How I Built It: From Drama Teacher to Award-Winning Wedding Planner with Sally Gallis

Sally Gallis, a former drama teacher with a passion for storytelling, has made a striking transition into the world of wedding planning, founding her own successful business, Luna and the Lane, in Brighton. She unravels her fascinating journey from the classroom to orchestrating unforgettable celebrations, revealing how her drama teaching skills played a pivotal role in shaping her new career. Sally’s story is more than just a career change; it’s a testament to courage and the incredible power of transferable skills that many educators possess when they seek new paths.

Facing the unpredictable nature of weddings, Sally shares her initial struggles and how she cleverly leveraged her production background to navigate her new industry. She opens up about the challenges of building a reputation without a portfolio and how understanding her ideal client became a game-changer. Her journey is peppered with insights about the importance of collaboration, networking, and perseverance, accompanied by relatable anecdotes, including that iconic "Jerry Maguire" moment that every entrepreneur can relate to when seeking validation and support.

As Sally's business flourished, the role of mentorship and networking became central to her success, particularly during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through personal stories and experiences, she emphasizes the importance of remaining calm in high-pressure situations and nurturing personal relationships that bring a unique touch to her work. Sally leaves us with practical advice for budding wedding planners, underscoring the significance of embracing new experiences, enjoying simple pleasures like a favorite pair of shoes, and maintaining a balance between being dedicated and not taking life too seriously.

Chapters

• 0:28 From Drama Teacher to Wedding Planner
• 9:38 Navigating Challenges in Wedding Planning
• 24:08 The Journey of a Wedding Planner
• 33:11 Business Growth and Mentorship Advice
• 38:53 Industry Insights and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:29

Welcome back to Season 4 of Wedding Empires. Our special guest today, sally Gallis, has spent 20 years as a drama teacher and director. In 2018, after planning her own wedding, she decided to flex her creative skills and started her own wedding planning business called Luna and the Lane. Sally now has a thriving business that is planning and coordinating with styling and prop hire around the south of England. Sally, welcome, hey, nice to be here. It's really nice to meet you. We were having a lovely chat offline about the fact that you're down in Brighton.

Speaker 2: 1:07

It's a lovely spot Down in sunny Brighton. What? A lovely place to do weddings. Spot Down in sunny Brighton. What a lovely place to do weddings. It's a really lovely place because it's quite sort of it's quite free spirited and colourful and it's really nice. You get some really lovely people and they're really down to earth, not stuffy, so it's quite nice. You get a variety of clients.

Speaker 1: 1:29

I bet. Now I don't. I actually don't think that drama teacher to wedding planner is that much of a stretch. It it funny for me when back in the day, when in high school I went to the like careers advisor and they made you do that test, it was like travel agent, drama teacher, wedding planner so for me I'm like well, of course, that makes perfect sense to me and yeah, so I think I think having a creative vision and directing is is so much of what we do as wedding planners.

Speaker 2: 2:03

Right, it's not a stretch absolutely loads of people say to me having a good clue about sort of the teaching profession or anything like that. They just go, oh my god, it's so different, like what made you do it? And then sort of then start explaining to them actually it's no different whatsoever, it's just a different clientele. And uh, and you know, you start to realize those sort of transferative skills are there and it's really really obvious that change and actually surprisingly, the amount of teachers, ex-teachers I meet on the circuit is outstanding. It's like you know, people crawl out of the woodwork and they go oh yeah, I used to be a teacher and it's okay then too so I guess, well, I'd like to know what.

Speaker 1: 2:49

Um sorry, sorry go.

Speaker 2: 2:52

I was just gonna say I guess we get sort of so stressed up to a point and then go I can't take it anymore and what can I do, and then wedding planner is the obvious choice. It's very strange.

Speaker 1: 3:03

Yeah, I ended up being a theatre producer and I went through that same change, in that you know, I know how to direct and I know how to come up with the idea. What else can I do where I can apply those skills and I don't have to worry about selling tickets? So, all right. What drew you to drama teaching in the beginning?

