Join us for an insightful episode as we chat with Sherrie Sokolowski, an expert in event planning. Discover the secrets to creating memorable events, whether live or virtual, and learn why planning and genuine experiences are key. Sherrie shares her entrepreneurial journey, offering valuable tips for law firm owners looking to host successful events. 

Tune in to gain practical advice on event logistics, audience engagement, and the importance of running on time. Don't miss this chance to elevate your event game! 

Our channel offers expert advice on law firms, entrepreneurship, and success strategies. Hit "Like" and subscribe to stay updated with our latest content.

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Welcome to Your Practice Mastered Podcast 


MPS: Hey Law Firm Owner, welcome to the Your Practice Mastered Podcast. We're your hosts, Sam MPS. 


Richard James: And I'm Richard James. And Michael today, we have a special guest, it's somebody that we've known for a very long time. Now we work very closely with on a weekly and daily basis as well as somebody who makes us shine in our event world where with Sherrie and Sherrie is the owner of the company that manages our events. 


And so, this was one of our decisions many a moon ago to rather than just hire inside of our company and try to figure out how to do things on our own. Let's go higher the level of expert that knows how to do things. 


Meet Sherrie: The Event Management Expert 


Richard James: And so when we were having the podcast conversation, we just really thought about, Hey, why not bring Sherrie on and talk about her entrepreneurial journey, but also maybe give some really quick tips and tricks for any attorneys who might be running any type of live or even virtual events. 


Sherrie Sokolowski: Thank you for having me, Rich and Michael. I'm very excited to be here. 


MPS: We're excited to have you. And Sherrie, one of the things we like to do to kick things off is an icebreaker. 


So what's something that maybe not everyone knows about you? 


Sherrie Sokolowski: You know, I was thinking about this question for so long and I'm like, well, what don't people say, you know, people know who have known me for a while. No, I'm now out here in Utah. Enjoy the mountains, love the mountains. But for me, I enjoy nature. I enjoy being by myself. I enjoy going out for a bike ride or just sitting out and listening to the trees as they call the quaking aspen moving in the breeze. 


It's just calming to me and it's also re energizing at the same time. 


Richard James: Well, you're surrounded by so many people all the time when you're at these events. I suppose getting into some quiet without humans is a real win for you, yeah? 


Richard James: Inside baseball. I'm secretly an introvert to., I get a tremendous amount of recharging from quiet and not having. Maria can't understand why I don't want to talk in the morning. I talk all day long, I don't want to have anything to say to them. 


I can keep the conversation going at dinner or whatever, but in the morning I just need quiet. I just joined the gym again and I go there and everybody's happy and excited and they want to talk and I'm like, I'm not saying anything. 


They're like, you okay? I'm like, yeah, I just, it's not you. I just, can we exercise without saying any words? That would be great. Like, we don't need to say any words. 


Sherrie Sokolowski: Yeah. I've learned a trick to that, Rich. You put a hat on. A cap on and then they can't make icons up. 


Sherrie Sokolowski: It's a secret. 


MPS: Yeah, nevermind needing to recharge just from seeing all the people at the events, but wow, you're hustling and working at those events too. It's a nonstop gig but you're also the thing and the person that keeps things moving along and holding the hotel or venue accountable. 


So, it's a vital role to it. Why don't you talk a little bit about that? 


Sherrie's Entrepreneurial Journey 


MPS: So, your entrepreneurial journey. Let's go through the high points. Where'd you start and how did we end up here? 


He's never had an assistant in his entire life, and he's like, I need somebody to help keep me going and keep me on track. The benefit of that was, I was in on [00:04:00] all of his meetings, his marketing meetings his, when he met with his marketing team, like, okay, this is what we need to do to advertise all of his newsletter meetings, things like that. 


So I really got to have hands on learning and anyone listening who is like, what do I do when I need to learn something? Get like, be a fly on the wall wherever you can to learn, because that I think is the best key ingredient to learning what it takes to do anything, to run a business, to put on an event, to grow your business or to market or to introduce something new. 


And while we were doing all of that, he said, okay, look, now we have big events a year. We do two big events, super conference info summit, lots of masterminds in between boot camps. Have you done events? And I said, I've planned parties and board meetings, and that's about it. So he hired one of the best in the industry back then to come on, do events and to train me. 


