What's up? Denver event professionals, welcome back to another episode of the Denver NACE podcast. My name is JR Judge, your host and violinist at Extreme Strings Electric Violins, and I am joined today by a very special guest. This person spoke recently as the keynote speaker for our May 2024 NACE event that we hosted at Four Mile Historic Park and I gotta say it was amazing. I had an aesthetic experience based on what I saw, and you're just going to get so much out of this. I would love to welcome to our podcast Brittany Branson, a live wedding painter based in DC and New York. Welcome to the podcast, brittany.

Thanks for having me. I'm so thrilled you had an aesthetic experience. All that tickles my brain and my heart and everything.

Yeah, your presentation was awesome. Just so our listeners get some context, we explored the latest artistic trends at events and Brittany brought a slide deck that had just these beautiful pictures of different inspiration and, you know, even entertainment was included in it, which I thought was awesome, because usually people just think events visuals. No, it's more than just that. So why don't we kick it off with if you could just kind of give our listeners some context who you are, where you're from and what you do, which I know it's a lot. So, wherever you want to start with, that, yeah, no worry.

So my name is Brittany. I am a destination live wedding painter based out of DC, new York, in New Jersey right now, where I'm originally from, and I have the immense pleasure of traveling all over and live painting for incredible couples in love. And when I'm not doing that, I am rocking life with my pilot husband, who that also helps the, you know, travel element, I think that spouse specialty right there and our two rescue dogs, who may make a audio appearance I apologize in advance Bolt and Ginger.

Well, that is awesome, and I know you went over this at our meeting, but how did you get into live painting? And then I'll ask a follow-up question is how did you start traveling and doing that?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely so, because when I met my husband he was, of course, a pilot, but at the time I was working in like arts, legislation and management oh my gosh, excuse me. So at the time when we met I was actually working for the DC government in their arts and humanities branch, and so we got together and I, we dated for however long, and I very quickly realized that, with his very unconventional schedule, if I kept any sort of nine to five, there was like no guarantee I'd ever see him. If I kept any sort of nine to five, there was like no guarantee I'd ever see him, because even since we've been together, it's been three days on, three days off. Now it's two weeks away, two weeks here, so there was just never any guarantee that we would ever have like a nice typical weekend together, let alone, you know, coming home and having dinner with each other at night. So when we got married, I actually had a wonderful live artist at our wedding and she was like the only one I had ever heard of and I only randomly came across her like a little picture of her in a local wedding magazine. So of course I watched her. Our painting is precious to us now, and so when I really realized it was time to leave my nine to five, I was like I think this is something I can do and there's obviously room for more of us. Uh, and then I just kind of dove right in yeah, yeah, oh.

And then the travel is um, I tried to be very strategic with that and, um, actually, this is is something I've crafted like a talk about.

I really leaned into my husband's expertise, because you know, that resource is available to me, and so I really started to plug myself as a Destination Live artist and then coupled that with a personal goal that I've always had, which was to visit every state in the country. So I started this marketing plan of okay, I want to paint at least one wedding in every state, and if you were the couple, the first one who gets me there, depending on circumstances, I would either waive all travel fees or, like, offer a severely discounted travel fee. So that really got the ball rolling the first few years and helped me to really kind of establish that brand awareness, and so it's been. It's cool because I still have a long ways to go. I think I only have like somewhere between 20 or 25 states under my belt. But the cool thing is that I think the number is low because I get to go back to like so many, so I really can't complain. You know what I mean?

Oh yeah, and I'm just wildly impressed that you have done this in over 20 states. That's crazy, it's been cool.

Yeah, and Puerto Rico states.

That's crazy. It's been cool, yeah, and Puerto Rico, yeah, that is so cool. I'm curious. I like to dive deep into the marketing and like the nitty gritty of things. How do you reach a nationwide audience and, you know, get in front of the right type of people in different states, because many people struggle even in their own backyards? How do you do it in 50 backyards?

