Sarah Fejfar
Well, this is a mini master class on guest engagement and creating treat like experiences. And I'm so excited for you to hear from Laura, who is an absolute master at creating experiences that encourage thriving in work and life for professional accomplished women. Let's dive in.
Sarah Fejfar
Inquiring minds want to know, how are entrepreneurs like us daring bravely to build a stage ditch the sweat pants and step up to the mic? How do we create own transformative events so we can get our message out into the world in a bigger way. It's not only profitable, but it's actually something we can be proud. That's the question. And the answers are inside this podcast. My name is Sarah Fejfar, for welcome to Greenroom Central.
Sarah Fejfar
Hey, it Sarah, I have an invitation for you right now. You can join entrepreneurs from across the globe who share a passion for hosting their own events become part of the community that inspires and cheers you on over at Green Room central.com.
Sarah Fejfar
Today, I brought into greenroom central studios, Laura Best, a marketing professional and founder of the Passion Collective. Now eight years old and 1400 Passionados strong. It's a community dedicated to helping professional women help each other thrive in work and life. Passion, collective hosts monthly virtual workshops, coaching sessions and social events by its online home passion, collective on demand, as well as the signature buzz sessions in person events. Now, all events are intimate and encourage sharing and support and focus on practical inspiration for busy accomplished professional women.
Sarah Fejfar
Laura, welcome to Greenroom Central Studios. Say hello to linchpin nation.
Laura Best
Hello, lynchpin nation. Thank you for having me.
Sarah Fejfar
We're so thrilled you're here. And I want to start by saying, Why do you think it's so important to focus on the idea of thriving when it comes to events?
Laura Best
Well, I, I don't know, maybe I'm, I'm an overly optimistic person about this world. But I just like to think that, in most if not everything we do, we should be trying to make ourselves better, but also, hopefully, help other people. And, you know, one of the reasons I started passion Collective is that I was going to these, you know, very typical networking events, right? We've all been there. It Back in the olden days, when we had our suit on. And you know, name tag, make sure you remember to put it on the right side, because there's a lot of rules about name tags, right? Yes, don't get through your silk shirt. There's all of that. And then you go to this thing, and you're giving your business card and you're shaking hands, and you know, how trying to have some conversation with people and trying to engage, maybe have some food, if you're lucky, maybe have a decent glass of wine, if you're lucky, and then maybe get home, by the time your kids go to bed. Right? I feel like that was sort of the old way that we used to do a lot of this. And one of the reasons I started passion Collective is that that wasn't filling me up at all. I was doing a lot of these events, because I thought I had to and I should do. And I realized it wasn't helping me. And there wasn't enough meaning in it for me to try and help other people. So it was just a rather empty experience. So you know, when I think about what we do with passion collective as a community, but also events overall, I think it's just such a wonderful opportunity when you gather people together to think about this idea of thriving and how can we Yes, we have our content and our material, and everybody's got to make money. But how can we have that true positive impact in the space of our event time, it's almost like a magical time that we have that we need to make the most out of?
Sarah Fejfar
I couldn't agree more. And I especially feel that since you know this, two years we've just been through as a global community and how we're so much more closely attuned to like, what we're going to get out of each interaction that we have and like assessing the value especially in virtual scenarios, because we now see such incense the value of our time, we sense the value of connections that we're making, and I love how you you saw gap and you stepped in. I mean, that's like true entrepreneurship right there right to like sense that there's a problem. And know that you could find the solution and just be the person who steps up and takes a leadership role and figures that out for folks. And I am sensing a lot of kind of like, the word community is coming up a lot for me when I'm hearing how you're describing your events. And, and that is different, I think, from those traditional networking events that we've all, you know, been to or in endured in the past. And so talk to us about the difference to you between a network and a community.
Laura Best
Yeah, it's a great question. Because it's, it's not, I think that one is any better than the other in terms of, you know, a global worldview, I mean, that I think there's room for everything, as long as it's professional and respectful. And there is an intention of love behind it. But we can talk about that later. For me, networking is all about. I mean, well, let's, let's start with the idea of networking, right, we all have networks, we probably have multiple networks. You know, I have my alumni network from my university in England, I don't connect with them very much, actually, I think it's mainly on a LinkedIn group, right. But I know that I'm a Warwick grad, I went to work at university, I have this network of people there who I can connect with. And if I need anything, or we need to connect each other, we'll do it right. I am a mom, I have a 10 year old daughter, Sophia. So I have a network of, you know, mums, and dads with soccer with skiing with the school stuff. It doesn't mean that we're best friends. But there's a network and where, you know, connected. I think though, for me, networks are much more transactional in nature. And there's nothing wrong with that. But essentially, I think you engage with a networking community or sorry, I'm getting myself confused, and networking organization because you want something out of it. And to me, it's rather one sided. It's a bit of a controversial view. Because, you know, a lot of the old networking books are all about give and take. But my experience, certainly with networking is that it was a more transactional feel. There weren't very many meaningful conversations happening in that situation, because it felt like everyone was on show, I used to say that I used to wear my armor, you know, in my old corporate jobs, and even walking into a networking event, sort of putting on your armor, and that your armor could be your elevator pitch, it could be the actual suit you're being asked to wear. Now, for me, a community is different. It's still a group of people who are connected together. But the community is connected by a shared belief or shared vision about something that they're linking arms about. And that can be I mean, you can have a gardening community, right, maybe you will like roses. And there's a community of gardeners who, you know, love roses, and they want to improve the rose beds in their community. Our community is all about winning women helping each other thrive and work in life. So there's this underlying belief with us that we deserve to be happy. And we deserve to have the opportunity to lead fulfilling and happy