I worked in the corporate industry and nonprofit, completely different industries and different worlds. And so it was a great way for me to learn. And so I took what that person taught me as well as what Bill had taught me of what it takes to make great experience. And from there, just continued to learn. 


You've got relationships. You've got the skills. What are you going to do? So we are a very strong Christian family and we prayed about it quite a bit. And the doors opened and I started SLS [00:06:00] event planning in 2012. I had my last super conference in May of 2012 was my last shebang where I've actually got to spend money because Bill was all about how do we keep the money. 


So I got to spend some money and I went right out on my own from there. And it's been a wonderful journey and lots of learning every single time I'm out there. 


Richard James: So many lessons packed in that one journey. Let me go in and extract one out. But first, let me say, how great of a job you do. You, you were taught very well. You obviously were a wonderful student and we run like our events get very high marks and it's got a lot to do with what you do for us. 


And so we appreciate you and thank you. if I haven't said that publicly before, I want to make sure that comes out of my mouth, cause I appreciate you for sure. Yeah. 


So. Let's dive into that real quick. Let's like jump into the middle of that pile and try to extract one thing. And one thing that you said I thought was really important. 


And so I think that's a great parallel for the law firm owner who's struggling with like their team member who just doesn't get it because the law firm owner figures, well, I hired you. And I went to law school and they told me to figure it out. And so I assume that you're just going to figure it out because you work at a law firm. 


Do you think that's a better way to go about doing it? 


Sherrie Sokolowski: I absolutely do think that, and I think and I'll put this other note on the side for a moment, but yes, Rich, I agree with this absolutely, because it's a great way for, there's personalities involved, right? 


So, how are you going to get to know your team member or assistance personality if you don't take the time to be kneecap to kneecap? 


So you have to learn one another. That person is most likely you're going to want them to quote unquote, read your mind. And know what you need them to know without them knowing that they need to know it and what better way to do that is to be kneecap to kneecap. 


I also would say you know have them come in and be a fly on the wall in your important meetings. Even if it has nothing to do with their role It has everything to do with your business. And that's a great way instead of putting it in front of a computer to watch a video recording have them be in a live Room with you to see, to understand how you operate, to understand what the business is about. And what's important to you? 


So, yes, absolutely. 


MPS: It is. 


Sherrie Sokolowski: Yeah. 


MPS: To law firm owners, that's to help your team set up for success. But for you, you should be doing the same thing, right? So you should try to find where you can get into a room of other people or another person who's been there and who have done that. Rich, like you and I, whenever we look to join a mastermind program, I want to be the dumbest person in that room. 


You know, I want people to be light years ahead of me. So that way, you can learn from what they did and they've been there, done that and solve the complex challenges that we're already trying to do. 


So the same applies to you as law firm owners. You should be trying to do the same exact thing. 


The Art of Event Planning 


What should they look for? 


Sherrie Sokolowski: Oh, gosh. They should look for someone that is going to deliver them. Not just great content, but a great experience and a safe environment. It's all about a community and an experience, right? Because life is so busy and it flies by so fast where it's like, what are you going to teach me? What are you going to give to me that I can't get by watching a podcast or going online and doing a Google research or reading an article, what is it that you can do? 


And I always try to tell my clients, you have to be genuine. If you're not genuine and you're not who you are, when you're in front of anybody, they're going to see it and feel it in a way that is like no other, like, they're going to tell that you're just putting it on just to put it on. 


Okay. Well, why do you want to take the time to put an event on? Because we all know it's a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of effort. So you're going to have obstacles. 


And then what do you want the outcome to be at the end of the day? So the why and the outcome have to match so that everything you're teaching throughout the event is going to be fluent and cohesive and make sense to the audience. 


So those are the 2 key factors, and then it also will help you determine who should be in the audience, because if you know your why, and, you know, the outcome, then, you know, who's supposed to be in those seats. It's if you don't know all of those three, it's just going to be, let's just throw it up on the wall and see if it sticks. 


Richard James: Yeah, that's so wise, Sherrie. It's obvious why you're good at what you are, at what you do because if you don't understand what you want the outcome to be, you won't get to where you want to be. You'll be like a ship without a rudder to the law firm owners listening, if you're thinking, well, what kind of event would I put on? 


