What if I told you that you could have a simple strategy for building your community, planning events, and bringing more fun into your life and business? As business owners, we can have exactly this by using tradition to build connections. In this episode, I’m sharing some of my favorite ideas for traditions to practice in both your personal and professional life.

On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.

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Review the Show Notes: 

Falling In Love With The ShowIt Community (1:54)

Grab A Coffee With Girlfriends (8:51)

Book That Massage (11:40)

Turn Everything Into A Party (12:12)

Rapid-Fire Personal Traditions (13:38)

Create An Annual Event (15:27)

Volunteer And Include Helpers (18:34)

Mastermind (20:49)

Mentioned In This Episode:

Episode 028: Hosting Events To Book More Weddings

Angela Gordon

Natalie Franke: Built to Belong

Review the Transcript:

What if I told you that tradition is just peer pressure from dead people? This meme has been circling online and honestly, it made me laugh. And then it got me thinking, What does tradition mean to you?

Does it make your body flinch? Do your emotions start to flood with happiness, stress, worry or anxiety. While I’m happy you’re here for today’s episode a chat about creating connection with tradition, planning events, tiny rituals, or fun things to look forward to for your business and everyday life. Lately on the podcast, I’ve been pouring a ton of education into wedding photographers. And although I say this passion project is for all entrepreneurs, five to Niners, creatives and big hearts with bigger goals.

This episode is for you. If you’re looking for a reason to celebrate, want to make new friends, build a community and make life more fun. Plug in those earbuds, grab a notebook or keep that heart rate up babe. Today I’ll be sharing a quick story about my favorite Valentine’s Day tradition. And I’ll also be sharing a handful of ideas to help you create traditions for your life and business that make you feel warm and fuzzy, grateful, prosperous and loved.

Let’s get this party started. Welcome to Quianna Marie Weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at Kiana murray.com/podcast.

Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party ready loves though.

Before I moved to Arizona, I had the opportunity to come out for quite a few United conferences. And these conferences were hosted by show it which is the platform and host for my website. And so I had it been coming out for quite a few years.

Honestly, I don’t like remember the date, I think it was for about five or six years that I was coming out here. So I already thankfully had a handful of local friends that lived here in Arizona that I had met, whether they were designers, like website designers or photographers, or they just happen to actually work for a show it. And so when I made the decision to move out here, I knew that I had those connections, I just wanted to make more genuine friendships with the show at community and be a part of something greater, right.

So before I go into all about show it, I want to share that it was actually Jasmine Star that somehow either posted about it shared about it or talked about Showit and ever since then I was hooked. So I’m gonna have to go back to my website and figure out exactly when it was born using show it and yeah, so that’s how this all started. And I just fell in love with their community. And like I said, I just, I wanted to just be like their family, I wanted to get to know them. So before I officially made the move out here, I was living with my best friend and her husband kind of doing like half and half back and forth between here and the Bay Area.

I reached out to Jihae who at the time, you know, she was working for a show, but she still is today. But her role was a little bit different back then. She was the Head of Community and marketing and all that fun stuff. And so I knew she was my kind of point person to contact and so I just reached out to her and I said hey, gee, hey, I’m coming out to Arizona.

“Would it be okay if I hosted a Valentine’s Day party?” And she was like, Okay, say more. Like, what do you mean babe, what do you want to do? And I said, Well, I am like 99.9% Positive. I’m moving out to Arizona. But I would just love to kind of create a tradition where I come in and I had this whole visual, right?

I don’t even know where I got this idea. Honestly, it just came to me and it really, at the root of everything just sounded really fun. And the whole process and this whole adventure with moving to Arizona as I promised myself that although I’m always super, super like business minded, the root of everything is having fun, and being really intentional with my time and what I’m doing. So, back to the pizza party. Basically, I explained to Jihae that I really wanted to bring in some pizzas, bring in some cutesy like heart decoration stuff and of course dessert.

I just wanted to pop in during their workday like I didn’t want to make it this glamorous event. I just wanted to kind of do almost like a lunch and learn kind of thing. I came from a corporate world for a couple of years where Lunch and Learns were so popular and I didn’t want to come in and talk about my business. I just kind of wanted to paint that picture of what I had in mind. And she made it happen. She’s that absolutely babe that sounds Amazing like, please come.