lives. The other underlying belief in our community is that we should, should be working to help others in a way that lights us up. And so we have this common bond has passion ados. And this idea of community because it's not only about us, it's also about the impact that we are jointly hoping to create, and we're probably all going to create that impact in different ways. I firmly believe that you should find the thing that you love, and find the way to help with that, because you're probably going to enjoy it more, you know, and you're going to be more successful with it. But that, to me, is the difference. I mean, communities tend to be linking arms together, and you know, onward and we're here to do this. And there's a real a very clear sense of the fact that you give and you take and it's okay to do both of them. It's okay to ask for help in a community. It's also expected and okay to be giving in a networking scenario, I think it's much more except more acceptable to be taking. Right not in in any bad way. But you know, you're there to make a contact and you're trying to get some business in information so you can qualify this prospect so you can move your agenda along. Now you probably reciprocate. You know, if you and I are networking, you know, you'll say, Hey, Laura, I can introduce you to these three amazing business owners they need to sponsor passion collective and also Oh, yeah, Sarah, these these three business owners should totally know about what you're doing. Let's let us you know, scratch each other's backs. And we all have to do that. And hopefully it's enjoyable because we like each other and we support each other. To me though a community is deeper. And there's a shared belief there
Sarah Fejfar
are so many things to unpack and what you just said, Laura, the first thing I want linchpin nation to be like taking copious notes about was something you just like, totally glanced over, but I want to underline it is you said, you call your community passionate owes? And did I get it? Right? Yep. Okay, yep. And in so linchpin nation wants, what I want you to hear there is she gave her community a name. And that is so important that you give your community this identity, okay. And it helps tie them together. And, and so I'm not only hearing that you gave them a name that kind of connects them, and that they can all kind of like an umbrella that they're all like, under together. But you also gave them a sense of shared belief. So you kind of set a belief system up for your community. And so now, people have this, I'm always saying that when you join a community, people's first question is how do I fit in, no matter which community it is, whether that's, you know, like that soccer community with your, your daughter's team, or, you know, your alumni network, or the passion collective, like people joining that community want to know, how do I fit in, and so I'm hearing more of that, you're, you're immediately giving them like a name for themselves. They know like, Okay, this is what I'm called, like, this is what I'm a part of, and then like, Okay, here's what we believe. And here's how we show up for one another inside of this community. And here's, it's safe here to ask for help. It's safe here to give help, like, this is what is expected. And that's so important in setting up your community to be a community and not a network.
Laura Best
Yeah. And I think Alexei both great, but I also think that we could, you know, have all of this on our website, right, and just do a really good job making it all fancy and putting everything out there. But if you don't follow through with everything you do, if it's not who you are, then it's going to fail. And so you know, as we're talking about event strategy and event management, for me, it's extremely important that with everything that we do it, it's a catalyst for this community. It's a it's an opportunity for our community to live out what we're saying that we want to do. I actually had somebody this morning, I was on a business development call, you know, hoping that this company is going to support us or sign up their women for team membership because they don't have a women's community anymore in their company. It's too much work. So come to us, you know, and you know, the woman I was talking to said, What are you going to do a retreat? She's like, I'd love to do a retreat. Right? Because my passion collective women, we want to go on a spa weekend or whatever.
Sarah Fejfar
Yes, we do.
Laura Best
I definitely want to spa weekend right now it can you organize it, Sarah just sighs I am here for it. And I said to her, I said, you know, I'm thinking about it. But for me, it has to be the right experience. And we really have to make sure that we do it in a way that feels like us, and that we get what we want out of it. And so I've been very intentional over the last eight years or so as I built passion collective, to really stay true to the original intent of who we are as a community. And that's hard sometimes, because, for example, our events are much more intimate than, say big networking events. You know, I see some of our competitors out there, and they'll get like 400 people at some big Leadership Conference, and I'm like, Wow, good for them. And it's one of these all day conferences, right, eight till six, you know, you're sat in this big room and this, think of the revenue, right? And I'm also thinking of the event costs, but that's different. But think of the revenue that bringing in 500 bucks a ticket, whatever it is, I'm like, No, that's not who we are. Because, as a community, we need our own space to open up, have shared support, and it needs to feel different. So you know, really, I mean, what we're talking a little bit Hear about his brand as well. But for me, community is at the core of what we do. And in even, you know, the events that we put on, we've got one this Saturday, it's called field trip. So we're taking a group of our passion autos to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and it's two hours just for them, to immerse themselves in creativity for two hours. And just to step away from the obligation and responsibility of being a working mum, and to rediscover the creativity. And it's not going to generate any revenue for us doesn't need to, it's a chance for us to come together as a community to do what we say we're supposed to be doing, which is rediscovering what lights us up, and trying to sort of rediscover that passion for what we want to do. So it really is this sort of thread this DNA that goes through and, and to your point, I think you've got to decide, what do you want, you know, as a business owner, you know, if you're someone listening today, and you're like, Yeah, but do I do both? You know, do do I start a networking? You know, thing? And, and are we a community as well, I think you can have both types of experiences, like within our passion, collective events, women network, you know, so they help each other out, they, you know, suggest business development, potential prospects, you know, but that's not the primary reason why we're together, the primary reason is that we're linking arms, and we're trying to help each other with this thing. So you can do one or the other, or both. But I think it's good to tap to really ask yourself, as a business owner, look inside yourself and say, What do I want to accomplish with this? What's the true meaning and the true intention of it?
