What will make your boat go faster? In today’s Connection Call, I’m chatting with my life-long friend Christina Piombetta about stepping into the luxury market and building a six-figure business with less than three-thousand followers. Christina is sharing some major truths about living life on your own terms creating a client experience that is truly luxurious. 

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: 

Setting yourself up to succeed in the luxury market (2:59)

Traveling to Paris and trying film photography (8:23)

From corporate career to thriving business owner (12:47)

Elevating the client experience (19:12)

100 Days of Impact (26:54)

Work with Christina (31:09)

Key tip from Christina (34:21)

Connect with Christina Piombetti

Review the Transcript:

Quianna Marie
It started as a hobby quickly grew into a profitable six figure business in less than three years with less than 3000 followers. For today’s guest, I have the honor of introducing Christina pm Betty. And it’s truly an honor because Christina and I go way back and I say way back to our middle school days in Alma den in Northern California and to see her business thrive has been such an honor, drawing on years of experience as an NYC publicist, to creating scroll, stopping photographs that tell a story and stand the test of time. Christina, it truly is the big deal, right.

It’s been so fun, especially with these connection calls lately, to not only introduce you to these astounding business owners and inspirations but truly my friends, people that I have crossed paths with that I would love, love, love for you to be introduced to. Now Christina is also taking all of these accolades and awards, and all these fun things that she has accomplished in this, I would say short amount of time as a wedding photographer, and she has has so many open arms to creating really beautiful and luxury experiences to help you elevate your brand and elevate your client experience as well.

She is based in Silicon Valley, where she lives with her adorably rambunctious little boy, and truly has so much to offer. So without further ado, if you are just starting out, or maybe you have an established business and you are just wanting to step into that luxury market, Christina is your girl. Let’s dive right into this conversation. 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 quiannamarie.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? Love though. All right. Welcome to the party. Christina, I’m so so grateful you’re here today.

Christina Piombetti
So excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

Quianna Marie
Of course! Well you are the queen of luxury. Every time I see your images. Every time I scroll through your website, everything feels so timeless and breathtaking. You have this magical way of not only making people in your, in your presence, feel comfortable and feel beautiful. But you just create these timeless, like artwork. It’s just amazing. And I would love to know, what advice would you have for someone that is trying to crack into the luxury market and get noticed by these high end planners and high end clients?

Setting Yourself Up To Succeed In The Luxury Market

Christina Piombetti
Well, I think the first thing we can do is, you know, it’s really one of the most difficult jumps to make in the industry, right is to go from sort of that we might call like lovely weddings to entry level and then luxury weddings. And because we can really only show what we shoot, right.

So one way to do that is obviously through developing a portfolio through styled shoots. But then again, that’s very nuanced, because you have to capture those in a way that don’t feel forced. And you really should be authentic and merchandising those as editorial moments and not as true portfolio pieces of weddings that you’ve shot because couples are always going to want to see full galleries, right.

So we really have to look at the weddings that we have access to the lovely weddings, the weddings that we’re shooting now, even if they’re shooting them for $1,500. How can we make a $1,500 wedding look like a $10,000 booking? Or as Rebecca Gill likes to say like, how can I make a $10,000 wedding look like a $100,000 wedding. And it’s the way that we approach the wedding and through our lens, what we show when we don’t show and how we capture it, you know, bringing them into the most beautiful light capturing, you know, maybe they’re getting ready in a cry room.

Maybe that’s not the most beautiful thing, but let’s pull them outside and get those beautiful images so that we can we have a gallery that we can show and thinking of, you know, what is the album look like? What are the 20 or so 25 images from a wedding that I am going to be proud to show and it’s probably not going to be the cry room if we’re honest.

Right? So it’s going to be how do I get the closeup of their hands touching? How can I think about the way I’m posing them? How can I think about the way I’m directing them? Where am I? Where am I getting the Family Photos? And how am I, structuring those so that those look, you know, vote worthy, because it’s about using what we have. I remember, a long time ago, I coached with Amy and Jordan. And they talked about how they spoke with one of the photographers that got to capture the World Series. And they asked him, How did you get there, and he said, I didn’t.

