How To Scale Your Next Event To Six Figures - Caleb Fowler & Natalia Diane

SPEAKER_01 0:04

This is the Beyond the Story Podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

And now, Sebastian Fr.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Natalia Diane and Caleb Fowler. You two are just adorable. What's happening?

SPEAKER_03 0:30

What is that?

SPEAKER_01 0:31

You guys are you guys are. You guys are. I've been following you guys for well, I connected with Natalia. I've got I have probably about a year, year, year, a couple years back. And then all of a sudden it was like we got the we had the combo deal here. And I was like, uh-oh, we got some world shakers over here. So um I know you guys have been uh venturing around on the entrepreneur uh nomadic tour, if you will.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

So uh the world tour.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

I we connected through one of your posts. I've been following you guys now uh for for a minute, and um we immediately messaged each other, but I I sent it to a Natalie that I went to high school with and Caleb instead of you. So um I'm I'm glad you caught that the other day.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

I also realized on you can remove people two weeks late.

unknown 1:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Better late than never. But I realize you can remove people out of a group chat if it's the wrong person to put the right person in there. So that was kind of fun. Uh there's a lesson in everything.

SPEAKER_04 1:35

So we're gonna do that in a marriage though.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Well, this is not, you know, that that that I mean anything's possible, but I I'm I'm in I'm I'm I'm in agreement with you guys that uh from an integrity standpoint, I'm probably gonna stay away from that one. So uh so I like to tell people's story on this show. I like to back up uh to to to to way back to when you guys first decided that you were gonna become entrepreneurs for this piece. Uh, I think it it probably makes the most sense to talk about when you guys, when your paths first started to cross and when the ideas started to to flow of wait a second, what would it look like to to fall in love and in business together? So I'd love to tell that story. Uh it it it reeks off your expression uh through your content and and just uh the the energy you guys put out in the world there. So I'm I'm excited to hear the story. Where where did this all start?

SPEAKER_04 2:35

Well, it really started on on a random night in Vegas.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

It's not always the precursor for a great story.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

I know what happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Yes, no, it stays on YouTube.

SPEAKER_04 2:49

Yeah, exactly. Um so we went to, I'm sure I'm not sure if you've heard of uh Cole Hatter, but we went to his event Thrive.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Yes. Cole, he started uh Infusion Soft, didn't he? No, different Cole. Okay, but you know what I'm talking about though, right? Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_04 3:06

Yeah, yeah. And so we were both at that event and through mutual friends we met, and the rest is history.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

So we met at an entrepreneurial conference.

SPEAKER_04 3:15

Yes, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

I'm gonna start I'm gonna start going to more instead of speaking at them or MCing at them because it's a good place to get wifed up, you know. You know, she's got drive.

SPEAKER_04 3:25

She's a great place. She's going places. Yeah, so we that's where we met, and then you know, fast forward a year later, we were both so before we what you know started our business together, he was doing his marketing thing, and I was doing my business and leadership coaching thing, and then the pandemic happened, and his business that he were or the company that he was um working with at the time needed to pivot from live events to virtual events.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Which is funny, we were just talking before this uh podcast started, UMC. I was the MC as well for the live events that we were doing, so I have a little bit of experience there. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 4:03

Yeah, so they, you know, Caleb was like, hey, we need an extra coach for this first virtual event that we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

Wink wing off.

SPEAKER_04 4:11

Yeah, and so we did that, it was a three-day event, and I have, you know, my my background in in just business management and team leadership, my light bulbs were just popping off, you know. And at the end of the event, we both were sort of like jazz because the event went so well uh for this other company, and we both were like, and it could be improved. You know, we were it went really well and there was room for growth. And so we just thought, you know, so many coaches, especially with the pandemic, needed to move from depending on live interactions to doing more virtually with confidence. And so we just decided why don't we start a business around that? And that's and then from there, the rest, you know, that's it's now we are here essentially.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

But it's funny because that was only a year ago, and we had always talked about like since since the day we got together, like we'd always talked about what would it look like to be in business together, like what would that like because we've always seen, you know, like we've seen like we both had dreams of us speaking on stage together, you know, and that sort of thing, and being in business. And and so we had always been asking that question of like, well, what is that gonna look like? And then literally a year, it's about a year ago today, this week, um, that we that we started the business six figure seminars. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

What a great story. So 2020 wasn't all bad. A lot of growth happened. I mean, hey, listen, podcast equipment sold out on Amazon. So yeah, I mean, collar at your boy when you see him on the street, you know? So so uh it wasn't all bad. I I had a lot, I had a very, very productive year. I've gotten punched in the teeth in 2021, but you know, hey, listen, don't sign up for the for the ride unless you're ready for the dips, right? It's just oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 5:56

That's just the last year was a crash course in entrepreneurship for me.