Sarah Fejfar
Yeah, and I think what I like to teach inside live event Academy is like, what's the the physical embodiment of your brand, look and feel and smell and sound like, you know, and so if, if that isn't a 500 person, hotel ballroom for you, then that don't do that? Yeah. So I'm hearing that you're doing some in person things, but I know you're also doing virtual things. And I know that Zoom obviously, has opened the floodgates for virtual events. And so I want you to talk a little bit about how you think like virtual event creators can make their events stand out, because I know you've certainly done that with your passion collective virtual events, and I'm sure it's opened new doors for you that you didn't even see before two years ago. Yeah,
Laura Best
um, gosh. I mean, it's funny, because I know we've talked way too much about pivoting in COVID, right, it's become this sort of silly buzzword, but still very real. I mean, my background is in marketing and digital marketing. I've been in digital for 20 odd years. So I've helped a lot of clients create experiences online. And it was funny a couple of years ago, before COVID. I was having a conversation with my advisory board, and I was saying, you know, we should have an online home. It doesn't feel right to me that I'm asking these busy stressed out awesome women to plan their month around us. It just wasn't sitting right with me. And it's really hard to execute from an event standpoint is the mountain and Mohamed, right. And it just felt just wrong. And one of my board members, God bless her. She's like, Oh, Laura, no one's ever gonna want to go online and do this stuff that's just not in the magic of what you do is in person. And she was right. I mean, if you think you know, before COVID happened, I don't think we really expected anything like we do right now, the way we live our lives, the way work has changed, you know. And so I didn't do anything with it. I was too busy. You know, I got a consulting business too. So there's all you know, all sorts of stuff going on. And then COVID hit, and we were at about 800 passionate photos at the time. And we just had the best event we'd ever put on. It was fantastic. And I remember driving home from the event. Like, ah, you know, life is brilliant. Everything worked. Oh my god, this, we're just on it. And then literally, that was March 5. And then we locked down in Minneapolis much about St. Patrick's Day, I think. Just to make sure everybody didn't go out on St. Patrick's Day in and spread it. I think
Sarah Fejfar
it's such a big deal. Especially in St. Paul. That parade Oh, my goodness.
Laura Best
I know. I know. It's like, so I remember I sat on the couch, as I think most people did. You know, just like what am I gonna do? And try not to feel too much pity for myself because we were healthy, but at the same time, it's like, well, I got a traditional events based business, you know, and I actually I'm a big follower of Seth Godin, I'm sure, you know, Seth, and I'm sure the linchpin nation, no Seth Godin. But he did a tremendous job. In the early days of COVID, with his virtual events, I guess you could call him he just live streamed. And he did what he did best. And he encouraged and motivated his tribe, rikes. He's all about tribes. And I sat there with my phone, and it's about two weeks into the pandemic, and I was, you know, what am I gonna do? And he looked at me through the phone, because, you know, setting me and he said, if you're sat there right now was to the effect, with a phone in your hand watching this, and you have a group of people or a community that you can help go and help them. And I sat there, and I was like, I've been thinking about myself for the last two weeks and how I'm going to cope. Wait a minute. We have 800 Passion autos right now, who are probably feeling the same way I got to get out and help them. So what I started to do was we had our buzz session events, which were our signature events, they were beautifully curated, right food means I mean, everything is beautiful. And so I said, right, I'm going to do a mini bus session, every week for the next month. And I'm going to go and find a guest every week, and we're just going to put them on for free. And I'll figure it out. I didn't realize how much work that was going to be. But anyway, and we ran them for four weeks, it was purely on Zoom. I thought maybe a couple of people might show up. And over the four week period, we had about 120 130 people sign up and participate over the four events. So unwittingly, I had stumbled into a test scenario where I was like, huh, alright, people need this. They're willing to do this on Zoom. Okay. And so I set myself another goal of building our own online home, which is if you remember what I'd wanted to do before. So we set a goal for that for early June. And we designed and built that, or actually, we worked with the mighty networks platform, we didn't design it ourselves, we designed the content. But we got that up and running in five weeks. So then we launched an online paid community model, which was a whole different machine. But this enabled us to host our virtual events, make RSVP and a lot easier, have a private place for content and for people to communicate outside of social media. So we built the thing. And so in the span of I don't know, what are we talking about St. Patrick's Day, and just after Memorial Day, you know, I had done that to figure out how to support the community. And frankly, when we launched in early June, I had I still had no idea if it was going to work. And I'm sure, Sarah, I'm sure you know, but also a lot of the linchpin nation now you just have this pit in your stomach, right? Oh, God, are they going to sign up? Are they going to come? Are they going to? Yeah, and you just got to fight through it every day. And it's one by one. But for us having that online home was a real game changer, because now you can join at any time from anywhere in the world. We're English speaking. But we've had people join our events from Italy, Mexico, India, Australia, all over UK. We also can record the events and keep them in this private home. So it's just remember, our community is all about a trusted space, I didn't just want to throw them out on the internet, this is trusted stuff. And we could give exclusive experiences to the people in this destination. So the events really expanded in terms of what we offered. And it enabled us to be a lot more flexible. So it's given us also is reverse the mountain and Mohamed, you know, we're now serving. Okay, so what am I on my mountain or Muhammad, I can't remember. But we are now serving the community. Whereas before I felt like it sort of it was seems switched in a way. We wake up every day to make sure that the content is in the platform. We're producing the best events for the people are in the platform. There are public events too, but really our priority our members now.
Sarah Fejfar
So Laura, some buzz sessions is the name of that kind of those events that are signature right inside that platform. Yeah. And so I want you to tell us about kind of maybe the first budget session that you hosted, how did it go? What did you learn, and perhaps a little bit about how that's evolved. But I guess what I want to highlight here is I think you're like the Magic Touch that you put on events. What I'm sensing is your attention to detail when it comes to the whole experience. Really because you're not about like, bad food and like, you know, like, impersonal networking, and you really have this sensitivity to, like a holistic view on the experience. And so I want you to touch on that a bit.