And then there are wholesale events. And then those events are events that you're going to do with another partner, a financial planner or an accountant or a real estate agent where you're going to be the legal expert in a wholesale event where on their event, you're actually participating for them. You have a little bit less control over that because it's their event and you are the guest. 


And invite your current past clients, referral partners and potential referral partners to that event. And all of those require knowing clearly what it is that you want from them. But Sherrie, to plus one on that, how important is planning when it comes to putting these events on regardless of the type of event they would have? 


Sherrie Sokolowski: As far as the logistics of what is to be expected there. Right? So, what I mean by that rich is you have to plan for the unexpected because once you're there on site and the program is running, you know, you're on front teaching or you're working side by side with another partner. 


As you said, with someone else, they're speaking things in the background are happening. Behind the scenes, there's things going on in it. And those are the things that you can pre plan. You can work and partner with whoever or wherever the venue is going to be to make sure that the temperature of the room is decent and people aren't sweating or freezing. 


Those are the things logistically that you can pre plan before you get to the event with whatever venue that you're working with. So that you don't have to worry about those things once you're on site, except for making the handshake when you get there and saying, hey, let's review this before we get started. 


Here's my agenda. Here are my break times. This is what I'm expecting of you. And here's my point of contact. So that if something does come up, you deal with that person and not me, even though I signed the contract. And so that's one side of the logistics. 


How can I make them feel like, We want them there and they're welcome there. And so figuring out the planning of that, what is it going to look like when that person comes up to register to check in, whatever that experience is going to be, will they have all of the materials in front of them that they need to make it a great experience? 


And what do you want that to look like? And it could be different for anybody and everybody. It doesn't have to be the same thing. So. The lawyers that are listening to this, if you've gone to an event and you see, oh, I really like what they did there. I want to take that and bring it to mine or no, or the opposite. Did not have a great experience. I want to make sure that doesn't happen. 


So those are all of the pre planning things. So, yes, it's both logistically with the venue where you're hosting as well as logistics for the people that are going to be there to experience it. 


Richard James: Michael, we might have very well successfully scared any law firm owner from ever having an event again. 


Sherrie Sokolowski: It all depends on the marketing, right? So, whenever somebody asks me a question, I always turn it around with another question to ask them first, because you got to keep digging deeper to get to the real answer. 


And the real answer is, it depends, first of all, on your market, who you're marketing to and the size of your market. And if tickets are involved. Ticket sales like with your events that you do with your partners club people There's no ticket sales. 


If you are in constant communication with them and they're used to hearing from you on a consistent basis, then that can shorten your timeline. But if it's cold, and this is your first one, you don't have a relationship of any kind with the people that you're marketing to, then you need to double your marketing timeline, because you're going to have to test it. 


You're going to have to try out this kind of form of marketing. Oh, well, that didn't work. Okay. Well, and then you want to do just a small portion of your list so that you don't burn out your entire list that you are already be getting. So, that's what I would say to that, Michael, it's never the same answer for everybody because not everybody has the same relationship with their market. 


MPS: Well said. 


But if you're going to run a book signing and try to have the mayor there you know, that's going to involve a much different like we actually had a firm many years ago to celebrate their 10th anniversary and had the mayor and the governor and the every politician and they had a live mariachi band. 


People in present and there was a celebration. It was an immigration firm. So they brought like photographers and people to bring their green cards and they frame their pictures with the fact that they got, you know, the green cards. I mean, it was just a huge celebration. It took a tremendous amount of planning. 


We had to give it enough time to get all these schedules coordinated and have speakers in the whole nine yards. And it was like running an actual event. So those are two different extremes. For that law firms can certainly do and every law firm can do both of those. But it just depends. 


The Importance of Timeliness in Events 


Richard James: I've been to events and you've probably seen events that don't run on time. And as you well know, you said about being your genuine self. Well, I'm a person who likes to be on time and we typically run on time. 


We're not perfect, but we typically run very close to the minute. How important do you think, is that just me my OCD and my personality likes to be on time. Do you think that's really important that we run on time events? 


Sherrie Sokolowski: Because it's part of the experience. Right? You know, everybody is busy. So if the people attending your event can only be in the room for certain sessions, and your sessions are running over, then they're going to have to step out and miss those important sessions. 