The first two years that I went, I provided lunch. So I brought in pizza. So I love saying this because this is just proof that show it is an incredible community and how quickly they’re growing. When you have something really, really great, it’s really easy to multiply and to continue scaling, right. So the first time I went, I bought all the pizzas and the salad and stuff and the dessert and the next time I went, so in 2019 was the first time I went in. And 2020 Jihae said, hey, you know what, thank you for ordering the pizza I added to your order.

She added some like extra maybe like gluten free pizzas, or a veggie pizza, and then a, a big ol box of like hot wings or something. And so she added to the order, which was you know, so amazing to make sure there was plenty of food for everybody. And for that 2020 Valentine’s Day at show it it actually was a great timing of the year because Natalie Frank was currently doing her tour for her built to belong book. And she was just taking rising tide society on the road. And it was so fun because she happened to be in Phoenix that week.

Her and Madison short, who was helping with Huey and helping with their adventures along the way, because she only had Huey at that time. And so they got to join us for lunch. And that was so fun to have Natalie with us and just kind of make it extra special during that trip. And yeah, so that’s pretty much how it evolved. And then the last two years, Jihae said, don’t even worry about lunch, just you know, if you would like to treat for dessert, please do that. And that’s kind of how it happened. And so the last couple years, I’ve been able to invite a couple of friends this year, for example, my besties, Tara and Leah are able to join us and it was just so much fun. Like, I look forward to it. And every time I go there, all of this, show it, work your BS, and I call them my genius nerds.

They’re always so friendly and excited to see us. And it’s just something I look forward to every year. And I really wanted to share this with you. Because this is a great way that I feel like sometimes a lot of us are very like business minded. And like we’re always reaching like we’re casting a really wide net for Dream clients, Dream clients, Dream couples, and all these ideal clients.

Sometimes we have to remember there is almost even more power and leverage and just genuine connections that you can make with other human beings without having that sale the mindset, right, like, just the thought of me going in there and doing it because I truly just want to make more genuine friends is what it’s all about. Right.

I just challenge you to think of these really fun traditions and things that you can look forward to. Yeah, so I just had to share that Valentine’s Day thing. And I’m so excited, because next year, so in 2024 will be my fifth year and I’m already kind of thinking of something fun, something that we can mix it up, and just make it extra special for my five year valentine’s day anniversary. We’ll show it.

Now, let’s chat about you babe, and how I can help drum up ideas for you and your business.

First, I’m gonna break down some things that you can do right now for your personal life that cost little to almost nothing. And then stick around for the end of this episode to learn about ideas to help boost traditions for your clients. And we’re talking about like, really good like business minded things. I have an entire episode called amplifier weddings with events. That’s episode number 28.

I break down the types of events and communities to host parties for if you missed that one, be sure to add that one to your playlist and share with a friend because it’s a juicy one. Okay, let’s go number one. And I noticed this all my podcasts lately have been in list and I’m okay with that because I’m like a big list fan.

1 – Grab Coffee With Girlfriends

So number one, grab a coffee with girlfriends.

Think of your high school besties that you’ve been friends with forever new neighbors that cool girl you met at the gym, or new mommy friends, wedding vendors or even ask a friend online to grab a quick coffee and zoom. When I say girlfriends and I do air quote over here.

I challenge you to reach out to the old the new and I don’t even think they’ll respond friends, right? Like we have some of those girlfriends online that we cheer for each other and we support each other. And the thought of asking them to like hop on a zoom or you know actually meet up in real life can be really scary. You need to reach out to her.

Okay, now let me be clear, these aren’t coffee chats to pick their brains. Nope. These are genuine meetups to chat about life, get to know each other on a deeper level and celebrate life. Then I challenge you to make it a tradition by popping into the same coffee spot on the fourth Thursday of every month. I’m just making it up a day so you get what I’m trying to say here. Or maybe you and your besties get together. for coffee the weekend after Thanksgiving to catch a breath and to catch a beat during the holidays, laugh and gain some much needed comic relief during the busy season. Make a zoom plan for coffee with your current brides.

This sounds so much fun. I haven’t done this yet. To be perfectly honest, I did something like this back in California live like actually with my couples in real life. But maybe you can plan a coffee chat with your current brides to offer an open house kind of q&a. So think about that. Wouldn’t that be so cute? If you were planning your wedding, and you’re a photographer, florist, wedding venue, or you know, wedding planner, this would be so great for wedding planners.