Laura Best
Yeah. And this is, this is probably a better answer to your last question, I realize, but um, you know, I certainly think with virtual events. For me, it's extremely important for people to come as they are, especially given our community and our demographic, to have a variety in those events just as an a program offering. But then our events themselves, we work really hard to have variety within the event. So you're not just staring at a screen for an hour and watching someone's PowerPoint presentation. You know, we utilize chat heavily, we utilize polls, like most people do now with Zoom. But for me, the most important thing with virtual is to have a very authentic human experience for everybody who's involved. So for me, as the community leader, I lead them, I also curate the guests who come in, and I'm never going to put a guest in front of our passion, Otto's, who I don't believe in, you know, I don't think is, is part of who we are. But we share a lot, you know, we're vulnerable to write. And we go deeper into the questions that we talk about. It's not just superficial and transactional stuff. We also have quiet moments where we do journaling, or we have prompts or little workshop pieces. And then we use the breakout rooms as well. So people can use a different part of their brain and actually interact together and get something out of it for them too. And all that's done in sort of 5060 minutes. So I think with virtual for us, certainly, it's about originally, so we replicated the bus session formula, which is in person for the mini buses. And the only thing that's different, which is funny is probably the alcohol and the food. Part of it. We couldn't do that on Zoom, we could try I guess, but it doesn't work as well. So it sort of two thirds of both sessions. Both sessions were originally my way to create a treat like experience for our passion Otto's where they could come together, come as they are. I was so tired of attending these women's events that were just so patronizing with crappy food. And I never got to share anything with anyone. So I sort of flipped it did intimate events. The first one was about confidence. And we actually brought in a coach to talk about her experience and building confidence as a woman in the workplace. And then we had a journaling in a workshop session. And I remember sitting there with the guests who did show up, I didn't know whether they would one of the younger women just opened right up without any sort of prompting at all. And I remember just thinking, wow, like, how do we do that? You know, honestly, I was like, how did that happen? Because after all these years of people not opening up, we suddenly created this space where strangers were opening up to each other. And so I began to realize that what we were doing was helping that
Laura Best
the first event was incredibly stressful, as I'm sure you know. You know, Sarah, and many of the lynchpin nation. No, I mean, I remember carrying bags of food up the stairs, buying too much food buying too much wine. I mean, it was kind of a mess from now I look at it. I'm like, Oh, my God. But the guest didn't care. It was a really authentic, lovely experience. And I remember driving home buzzing. And I was like, yep, possession. This is really what it's all about. Because my job is to re energize and to activate our passion. Arctos. So, you know, for us, the both sessions have really evolved over the years to become part happy hour, part real story sharing from women who are pursuing their passions. So this is not about, oh, yeah, I quit my job. And six months later, with my side hustle, I'm earning 10 million. And you can too. It's I mean, no, it's it's about the real story of pursuing your passion. And all we flip it with talking about topics that are passionate is really want to dig into. So the last in person we did in October was all about finding your fears. So this, and we had three women guests. One was a former firefighter in the Minneapolis fire department. She delivered 12 Babies over I think 15 years incredible woman. One was an entrepreneur who had started her cookie business after surviving domestic abuse. And the third one was a woman who'd actually written the book, find your fears. She was a former corporate executive. So our top It was about being fierce. And it was hearing these stories of these women who were finding that face. And then, you know, there is a connection and workshop component. So we just sort of we stuck with the same idea. We just made it better. And I'm always pushing myself and our team to really get to the the real meaningful stuff. You know, we could put on so many more events, like the retreat idea. But it has to be really meaningful. And I think that's the big thing with with the in person events. Now, as you said at the beginning, Sarah, people are not willing to get off off the couch, me included, there's a lot of Netflix, I still have to watch. And my PJ's are really soft. So if I'm going to come out now to an in person event, it better be good. And it better not just give me the superficial stuff, because I like that. Good wine, good food, etc. But it also has to fill me up in some way. And I should walk away feeling good. You know, what else are we doing it for?
Sarah Fejfar
Hey, I don't want you to miss out. Did you know that this conversation always continues inside the linchpin nation community. It's a free modern discussion forum exclusively for greenroom central listeners that will have a profound impact on the way you look at events in your business. Get answers to your biggest questions here behind the scenes nuggets from event leaders, and get access to helpful templates, guides and checklists. As you start in scale events in your business, be part of the daily discussion with entrepreneurs just like you, you can join for free over at Green Room central.com. I'll see you inside. So true. It there's so many things like I took notes on and that last little bit like my one of my absolute favorites was how you your the the frame with which you look at your events is creating a treat like experience, and I just like love those words together. But I want to make sure linchpin nation that you were writing down like, Lord just gave a mini master class and guest engagement like workshopping and journaling and using polls and using chat and curating guests and zoom breakouts, I mean, huge amount of advice that you just gave us there. But if you had to, like distill it to one that you think has been, like a game changer for encouraging guests to share and, and open up whether it's a virtual or in person setting, do you think there's there's one that you would say like, you must do this?
Laura Best
Well, it's interesting, because, you know, I know I've rattled off a whole load of tactics, so I wouldn't suggest you try them all at once in the same event. I've certainly been testing as I've been going along, you know, and trying to get the engagement that we're looking for. And it is funny, what I do see, with our virtual events is an with, you know, passionate is a passionate women, right, or they're women wanting to rediscover their passion, we're not typically quiet, you know, and we come from all different backgrounds, but something happens when people join a zoom event or a zoom call. And, you know, there's definitely this, this hesitation to ask questions. Countless times, I think I say, so does anyone have any questions for Lizzie, the amazing speaker and it's like, radio silence. So I tend not to do that now. We tend to use chat a lot. And I've experimented with, you know, asking very traditional, almost networking, like questions as they enter the Zoom Room, so at least you know, who's there, right, share your name, where you're from, and one thing you're passionate about today. So it's like Laura Minneapolis, I love cake. You know, even silly things, right? Just so you know, who's there? Because how many zoom events have you joined where it's just like faces, and you have no idea who these people are? So you're not gonna open up to them if you don't know who they are. But honestly, the polls are okay. I think polls help that give you another piece of content to you know, prompt the audience to sort of get involved. But for me, the the game changer it has been when I share, and it's when I lead and I open up. Others feel like they have the permission to do so. And that's really hard because I always struggle with Okay, so how much should this be about me? And how much should I talk because I'm the host right? And you know, and really, this is for you, it's for them. But I've noticed that if I show up in an authentic way, they tend to follow more. And also, honestly, under writing all of this, it goes back to I think one of your first question, Sarah, about the intent of why we gather together. It's a lot easier, I think, for our passionate O's to open up, because we've already set those beliefs and those boundaries at the front door. So you sort of know that if you're in this space, you're in the Vegas scenario, right? What is there stays there and that people have your back? You know, in my experience at old networking events, I didn't feel that people had my back, you know. And to be fair, those events didn't promise that. But you had to navigate those waters a bit differently, right. But in our events, it's set up that we are women helping each other thrive. So there's just that assumption that that's what we're there to do.
