the, I first learned about Sauv Blanc with jalapenos in it. Did you ever get one of those? No. ⁓ they were doing that during the cocktail. Maybe you missed it during the cocktail. You guys were doing content, but it, but so.

loved it. was like, I get to just sit here and have a glass of wine. All right. Leave it all the hard work.

I don't remember anything that night.

Oh, because we were making content. We were recording.

Literally became my whole summer drink was chopping up jalapenos and putting them in saut blanc and it just became a whole thing that summer after that event Yeah, you got to try it if you like a look it's more flavor than it is spice, but it's definitely chop up some jalapenos through Yep. Yeah, we really do. We try to have fun up here. So alright you were talking about trust earlier So how does constant visibility build trust before a client ever reaches out?

Okay, now I really want to go do that. Okay.

You learn something new up in wine country every time you're there.

So I think just the act of showing up regularly on your social signals to your audience, your clients, your potential clients, that you're serious about your business, that you're engaged in your business, that you are not one foot in, one foot out. Especially if you're sharing your thought leadership, right? Which requires some time to develop. It requires some energy on your part. ⁓ I think that's just gonna signal.

so much confidence with your client and also fellow vendors, right? They're gonna be like, she really cares about this community. She cares about this market. She cares about this industry. And I don't know, there's no, cannot fake that, right? Like you really just, can, I can always tell when I, well, I'd like to think I can tell. Some people are just fearful and are not posting at all. But when I go to someone's social media account, what I'm looking for is who is this person and what do they believe about their business? Like what?

No.

What is behind this business? What's their why? And this is a silly example, but I give it all the time because I feel like anything can be this. As a wedding planner, one of my biggest pet peeves was napkin folding, a lazy napkin fold. Like if you're just gonna fold a napkin and then drape it over the side of a table, like that's not happening at my event. That's BS, that is low. And that was like my thing. I love an intricate napkin fold. I love a knot.

Mm.

yeah. Or roll it up and put it in a glass. That was the other one. Yeah.

I love like I as a wedding planner took time and energy and effort. I love talking about napkin folds because clients don't know. They don't know that they should care, but they, but you know what, once you tell it to them, they're like, well, my wedding planner better care about that. Cause that's God is in the details in that moment. So like that is something like some minutia, some tiny little thing that you're like, who cares about that? Once you say your thought leadership on it, your, your perspective on it. Yeah. People are going to care. And really it's about sharing those.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

little tiny moments. There's a DJ that I know who did some, was like a year ago, she did a social media post about the way she likes to tape down her chords. I was fascinated because one, even as a wedding planner, I take it for granted. I'm like, yeah, yeah, they're going to be taped down. But the care and the mindset behind it and the kind of tape and the where and it's to be invisible. I was like, you're hired every time.

chords.

Yeah, and I can relate. It drives me nuts when you see it's all like, it's my favorite, it's like it looked like they were drunk when they were taping down the cord and it literally is serpentine instead. I'm like you just tape it on one side, tape it on the other, pull it tight. Yeah. Yeah.

Or they put like a giant like, ⁓

over it and you're like, that's a hump. That's not safe at all. Actually. Yeah. Anything can be content.

Yeah, no. Yeah, no, it makes me look...

Yeah. Well, and that's a good example right there because I would have never thought of doing that, but I so can relate with that DJ. So, all right. So, we talk about showing up constantly. Does that help shorten the sales cycle for us? Okay.

yeah,

yeah. Because here's the thing, it used to be pre, well, I'm gonna say pre-video social media, right? When we were only posting to the feed and maybe a story, we could curate a lot more of like what we were showing, but then also what we were showing was pretty limited, right? We didn't have a lot, unless you got interviewed on a TV show or a podcast, you didn't have a lot of opportunity to say, this is who we are, this is what we do.

So by the time we got to the consult, a lot of that was like getting to know you, do I like you? If you're doing your social media job correctly, when they get to the call, they already like you. They know enough about you to say, yeah, I could go for coffee with her. Yeah, I could trust him with my wedding. Then the conversation and the consult, one gets shorter, right? You can talk way more about them than you, because they should already know you from the internet. And then they can get real specific with the questions and then you can get very specific with them.