Speaker 2: 3:29

I think it's always. I think teaching is always something that I just knew I was going to go into and I think, like you were saying, I mean, back in the day, the careers advisors would would give you sort of like three channels that they thought that you should go into and none of them were really anything that floated my boat. And, uh, I don't know, I don't know, I honestly don't know. It was so long ago. I honestly don't know what led me into it other than the fact that I really liked the subject, I liked the freedom of it and I actually was quite geeky and I love sort of delving into text and I love literature and all that sort of thing. So I actually started training with little kids at uni and then they changed the curriculum and then they said, well, well, basically you're not going to get any chance to do drama now because we're changing it all, so you have to, you have to change your course and and um work with older children and teenagers and that sort of thing, and I thought, oh my god, they're going to eat me alive.

Speaker 2: 4:26

Anyway, I did it. I did it and I absolutely loved it, because I ended up working with um sort of young people and up to the age of like 20. And it was great because they were able to just really give themselves and they were keen on, like, exploring things rather than, you know, going in and you know, doing something low level. We got a bit geeky with it and it was lovely, and that then led me into doing the directing and producing, which I loved because it's so creative and there's so many things that you can do with it. So I absolutely loved it. So I've always done it. But I just got to the point I thought, right, I'm going to get to my 20-year point, because I used to look around the staff room and see all these sort of old, crusty people in there and they were, you know, almost at death's door and I thought, oh, my god, I can't get to that.

Speaker 2: 5:23

Um so, 20 years, that's honorable. That's the point where I'm going to stop. And actually I was in my I would have been in my very early 40s at that point and uh, and I thought, right, I can do this because I've got the energy, I've got time to sort of play with it. If it doesn't work, I've still got time that I can go back and go back into teaching and done work. But, um, yeah, I just felt like it was the right time to go that's.

Speaker 3: 5:51

That's a huge step going from 20 years of teaching into a whole new career.

Speaker 1: 5:55

How did?

Speaker 3: 5:57

I kind of know what that's like myself. So was there any fears that you had or any doubts that you had in making that change?

Speaker 2: 6:04

Massively. It was so scary because I was going from something that had a salary that had a monthly salary and it was a good salary because I worked my way up. And I was going from something that had a salary that had a monthly salary and it was a good salary because I worked my way up and I was managing people and everything and to suddenly plunge myself into something that was unknown, without that safety net of being able to pay the bills and the mortgage every month. It was really frightening. But I have a really supportive family.

Speaker 2: 6:34

It was really frightening but, um, I have really supportive family, my husband's very supportive and he's he allows me to have these weird harebrained schemes every now and then and he's a risk taker anyway. So I think he he was behind me and and he just and he could also see that I was really quite tired and uh and desperately didn't want to continue doing the teaching. So he was just like you know, if you feel a passion for this, absolutely go for it. But yeah, it was massively scary because I didn't have that safety net. I was, you know, you do something for 20 years. You know it like the back of your hand and that links, I say nicely, to the fact that I then did a course with you guys and that helped to set me up. Oh yes, the wedding academy.

Speaker 2: 7:14

You spoke about your husband there. That thing.

Speaker 3: 7:19

Did you plan your own wedding, Sally?

Speaker 2: 7:21

Yeah, I did, I did I think a lot of us do actually that have got into the industry.

Speaker 2: 7:26

I think it's maybe something that sort of pushes us into it.

Speaker 2: 7:29

But yeah, back in in 2013 I got remarried to my, to my lovely, very supportive husband and, um, I, I went into that completely blind.

Speaker 2: 7:39

I mean, I was, I was obviously doing my directing and stuff at the time and I thought, easy, I could do this, I direct all these shows and everything, and but it was really interesting because at that point, when you don't work in the industry, you don't actually understand all the choice that you have. You know, you, you have this idea about what a wedding should be because you see everybody else's or you see it on films and all this sort of thing. But actually it's only when you actually start delving into it and reaching out to people and and doing your research that you realize how much choice there is out there now. And I really, really enjoyed it and actually a lot of the people that I recruited to help in terms of vendors and things like that are people that I work with now, which is really really nice, and people that I suggest for my clients. So it was quite eye opening, but I absolutely loved it and I do think that that probably gave me the impetus to actually go.