Sarah Fejfar
Yeah. And I'm hearing that you're leading by example. And that's so powerful. You're exhibiting the energy that you want them to, to show up with.
Laura Best
Yeah. And it's, it's really, it's exhausting. Sometimes Sarah will say it, like, it's, you know, I can't I'd I'd love to meet Oprah one day, I mean, just to just to see how she does it, right. And just to learn from her and her journey, and how she shows up, because she to me, is the master of, you know, interviewing and also, you know, creating this sort of global community. And there are some times where you just feel like, oh, my gosh, you know, come on, come on, guys. But I've learned that that's where they are. You know, sometimes people are just tired, and they don't want to engage, or they've had a crappy night's sleep because their kid was up, or they just got a nice email from their boss. And so I try and meet them where they are. But it does take energy. There were some days where I'm just like, can someone else just meet this BS? But no, because it's, that wouldn't work. You know? And not in any I don't mean that to sound arrogant, like, I have to be there. But imagine if Oprah suddenly stopped, you know, hosting her, what are the things where she does her fireside and that she's in her Californian garden. Right? And it's Oh, the soul session, fall session. So that's what I'm thinking of. What if suddenly, she's like, Yeah, no, I'm not. I'm not going to bother showing up for this one. Now. My, my executive producer is going to be in the chair instead of me like, No, you. Oprah is there every time and she leaves. So yeah, got a lot to learn, for sure. But I think it helps. The thing is, it takes some courage to do that. I won't lie. When I first started with passion collective, I actually was still working in corporate. And it felt like I had to put on a completely different hat. Mainly because what I was wearing in corporate was not me. You know, actually, when I was doing passion collective, I was much more true to myself. But standing up and leading authentically don't wanna sound too much like Brene. But she's absolutely right is, you know, that daring leadership, right, that authentic leadership is, I think, really important.
Sarah Fejfar
So Laura, how have you kind of stepped into your leadership role and found your voice as a community creator and an event hosts? What does that what does that journey look like for you?
Laura Best
God? I mean, I'm deaf. I'm nowhere near there. Yeah. I don't even know where there is. Like, I'm trying to think like, what would the end of the journey be? I wonder where Oprah says, oh, yeah, I really got to work on these things. I bet she does. Because she's Oprah. And she wouldn't be where she is without doing that, right. I had a moment a few years ago with my coach, where we had done a video for passion collective. And it was beautiful video, it's actually on the homepage of our website. So it had all the passionate photos at an event like, and I had done a voiceover for it. Um, I've done quite a few voiceovers in the past. But I played it for her. And as I played it, I sort of did this. And she was like, What is this? What you know, what is going on here? What do you mean? And she said, Well, you're doing this, as I know, it's just the sound of my own voice and Oh, my God, like, I'm just sort of so like, my whole body language was like that, right? And she looked at me, she knew me really well. And she's like, right. She was like, think of it this way. There are people in your community who do not have a voice. And you can be the one who has that voice for them. And when she said that, I suddenly realized it was kind of like the Seth Godin couch moment, where I realized actually, this isn't about me anymore. It's it's about this community that I'm helping to bring together. And funnily enough, some months later, I was running one of our workshops. I am remarkable Pull, which is all about self promotion. In the workplace. It's actually a Google program. It's really cool. And it helps address the barriers for women and underrepresented groups in the workplace. And I had made what I thought was quite a throwaway comment about women being talked over in the workplace. I shared a personal experience, like maybe for 10 seconds, didn't think anything of it. And I got this email from one of the Passion autos who had joined the workshop saying, Thank you so much for saying that. I have never had the courage to say that out loud. But hearing you say, it makes me realize that I wasn't crazy all these years. And I was like, Okay. The coach was right, Michael Cathcart. She's awesome. By the way, check her out. That was a really defining moment for me, because I realized that I'm not going to be perfect with what I say or what I do every day with passion collective. But if I can articulate what I'm feeling, and my experience and try and map it to our community, hopefully it will connect and help them in some way. So I'm very much still. I'm not I think many entrepreneurs and business owners, you know, I'm sure all of you are still working on this right? How do I describe what I do? How do I lead in this way? How do I be this figurehead, I'm very aware of not wanting to be viewed as some sort of self help guru, because there are some bad examples out there. Right. Or, you know, some of the MLMs that are out there that are just like horrific with some of these, like personalities, who have driven this very toxic culture. But I have to put that to one side and say, No, this is for our community. And also, we're a business, we're not a nonprofit, we are a business. And so, you know, the more we're out there, the more I'm out there, hopefully, the more we grow, and the more we can grow as a community and we help each other, the more money we can put back into our grants, for example, the retreats we can put on. So that's what I tell myself when I start to feel the, you know, the crazy monkeys in my head. Tell me not to speak up.
Sarah Fejfar
I love that journey. Laura. And again, like how you're leading by example, and helping other women find their voice is just so powerful.
Laura Best
Yeah, thank you. I mean, I just yeah, it's to me, you know, even if I look at that example, with Michael, she's a female coach, right? And the me, her giving me that advice was really meaningful, and meant a lot and change something inside of me. So I know what it feels like to have another woman helped me along that journey. And so to me, it's all this. What is it the infinity loop or the circle? I don't know what, what it would be. But it's we are all sounds cheesy. But we are all in this together. And certainly as women if we can help each other out, if we don't try because we're worried that it's gonna sound wrong, or people will say Who does she think she is? Saying all that community leader? Time let them think it?