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

about what part of your personality you kind of want to reveal. But ultimately, the trust factor is so high because you've been showing up, you're consistent, they know who you are, they know your ethics, they know what the why is behind your business. And listen, when I say all that, I'm not saying for you to make a social media reel that's like, the ethics behind my business are no, but they can gather that from how you're showing up and what you're talking about and what you're supporting.

Ultimately, I think the trust factor becomes so high that it's more of a matter of like, can we afford you? Than it is, do I like you? Do I trust you? Reddit is huge right now for, I know, we're all afraid of Reddit myself.

Hmm.

Well,

and it's so we did a whole podcast episode with Adrian McDermott and talking or not whole but we got into it with about Reddit and but but basically how people use it wrongly. You could you go in there and get you're just there to observe and you got to take a seat and you got to keep your mouth shut is what I've learned so far.

Yes.

Well, yes.

That's right. But

if someone has talked about you on Reddit and you don't have any social media presence that is your face talking to camera, that is your words, then the only thing the internet knows about you is what other people have said about you. I don't want that. I never want that. I want it direct from my mouth. So if you think, you like you watch my spicy, you know, I don't like a dress code video and you're like this woman's, then great. Then you're not my client. Great. Now we know.

Mm-hmm.

But if you're like, she's saying what I wish I could say, come sit next to me, come sit right here, friend. When I was a wedding planner, one of the things my clients would say to me, ⁓ and sometimes it didn't come out until after the wedding when I'd interview them like off-boarding, because I would always ask, what made you hire me? And sometimes the answer would be like, you have the kind of personality that I don't have, and so I needed you to be forceful when I couldn't.

Yep. Part of my tribe.

Mm-hmm.

⁓ I can see that. Yeah.

Yeah, one

of my clients called me a little bulldog once and I was like, I appreciate the little, I'll take the little all day. But I mean, that is who I was as a wedding planner, right? Like I was a fierce advocate for my clients. What are the adjectives that your clients would use to describe you be that person in your social?

love it. It's funny that you made me totally think of a client I worked with about two years ago. She was a warrior girl for the Golden State Warriors. And, and I didn't, I didn't learn about it until our final meeting, we were sitting there. And she hired me because I like basketball, even though it's the wrong team, like, but she knew on my social that I love basketball. And because, and I go, I go, well, why, because I joked with her, I go, well, I'm a Sacramento Kings fan. And she goes, Yeah, I know.

I followed you on social media and I searched you out. She goes, but I hired and she flat out told me she goes I hired you because I knew I knew you like basketball and I'm and I love and live for basketball and so it was just we had this moment and she even referenced during her speech her thank yous she gave me a little shout out and she goes even though he wears the wrong color, know, and like totally did this whole but it was such a funny moment. It was like I never even knew throwing out that I go to basketball games or do whatever.

was going to get me business, but therefore it did.

Relationship building, you know what I mean? When

I teach visibility and when I teach curating your content, I talk about these like five content buckets that I want everyone to have. And one of them is fun, right? Whatever you do for fun, you need to be showing, not all of it, certainly, but you need to sprinkle it in there. In my for fun bucket, I really like to cook. I love cooking. I'm not a great baker, but I do it.

Yeah.

Mm.

Once every couple of weeks, I will post a full on video of me making something. Maybe not cooking, maybe at the aftermath. Like I just did, I posted one about a dessert I made on New Year's Eve, because it was like the Ina Garten brownie pudding. got, it went viral. Right. So I was like, did I do it? Like, did I do it correctly? I did. So like that's a cute moment, right? Am I, am I going to be a cooking influencer? No, but it's in the for fun bucket because people want to know what we're about. ⁓

Mm-hmm.

I saw that. Yeah, yeah.

Hehehehehe

Yeah.

I'm also a musical theater girly. I have so many clients, coaching clients, people in my membership ⁓ and former wedding clients. The commonality is what's your favorite musical? Tell me your favorite musical. It's a whole other language we can speak together. So even though it's not the same basketball team, who cares? She knows that you understand her favorite sport. Great. Great.

Mm.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, and

we were totally, and it's funny, and we still interact on social media. I mean, a couple years later, still interacting. yeah.