Yeah, I mean, I have to say the vast majority of my inquiries still come in through Google. So I just think you know I've only been doing this like eight or nine years now, which I think is a healthy amount, but still in comparison to many people we know in the industry and they're like you're still healthy amount, but still in comparison to many people we know in the industry, they're like you're still a baby, but still like eight or nine years worth of either blogging about it or the vendors in those areas, including me, in a blog post or sharing it. I think that has all just built up so that there's a really healthy kind of SEO referral source going on there. And then I would say the second thing is man, it helps me out, especially when the venues showcase what I did at their property and their own couples get to see that, especially on Instagram. So those are still the top two ways I've been able to do it.

Very cool. So it sounds like for the technical people, the organic SEO has really kicked in for you.

Yes.

And you feel like the blog has been a huge part of that.

Yeah, I mean, I have to admit I have.

You know my blog is not the most up to date right now, but I think, like those older initial posts, especially from however many years ago, really got the ball rolling.

And also, I mean just being a little bit strategic about reaching out to certain people, whether they're directly in my network or not, or certain like I have a running list of dream venues and I'm not shy about it and I'm really grateful when people kind of help me to you know, check that off my list. So even just like getting in someone's inbox and just saying like hey, I exist, the service exists, this is a goal that's really important to me and close to my heart, If ever the right opportunity came around to help me check it off. I mean, I even have an instance, in July actually, where I emailed a planner whom I had been following for years. I emailed her in 2019, just to like get on her radar. She just came back to me a few months ago and now I get to paint a dream wedding at the Rose Cliff Mansion in Newport and you know, there's my Rhode Island check. So it takes a while, um, but it's all worth it oh, that's awesome.

I love that. I also. I love collaborating with all the different venues and planners in the area and occasionally I'll even similar to what you do, but I will offer like a free performance for something, just to get in the door. Have you ever like offered. Hey, would you like a portrait of yourself if I get to do one of your weddings?

Yeah, absolutely. Especially with planners or like venue people, they don't get as excited about something personally for them so much as extending it to one of their clients. So whether that I mean, I remember in the past it would even be cute like a painting of their cake or a painting of their bouquet, something that the vendor didn't keep for themselves, but it made them look really good when they could, you know, further extend it to one of their clients. So that definitely helped out a lot in the beginning.

Yeah, for sure. I think something that you may take for granted because I know that we all do is that the you know you put out a great product like I've seen your work. I've looked at your instagram, by the way.

Congrats, you're almost at 10 000 followers, which is amazing.

I know it's a grind and maybe we'll dive deep into that. Oh my god. But I I think kind of the underlying theme is that you put out a great product, which good products are easier to market. How would you and I think some people struggle with that too how would you, I don't know could you talk to me about, like, what goes into making your product as good as it is?

Well, first, thank you. Um, I would say so, and this is actually really fun because when I and I'm trying to gather my thoughts to ensure that I'm like cohesive and understandable, because I that that's so funny and lovely, you say that because I feel like I don't funny and lovely. You say that because I feel like I don't lean into my art as much as like I look at a lot of my like live painter colleagues do, and I think that's just part of my, it's a philosophy of mine, but also I think it's deeply tapping into my background of arts legislation and management, where it was my job to advocate for artists at different levels and so. But I think, in terms of the product, consistency is really important to me in that I know I'm really proud when I look at my paintings, I feel like there's a consistent point of view, so that I would hope you can pick out one of my paintings and like a lineup, and yet they're all very specific to each one of my couples end up coming to me because of the collaborative process that I personally thrive on with them, like, for example, my couples know that I'm not fixated on just capturing reality, because to me, your photography and videography team is there to do that.

You know that's their job to document reality with their artistic touch. And I'm kind of the opposite, where the painting gives us freedom to like create something even if it didn't exist. So I get a lot of couples who come to me loving their like ceremony space but they would ultimately love to be painted in like a first dance pose or something, or the vast majority of my couples. They really come to me appreciating the fact that pets are very important to me in my business and since pets can't often be there, but the painting is a great way to like add them in. So yeah, I try to like, I lean into that a lot and then I think naturally that produces a really great work of art.