And then their experience is ruined. And if you're having other guest speakers come. Their schedules are also busy, they may not be able to be there for you the entire time. So, having a sessions run on time because of the speakers that are going to be there as well as the people in the room is super important. 


So all around, yes, experience, and it comes from running on time. 


MPS, you 


Richard James: came into our world, you were raised in our house, so you know what timeliness is to us, but I assume you are on board with the fact that we run on time all the time, yeah? 


MPS: Yeah, I can't stand when stuff doesn't go according to time and it really irritates me. So if I'm ever at an event where that's the case. I noticed that, you know, that's, and we've even had members come up to us, right? 


That have attended to see their different events here or there. One of the most common things we hear is, yeah, you know, the event was good, but nothing ran on time, right? 


Richard James: You're not 


MPS: way of looking at. 


Richard James: Yeah, it's great, I mean I went this way when we had a funeral business. You know, funeral grand on time in my world and the priests and the ministers were always like, man, you guys are always on time. I'm like, yeah, because we're supposed to be on time. 


And they're like, well, no, the funeral director is on time. I'm like, well, I wish they'd advertise that in the newspaper somewhere because we're on time. Right? 


And so, like, I just always felt that was how it should be. And I always felt when I went to situations where people weren't on time, it just bugged me. 


So I think if you're going to run events, you've heard it now from the three of us. If you're going to run any type of event. Be on time, whether your event is a lunch and learn at the Olive Garden. You know, start on time. If your event is at 11. 45, start at 11. 45. If somebody's late, they're late. That's on them, not on you. Right? 


You should a fundamental skill set of a successful business owner traditionally is that they run the ship on time or somebody in the business is running the ship on time. I find that to be important. 


So if you're listening out there, that's a writer downer for you. Michael, where do you want to go from here with Sherrie? 


Sherrie's Exciting Future Plans 


MPS: Sherrie what's got you fired up? What's got you excited could be business could be personal could be both. 


Sherrie Sokolowski: I'm gonna say both. I'm fired up because I get excited when I get the opportunity to talk with clients about what's next. Right? 


So I'm always excited about doing that with clients is like, what's next? Because there's always opportunity to grow. There's always opportunity to learn. 


So I'm always super excited about that on a personal note. Super excited about being a landowner in our favorite part of the world in Utah, and hoping to be able to start building our dream home in about a year or two from now. 


So we're super excited about that. Fall's our favorite time of year, so right now as we're recording that, this is my favorite time of year, so constantly being able to see those kind of colors every year for the rest of my life until we're called home. It's exciting to me. 


Richard James: Yeah. Watching you move from Maryland to Tennessee. And now, Utah, there was a happiness factor from Maryland to Tennessee, but the happiness factor for you now in Utah is through the charts. 


I'm excited for you as well. 


Conclusion and Contact Information 


Richard James: Hey, if anybody who is listening and they're curious about learning more about running events or they wanted to reach out to you, what would be the best way for them to reach out to you? 


Sherrie Sokolowski: I would say probably the best way would be by email. I mean, you could certainly go to both my website as well and type in a form of interest in there, but the best way is through email. Sherrie@SLSEventPlanning.com is a great way to reach out to me, we can always schedule a discovery session call to figure out what's best for you. 


You know, what's your next best step. Sometimes it's not, no, you're not ready. But here's what you need to do to get there. 


Richard James: That's great. Yeah. Sherrie, again, thanks for putting on great events for us. Appreciate this share. 


We have conversations about the event literally on a weekly basis. In between the 13 weeks in between we put on these events, but MPS, I think this was very helpful. Yeah. 


MPS: This is very helpful. It's nice to get a different topic, different perspective on the show. So, law firm owners listening, I hope you were able to pull the value out of this and pull nuggets even outside of events, like finding a mentor and just learning by sitting on, fly on the wall type of mentality. 


And if that was you, first and foremost, thanks for taking the time to listen and watch. Make sure to hit that subscribe or follow button depending on your platform. 


Turn those bell notifications on and then show some love down in the comments for Sherrie. And got any questions, throw them down there. 


Otherwise, Sherrie, thank you for taking the time to be on today and law firm owners, thank you for investing your time here as well. 


Sherrie Sokolowski: Thank you. It's been a pleasure. 


Richard James: That's the pod. 


MPS: That's the pod.