I didn’t get to shoot the World Series by shooting the World Series. I shot the World Series because I shot Little League games as though I was shooting the World Series. And that’s something that stuck with me. And you hear that same similar kind of advice. That’s the same advices that Rebecca yells giving in terms of, you know, making a $10,000 wedding look like a $100,000 wedding. It’s the way we approach it. And I think that’s the number one thing we can do if we want to step into the market is to start behaving and capturing our weddings in that way. Now, today,

Quianna Marie
yes, I love that in. I’m such a visual person. So as you’re speaking this and sharing all these tips, I’m actually seeing those weddings, right? And so you have to think about photographers and even business owners that can apply this to all vendors and all different types of businesses. This same things like yes, every wedding is unique, right? Like every wedding, every location, every budget is different. But typically the same things and the same traditions are happening. So how can you elevate that experience by zooming in creating that moment finding the best light?

I think you describe that perfectly! And it’s it’s not just going to happen overnight, right? Like you have to physically take these, like, I love that you described them as lovely weddings, right? The ones that we are currently booking that we are just so in love with a couple and their love is contagious. But maybe they’re they’re not getting married in the most high budget location, right? So how can we zoom in on those and pull them away to really capture those moments. I love how you describe it.

Christina Piombetti
And I think that the other thing too, the thing that’s that’s going to be the same through every wedding is the connection. You know, brides are not booking you because of beautiful florals. Brides are not booking you because of beautiful tablescapes brides are not booking you because of a beautiful arch. Yes, that all is clues that you are the right kind of photographer for her and that you’re at her level if she’s a luxury bride. But what every bride wants is that connection, that connection with her, her, her spouse, it’s those moments, those in between moments.

Zooming in on that connection, your couple photos, you know, the way you post them, it’s not it shouldn’t change just because the wedding cost more. So the first dance those moments that could have happened in any wedding in any place with any gown, you know, the way that you’re capturing it, you can’t help but attract more and more of that. But it’s that connection. those connection points are what every bride wants, no matter how much she’s paying for her wedding. She wants you to be able to capture that connection.

Quianna Marie
Oh, that is so beautiful. And you’re absolutely right it is. And that’s what we’re hired to do. Right? Like we’re hired to find it, to create it to curate it to pose it all of those things are happening. I love that so much. I would love to learn more Christina about your experience in Paris. And what kind of catapulted you going out to Paris and and share with us more about your film experience if all you started tapping into actually film photography.

Traveling To Paris and Trying Film Photography

Christina Piombetti
Yeah, so there’s a I’ll take those one at a time. So I was working my backgrounds in corporate marketing and public relations. And so for almost the last 20 years, I’ve been working with Fortune 500 companies and a list celebrities. Working with companies like Adidas and Nestle dole Hilton, Bayer Mehta. My last job was with with Bayer and I was managing 15 brands, all of their Norham OTC products are everything from Dr. Soles to MiraLAX, Claritin Aleve. And it was a big job.

Shortly before my 30th birthday, you know, I I was leaving the office close to midnight. And I felt like my face started to go numb and I had a stroke. And so I it was, you know, it’s a very young age to have a stroke. It was really eye opening to me. And you know, I’d love to tell you I had some sort of overnight epiphany but I absolutely was taking conference calls from my hospital bed while I waited for my turn in the MRI. But once the shock wore off, I did realize that I really needed a vacation.

I knew that I knew myself well enough that if I had just gone to a beach somewhere I would have wanted to be on my phone and checking with my team. Even taking calls. So I made a rule I wanted to go somewhere I’d never been and do something I’d never done. It so happened that a friend of a friend was doing the flowers for a film photography workshop with Sylvia Gill, in the south of France. And so I reached out to Sylvia and I begged her to let me come because I had never held a camera before. And she explained that this is not a one on one class.