Sarah Fejfar
Well, then they're not your people. Right?
Laura Best
Tell ya. That is really hard, though. I'm eight years in and it's still really hard. One tip for your audience. This is a bit of a diversion. But after eight years, I only just turned off the unsubscribe notifications from MailChimp. I used to get a notification every time someone unsubscribed it was just the way it was set up. And couple of weeks ago, I'm like, I don't want to see him anymore. I mean, I'll go in and check on an ongoing basis. But every time it was like a stab to the heart,
Sarah Fejfar
oh, yeah, we have to really put a filter on the content that we let in. Yeah. And we need to put positive in if we want to put positive out in that club. And just, you know, to underline that for everyone who says no, this isn't for me, like that is really a gift because like they are for somebody you are for somebody and you aren't for somebody and you really like your community wouldn't be what it is if the people who it wasn't for stayed in it like the serendipity is because every you know, like you're sharing with people who this is who it's for. And this is who this is not for. And the serendipity of the room is it's just it's magic.
Laura Best
Yeah, I know. And it's I remember one of your previous guests talked about how nerve wracking it is to put on an event and to just not see the RSVPs come through and it is is terrifying. Even though our field trip on Friday mama going on Saturday, is everyone going to I had someone back out today because they might have COVID I hope she's feeling good. But also I'm like, people gonna show up. There is this sort of constant anxiety To round whether you do have a tribe, and whether you can rely on your tribe and whether they care. And honestly, I had one event last year where zero people showed up. Luckily, it was not a big event. But I went into the Zoom Room. Okay, I just hung out for 15 minutes. And it was only the only event where no one showed up by the way, the others are good. But I told myself, I'm just going to be here. And if they need it, I am going to be here. And it's taken quite a long time to get to that point and not beat myself up about it. Because again, I'm trying to be in service for them. And I can't control what their day looks like or whether they get COVID, or any of that. And you have to believe that whether you're a business owner or a community builder, what you're doing is going to help people and you just need to find them. It's just really hard to find them and keep them.
Sarah Fejfar
Yeah, that really leads me to my next question, because this is part of that, like rapid fire segment that I like to do before we wrap up is just like underscoring that whole mindset. What do you tell yourself backstage and onstage? And so like, what comes to mind right away when I say that?
Laura Best
Yeah, I mean, I think back to our last budget session, this is actually kind of hilarious. So we decided to have mics. Oh, that's right. Because we were recording for audio, we were trying that for the first time, which actually worked really well. But I've worn this dress, the sort of tight God knows what I was thinking this sort of tight black dress, with no belt, too. By the way, if you're doing an event and you need to have a mic, you need some something to put the mic on. Right? So I'm backstage in the toilet of the venue. And you know, Jada, our intern is sort of got a hand up my back trying to put this microphone block. So I look like you know, the Hunchback of Notre DOM with this thing on my back. And I sort of look in the mirror Am I okay? Cuz that's not ideally how you want to be backstage, right? Want to sort of be like Beyonce, you know, before she goes on, not with someone with their hands up your back trying to put a mic on. So you know, regardless of the the bad preparation you can do, I just always tell myself that, you know, I have to lead the energy. And regardless of I mean, our events are always a lot of work or in person events. I mean, the idea is, obviously people show up and they have an amazing time. But I always describe it, as you know, working really hard on this dinner party, and you've got the best food and you've laid your table out. And then you know, there's that moment at your house when you kind of sit on the couch. And you just sort of wait for your guests to come and everything's in the oven and the wines there and you're like, I think you've just got to tell yourself that you have to lead with your energy. And it doesn't mean that you have to be fake, but you have to show up as you you have to prepare a lot though, as well. And I think that helps you lead with energy. So it took me a couple of goals to figure out, because with our speakers, I'm the Oprah right. So I'm there. And I'm sort of leading and curating the conversation. It took me a couple of events to really figure out even the card size that I needed for the questions. One event, I took a big clipboard, and I was like, What am I doing, I'm like a school teacher with a clipboard. And I felt really awkward, right? So that affected my energy, I figured out I need these small cards, you know, like Oprah has. And so for me, it's about the energy leading with who you are, but having the preparation down for your talking points, knowing how you're going to transition however, you're emceeing or hosting. But also just knowing I always think our events like weddings, something will always go wrong. And I've had to let go of the fact that I've wanted you know, this perfect experience because people don't normally notice when small things go wrong. You do. But you've got to let go of that because that can sap your energy. You know, if you're leading an event, you have to be in that moment, and you have to be doing it for your audience. So all of those things combined and wear a belt.
Sarah Fejfar
Laura Beth device of the day wear about
Laura Best
us belts. No, we're wearing sweat pants. You Oh my god wearing a sweat my sweat pants. I could have just clipped it in but I will
Sarah Fejfar
warn any sort of like hard pants or belt in the last two years like I want to know. Alright, share your best tip for filling events with linchpin Nation.
Laura Best
I'm going to steal one from your previous guest. And he is absolutely right. I'm sorry. I can't remember his name. I'm really sorry previous guest. But he said you have to weave event promotion into everything you do. Up to your event. You can't just expect to put an event up on Eventbrite or on your company website and be like, Oh, show up, they'll know about it. A, they're really busy. They may not know about it. So you've got to over communicate with people, even though it feels like you're pushing it on them a bit, you've got to tell them where it is, why they should go with all the basics of marketing. But you know, when your business development conversations, can you give away a free ticket, or can you do 10% off a ticket, you know, think of nonprofit organizations who may benefit from sending their people but who may not have the budget, give them a discount, give them free tickets. And I think it always has to be in your mind, and this is why it's so stressful, that you've got to fill the seats to the event, you can't just sit back and hope that people are going to find it. There's way too much noise out there right now. And I'm going to guess using kind of the basics of marketing strategy, that they're going to need to hear about it at least six times for them to take action, which if you think about it is couple of emails and social media stuff personal reach out a LinkedIn note, there's a lot of that personal pushing, if you're lucky enough to have a sales team, or team in your company, then, you know, gamify it for them, you know, do a rally for an hour where everybody rings, all their contacts, and they let them know about the event and whoever gets the most RSVPs get a prize at the end of it. You know, go old school, you know, sales methodology there. But yeah, you've got to you've got to do that while sticking to your brand values, right? You don't suddenly want to become, you know, constantly selling this event and what you do, if that's not who you are, you know, you've got to find a way to do it. That is part of you.