Yes. And she'll refer you to other clients because you're top

of mind because you're present on social.

Yeah, I try. Well, we're there,

You have, but here's the thing.

Here's what I want to say, because I've seen Kevin Steen in real in person doing this. Kevin, I admire you and your business so much because you could have said, I'm not doing social media. We're so successful. We don't need to. Or you could have said, that's not my generation. That's not my market. I don't want to do it. But instead you were like, let me get a young person who's passionate about this. Let me continue to say, sure. Yeah, let's try it. And your business and like your social media presence is so good.

I will let August know because I give her all the props because I just was smart enough when I found out she was leaving her job because she worked at a venue that we work at all the time. I knew she was doing just like literally scratching the surface with social media for them. And we were we kind of plateaued. We were using a VA outside and we like literally plateaued. We could not do any more social.

and we went to something where it was exactly kind what you're talking about about being fun and being visible and all that kind of stuff. then I don't know why, but August like totally came to mind. I'm like, we should hire August. then, and she had, and it's funny, she quit her job to go work for another company. And like literally after a two, interview I ever had with anyone, we had like a two plus hour to a point where my wife's like,

Are you coming home? Like was texting me in the middle of the interview. But like, it's still, but we just started having a conversation and then started brainstorming. And then she, it made her want to come work for us. Cause then she, she knew she had complete creativity to do what she wanted to do. But then also that I was a willing participant. And I think that was the biggest thing. And, but, and she's been with us now a little over a year and a half and is, she's been very integral and everyone like you experienced being part of her.

little TikToks and little things that she likes to do and she puts together fun stuff. So yes, I highly recommend it August. Everyone needs an August. So all right, so back to visibility. So does visibility directly impact referrals when clients don't even consciously realize it? Okay.

Yes.

Yeah, of course, because they're scrolling

and they're seeing you, right? And then they're like, my God, yeah, my wedding planner. Yes, my friend just got engaged. I should connect you. And you know how they're gonna do it? They're gonna share your reel. They're gonna go, hey, do remember at my wedding, the girl who ran everything, this is her. That is what it is now, right? Like it isn't the, let me send you their website necessarily. A lot of times it is a piece of content that they think is relevant or literally just top of mind.

Hmm.

love it.

One of the big things that I think we can take from the influencers, right? The people who are making a career of influencing is most of them, especially on TikTok, they're posting five times a day.

Mmm.

Because they understand that once you come upon them, if you like them, you're gonna wanna binge the way we binge Netflix. that's the strategy, right? If you find someone like, I really think he's funny, let's go see what else he's got. Yeah, he's got thousands, right? I'm not suggesting that every wedding pro do that. But what I'm saying is, even if you're showing up three times a week, but consistently, right? When someone new comes to you, they have a wealth of information to go off of.

⁓ never even thought about it that way.

Mm-hmm.

They are not just looking at the one video you have up and thinking, do I like this person? Should I follow them? I don't know, it's hard. It's one weird video. Consistency and breadth of kinds of content is gonna get you further. And I know as I say this, people who are listening who don't post are freaking out because they're like, don't know. All of this gets so much easier once you're in action. Don't you think?

Hmm.

Yeah, yeah. No, does. The more the more I've done, you know, looking at what I did started with August to where I am now, it's like so we have content. She schedules it for a couple hours. She sends me an email telling me bring this that, know, because you need outfit. You need outfits. So she'll tell me what to bring into work and we'll go from there. And nine times out of 10, it's like I don't need you. I don't need an outfit. I just need you. And it doesn't matter what you're wearing. And I

might be in my Crocs and everyone makes fun of me for wearing Crocs but that's become another thing that everyone because I just I went on a cruise and my cousin told me you needed Crocs when you're on the cruise so I bought a pair of Crocs and I fell in love with them and I wear them all the time now.

And I'm

pretty sure that most dads of your clients wear Crocs too.

When you shoot your content, do you do it like one day a week or what's the cadence?