This is for luxury film photographers that are, you know, digital people that are curious about film, but really, it’s not, you know, not teaching what enough stop is. And I was like, I don’t care. I just want to do I just want to come. So I was like, What do I bring? And so I rented a context. I rented all the gear I started studying, you know, when I booked I didn’t know when I ESL was, I didn’t know what an F stop was. I didn’t know anything at all. But I went, and I had the best time. It was so beautiful.

Sylvie was amazing. The couple, like everything was so it lit something up inside of me that I didn’t know that I needed. When I got the film images back, because that’s the thing about film, you don’t know if you even got anything good. I was floored. And that’s why that’s the header image on my my website now is still from my first roll of film.

Quianna Marie
Wow. Oh, my goodness. And what like what happened from there? Once you got a taste of that film, you finally got a taste of actually relaxing. And it’s funny because I’m such a visual person when you talked about being on your hospital bed, taking emails and calls. I just pictured her that one episode and friends within Phoebe, right. She’s like a broker or something a stockbroker. And she’s like, that’s what I pictured you doing Christina!

Christina Piombetti
I was not far from the truth. Oh, my gosh.

Quianna Marie
So what what happened next, I’m like, so, so interested in this story?

From Corporate Career to Thriving Business Owner

Christina Piombetti
Well, I had worked so hard for my career, I never thought that I was going to leave it to be a wedding photographer that was not in my master plan. But within 10 months, I left my corporate career. And I started to build a wedding photography business.

I did another workshop and another workshop. Then I shot my first wedding, I think for $1,500. And then I shot another wedding after that, I think I almost doubled my price to $3500 for the second one, and then did a little bit more and a little bit more. And I I really liked it. But I never stopped consulting. I’ve still I’ve never been, you know full time in in the wedding photography, business. But it, I just loved it so much. And I think it grew quickly, a lot because of my passion for it. And also because I have, you know, a fair amount of business experience. So I, you know, I was able to, you know, run my business, like a, like a business.

Quianna Marie
Yes. So I would love to unpack that a little bit. I would love to get a little curious and learn from, from those, those pieces of your history that helped kind of lay the plan for your future with with photography. And I love how you mentioned that that you do you have this corporate background, you were doing tons of PR, like you have strategy and you you’ve you’re applying that to your business. And I would love for you to because I love asking all the questions.

But I think that’s one thing that a lot of us photographers, like we talked about before we hit record was a lot of us photographers get into this business, because we love it, because we enjoy it. Or maybe we kind of stumbled into it maybe being you know, having it as a hobby or having a friend of a friend of a friend’s neighbor’s dog walker asked us to shoot a wedding because, you know, because we can. So like things just kind of happen. And so I would love for you to share exactly what that switch was for you to to to apply your paths into actually making this a thriving business.

Elevating The Client Experience

Christina Piombetti
Yeah, so I think you know, especially coming from a marketing background in terms of like having a beautiful brand. I was very careful and reserved about how I started with my brand I didn’t at first I didn’t have a logo. I just I didn’t really have a website. My first website was a Squarespace site that just had five revolving images from that shoot with my name and an N My CTA on my website was check your date. It wasn’t inquire here. And that was it. There was nothing It wasn’t fancy at all.

But it was beautiful images and it kind of had this mysterious element of it because it didn’t have anything about me just have the images and you know, most people that came to me were you know, either through a referral or just through you know, mostly word of mouth at that point, right. So, it was it was kind of interesting to start that way without without a brand.

Then I reached out to Tonic actually to Jen offset and I wrote her like an open letter open hearted letter about like, please, I need you to create Get my brand for me. And we worked together to do that. And that worked really, really well. It’s gorgeous, that’s still the brand that I have to this to this day.