Speaker 2: 8:36

Oh yeah, there's more to this wedding planning stuff than I first thought, and I guess that's all the sort of transferable skills as well it's a bit of a funny thing.

Speaker 3: 8:47

I've been doing this 20 years as well and you see some brides, they love it, they have a great time planning their own wedding, and then there's others that are actually tearing their hair out, that never want to see another wedding in their whole life. So fantastic, you had a great experience and now it's a career.

Speaker 2: 9:01

Yeah I did have a good one, but I do think that maybe my background probably helped that as well. Um, I mean, I see that now I mean I get to a certain point with planning and clients, or you know, if suddenly I get an email from somebody that's like, oh I've. You know, I've gone into this really wanting to plan my own wedding and I thought it was going to be great, but actually I'm feeling quite overwhelmed now and I just need somebody to just help or just do it for me. So yeah, people have different experiences with it, but luckily mine was quite positive that's good yeah, I think you would have had a similar experience to me.

Speaker 1: 9:39

When you, you can hear me, yeah, um, I think you would have had a similar experience to me where, where it was that first meeting or the first couples, where you didn't have the wedding planning experience behind you but you were able to kind of lean on the production skills right and kind of go you know what no, I haven't done a wedding, but I brought a West End show to Australia by myself, like if stuff's gonna go wrong I'm gonna deal with it. It's like well within my range. Was that similar for you?

Speaker 2: 11:36

actually that I was, yeah, totally. I had exactly the same thoughts. As you know, I've done this, I've done this, so surely I can do this because yeah for me and I'm making the, so you know, surely it should be a bit easier. But yeah, I had a great time doing it. I really enjoyed doing it. So, yeah, didn't put me off.

Speaker 1: 11:59

let's say and when it came to building your own business, did you have a clear kind of creative vision around that? No, no, no. So how did that all?

Speaker 2: 12:15

come together. Well, I thought I did. I thought going into it, I know my clients, I know how I'm going to do this, I know what kind of planner I am. Yeah right, I didn't have a clue. I know what kind of planner I am yeah right, I didn't have a clue. And I'm somebody that is very honest about what they thought they were going to be like and actually the reality, because I think it's so important that you're able to just reflect on your practice and actually develop things. But so at the point where I decided to change my career, I was I was working in a really posh private school girls school and I was thinking, oh yeah, what I'll be able to do is to set this business up and then, when they all come of age, and get married.

Speaker 2: 13:10

People come to me you know I've got, I've already got these. I've just got to wait. You know, seven years or whatever for them all. They'll all come swarming to me because I know what I'm doing and you know they're going to have massive budgets and all this sort of thing.

Speaker 2: 13:25

And and I sat and I I waited for the clients to come in and they didn't come in and I was thinking what's going on here and I'd got my ideal client completely wrong and I was just sort of expecting things to come my way and it didn't. And I thought, okay, I actually have to sort of rethink my sort of business plan and think about my ideal client a little bit more. And this was all the time where I was doing my course. So it gave me. It was really good because it gave me thinking time and I learned from the course in terms of all the client, you know, ideal client, the new recipe and all this thing. So it gave me breathing time to really rethink who I was and what kind of planner I was, what kind of ideal client I wanted and all that sort of thing.

Speaker 2: 14:15

So I went into it thinking, oh yeah, I've got the skills, I've got this, I've got to just wait a few years for these people to mature and everything. But maybe they're all just this, maybe they're all sisters or you know, their mums might get remarried or something, but it's fine because they're there, no, so so yeah, it was a, it was a learning curve, but, oh my god, I'm so pleased I had that learning curve, because I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now, to be honest, and I don't think I'd be working with the people that I actually enjoy working with. So, yeah, you've got to.

Speaker 3: 14:48

You've got to look at where you are and reflect sometimes, and it might not be the best thing, and that's fine so, speaking of learning curves, like, were they the biggest challenges you had or were there other challenges that you faced in doing this?