Sarah Fejfar
Yeah, I couldn't agree more, you have to keep talking about it, you can't stop. But you have to do it in a way that is authentic to you and your brand. And that gamification comment that you just made reminded me of this gamification style for filling events that I heard of that might work really well for your events, where they actually create, and this is something where they do like an annual event. So it's kind of a big push for about 10 weeks, but they they empower their community and they create a contest for the community. So you would be creating a contest for your passion Otto's, and they could team up or you know, do it as a single person. But they you know, whoever gets the most like signups over a period, like gets prizes. And then the most signups over like the whole, you know, period of time. So like, maybe you have weekly contest, but then you have like the full 10 week contest. And this entrepreneur was saying it hands down, like fills their events every single time. And the community just like steps, rises to the occasion, and has such a fun time with it, and just really feels empowered to spread the mission.
Laura Best
Yeah, that's brilliant. I mean, if you've got the time to do that, and the resources, I think that's brilliant, because you know who else to talk about? Or who better to talk about the events and the people you're doing it for, you know, we can stand up there all day on our soapbox and talk about it. But they're, they're the right ones to be doing it really. So I think that's a really good idea.
Sarah Fejfar
I couldn't agree more, what first thing that comes to mind, what's your favorite moment at an event that you host?
Laura Best
Like an event, a moment that happened in the past, or just a consistent, like,
Sarah Fejfar
Consistently at every event like this is the moment where like, your heart skips a beat, or like your eyes like hold on something.
Laura Best
So in our both sessions, in our in person events, we do this, you know, the story sharing, which were the happy hour is always great. The story sharing is always wonderful. But then we go into journaling. So we have like this five minutes, where, you know, we've set some sort of prompts or there's some exercise for them to do. And then the passion to share. And for me, hands down, you know, the last event that we did with finding find your fears, when people stand up in front of a room of strangers and talk about their experience, whether it's a career experience, or life or some sort of trauma they had that they've overcome. Like, for me, I just want to sit down and just let them carry on. You know, for me, that's a very, very humbling experience, because this is what it's all about, in my mind. And it just feels that, you know, we're all part of that shared moment together. And that person has been so courageous and gracious to stand up and talk in front of a room of strangers. And sometimes, you know, companies buy team membership for their women, so they will sign up 10 of their women to be passion, collective members, right. So there'll be a table of women from the company at the event. And even then, you know, a woman is standing up and talking in front of her co workers about, you know, this moment in her childhood or whatever it is. So for me, it's it's definitely a moment of all to be like, yeah, that's, this is why we're doing it, it sort of reinforces our mission and really what we're trying to do as a community. And I always worry, it's never gonna happen, but it always does.
Sarah Fejfar
Oh wow, that's so special. Really just makes it feel like it's all worth it, those little moments.
Laura Best
Yeah, that's a good way of putting it, it really did. Especially, I mean, you will know how much work events are. You can run yourself ragged with them, especially when you're starting out and you don't have huge budgets, you know, you are cutting corners, you're trying to do things differently, you know, you're, you're putting the Trader Joe's wine into, you know, a pitcher to make Sangria with lemonade, you know, it's not all like, and so it's a, it's a lot of work. But I think it goes back to the purpose of what you're trying to do, either as a business or with the events that you run, they have to be integrated.
Sarah Fejfar
So what is the best thing about hosting your own events? What's the best thing that's come of it for your business?
Laura Best
I mean, there are many stories of these moments that have happened because of passion collective. And we really should do a better job of cataloging them and getting them out there. Because I continue to hear, you know, months later, oh, yeah, you know, I got this job because I met so and so that even happier, um, it really, I can't even remember you being Miss I'm sorry. You know, there's always, you know, the, you're like a bride at your own wedding sometimes, right? You don't remember all the details and all the interactions of your own events. But people will say, Oh, yeah, I connected with her and when doing this now. And I haven't had a role beyond connecting them together and enabling them to open up and they have taken it from there. So for me that makes it worthwhile. But honestly, selfishly, for myself, I really love the work we do. I have my consulting business too. And I love my clients. It's not a secret for them to know that hopefully, I won't be running my consulting business forever. And hopefully, we can get passion collective to a point where we're able to really run that as I would love to be able to run it. But I'm taking my time with it intentionally a because it's fun, be because I want to grow passion collective in the right way, I don't suddenly want to change us in any way that's going to really denigrate what we're trying to do. But for me, compared to where I was in my last corporate position, my life is completely different. And I'm so much happier with myself, but also, as a mum, and I'm leading more of the life that I want to lead. I mean, there's still always ways that we can change it up. But, I mean, underscoring all of this for me is that we only have one life. We've got one, I'm going to swear Sarah, one bloody life. That's it. And so for me, you know, when I decided to leave the corporate world, and and really go out on my own, I realized that I needed to make the most of who I was. And I needed to give it a shot. Will it work? I don't know, that define work? Right? Define will it work? So, you know, I would encourage everybody who is, is listening or watching here to really think about, you know, what makes you unique and special? And what do you really love? What are you passionate about? And you know, businesses business, we all need to make money, but how can you incorporate some of your unique talent and magic? And the idea of helping other people into how you're executing your business strategy, how you're executing your events? Because at the end of the day, it's all about people. Yeah, and I think we lose sight of that sometimes with events, certainly the biggest scale events. It's all about how those people feel when they leave and what happens afterwards, ironically, because we spend so much time on the content in the event. But I think it's about what impact have you got when they leave your event? And for me, I feel like we're in a really good spot with that. There's always more to do though.