If they reached out and said, Hey, y’all, you know, the Friday after Valentine’s Day, or you know, whatever, like this Wednesday night, coming up soon, we’re going to block off this time, and I will be available, it’ll be a drop in and maybe we’re just on it for like an hour, it doesn’t have to be crazy long. And you let them know, between this time and this time, you’ll be available. Come join us with a coffee or maybe you know a glass of wine. And I’m just available to answer your questions.

Now there’s going to be some couples, we all know, there’s gonna be some couples that are like, okay, cool, thank you. And then they forget about it, or they don’t do it. And maybe only two or three actually show up. But my whole point is you’re building community and you are creating that like high value experience. And that’s something that they’re gonna want to talk about and something that they’re going to possibly share about as well. So, once again, these are just fun ways that you can grab a coffee or bring people together.

2 – Book Self Care Time

Number two, book about massage. Maybe you make it a tradition to book a massage once a month or every Monday after a doubleheader wedding weekend. Think of fun rituals you can do with your mom, like grabbing lunch and getting your nails done around Valentine’s Day. This is the time to think of everyday rituals or fun traditions that feel like you’re treating yourself. Okay, so these can be like super personal.

Maybe it is just the you maybe you’re just treating yourself and you’re not including a friend or your mom or your sister and you’re just doing something for fun. But this is your invitation to do that.

3 – Celebrate Every Little Thing

Number three, turn everything into a party. I saw this tick tock or a girl was explaining that any milestones that don’t include a partner example, a wedding new baby or a new house is sort of under the radar. And it was funny because the way she was explaining that is she said like as those new chapters turned or like those pages turned in her life, it was kind of a blur, and things that didn’t have closure on these kind of like timeline checkmarks.

Her and her friends developed a tradition that when someone moved away, earned their diploma or adopted a puppy or endured a difficult breakup, her and her besties would get together to celebrate that change. I seriously love that. And I think we should all be doing that. Think of your milestones and accomplishments, every little thing and celebrate it.

Maybe you celebrate that with like a taco Tuesday night or a wine night with your girlfriends. Or maybe it is a more elaborate like getaway, where you and your girlfriends and your best friends just head to a cabin for the weekend or find a super funky, Airbnb that’s local.

Maybe you aren’t actually spending the night there. Like I mean, think about that. If you have a busy family or your friends like it’s hard for them to get away. Imagine booking an Airbnb where they can just come in and hang out for like three hours or maybe there’s even a space for their kids to like just run rampid while the girls are just getting together. Right now, I’m going to rapid fire some traditions for your personal life.

Just sprinkle into your calendar for fun. My friend Terina celebrates their wedding anniversary as their family birthday and literally has a cake and celebrates with her kids. I just think that is the cutest and I’m totally doing that with my husband and my future family. I just think that’s a great way to celebrate their family and their marriage.

I’m a huge fan of national holidays like celebrating National chocolate day and Hot Dog Day or Puppy DAY. Check out national today.com there’s literally a whole bunch of calendars online if you just Google international holidays or national holidays. To find 1000s of ideas, pick some that you love and celebrate them every year. Do you have a favorite appetizer or a favorite dip? I challenge you to find a recipe that you love that’s really easy to make and watch it become a crowd favorite. Maybe every year after Easter you and your sisters enjoy a shopping spree.

There’s literally a gazillion ways to celebrate rituals and traditions in our daily lives. We just need to make things more exciting, more fun. And like I mentioned before, it doesn’t always have to cost a lot. Maybe you’re just gathering with your partner every night and go for your evening walk after dinner. You guys just load up the kids or load up the dogs and you do a couple of laps around the neighborhood. And that’s your winding downtime, right? Like, what are some things that we can do for free, or that don’t cost a lot that really can impact our mental health, our clarity, our creativity, and just build those stronger relationships with the ones we love.

Now, let’s dive into ways that creating traditions can help boost deeper connections for your business. So if you’ve been waiting for this juicy stuff, here we go.

1 – Create An Annual Event

Number one, create an annual event. And if I’m being like an overachiever over here, I think it’s totally okay to offer more than one annual event. This is something that your current or past clients will love. Back home in California, I used to host date nights for my couples and it was the best, I hosted an annual brunch and bubbly event to honor my engaged couples too. And that was so fun. That was also like a real life open house. And I always invited wedding vendors like hair stylists, wedding planners, florist, for example. And they would come and also kind of like an open house q&a, they would often have like a cute little booth that shared more information about their business. So if any of my couples that were already booked, maybe hadn’t found a makeup artists yet, or we’re still looking for a florist, it was a great way for us to promote each other.