⁓ it depends on what she's trying to do It's usually we try to plan at least one one day a week a couple hours like an hour couple hours or sometimes she'll And then if she gets like a crazy idea or something, she'll go I just need you for 15 minutes, know and like and most the time it's even shorter than that But it just yeah and then and then the some of the best stuff I think people really get excited about is when she goes out And goes with the guys on a setup

And it's like people like to know how the sausage is made, you know? Yeah.

behind the scenes, huge content bucket for everyone. It's

100%. Even if you're behind the scenes as you sitting at a desk typing, which for a lot of wedding pros, it can be. All of that, any of that is weirdly interesting to people. I say this all the time on stage, but a lot of people come to me and they're like, well, I just don't have anything interesting that I do. It's not interesting. And then I asked them like, have you ever watched a video of a rug being cleaned? As I have many hundreds, I've watched hundreds of videos of rugs being cleaned and like,

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

You

If you had asked me five years ago if I would, that would be interesting content for me. I'd say no, but we all do it. We all watch the rugs being cleaned. And I'm pretty positive that anything you're doing in your business is as exciting or more than a rug that's being cleaned. That guess what? Half those rugs just they're beige in the end.

Yeah,

it's funny you say that there's a guy on the internet that I don't know came in my feed and he is a pressure washer and he goes and he'll if he finds someone in the neighborhood where he's pressure washing and their house is atrocious he'll He's amazing and I'm like I'm sitting here watching this man pressure And and he'll do they like he'll do the weeds and do all the other part and bring this Yeah Yes. Yeah

I've seen him! I love him!

And then he surprises them and they're like, what?

So random, yeah, like you. Yeah, yeah. we.

We both know that guy because he decided

one day to show up online. I think we spend a lot of time, especially as wedding pros, we overthink things, right? We're slow to adapt. Remember at the beginning of Instagram, we were all like, this isn't gonna be around much longer, meanwhile. And I think we spend a lot of time, especially anyone who is aspiring to the luxury market. I hear this a lot where they're like, I can't be silly on the internet, friends. Yes, you can.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Not every day, not all the time, not only silly, but you can be lighthearted. Because guess what? Even your wealthiest clients don't want to work with someone who's hard to be around. You just got to show up. You got to show your personality.

No.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Well, and the big thing you got to remember is you're not for every client. And the sooner I think you learn that lesson, you're not trying to book every single person. And then the more you're talking about being visible, putting yourself out there, you're going to attract, you're putting out that bait to attract the right client.

No! No!

us.

Yes,

and I want to just finish the loop on what I had asked you about when do you record? So I have two rules for myself. Every Sunday I record. I record something. I'll go to Drybar, on lipstick and just sit there and record something. But then I also have a rule for myself now that I turn the camera on myself for like 10 to 20 seconds a day. Sometimes it's just me walking. Sometimes it's me driving. Sometimes I just put the thing right there when I'm typing. When I'm traveling, a lot of times I'll talk to camera.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Like I said to you earlier, maybe I said this before we started recording, but I have a lot in this phone that may or may not ever see the light of day. So I just made a rule that I'm just gonna turn the camera on myself. One, because back when I was really awkward about it, it was like exposure therapy, right? Just do it. No one's gonna have to see it, just do it. And now that I'm all over the place, I just need to have enough content in my phone so that I could grab a B-roll, put some text over it and make a reel whenever I want, whenever I can.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

And honestly, that's how I made it through the holidays. I posted every day during the holidays, but I never recorded. I have a phone that is full of video. So I'm always like thinking, you know?

Mmm.

That's interesting. That's a good way. Well, and you got to think

and think of it as practice. Yeah, I mean the more you do it. Yeah. Yeah, the better the better you get. It's funny like you brought up ⁓ like how we used to just post online And I don't I very rarely go on Facebook anymore, but your memories Do you ever look at your memories and go what the was I thinking and what was I like why that and I don't like one popped up the other day and I don't I'm like I don't even remember what what the context of this was about

Yeah,

And then like, why did I feel compelled to put that out in the world? So anyway.

There was one the other

day that was like an old Instagram, like old Instagram, where it was like a Caesar salad and a glass of wine, like Ariel shot, but it was in like a weird filter. So everything looked brown, like this was like brown. And I was like, what was I trying to, that I was eating? Is that what I was trying to convey? Like, what? We've come such a long way with our social media.