Speaker 2: 15:01

yeah, yep yeah, um, they weren't. That wasn't the only one. I mean, that was one of the main ones was the whole ideal client thing. But, um, I think starting any business is obviously really hard, but something that is so visual, when you don't have the visuals, that's a, that's a massive deterrent, because you know, how are you going to get the clients if you can't, if you can't sort of own what you're doing and you can't show what you're doing and and have that trust and everything so.

Speaker 2: 15:30

So it's like going into a job, isn't it, where you go into the interview and they say, oh, what experience have you got for this job? We need this, this and this and this, and you go well, I haven't got it, and you're waiting for somebody to take a punt on you, to go. Actually, what you bring to the interview is enough and I'm willing to take that chance. It's the same thing with clients, really, of your stuff, you know how can you show that you're good at something? Or you know, give me the chance to show you.

Speaker 2: 15:56

Yeah, so, in terms of things like that, I tried to. I just collaborated to the point where I didn't. I couldn't collaborate anymore. I worked with, I worked with um, I worked with so many different suppliers and things like that, just to shadow them, to learn from them, to get connections, networking, and I did, my god, the amount of shoots that I did in order to get visuals, you know I just you've got to do a thing in order to put it out there, to say, look, I can do this. And then you know, hopefully the jobs will come trickling in, and they did. But my God, those were challenges. Being able to prove to people you can do it when you haven't done it before. It's really hard.

Speaker 3: 16:48

That story reminds me of, or puts you in a scene of, jerry mcguire. The help me, help you like that kind of deal you show me the money, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 16:59

And then show me the money, yeah, I need to remember that.

Speaker 3: 17:04

Help me, help you now.

Speaker 2: 17:05

Show me the money yeah, yeah, that's it, that's it, yeah, it's. It's that trust, isn't it you? How can you, how can you prove to somebody when you can't, when you haven't got the things to show them? You? Know, and so who is your?

Speaker 1: 17:20

perfect client like. Who do you work with now?

Speaker 2: 17:24

it's really interesting actually how that's just sort of sounds organically happened. It's, the people that get in touch with me are very they're quite design-led, they're very open-minded, they're people that are really allowing of somebody to share expertise with. So they're people that are very open-minded to choice.

Speaker 3: 17:48

Are they ex-private schoolgirls?

Speaker 2: 17:51

No, never mind it's a choice. Are they ex-private?

Speaker 3: 17:55

schoolgirls or no? It's surprising.

Speaker 2: 17:56

No, it hasn't come around yet done a couple of ex-student ones, but that's just because you know, maybe they don't know any better, yeah, but generally speaking they're. They're sort of early 30s they're. I'd say you know they, they're south coast couples, so they're, they're around this area and I was just saying to jack before we came on the whole sort of demographic of Brighton and the surrounding areas is very young at heart, very open-minded, quite colourful, but doesn't have to be. But I think because of my I always say to them as well because of my background with directing, set, designing and all that sort of thing, I don't necessarily have a style. So if people come to me and they want me to do the whole shebang, the planning and the styling and all that sort of thing, I'll say, okay, well, you know, bring your inspiration to me and let's sort of, let's work together to create something where we're all singing and dancing and some from the same song sheet.

Speaker 2: 19:01

So I get a variety of people coming to me and I get those people that want something a bit more luxury, but it's not in the luxury market. They want the feel of luxury, but they're a bit more open-minded about it and they're willing. They look at trends but they're not really focused on. Well, I must have draping, I must have bows because it's 2025. You know we're influenced by things. But I say to them you'll look back on this and you'll go oh, you can tell my wedding was in 2025. Or I can tell my wedding was in 2013. I'm not interested in that, I'm interested in reflecting you.

Speaker 2: 19:39

So I try, and the first time that we meet, normally, like on Zoom or something, I try and sort of put out who I am and the nature of the way I work, and you know, nine times out of 10, it works well. And they then go. Yeah, I'd love you to help me, but if I feel as though they're not my people, I've got to the point now where I will say to them that I don't know whether we're aligned and I don't know whether you're going to get the right experience with me. So I feel quite confident now to actually say to people to direct them to perhaps looking at other things, because it's you know, I'm not going to get something out of it. They're not going to get the same experience out of it. I'd rather them go to somebody that is more aligned with them. And I didn't think I'd get to that point.