She’s a genius. And she, you know, created a beautiful website that actually one website of the year, show it that year. And so it’s, you know, really intentional about it, you know, being really intentional about every connection point, when you think about your, your customer acquisition journey as we would, we would call it, it’s every point that a client has the opportunity to touch with you, it’s your Instagram, it’s every email, it’s your, if you have a link tree, how that setup every opportunity that they have to interact with you.

We know that clients will need to interact with you at least seven times before they feel comfortable booking with you. But it’s not a one on one connection. Like we’re talking now, it’s not seven phone calls, it’s through the email, your proposal, the way that’s presented is that is a touch point. Everything is a touch point, every individual email is a touch point. And so I think it it’s a combination of a lot of things, that intentionality. And then also, you know, nearly 20 years of agency side service, working with a list celebrities and CEOs, you know, always coming from a place of Yes.

Understanding and anticipating people’s needs before they, before they even realize they need them is is a huge part of what we do. You know, that’s a skill that I started developing when I was waiting tables at California Pizza Kitchen, you know, every table is different, and they’re going to need water before, you know. And if I’m putting down a really spicy pizza, they’re gonna ask me for water in three seconds. So I’m going to give them water first. Yeah. And, you know, I’m always anticipating those needs.

So it’s that client service. And again, you know, just being really intentional about everything you’re doing, whether it’s your, your brand, in terms of the way it looks, the the logo, but the way your emails come across every touchpoint. And you know, it doesn’t, it’s okay to hold back and less is more, right. So it’s better to have just a typed out logo than one that’s over designed, you know, and it’s there’s a certain amount of taste to that, that goes that goes with that.

But I waited until I knew what I what I wanted before I reached out to a designer to build my brand. And I knew what I wanted my customer journey to look like, where how they come to me, what are that? What does that email sequence look like? What does the proposal sequence look like, and really stepping into their shoes. And being a bride in the past I think helped with that too. You know, putting everything everything I learned to use in building my business and also treating it like a business I think artists especially have a have a habit of kind of romanticizing our business.

You know, doing things because we have a big heart or because we want to help rather than do making a profitable decision or doing what seems fun, like Oh, making a new logo or making a new website sounds really fun. But what is actually going to make your boat go faster. That’s like my my number one metaphor, I’m always saying is what is going to make your boat go faster. Sometimes it’s not racing stripes. Right? It’s plugging the holes and making sure everything’s short at first.

Quianna Marie
Wow, I as you know, I’m such a visual person. And that little mic drop moment for you was amazing is you’re right, I feel and I even do that to myself, I kind of spin my wheels, thinking, oh, I want to work on this and then work on this. But what is actually bringing the needle forward like pushing it forward. And what is going to make my boat read faster. Like it’s, you know, I have all the snacks, I have all the charcuterie boards for the boat. I’m like, I’m already imagining all these things that I’m prepared for.

But, you know, all those systems, and all of those checkpoints really matter. And I love how you mentioned to you how important it is that we are ahead of it that we’re anticipating that and where do you think that comes from? Like is it is let’s say someone that is maybe in one or two years of photographing weddings. And you know, they have a pretty good workflow, they have a system and they’re prepared, they’re anticipating these things. What are some ways that we can elevate those touch points without just being you know, a good communicator? Not responding to emails faster? What What, in your opinion, makes it more luxury and elevated?

Work with Christina

Christina Piombetti
I think that my number one piece of advice when dealing with clients of any kind is to always come from a place of Yes. I always come from a place of Yes. And this is how much it cost. And I’ll give you a corporate example. I once had a brand manager come to me before a board meeting and say, oh my god, I forgot I need this report and I need it done by Monday. It’s Friday at four o’clock. Yes, I can do that. And it’s going to cost $50,000 For this one report. Because I have now I have to bring everybody And over the weekend, I’ve got to get their meals.