SPEAKER_04 6:01

Yeah. Well, and I think that it's Sebastian to what your point, the point you're making, it's like this year is actually 2021 has been harder than 2020 in a lot of ways, because when you're kind of first kicking off the business, like you're just like you're so determined, right? Like to make it work. And we had we had uh our first client we were able to do three back-to-back events with, and so we were kind of like riding this wave, you know. We were that's when we were traveling, we went to Mexico. Mexico was hard um to just navigate and build the business at the same time, but we had some consistency there, and then as you know, entrepreneurship is is a roller coaster, and so we had to learn as this was a new business, like how to navigate the dips together. And I think that has probably been where we've experienced the most character development and growth, you know, just as a couple and also as as business owners, you know, because that first wave always feels great, and then you hit the first low, and you're like, okay, you have your first oh shit moment, you know, and you're like, okay, how are we gonna climb back out of this? You know, if you're gonna some people they just decide to give up and you have to determine, like, are you really in this? And if you are, then you have to figure out a way out of that, you know. So that's kind of been our journey in 2021 for sure.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

That doesn't just happen though, that requires a tremendous amount of tools and and development. You know, relationships are hard enough. Let's just throw some entrepreneurship in the mix, and I mean we got a fucking party, you know.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

So Yeah, oh yeah, party's another statement.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Right. So, so in you know, the first again, single as fuck. So I don't know, but the first year of a relationship, I'm told, is is is the most difficult. Your first eight or nine months are the most difficult. Then you're starting a business, so you've got kind of two, but at the same time, so I I guess if yeah, it it does take a level of commitment from from the get. It's like, listen, it it's there are going to be times that you're going to want to walk out the door, and there are going to be times that you're going to want to pull the plug. None of this is going to work if those options are on the table. So it's almost that initial commitment because when when when when we're activated, that's my new favorite phrase. When we're activated, it's not always easy to dig into the toolbox real quick and and apply those on there. So personal development, business development, entrepreneur development, bravo to you guys uh doing it. I have several friends. Uh my my buddy's a a YouTube guy, Owen Video, and his wife is his director of of production. And uh they've got a beautiful marriage and four kids. And uh she quit teaching school a couple years back, and it's been one of the best decisions she ever made. She's able to have time for the kids, she's able to develop her craft. She just started a podcast, a YouTube podcast uh with four other women about women and women's issues and life and logistics, and it's taken off. So it's been really cool to see the personal slash business. And I think a lot more of that's gonna happen as the as we continue this entrepreneur wave of growth. What would you say is the most difficult part of of being a couple and also being in business together?

SPEAKER_04 9:04

Um, I think, well, I guess we may have different answers. So I guess I'll my answer is. I hope so. Yeah. Let's bring out the boxing glass. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Um so I think let's see, personally, I would say it's creating we're so we're really good at creating space for the business. We're not as good at creating space for our relationship only because there's we first of all, we work from home, we're we're together as partners, we're business partners, and we work from home. So the business is always sort of everywhere, you know, and I think that we for me the hardest part is creating that separation between the two and also switching gears. I think both of us are so good at just being in business mode, and we really have to be intentional about switching gears. Yeah and letting and we had like you know, we had our first statement.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Which is harder for some.

SPEAKER_04 9:57

Yeah. Oh gosh, that's funny. Well, no, and that's that's the thing. Sometimes it's him, and sometimes it's true.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

No, it's true, you know.