Speaker 1: 20:28

That's a great way to word that.

Speaker 2: 20:31

That's a great way to word that you know. It's important, you know.

Speaker 1: 20:37

We learn to say no finally. I know in the beginning we didn't. It was like someone give me a go.

Speaker 2: 20:43

You know Very clear in the beginning we didn't. It was like someone give me a go, you know, please. But yeah, I think you know, at the end of the day, you want to enjoy what you're doing and you want to enjoy who you're working with, because you know the planning journey can take you, you know, a year. I want to work with people over that year that are getting something really good out of the experience from me, as well as me enjoying what I'm doing with them. So I think it's really important. It's important to get to the point where you know who your ideal client is and you're attracting them as opposed to anyone.

Speaker 3: 21:15

Yeah, and well done for not pandering to the trends as well. We're in an industry that is so swayed by the next thing that comes through and then, unfortunately, in two years, it's completely out of date and it looks trash.

Speaker 2: 21:30

Exactly and I'm very keen on. You know, brilliant. Let's look at the fashion, let's look at you know what's in the media and all this sort of thing. I mean that's fantastic. I find that really exciting. But I will look at a trend and I'll pick things from it but incorporate it into into their, their day, and the whole thing is about reflecting them. It's not not about reflecting a trend that's happening at the moment. I just don't want them to look back on it and regret choices just because everybody else was doing it.

Speaker 3: 22:01

You know how many times have we seen jack? How, how many times I had a?

Speaker 1: 22:06

client send me a photo and go.

Speaker 2: 22:08

I just want that just yeah, oh, all the same people and pinterest pinterest is is is part of this as well. I mean, I think pinterest is brilliant. I think people think pinterest is you either great or it's the demon. But I really like Pinterest to a point. You know People, we meet people and they'll go, oh, I've got my Pinterest board and I'll be like, okay, great, send it over to me. And then you can immediately go, well, that's not going to work, and that's not going to work, or that's not going to be in season, or you know, I'm down in sunny um, south of england, and you know they're showing me things that are jet. You know there's a lot coming from australia, for example, and I go, well, that's available in australia. We're not gonna be able to do that, that's an australian native yeah, yeah, I get that all the time.

Speaker 3: 23:03

Someone, a bride, will send me a picture and I'll look through and I'll go yep, can do that. No, no, you're mental, no yeah, like that's ugly yeah yeah, that's. Do you want to look at yourself like that in five years?

Speaker 2: 23:16

no mental yeah, but having those conversations with people. You know you've got to be working with the right people to have those conversations with them and they've got to trust you to go. Actually, I think Sam knows what she's talking about. You know, she's not just saying I don't like that because that's not her taste. She's saying that because actually it's just not practical.

Speaker 2: 23:38

You, know, so it all comes back around to just working with the right people, doesn't it I guess? So it all comes back around to just working with the right people, doesn't it I guess? Yeah, absolutely Attracting them.

Speaker 1: 23:46

Yeah, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, now you won a big award recently.

Speaker 3: 23:53

Yeah, I read that in the show notes too.

Speaker 1: 23:55

I'm like wow, what was it South it did?

Speaker 2: 23:58

Best.

Speaker 1: 23:58

Wedding Planner.

Speaker 2: 23:59

So I got, yeah, best Wedding Planner in the Southeast. So I got, yeah, best wedding planner in the Southeast. So I sometimes have to remind myself actually what that means, because you know, I'm a two-person show, so there's me and there's a full-timer and my little business that I made, yeah, so apparently I'm the best planner in Sussex, kent, surrey and all of London. So I'm like, well, check me out, yeah, I know. So I'm the best planner in Sussex, kent, surrey and all of London. So I'm like, well, check me out, yeah, I know. So I'm really, I know, I'm really really proud of myself.

Speaker 2: 24:31

Went to the Nationals the other day, didn't get the National Award, so you know. But you know that's on next year's bucket list. But yeah, I'm really really proud of myself actually, because I sort of think, you know, seven, eight years ago, when I started my business, there was me thinking, obviously, you know, gonna have all these rich people working with me. That didn't happen. And then COVID happened and there was no events at all, you know, or that time, and I just think, actually I got myself out of that little hole, dusted myself off and you know, know, look at little Luna now.