I’m going to need everybody, everybody, the whole agency to work to pull together this entire report over the weekend. It’s possible it’s possible built the Golden Gate Bridge in a year. It’s possible, but you need to have a lot of people helping you to do it. So yes, I can do it. And this is how much it costs? And they said, Yeah, let’s do it. Wow. You know, it’s, they had the chance to say no, and I, you know, another question that we get from clients, a lot of times I always hear photographers complain, they asked for my raus. And how dare they? I sell my Ross, I haven’t sold him before. But there is a if I offered you a million dollars for your rods, would you send them sell them? To me? The answer is probably yes.

There’s probably a lower number that would make you feel really good to sell that copyright and sell those those Ross quoted, even if it’s down payment on a mansion, big quote the price? Yes, I can do that. And this is how much it costs. Would you like me to send that invoice? It’s always yes. And let them self select out, you know, can you vote?

Can you Photoshop me skinnier in every one of my wedding photos? Well, don’t they know that’s not included in my contract? And it says specifically, and it says if you look at clause three, paragraph four, it says that I don’t do that. Well, you could do it. And you could charge $100 an image or $1,000 and image what feels good to you, you could farm it out to somebody else, and profit from it. You don’t have to do the work. But there’s plenty of people that would do it for you, and you can charge for it. So yes, I can do that. And here’s how much it costs.

Now, there is some nuance here. And there are some things that you are not willing to do. But you can direct them somewhere else or say, you know, unfortunately, that’s not a service I offer at this time. But always, also always assume good intentions. Always, even if you think just be blissfully ignorant to their anger. You know, I’m so glad you asked. That’s a great question.

Thank you and thinking, with your feeling triggered by something, there’s a reason. And if a client is upset, you’ve done something wrong, and the client is always right. And it’s not just an old adage, you’re never going to convince them that they’re not right. So you’ve also not communicated something correctly if you find yourself in, in, in a sticky situation.

Learning from those moments to so your client communication really boils down to anticipating their needs. It comes down to always assuming good intentions, it comes down to always coming from a place of Yes, and this is how much it costs. And it comes down to creating a treating people how you want to be treated, you know, creating a client experience that feels good. Think about how you would show up as a $10,000. Photographer, and start behaving that way today.

Quianna Marie
Yes. Oh my gosh. Amen. Yes, yes. Yes, yes. And everything in and everything. Imagine how you’re, how you’re dressed like how you are expressing yourself how you speak to people. And even if you’re rolling up in a 93 Corolla? Who cares? Is it clean? Like I just, I just remember my aunt used to always say that to me. And I’m going off topic because you just said a whole bunch of stuff. But this is like what went through my head. But I used to have an old dusty four runner, right?

I loved I think it was like an old five. And I had that for winner for ever. And I remember my Anthony always telling me like they nobody cares what you drive. It’s how you take care of it. If you roll up to an expensive golf course and the gatekeeper there is looking at you and you roll up and it’s dusty. You have water bottles everywhere. And right, like, you look great, but your car is not a representative representation of you. They’re gonna want you the photographer, like this is a this is a very high end luxury wedding and you’re rolling up in this dusty foreigner like, do you see what I’m saying? Like, it doesn’t matter what you have. It’s how you present yourself. And I love how you?

Christina Piombetti
Absolutely, I mean, this, the opposite would be true if you showed up in a role that was full of trash.

Quianna Marie
Right? Exactly.

Christina Piombetti
You know, it can be that the opposite is true. So it’s, it’s interesting. And I know some photographers that even they are embarrassed at their car, so they’ll park nearby and they’ll get an Uber Black to the, to the wedding. So they can ride in style because that helps them feel it helps them get step into that.

That mindset of a luxury wedding photographer. And so it’s you know, it’s like flying first class, it’s whatever, I’m all for anything that makes you feel like you’re able to step into that, that role and provide service from that, that standpoint because, you know, you’re you you shouldn’t do more for a $10,000 client than you would for a $1,500 client.