Then of course, also be there to answer their questions. Now, not only is this something for you to look forward to every year, but maybe it’s an exclusive opportunity for your own your past clients. So they would have had to work with you in the past to attend.

Now, let me be really clear, I am always 1,050% about inclusion and making people feel welcome. But there’s also a touch of magic, when something is exclusive to past clients only. These events can be work related or just for fun. But make sure if you’re going, you know, with your mind of making this about business with these annual events, make sure that guest list includes either potential or past clients.

Okay, so this is something that you can do for your past clients only. Or maybe make it like an umbrella where, you know, everybody’s invited, you know, based on ticket sold or this free event that you’re hosting. But being really strategic about that is huge. I also challenge you to offer your services for event coverage for other businesses that offer annual events.

So if you’re thinking, Okay, it’s not quite in my budget for me to host an entire dinner party for past clients or you know, this is just like way over my head right now, I totally understand it may take time. And this may not even be your thing. But I challenge you to either reach out or possibly be available for other businesses, for you like for you to be hired to photograph or to work or to participate in some way with their annual events.

This last fall I captured family photos, basically mini session day for a handful of Realtors in my area. This was such a huge success for them to offer family portraits for their clients. And then for me to to meet more local families and potentially book more shoots with them in the future.

This last fall, I worked with two different realtors, where they hired me for like a half day. And at each of those shoots, I photographed like 15 to 20 families. And it was quick, it was easy. It was efficient.

I literally only delivered like five to 10 photos per family. That was great because a handful of those families have already reached out to me to work with me again in the future. So that’s just a great way to build business.

2 – Invest In Your Community

Number two, volunteer and include helpers. Most people have big hearts and want to help our community but not all of us take action. My friend Angela Gordon does an amazing job staying active and serving our local communities.

She is an incredible realtor and makes time to volunteer at local shelters and invites others to join as well. This would be a great way for you to connect with new and old friends by getting back. And I also want to mention to you while I’m sharing about Angela, she’s a dear friend of mine, if you’ve seen on my Instagram, she’s the beautiful blonde. I

photograph her all the time. And we go line dancing together. And we’ve done yoga and breath work and stuff. We have a lot of fun. She’s just so inspiring. And Angela is like the queen of hosting events. In fact, coming up soon, I will be able to join she’s having this like investing event. I wish I could remember the name of it. I signed up for it.

But it’s all about educating anybody that’s interested in investment properties and getting into real estate. So I’m like really excited for that. And that’s just like one example of something that she’s been doing monthly. She’s in our community and this is the cool part about like the heart and the brain behind Angela is She is like I said she’s a realtor, but she is using her brains and power and love to make her community, the community that she is helping homes and to be a more beautiful Safe and like really fun space to like, raise kids and to just make the community better.

Do you see what like, do you see what’s happening here? Like, it’s just the coolest thing I need to do a whole entire podcast on Angel, I swear. Because she’s just so amazing. And I just think it’s crazy how she is utilizing her efforts to like kind of full circle her business, right. I just think that’s amazing. It makes the our home values go up, it makes this area where we live a space that families want to live and invest in. And that’s, that’s by her, you know, showing up and supporting small businesses and creating really fun events that people in our neighborhood want to attend. Right. She’s just so incredible. Make sure you follow Angela Gordon on social like everything.

3 – Mastermind

This is your invitation to reach out to real life and online friends to create an accountability mastermind in between masterminds, where you’re deep thinking, strategizing and creating don’t forget to make time to celebrate. Tonight, I get to join my friend Felicia and our mastermind girls for a Valentine’s day evening and I am so excited. I wouldn’t have met any of these ladies, if I never put myself out there, signed up for events and took a leap of faith.

I hope you know that you’re amazing. You have so much to offer this world. I just want you to realize how much impact you can have on others by simply being yourself.

Now let’s get some fun things on the calendar and celebrate life. I’m so happy you’re here and look forward to growing expanding and scaling with you. If you’re still feeling stumped, shoot me a DM I’d love to send over a quick Voice Memo with ideas for creative traditions for you to start creating. I’m over here sending confetti love and light to you from Arizona. Keep on dancing baby.

That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie Weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at QuiannaMarie.com/podcast. I’d be honored if you show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep on dancing.