Speaker 3: 25:06

I love it, it's cool. So in doing all that and in winning that award, did you have any mentors along the way? Like who? Is there anyone that influenced you along the way?

Speaker 2: 25:19

I think the whole doing the course was a massive, massive factor and working alongside Zoe was really really good actually, because you plod your way through the units and the modules and you're learning little snippets along the way. But Zoe was really good in so much of the learning bit. She was fantastic to go to with really stupid questions and bouncing ideas off her. It was really really good. But I found that, again, organically just doing the job, you make links and network with all these people and some of them I just find really quite inspiring because they might be doing something completely different in the industry to me, but you know, you get chatting to people and they share expertise or nuggets of information or you know anecdotes and things like that and you learn all the time from these people and it it's fantastic. So doing networking and things like that has been brilliant just to naturally learn from people. So I had obviously had my mentor back in the day when we were doing the course, but other than that, it's a case of learning from people and learning by doing. But I was talking to somebody the other day.

Speaker 2: 26:40

Actually I was doing an exhibition and there was a new planner that just came along just to network, which I thought was brilliant, and she's been going for about a year and she was at that point where she was like how do I show that I can do it what we were talking about before? And uh, and I said to her I naturally said you need a mentor. And she was like well. And I said, well, you know mentor? And she was like well, and I said, well, you know, just have to have like one person because you know you're going to get certain amount of expertise from that person.

Speaker 2: 27:11

But just do what you're doing now and network and talk to people and learn from people and listen and share and all that something, because you'll learn so much just by doing and and talking to people. So I think it's just really, really important. Just keep your your eyes open, your ears open and and share experience. Um, because you know, underneath the surface, all of us are just sort of you know, am I doing the right thing all the time? And and it's great to speak to people, yeah, but so I just think that's really, really important. That's some really great advice.

Speaker 3: 27:49

Yeah, I love that duck philosophy. It looks calm above the water, but underneath you're… Underneath.

Speaker 2: 27:57

We're all sometimes making it up as we go along but we've got to look like we've absolutely got our stuff together. But, yeah, you learn by doing. Doing, you learn by talking to people, you learn by, you know, working with, alongside people in different fields, and it's you know. You get inspired that way, yeah, being open to something and realizing that you don't know everything. I think it's really important just in life, but particularly in industry.

Speaker 3: 28:20

Yeah, yeah, you heard it here first everyone.

Speaker 1: 28:25

There you go. I've just learned so much. That's really great advice. You know how many people write to us at the Winning Academy saying you know how do I, just, like, you know, build my portfolio and like, build, you know it's that beginning is really tough. But yeah, get out there, Network with the community. I mean at the Wedding Academy, obviously we've got a huge student community. So get out there and offer to support people that are more established and learn from them. Sally, have you got a favourite wedding ever that you've done? Oh, no, no, you don't have to name them. You do. We all do, Sally, we all do.

Speaker 3: 29:04

You don't have to name them. You do, we all do, sally we all.

Speaker 2: 29:06

Do you all name people and ones that I hated?

Speaker 1: 29:11

no, that's another kind of episode that we do.

Speaker 2: 29:16

That's the next one yeah, that's a really, really hard question, because all of them have got elements about them that I really really love question, because all of them have got elements about them that I really, really love and I sort of you know, maybe sort of think, oh, I could suggest doing something like that with this person, so that might work. So the ones that stick in my mind are the ones where I've made a genuine connection with the couples, and I try and do that obviously, obviously just by working with the right people. Anyway, I think there's one last year that is really dear to me, I think, because they were, they were a couple. They're quite they won't mind me saying this but they're quite nerdy in so much as they were really really, really academically minded. You know these are oxford graduates and you know, on the outside you think they're really quiet and timid and really quite shy, but underneath the surface, once you get to know them, they were just such fun, loving, wonderful people. But they were getting married quite a long way away from where I'm based.