Ha ha ha!

Yeah, we have, we

have, we really have, because it's, especially from just putting out words on a scrolling feed. And then it became photos, and then it became video, and then here we are today.

brown salad.

And we just keep evolving because we got to stay relevant.

Exactly. All right. Well, perfect. This is going to be my last question here is about relevant. So what does a relevant social media presence look like in 2026 for a wedding and event professionals?

So I think it's about staying on top of the trends. And like, when I say trends, I'm like, yes, I know our very good mutual friend, Megan Ealy and Tarika do the trends at Wedding MBA every year. And I think that's kind of like the industry, like, you know, standard. But then also listen, if you're in Alabama and you notice something that you've seen a couple of your clients doing, guess what, friend? That's a trend and you should talk about it. ⁓

standard.

Mm-hmm.

Last year in my wedding planning business, everyone and their mother wanted those little cabaret lamps on their tables instead of candles. Did you see this too? This might've been a California thing. So then I started, I'm gonna say to my next client, do you want those little, I'm like, I love those little, I don't know where they came from. I don't even know. Doesn't matter. It was a trend. Anything that is very current of the moment, any social media or celebrity thing that happens that any celebrity wedding, talk about it, right? Anything you're noticing, talk about it. Pantone color of the year.

Yeah.

talk about it, right? Because your social media presence, again, should be you in the immediate moments, right? It should be you actively engaging in your business. so, and having opinions about things, right? Whether they're spicy or not. ⁓ Being really present and offering advice is always great. I think a beautiful example of this is ⁓ the social media account called The Wedding Duo. Maybe you've had them on your show.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

I haven't had him on the show, but I actually spoke with them at the Central Florida Wedding Association. You spoke there last year, but I was there two years ago with that and they were there and I got to meet them really, really smart on how he does. Yeah.

Yeah. Yes.

smart. And so

they do a great job. If you don't already follow them, go follow the wedding duo. They're more robust on TikTok, but it's similar content in both platforms. What I love that they do, because he's a DJ, he literally says, if you want a romantic Taylor Swift entrance, start this love at a 10 second mark and go to the 20. He literally gives them cuts of music. Yes, he's giving away whatever.

Yeah.

Yeah.

the secret sauce.

He has been hired

now across the country. He is no longer a regional DJ. He is a nationwide DJ because people trust him so much because he's giving them information that they can actually use. It's amazing. Plus I've been with him when he creates content, like we were walking in Expo floor and it is, he just has an idea. He shoots it, he keeps going. I've never seen someone so facile at it. It was just, I was like, we just made a TikTok. What just happened? Crazy.

Hmm.

Well,

it was funny. was going to get Starbucks the morning before we were going in and he was in the corner of the Starbucks ⁓ putting together. He's like, I got to get a couple done. And I'm like, OK.

True though,

and I'll say as someone now who is ⁓ making content multiple times a day, I talk to camera all the time. I talk to camera while I'm waiting to board a plane and an air-bra- I don't care where I am. Nobody- because here's the thing, nobody else cares.

Yeah.

No. Well,

and don't think, I think it's becoming more acceptable now. People are not looking at you like you're in the Looney bin or should be in the Looney bin. You know, it's just like, I know that's my favorite part of the good old playing stuff. You hopefully never see them again.

No. And even if they are, guess what? I'm never gonna see those people again anyway.

Hopefully. Or they're

like, I follow you on Instagram. I'm like, great. I just made it. You'll see you tomorrow. Bye. ⁓

Yeah. Yeah.

All right. So Rade, ⁓ what do you got going on? How do we get in contact with you?

You can always find me on Instagram. I'm at Renee Dallow or TikTok. My handle on TikTok is the Renee Dallow because my name was taken by someone. I don't know. ⁓ the TikTok content is a little different and that sometimes I do silly things. Like I talk about on crustables a lot on TikTok. Don't ask too many questions. Just go if you're interested. But ⁓ right now, when this episode goes live, I'm actually right in middle of a launch for my brand new membership called the Verve and Vision Club. It is a visibility and

content and confidence community, basically. There's a lot in it. I know a lot of the pain points for people who want to be more visible in their business. ⁓ A lot of it revolves around like just not knowing, right? Not knowing what to post, not knowing how to edit, not knowing the different kinds of content to post. ⁓ We are gonna cover all of that. There's two calls a month with me where I coach and then there's a full editing library, little videos where it's like, do you wanna learn how to edit a talking head? Click here.