You’re shooting a wedding You’re shooting a wedding, right? You don’t do a better job just because they paid you more, you’re still going to do. I’m not saying, you know, book Beyond the number of contracted, contracted hours, but it’s the same amount of effort. You know, it’s really it’s stepping into that mindset. And and in behaving that way, today, if you think about even Tom Watson, the who was the CEO of IBM, in his heyday, on his last day, some journalist asked him, What is your secret to success as though there was just one? But he answered the question, and he said, You know, I had to figure out, how did a successful company operate? And I knew there was no way for us to get there if we didn’t start behaving that way today.

So my advice to you is the same if you want to be if you want to scale your business to 100,000, or 1 million, or 3 million or 10 million. How does that SEO sense show up in her business every day? How does she show up on Instagram? How does she show up in her emails? What is her workflow look like? And start? What can you do today? To show up as that SEO? If you want to be a $100,000? Seo?

How does she show up? If you want to be a $1 million CEO? How does she show up? What is she wearing to a wedding day? How does she approaching her clients? How is she conversing with her clients? And do what you can to embody that now, so that you can you know, attract that?

Quianna Marie
Yes, oh, my gosh, well, these are all amazing golden nuggets. And one thing I love about you, Christina, and there’s so many things, but I love that you are so open and willing to share this education, share your experiences, and, and really help others like give back to our photography and our creative wedding vendor community and beyond. Even in the corporate world, I know you’re always shining your light and helping others. And so I would love to kind of kind of switch the conversation here. And I would love to chat about your 100 days of impact. What exactly is that? And how can we learn from you?

100 Days of Impact

Christina Piombetti
I’m so is this something I’m so excited about? So I had the idea that I really wanted to help a lot of people in a short amount of time. I thought what would be the best way to do that. And I came up with 100 days of impact. And my goal is to help 100 entrepreneurs in the span of 100 days. I mentioned this to a friend the other day, and we are off and running.

I did 11 calls this week so far. And they have been so so powerful. It’s everyone has a unique set of circumstances. And it’s really helpful, I think, to have just an outsider’s perspective. But particularly most people get into this business because they have an aptitude or a passion for whatever it is that they’re doing, whether it be florals or makeup or photography. And suddenly they find themselves in charge of customer service and accounts payable, and marketing and social media.

It can be overwhelming. And it can be hard to identify, you know, what are those things that are going to make my boat go faster. And so it, it’s been really rewarding for me to kind of be able to step in and say okay, here is what is going to make your boat go faster. Here’s what we can focus on. Because we can do anything, but we can’t do everything. What is going to make the biggest impact. That’s where I came up with 100 days of impact. And it’s it’s just been so rewarding and I’m so excited. I I’m only 10% of the way through, I can’t wait for the rest of these calls, because they have been so much fun.

Quianna Marie
I love this. So with this mission and this project that you have going on right now, are you doing any type of like pre work for it? Is it more? Is it designed like a pick my brain session? Do you provide questions? So you kind of have a game plan before you speak? I’m so curious, like, how is this rolling out?

Christina Piombetti
Yeah. So when you sign up, there is a short amount of questions. And occasionally I’ll even go back to you and ask you a few more questions beforehand, because I do want to spend as much time on strategy during the session and less on, you know, discovery, you know, it’s not really meant to be a discovery call. It’s meant to be sort of fast action. Let’s get the splits. Let me get the story from you.

What is the biggest problem? How can we solve it? That’s kind of it. And for some people, it’s more mindset focused. For some people, it’s more marketing focused. It’s talking about their client journey or their customer points. For some people, they feel like they have a lot of different problems. And so it’s okay, what can we focus on now? What is going to make the biggest impact and narrowing that down so that we can, you know, again, make our boats go faster.

That’s what we want to do. We want to book more clients. Need to make more money. We want to to charge more for our services, we want to work harder, not smarter, not harder. And so it’s me, I almost I was talking about it with a friend. It’s almost like I’m a general practitioner. So you come in, and it’s highly sort of diagnostic in a way. It’s like, what’s the problem. And maybe it’s something I can help you with, or at least can advise you. And then I can point you in the right direction of a specialist.