Speaker 2: 30:17

So it meant that I had to spend the weekend over there and it was really lovely because on the Friday I got to work with all the family, all the friends, that all came to help. So there was a real feeling of community. So we were all setting up this space and it was lovely and it just gave me opportunity. I'll just go and talk to anybody. It just gave me the opportunity to just go and chat with the parents and the friends and make links with them and then by the wedding day it was like the parents were my parents.

Speaker 2: 30:51

It was a Saturday corner, but they were so sweet and so lovely. They were taking me around in their car and dropping me here, there and everywhere and there was just through the whole weekend. There was just this real sense of like. They were so loved by people. It was so lovely and they're a UK couple that they're living over in San Francisco, so they had people from all the continents flew over to be at their wedding because they are so loved, genuinely loved, and you just oh God, it's so corny, but you just felt the love in the room but that. But it was just that feeling of taking the time to get to know your people. That worked and uh, and it will always stick with me the the feeling of really putting yourself out there and opening yourself up to people so they can see you as a planner as well, because if you're giving yourself you, you naturally will give you know 120 percent as opposed to 100 to it, because you like them and they're going to get something good out, aren't they?

Speaker 2: 31:59

if you're giving more than you said you were going to give. So it's just. It was just a lovely experience. I just think, with anyone just in this industry, you've got to be really truthful and honest about who you are and give yourself and be honest with people, because they will really respect that and they'll respect your expertise and they'll respect that you're being yourself and you're being, you know, genuine I. I personally think that's that's what's helped to build my brand. It's just that honesty and that truthfulness and, you know, giving out what you want to get back yeah, yeah, so sally what.

Speaker 3: 32:37

What do you think's been the most rewarding part of your journey from from drama teacher to award-winning planner? Like, what's what's your, what's been the most part of that?

Speaker 2: 32:47

it's been I mean personally rewarded either. The highlight, the work highlight, was the award because it's validated what I've tried to do since the but little wins along the way, like I mean taking on a full-time member of staff, was a massive thing for me because, you know, for so many years it was just little me. You know the whole duck thing, you know doing everything and trying to look like you know you've got it. It's easy. You know being a kid various different things going on at the same time.

Speaker 3: 33:24

And don't get a cramp in one leg, because you'll go around in circles exactly rest and recuperate.

Speaker 2: 33:30

But yeah, taking on a full-time member, stuff was a massive thing for me. It was a huge thing and it was. It was validating to the fact that my business works and I was getting in the money. I was getting the money to be able to pay somebody else. That was a massive thing. You know little things like you know I started doing prior and things like that, and then being able to afford the rent, which is huge, things like that. You know it's just little wins, like validating the fact that you, you've built something that you can be proud of. So there's also things really they don't have to be all singing and dancing, but they could be things built something that you can be proud of. So there's all sorts of things really.

Speaker 3: 34:09

They don't have to be all singing and dancing, but they could be things that are, you know back end, that you're just naturally proud of being the boss yeah for sure.

Speaker 1: 34:17

I can see Jack's itching to ask you a question. Go on, jack. I was taking him over, ben, I was going to actually allow you to speak, okay. Okay, what advice would you give to someone who's thinking of coming from something else into wedding planning? Making that change?

Speaker 2: 34:35

god. Well, I mean it's scary, but I think if you've, if you've got the right support, you know you've got to have there's got to be a financial support somewhere. You know a little safety net because, like I was saying at the beginning, coming from something that gave me a salary every month, it was massively scary to jump into something that was unknown. So I think you know you've got to feel as though there's a backup plan if you need it. But otherwise, just think you've got to be brave and you've got to take the leap and just make sure that you've got support out there from people with the whole mentoring thing, the whole advice, networking, all that sort of thing. Just put in these little safety nets around you. But if I just, I just think I'm a big, I'm not a a natural risk taker.

Speaker 2: 35:28

Changing my career was a big big thing for me, but I just tried to make sure that I had little safety nets if things, if I needed them, you know. But otherwise you've just got to go for it. You've got to go for it. But just use the people that are out there. Use advice, use people's skills, get experience, go off, do do your job and go off and shadow people, learn and do all the networking, so you feel like you've got sort of skills going into it. I think that's a massive thing as well.