SPEAKER_04 10:04

But I think when we can like just disconnect, it's so it's so nice. It literally feels like a little mini vacation, but it's just getting it's just turning that off. So I'd say that's the hardest part.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

Yeah. I want to go back for a second just just to clarify, because we're three years into the relationship.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

And just a year ago we started the business.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Got it. Okay, cool. Yeah. A clarification question. I love them. They're my favorite.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Yeah, yeah. Just because I just want to say that, lay that foundation. I wouldn't personally recommend anyone in a new relationship. Okay, got it.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Okay, got it. Okay, oh, okay, cool. All right.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

So that makes a level.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

I was like, these people are fucking crazy. Yeah, no. Yeah, no, no, no, no. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

There's a level of understanding that we already sure.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Okay. So yeah, all right. So there's an existing foundation to go, okay, we're not gonna fucking kill each other if we go into business together. Right. Okay, cool. I got it. Okay, uh that that makes a lot. I was like, okay, this makes a little more sense. I was like, that was a hell of a year. Good lord. I mean, go on with your bad self. I mean, who am I to tell you?

SPEAKER_04 11:04

We're ambitious, but not that ambitious.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Right, right, okay. I was like, man, this was a lot. I thought I'd rushed into stuff.

unknown 11:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

So the I would say the most difficult part though, to be honest, um, has been the inconsistency in our in our travel. Like, the whole, you know, we we've had a great time on the beaches in Mexico, that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

It's hard to focus when you're not when you when you when there's some there, you're not really calling home for a signal. It's tough I don't know, it's tough to focus. I always bring my laptop with me, and I always find myself never opening it. So it again on purpose, sometimes by design, but sometimes it's like, hey, listen, this is gonna be a work play type deal, and it's still difficult. It's just I think it's a it's definitely a mindset thing because you're out of, you know, you're in a different, you know, we're in an unfamiliar environment, uh chilling out on the beach, you know.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

We both thrive in in in consistency and the routine. Yeah. And so when you're in a different place every single month, you have to familiarize yourself with the surroundings. It's like starting over, all over. Yeah. So it's like, so we're gonna be we're gonna be settling down next month, getting a place, uh, which is which is really exciting.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Where uh where where are you gonna settle at?

SPEAKER_02 12:15

So the business is about to explode.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

So so where where do you where do you guys gonna throw some roots down?

SPEAKER_04 12:22

Here in Houston.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Oh, cool, awesome.

SPEAKER_04 12:25

Yeah, yeah. So we you know, and I think that that you know, that whole starting over again every time we move, you know, I was just thinking about how the kind of myth of being a lap the la the laptop lifestyle and like when people are taking the picture.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

The digital nomad.

SPEAKER_04 12:41

Yeah, like taking the picture, whoever's whoever's the person taking the picture of them working on the beach with their laptop. I'm like, first of all, who would bring a multiple thousand dollar laptop to the beach?

SPEAKER_01 12:50

That doesn't, it doesn't work the glare's too bright anyway. That's a f it's a fallacy.

SPEAKER_04 12:55

Like it's a hazard, you know, it's a liability. So anyway, um the other thing too, you know, is like you mentioned beach, we enjoy the beaches of Mexico. I mean, the truth of the matter is is when we were there, we were working so much we maybe got to the beach like three or four times. Like we really weren't making that.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

You guys aren't far from the beach now. What how far is Galveston? What?

SPEAKER_04 13:14

Just some uh an hour.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Yeah, so that's cool. I mean, at least I uh here's how I feel about I live in Miami, so it's you know, that the beach is the fabric of of the city. Yeah, uh yeah. But I lived in Chicago for a little while, and people are like, what about the beach? And I'm like, it's a little bit of a problem because it's the cold weather.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

You got navy, you got navy pier right there.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Well, I mean, you've also got the winter, too, where you know it's it's not it's the cold that pisses you off. It's not just oh, I'm a little chilly. You walk outside and you're like, I fucking hate my life, right? So so here's how I feel about the beach. I I may not always go, yeah, but I love the comfort of knowing it's right there. Yeah, that's that's just the reality. So being somewhere uh coastal there too. Well, you know, you put a ring on it too. I mean, it's time to like put some steaks in the ground, you know what I mean? Maybe a couple trips to Home Depot on the weekend on a moon.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Absolutely. Maybe bed pass to be on if we have time. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

We're getting we're raging here in Houston on Saturdays. I you know you're getting old. I'm 42, but I feel 25. And uh I have some plants on my balcony, and they're uh, you know, they're a priority in my life. I like to water them and whatnot, but I think they need new soil. So this weekend I was like, I think this is the weekend that I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go get the soil and and resoil my plants. So this is this is this is what happens. This is 42, ladies and gentlemen. Excited about re-soiling uh my my four tiny little plants on my on my balcony.