Quianna Marie
I love that analogy. That’s awesome. And for you to be doing this, at such an affordable price to write like, this is something that people can get a taste of you they can, they can really learn from you and change the trajectory of their life and their business in a short amount of time. I love that you’re offering this

Christina Piombetti
and get a, an actual I’ll record all the calls. That way, everybody gets a recording of them. And then I will do a little recap for you and some action steps. And, you know, final advice on how to move forward so that we can make the maximum amount of impact in our businesses, we only have 25 weeks left in the year,

Quianna Marie
it’s already June. And by the time this comes out, it’ll be a couple of weeks from now. It’s crazy. Time is fine. It really is. So tell me I would love to know more about these offers. And these programs, any especially events you have coming up, how can we work with you.

The Goal Getter Retreat – Coming Soon

Christina Piombetti
So one thing I am yet to announce is what I’m calling the goal getter retreat, that’ll be happening in November at the savannah in Phoenix. And it’ll be a it’s the first and only all inclusive luxury annual planning and goal passing event. So the idea is that we create a space for us to really step into the highest versions of ourselves so that we can plan our year from that vantage point, because we can’t plan from a state of survival. And even if things are going well for us, you know, we’re not going to be able to make our biggest plans sitting in the same office that we’ve sat in for the last year, you know, so it’s, it’s designed with immersive events.

So like when we arrive will be a you know, a beautiful sound bath and intention burning ceremony, we’ll spend an afternoon in the spa after we imagine our cast our vision for our long term goals. And we’ll walk through my system for our annual goal planning that I’ve been working on for over a decade going into fortune 500 companies and helping them with annual planning and have customized set.

Now for the small business owners the same system, I used to scale my own business to six figures in less than three years. And I have a completely new approach to setting goals and moving away from not just smart goals, but what I’m calling aligned goals and goals that are attainable, that are connected to our legacy that we are invested in, that require a little bit of growth that have a numerical value that we can track that have excitement behind it things that we’re really excited to do.

That are extremely detailed in terms of who, what, where, when, why and how. So we have an absolute roadmap from where we are to where we want to go. And one of the things I love about workshops and retreats is that I get so much out of it, I get so much knowledge and inspiration. But when I leave I have a longer list of to dues and when I got there, and so one thing I wanted to make sure of for this retreat is that there’s no homework required. We’re getting all of the work done.

So you are walking away with an annual plan that’s 100% completely done in the room. With me helping you every step of the way, and having the benefit of an entire room full of women that are like minded that are as invested in your success as you are. You can find all the options and ways to work with me at Cristina PM betty.com/kiana. And as a special gift. I’ll include my goal guide our guide there for your listeners as well. Wow,

Quianna Marie
that sounds incredible. And what a like, I don’t know almost a once in a lifetime because that’s something you want to go to every year. What a fun experience. And I love that you’re obviously in Arizona, you’ll be so close to me. That’s so exciting. Yeah, yes. Oh, my goodness. Well, thank you so much. Christina, I have one last question for you that I love asking every guest that comes on. And I would love to know your key tip if you have a key tip to share something that maybe you wish you knew sooner or that you would love to share with the audience today.

Key Tip from Christina

Christina Piombetti
My key tip is, I think be be who you want to be today. Don’t wait, don’t wait until you’re booking at a certain rate. Don’t wait until your Instagram follower account is at a certain amount. Don’t wait until you think your logo is the way it needs to be. Don’t wait until you can have For a custom website, don’t wait until, you know, XYZ ABC falls into place for you. It’s starting now. And embodying who you want to be now. And it’s a decision, just decide to start today and start showing up the way you want to today.