Speaker 2: 36:05

Going blind into something you've, I think you've got to be really. You've got to, you've got to be quite. It's a big risk, isn't it? So try and put a little safety net around you so that you can, you can use people, you can use guidance, things like that, really. But at the end of the day, I think, unless you, unless you go for it, you're never going to know, and I would rather go for something and have a, have a try at something, and it will you know, go wrong and look back on it and go do you know what I tried? You're never going to know, are you?

Speaker 1: 36:38

yeah, I'm clearly emotional by all of this. I had something, something caught in my throat and now the tears is like streaming down my face oh, inspirational ben, have you got your? You know my thing, yes my ben question.

Speaker 3: 36:56

But I totally agree, sally. I think it's a rite of passage for anyone in pretty much any industry for carry to carry bags for a while just to learn what you're doing. So I think that's hugely important and it's something that's a lot needed.

Speaker 2: 37:10

Don't be ashamed of doing the shadowing and the bad things like that. There's no shame in that.

Speaker 3: 37:16

Yeah, absolutely so. My little question I ask all the guests is if you walked outside and saw an 18-year-old version of yourself, what advice would you give that 18-year-old version of yourself to ensure your success? Oh my God, knowing what you know now, of course, yeah, yeah, I think.

Speaker 2: 37:37

Be open to things. Don't think that you know everything at the beginning. Don't go into it sort of blind. Make sure that you do your homework, you do your research, that you listen, you collaborate with people, you take advice, you listen from people and reflect on things, because you don't know everything right at the beginning. You absolutely don't know everything. So just learn as much as you possibly can from people and from what you do, and if something doesn't work, there's a reason why it's not going to work, so change it and reflect on it. So yeah, so basically, you don't know everything. Yeah, knowledge is….

Speaker 3: 38:21

I think I was going to say something ageist there, but I won't.

Speaker 2: 38:25

Oh, and also, don't eat all the biscuits just because they're open. Just don't eat the whole biscuit, the whole packet of biscuits at once. Take your time. Take your time with things, that's good advice.

Speaker 1: 38:38

Ben, for the first time ever, I was thinking how would I answer that question? I never thought about that and I think I would say buy the shoes.

Speaker 2: 38:47

Buy the shoes.

Speaker 3: 38:48

Yeah, life's short, buy the damn shoes Like that's kind of what I would say I like that.

Speaker 3: 38:54

Funnily enough, that's actually a question I've asked quite a lot of people throughout my career and, having sat in big events with people like Richard Branson and you know people like that, if I get to see them or get to speak with them afterwards, I always ask that question and some of the answers from that question have been mind-boggling. Some of them have just been dude. I don't know how you made it. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's a really good question and some of the answers are very. There's such a diversity in the answers so yeah.

Speaker 3: 39:32

Jack, there's such a diversity in the answers. So yeah, jack, you're the wrap-up queen. Jack, you're the wrap-up queen because you know, like all of this stuff, I'm just Sally, I come from radio right.

Speaker 1: 39:43

I had my own on-air show.

Speaker 3: 39:45

Old mate would ring up on the phone and I and my favorite word was and anyway, you know, because they just want to have a chat I think I might do a little introduction for us at the start so people know that I'm actually here and then, and then leave it to you to intro and wrap it up.

Speaker 1: 40:07

Yeah, we're correct yeah by season five, we'll have it all you know perfect.

Speaker 3: 40:15

I've only been here for about 15 episodes sally, so okay look, we're keeping it real.

Speaker 1: 40:22

Okay, people like this about us. I Anyway, sally, we digress.

Speaker 1: 40:30

Thank you so much for spending this time with us and, yeah, you've had heaps of nuggets that you've passed on that so many of our listeners will get a lot out of this episode actually. So thank you. If you want to find out more about the best wedding planner in the Southeast's really easy. You just look up luna and the lane dot co dot. Uk. And also sally is on instagram, of course, and facebook, and her username is luna and the lane. So thank you so much and keep in touch yeah, thank you, sally, it's been wonderful thanks so much for having me.

Speaker 2: 41:07

I've really enjoyed it.