SPEAKER_04 14:44

Uh there's something so fulfilling about that. Last year, it really is. Like, I bought my first couple plant babies, and I was so, I was so proud of them. Like, I was just like, I took so much pride in like watering them and taking care of them. And I left my apartment for maybe like two weeks and had somebody stay in the apartment. I was like, hey, you know, while I'm gone, please just make sure to take care of my plant babies. And when I came back, one of them was dead, and I was so You had one job.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

One job! It wasn't even an animal. Like I wasn't asking you to take it for walks. Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Can you feed my cat? Yeah.

unknown 15:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:25

I know, I know how I know the what that means, you know. So yeah, good company.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Absolutely, absolutely. Good times, good times. So let's talk about these six-figure seminars here. Let's talk about what you're doing to help individuals scale and create and pivot and and shift and all the other buzzwords that have that have taken place in the in the event in business world uh due to the pandemic here. So virtual events, yeah. So virtual events are here to stay, hybrid events, I believe, are still here to stay. And then we've got you know live events slowly uh but surely coming back. So, so what's what's your model look like and what are you actually doing? If I came to you and said, listen, I'm I've got a podcast business and I'm looking to uh 10x my business by integrating virtual events into the mix, what does all that look like?

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Yeah, yeah. So here's the deal with you know the online marketing, coaching, and expert space right now is there's so much there's so much distrust in the market right now. There's so much skepticism because there's never been more you know coaches and consultants and experts in the space right now than there's than there's ever been. You know, the the the there are a dime a dozen. And so what what the the virtual event model does, or just the event model in general, but now that we can do it virtually and people are comfortable with that, it's now as like profitable as it's ever been. The reason it's so effective is because you're you're sitting down with someone and you're you're spending an extended period of time with that person to build that rapport, to, to break down that that trust gap. Um, and and just showing them that you're a real person. You know, our our most successful clients are the ones who just get up there and they just connect with people. Because that's what we all want at the end of the day is connections. And so that's really what we're what we're doing is helping people connect with you know their audience on a much deeper level, which which typically equates to uh dollar bills.

SPEAKER_04 17:27

Yeah, and I think you know what my favorite part about it is that we are creating the virtual infrastructure to make that happen, right? So like we we get to create like we are involved from start to finish with the entire we are launching the event and we're doing the production of the event. And so we're involved in the marketing side and the building of the funnel and like the messaging and so all the client has to do is show up.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

I mean, they they work with you.

SPEAKER_04 17:52

Yeah, exactly. Well, and that's the thing, and so actually that's a great point, is like it's easy to say all they have to do is show up, but showing up is hard because you have to be willing to have these kind of painstaking conversations about like okay, like the conversations everyone says they've had, but they never really have had about their ideal client. Well, so who do you serve? And they're like, Well, they fumbled through that a little bit. So then we have to sit, you know, we have to sit down and like get more get more nuanced, get a little bit more detailed, and then we have to get the emotional side of that, like, okay, great, now you know who you serve, but now they need to feel like you can actually serve them. So what's the message? You know, all of that traditional sort of business strategy stuff, you know, and integrate that into an event because the event is almost like it's its own business within the business, you know. And so the messaging, and we're learning that in real time as far as like how to there's the the message that you have as the business in general, and then for these little events that we're hosting, it's like what does the messaging need to be to land with who you really want to serve and attract them at a higher level? Like we're trying to attract, you know, anywhere from like 200 to 500 new butts and seats, you know. So, how do we get people to say, Yes, I'm willing to spend my time with you when there's so much competition? So that's the kind of you know, that's the mystery piece that we're always trying to solve for when we're working with our clients. Um, and then we're also, I think what we're the biggest adventure we've been on with the model itself, because there are so many different types of events. There's the five-day like free launch strategies or challenges, I mean, and then there's like, you know, again, a four-hour workshop, there's webinars, there's three-day events, you know, which is the right one for the client based on where they are within their business. And so we're and what is the right marketing strategy for them based on where they are? And so a lot of the people that we've worked with who want to launch their, they want to go big their first time, like I'm gonna do a three-day event, and they don't have a strong audience yet or strong following yet. We have to sort of crack the code in a very short window of time to get them the people that they need so that they can run the event. And so lately we've been exploring different strategies because Facebook marketing is like not, you know, like face the out like it's a shit show. It's a shit show.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Your words, I'm just agreeing with them.