Because anything else, you’re just delaying your own happiness, you’re just delaying your own success. Because there is no there when we get there. Right? Once you get to whatever goal there is, all that’s next is the next goal. So it’s about showing up on a daily basis. And being who you want to be. Today showing up as the photographer that you want to be today showing up as the wife, the sister, the friend that you want to be today, and not waiting until a random set of circumstances align.

Quianna Marie
Oh, my goodness, that is the best advice ever. And I love that you wrap that up with not just being a business owner, not just being right. Like, there’s so many things, and I even I always relate this to weight loss, or I would rather prefer to say like healthy living styles, right? Like lifestyles, like, if you are if you’re wanting to increase your health, you want to like help your mental health like all these things, like, what are you doing? And like, what is the best version of you doing?

Is she walking in the morning? Is she drinking a whole bunch of water? Maybe not a full gallon, but as much water as we can a day right? What action steps are you taking today that are in alignment with that highest self person that you want to be? Well, yeah, and

Christina Piombetti
the other thing is, it’s not the goal isn’t what makes you happy, right? It’s never the it’s, it’s never going to be booking a $10,000 wedding that’s that is going to get you to the feeling that you want. You don’t want the wedding you want the feeling that you think is associated with it.

So how can you create that feeling for you, for you now. And it’s, you know, when we talk about goal setting, and that’s kind of my thing, it’s it’s not about the goal, the attainment of the goal is not it’s, it’s the journey, it’s all of the action steps along the way, and the completion of those and making those promises to yourself and keeping them along the way.

If you wanted to take, you know, weight loss as as an example, it’s not going to be the number on the scale that makes you happy. It’s the all the steps meal prepping, it’s getting your walk in doing what has to be true for that to be true. And following through on that. And again, showing up if you went does the healthiest, hottest, most successful version of yourself. How does she show up in the morning? Does she hit the snooze button? Does she scroll Instagram for an hour? Probably not. What does she do? And do that now? Yeah, her showing up as her today? Now. It’s there’s no point in waiting.

Quianna Marie
Oh my gosh, another mic drop moment from you. That was amazing. Oh my gosh. Well, Christina, I’m so grateful for you. And I’m so honored to introduce you to the podcast and to our calling. I know we have a ton of mutual friends, which go back all the way to Almaden, which is just such a small world. But now, how can people find you? How can we work with you? And how can people be your BFF? Online?

Christina Piombetti
Yes, so you can reach me, ChristinaPiombetty.com

If you want to sign up for the 100 days of impact, ChristinaPiombetty.com/ 100. And the retreat is ChristinaPiombetti.com/retreat. And you can find me on Instagram @christinapiombetti

Quianna Marie
Amazing. And we’ll have all of those spellings and all of those details in the show notes. If you just go to my following list all my friends on Instagram or Facebook and you can just look up Christina, she’ll be there. She’s the “P Italian” last name.

Christina Piombetti
The best way to explain it.

Quianna Marie
I love it. Oh my gosh, will once again I’m so grateful for you.

Christina Piombetti
Thank you for you so much for having me. This has been so lovely.

Quianna Marie
Thank you have a beautiful day. Thank you so much for joining the conversation today. I am so grateful for Christina, our connections and her value that she is bringing to your business to help elevate your brand. Step into your purpose and add a touch of luxury. When we may be feeling like we’re always stuck on the sales rack.

Okay, so like Christina keeps it real. And I’m so grateful for our friendship. Your Christina is out there. She may be in one of your middle school classes. May be one of your good friends Big Sisters, right? She may be from your hometown or maybe a new neighbor in your new hometown now today, but she’s out there. And you’re Christina is waiting to be your friend. help add a touch of luxury to your daily life and inspire you to really chase those really, really big dreams. Keep on shining babe.

I cannot wait to connect with you soon and I would love to hear. If you have any touches of luxury that you’re adding to your daily life tag us please share in on Instagram share in the comments. I would love, love, love to stay connected and cheer you on. Keep on shining, baby. Okay, love you. Bye.

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 Kiana murray.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!