Yeah, for sure. That's great. It's good to know what goes into your process. Yeah, and I am also. I'm not I guess I'm not necessarily surprised that you say you don't lean into your art as much, because in the music world as well, I find that there is a huge, there's a very large camp of musicians that lean so heavily into their artistic process that it actually backfires and prevents them from actually breaking into the industry. Oh yeah, so I don't know, would you kind of talk about the balance between the creative side and running a business?

Yeah, I mean, I think, per the point you just mentioned, it's so important to remember that the people who are hiring us are not us and not at all in our world. And so what like and this is something I'm watching a lot of like live painters struggle with, and I, you know, if they ask me, I come in and kind of give them some, you know, a tough love hug Because they I think it's so natural for artists to like take offense to some things if that makes sense. Yet, like, per your point, if a couple is hiring you, I'm sure they just assume that any good violinist can play what they need, right, and so then it comes down. Well, then, why you? Why pick you?

And that's where you, as you, the human, have to really step forward and, in my humble opinion, you sell yourself first, then the service second, because any like really, if a violinist, um, or a quartet or whatnot is is in the wedding industry, we all know they, they can play what we imagine. They're going to be hired to play at every wedding and I'm, I'm, I'm trusting that you can play it well and so well. I want, I want to know my investment is going to something beyond that I want to know my investment is investing in you, and so that's always been my philosophy is I would hope that if you know on my end, if someone's hiring an artist, I'm hoping they're coming to me for reasons beyond that, because they want to support me as Brittany. And I just think so many service providers especially really forget how powerful they are as their primary marketing tool and they just end up kind of hiding behind the service or especially the final outcome of the service.

Yeah, that is an excellent observation and that's definitely like a mindset shift that I had to have early on in my career, like just playing violin isn't going to cut it.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

There was a marketing book that I read Actually, there were two that were very influential in that. One was building a story brand by Donald Miller and the other was called expert secrets by Russell Brunson, and both of them together just kind of showed me that in order to truly succeed as a business owner, you have to be an expert based business where it's about the person. Like what do you bring to the table? How do you guide people to success? Not just they're looking for a thing and you can do the thing.

Yeah.

So that's. That's very cool that you share that philosophy, and what a lovely transition to talk about your speaking career, because you spoke at our event. It was an excellent talk. I'm curious if you could chat about more the nitty gritty of how did you get into the speaking biz, why, what does it do for you and all that jazz.

Yeah, so I will preface this with I am very, I'm very new to the scene, to the speaking industry. All props go to Megan Ely, who owns OFD Consulting. I had it, oh man. I met her years ago, before she ever started offering speaking resources, because, of course, at the heart of her company is she specializes in helping industry professionals get published. That's really her background. And so when we met, I remember I really liked her and I had like a discovery call with her and everything.

But it didn't make sense for me to get in with her company because as the live artist I really don't have much agency over the publication of the weddings I'm a part of. You know, the photography is not my IP, I'm not the planner. So I was like this doesn't make sense at this time. But then, of course, over the years she has this incredible group of speakers that consistently work with her and now she represents. And so I took her course and started to put together like well, what can I offer? What's my message? And so now I'm very happy to work with her. And so now I'm very happy to work with her.

But in terms of like why I wanted to do it, I think it's because I truly have something different to offer, different to say.

I'm very passionate about more niche vendors having a voice, and I mean a lot of that comes from years and years of having to absorb education that really had no relevance to me, and the amount of money I would invest into conferences and stuff or coaching at times, only to be able to pick out some little tiny golden nuggets that applied to me and my type of business at all. That's years and years of buildup. Be able to pick out some little tiny golden nuggets that applied to me and my type of business at all. You know, that's years and years of buildup. And so now I just I really am passionate about being a vendor with a very specialized service who has. You know, I'm successful, I make a really good living, but I do it in a way that is often very unconventional or in opposition to a lot of the like sexy things we're taught in this industry. So, yeah, I just kind of want to be one representative for those of us who are like really killing it, just in a different way.