Sarah Fejfar
Yeah, transformation. 100% That's what we're all working towards. That's the impact we're looking to make with our guests. Laura, I'd love to know what are you reading right now?
Laura Best
What am I what reading? Yeah. Oh, I love books. I'm passionate about books, but I'm not very good at giving myself time to read books. Especially when Netflix is so good right now. And Hulu. I am reading a book called The past Hassinger and it is a rediscovered novel from a Jewish man who is trying to leave Germany, right at the beginning of World War Two. And I'm only just beginning to read it. I'm a history graduate. So I did history at Warwick, I love modern European history. I did some American history as well. So I really, really love stories of people. And this story in particular, I'm already in it, and it's going to be incredible. I think it's very, very sad story. And his personal story as an author is, is not. It's not a happy one. But I really like sort of dark, deep stuff. If I'm reading, I have to say,
Sarah Fejfar
there's so much history can teach us. Right,
Laura Best
exactly. And it's again, it's about people, you know, my special subject to uni was the women of the French Revolution, I really wanted to learn more about it, because we hear about the men of the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette, obviously a big woman in the French Revolution and that period, but I really wanted to know about the everyday women who did a lot to drive that revolution. And so I could talk about that stuff all day. But there's definitely threads that come in there and most of the books, so I'm on good reads, right, and I set my target for the goal of the books I want to read every year. And mostly I don't hit it. But I realized, you know, there are books that I try and read, because I think I should. And then there are the books that I really just love reading. And most of those are history books, historical fiction books. So that would be a passion of mine.
Sarah Fejfar
So good. Laura, I want you to share what you've got going on right now. And where linchpin nation can find you.
Laura Best
Yeah, we got lots I feel like we're so prepared this year, we've got compared to last year, I mean, wasn't last year still just such a crazy situation. And this year is no easier. But I feel like we're very prepared. We have lots of events already booked. Our next mini Bose session is on March 10. And we're talking about your money or your life, sorry, I should get this right, your money and your life. And if anyone knows English history, they used to be these men called highway men who used to rob people up and down the country, the rich people, and they're saying was your money or your life. So we've kind of ripped that off, we're going to talk about sorry, tangent, we're going to talk about how to free up your financials, your finances, so you can pursue your passion. Because most of us when we want to pursue a passion, especially if you're a working parent, there are a lot of bills to pay a lot of obligations and responsibilities. Often passions take money, whether it's a career passion, a creative passion, how do we put ourselves first with money and Susan's Yvette, who's a wealth advisor here in town has got a really incredible personal story of overcoming trauma in her life, and figuring out that her financial relationship with trauma was very connected. So she had to figure out how she was really building a relationship with money, so she could be happy. And so we're gonna talk a lot about her story, but also some practical tips for how to do that, how to put yourself first with money and not to feel shame about it. We also have an iron remarkable event coming up in April. So that's the one where if you are if you have people on your team who really need to work on self promotion and confidence. It's a really strong 90 minute workshop, where we talk about the societal barriers for women and underrepresented groups around self promotion. And the fact that it's not our fault, isn't it, but also a really nice workshop element where you get to look at why you are remarkable as a person. So that's a free event for everyone. If you want to really dig into passion collective, and by the way, passion collective Dotco is where our public home is. We you can also from there find passion collective on demand. And that is where you can sign your team up for membership or you can sign up for membership yourself, and you get a whole load of extra stuff there. So we have a lot going on. And if we're Minneapolis on Friday, we've got the field trip going on. I imagine this may go out after February, so I probably shouldn't say anytime. Sorry, Sarah.
Sarah Fejfar
I wish well I'm just jealous because I wish I was in the Twin Cities and I could go on a field trip
Laura Best
coming to one in Oregon. Let's do it. You can be on new chapter. Right.
Sarah Fejfar
Laura, this has been absolutely a treat to have this conversation with you today. And I know lynchpin nation's got like copious notes from all of like this really this mini masterclass that you've put together for us today on guest engagement and intentional, like community creation. It's been so beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing today,
Laura Best
sir, I really appreciate you having me on. And you're doing a brilliant job with this and well done on building the linchpin nation to draw and if anyone wants to connect, just find me on LinkedIn, I'm not that difficult to find with old bangs. Go in. So then with the bangs,
Sarah Fejfar
I will put all of those links up in the show notes for sure, including LinkedIn, and your coach that you mentioned and where they can find the passion collective, all of your events. Awesome. Thank you so much, Laura.
Laura Best
Thanks, Sarah. Take care.
Sarah Fejfar
Thank you for listening to the greenroom central podcast today. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it to Instagram and be sure to tag at Sarah Fejfar. And let me know why you liked it and what you'd like to hear or who you'd like to hear from in the future. That'll help me know what to create for you.
Sarah Fejfar
And if it's on your heart to host your first or next event in 2022, then you need an end you need a jumpstart, then I think we should connect for a strategy session. Just go to Green Room central calm. In a two hour intensive private session, I can help you pivot scale or start your event vision from scratch. Together, we will build an actionable plan to help you feel confident and clear on your next steps. Just go to green room central.com right now to sign up.
Sarah Fejfar
On average, I spend about an hour a day reading every month of every year. If you love learning on the go as much as I do. Go to greenroom central.com to get a free audiobook and a free 30 day trial of Audible, my audiobook platform of choice and a sponsor of Green Central. Perhaps you'll grab a copy of the passenger or one of my favorites tribes by Seth Godin who Laura was chatting about today.
Sarah Fejfar
I want to say I appreciate your commitment to leveling up and learning the mindset and strategy of live events. Keep going keep learning if you want to learn more head over to Greenroom Central .com For show notes and all the links from today's episode.