Do you wanna learn how to edit a lip sync here? We're talking about CapCut, we're talking about edits. Once you learn how to edit, worlds open up for you, I believe. Because even if you're gonna hire someone out, I do believe you should know a little bit of how to do it so that you kind of understand what you're asking someone to do. If you're like, hey, let's edit together the last 12 weddings we did. That's a lot, that's a lot, that's a lot. I also walk everyone through.

Yeah, yeah, that's a lot.

the different levels of visibility that I teach, the different content buckets. We have AI prompts to help us learn what to say and how to say it. We do a lot of skill drills about like, let's all get on camera and practice, right? And then there's also, ⁓ everyone who joins the membership has access to a 31 day visibility sprint where there's 31 days of audio prompts that get directly emailed to you. So every single day you're doing something for your visibility because part of the problem is people don't know how to get started again.

Mm-hmm.

Mm.

If they've

been absent for a while, they're like, feel like, no, we're just gonna do this 31 days together. And then we're gonna get into a cadence that's more weekly so that you can kind of get a handle on it so that you're not just like winging it every week or every month. Or my least favorite, which is what I used to do, go hard and heavy for like two weeks and then ghost for two months. Don't do that. I've don't do it. I've been there. So the membership is monthly. Right now we're in the founders launch. It's only $27 a month.

Hmm.

No.

Hmm.

And we closed the doors to the membership on the 16th, which is just a couple of days from now, but you can find out everything you need to know at reneadalo.com forward slash club, C-L-U-B.

Perfect. we'll have all that information in the show notes and the email that goes out. And we'll make sure, hopefully we'll get you some people out there ready to be visible and ready to jump off the cliff and join the group. So no, it's not.

I love it.

It's not so scary to jump off the cliff. It really isn't.

It's very fun. We have fun.

And I will say if I can do it, you can do it is the best thing I can say because...

Oh yes. I say that to you if I can do it. I'm 49 years old and

anyone can do it. We just gotta, you just gotta believe.

Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing. yeah, so all right. All right. Well, we're to wrap up here with Renee. ⁓ Can we make fun of Megan Ealy before we go? Is there anything funny we can make fun of her? Because that's my favorite thing to do. Uh-huh.

Yeah.

When I was at Megan's house last year, I

with her for a couple of days while I was on the road for speaking. She baked no less than, I think, eight loaves of bread in the three days I was there. And when I pointed out to her, I was like, so you're like a baker. She was like, no. I was like, you have made bread? Multiple loaves of baguettes every day that I've been here. She's like, that's not true. I was like, no, every day you wake up and you bake bread.

Hehehehehe

What's happening? you Amish? What's happening? She had like, she was like, that's just what we do. I was like, I don't, I don't understand what's happening. was fantastic. It was amazing. I've never had such good bread.

Yeah, well, and I always say Travis is a saint. she'll be losing her mind about something. And I look at her, and I usually go, poor Travis.

Megan's amazing. mean, just the amount of bread baking alone. I'm like, this family is so well taken care of. I think we do have beef though, she and I right now, because her cats really loved me. And that was unprecedented. She said the cats, she's like, the cats don't like anybody and they were obsessed. Like one of them slept on my head and she was just like, I was like, I'm not, I'm not like drugging them or anything. I have like a cat aura. think so. No, but she was like,

Yes.

⁓

Ew.

Bye.

Yeah, you're not using your catnip to attract them and get them.

Why do my cats like you so much? was like, I don't know. So I think that is our ongoing beef.

And I could.

I

can see her having beef about that. The cat lady. All right. Well, I'm glad we snuck a little Megan Ealy in there. That chick from Virginia. We'll leave it at that. All right. So, Renee, thank you so much. We appreciate you being here. And then hopefully we'll have you back soon. All right. Thanks, guys. Bye.

I love it.

You

Thank you.

Yeah, I'd love to. Thank you.