SPEAKER_04 20:04

Yeah, you know, but like so now we're learning how to leverage Instagram more or even like what's the the solo ads like on emails more. So it's really it's very exciting. You're I mean, we're constantly creative, yeah. Yeah, and every client has different needs that we're trying to solve for depending on where they really are. And sometimes they don't sometimes they discover where they really are once they've already signed up for the event. So that's you know the puzzle we're solving.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

You know, we've all heard like what there's there's um uh there's so much room at the top. What's that quote? You know, the whatever. I have I have learned the the truth of of that statement that there's so many people out there who think that they're further ahead than they really are. They think that they have a deeper understanding of of what they do and who they serve more than they really have. And at the heart of it, what we do is is really how people understand that. Because when you understand that and you're able to speak to your target audience and the words that they use, yeah, not that you use or that you think are cool, but from their perspective, that is when you you you win people's hearts, right? Like people don't buy um, or people buy when they feel understood, not when they understand you. Right. You know, it's not about how cool the speaker is, it's about their ability to communicate to their ideal, you know, customer and client.

SPEAKER_04 21:26

So I don't know if that answered your question. Yeah, it totally did.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

I mean, you guys get in there, it's not just yeah, sure, we'll put an event together. It's you know, first of all, are we gonna get are we gonna be able to get people to the event because your offer is appealing enough and you've got a you know you've got enough of a base to be able to do it, or do we have to go out there and create the base? And then that's that's the big that's the big Rubik's Cube, is figuring out exactly how to create that base and then be able to put the event together. And I'm sure there's plenty of hiccups and and uh and challenges along the way in a perfect world. If you could just put 500 bucks in seats and host a three-day event and and and make a ton of dough, I think everyone and their brother would be doing it. But that's technology for you. It it is it is constantly challenging us to uh to reinvent and to start over, and then we have a pandemic that forces us to, which was even better for technology because it forced everyone on it. I don't think you could do this three years ago and say, hey, listen, we're hosting a virtual event, and most people are like, Zoom. So uh yeah, tech you know, my my my good friend Gary V says technology doesn't give a shit about your feelings or what you think about it. It's gonna continue to to to uh to develop and grow at the speed of light and with or without you. So well, if you're listening to this interview right now, you're thinking, holy cow, I I'm a speaker, I'm a coach, I'm I'm I'm an author. I totally want to start doing virtual events. Wow, this is great I don't have to go anywhere. You need to be connecting with my friends Caleb and Natalia. All of their contact information and link are gonna be provided in the show notes. That's the description of this episode that you're listening to right now, just in case you have absolutely no idea what show notes are. Well, guys, I am so fired up to uh to connect with you guys. I appreciate you taking some time out of your day to hang out. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm do some jumping jacks after this. I'm excited to see what we can come up with uh after this episode. There is power in podcasts. If you're listening to this right now and you're thinking, yeah, I've been thinking about starting a podcast a little bit here. This is the reason why I didn't just want to have these two on to tell their story. I wanted to meet them and I wanted to explore opportunities and I want to ask them when they're starting a podcast. And we feel we we were able to resolve all of that. So if you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is the sign you've been looking for. So holler at your boy. Well, you guys are definitely gonna have to come back soon. I'm sure we're gonna uh we're we're gonna be making some moves here, so you're gonna have to come back to the show. Deal?

SPEAKER_04 23:38

I'd love to, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Hey, thanks.

SPEAKER_04 23:41

And when we launch ours, when you help us launch ours, we you you will be there with us too.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

It's the cloud we launched your event.

SPEAKER_04 23:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

I was about to say, I mean, I, you know, when are you when are you doing one, Sebastian? That's that's a great question. You know, that's that that is a fantastic question. And the answer is I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm open. That's that's the answer. Thanks, thanks so much, guys. Uh, have a great weekend, and we'll see you guys soon.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

Thanks so much, Sebastian.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Absolutely. Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story Podcast. Be sure to appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you subscribe to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Be sure to appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast, launchlab.com studios. I'll talk to you next time.