Yeah, that's a great reason why you got into this. I'm curious like, what was that journey like so you started your initial sales? Oh sorry, my headphones just got disconnected.

Oh, I can hear you.

Okay, I can hear you. This podcast will be edited Anyway, so I'm curious if you could share with me you know what was that process, like you know, from initial meeting with Megan to actually joining the program later on and becoming trained. What were those steps like and how did you get your first opportunity?

your first opportunity. Yeah, let's see. I mean opportunities wise. Again, I have to give props to Megan. I mean she like who doesn't, you know, know her, especially domestically and internationally at this point? And so she's just so wonderfully not only well connected and so she's just so wonderfully not only well-connected but very honest about connecting her speakers with the right opportunity. She's very much someone who doesn't want to set someone up to fail, which I really appreciate about her, especially being so new.

So, honestly, I feel like, since taking her initial speaking course, which was really just a quick deep dive into everything you would really need to know about what it means to be a speaker in the industry everything from, you know crafting a talk, what does that look like, what does it look like on the day of?

You know all of the nitty gritty that goes into it, Uh, and then after that, I just took a few weeks to and just stepped back and, um, just like, flushed out some signature talks and worked with her to ensure that they they have, um, tactical, uh, you know, takeaways that an audience can really walk away with, and then I just think we just sort of hit the ground running of once I had like a handful of signature talks. She was really great with just connecting me with audiences that would like benefit from them, me with audiences that would like benefit from them. But I mean, like one thing that of course she very lovingly warned me about but until you go through it, you know it can be, do not expect to like make a living off of speaking. I mean, that is so far from my objective with getting into this. It's just it's not going to happen. You have to have other soulful reasons in order to, you know, do this.

That's. That's great and I love that. It's passion and purpose driven and I appreciate your honesty about you know, don't expect to make an immediate living off of the speaking. Yeah, what have been some of the audiences that you've spoken to? Like? Obviously, you spoke to our NACE chapter. Who else is the audience for these talks in the events industry?

Yeah. So for me in particular, I kind of have, like you know what's happening now and then I have some goals of mine especially. So I've been doing a lot of NACE and WIPA chapters in particular. They have really been loving, like the talk that you saw, the artistic trends one, because, especially for an organization like NACE, where so many different categories of professionals are coming together Again coming back to, I always want to ensure that whatever I'm doing is applicable to everyone, because I've definitely been that person who invested time or money into something and got nothing out of it. So I always want to ensure that if I'm getting up there, you're going to walk away with something. So they've been loving the art trends talk.

Few other chapters I've done this talk of mine that is all about actually kind of close to what we were just talking about leading with strategy over style and how the opposite can really lead to failure or stagnation. But I think like a big goal of mine is there are a handful of topics that I kind of have in my back pocket that really have to be, for the best, the correct audience, because they're very nerdy. Like I think I mentioned during my talk with you guys, I'm pursuing my master's in arts management, and so there are quite a few like nerdy high level concepts that really can be applicable to us in this industry. But it really has to be the right audience who's ready to take that in. Otherwise they're just going to ditch, and I don't blame them.

So, it's like yeah, so I've got like a few, a few of them in my back pocket. I'm like, I'm good. I'm literally going to scream with excitement when, um, someone finally like picks these up. But I don't pitch them everywhere, but you know, I'm excited when it works.

Absolutely. I mean, you've got me very curious. What are some of the topics?

Oh, my God. Okay, so my favorite right now is I call it the power of patronage, because, as you as a especially musician understand that in like the visual and performing arts world, this concept of patronage is like is hundreds of years old and kind of deeply rooted in, not the business I'm putting in air quotes, but just what it means to exist as an artist. And yet in the wedding and event space, because we're so one-time transactional, I don't think the concept has really kind of permeated our industry in the way that I really think it can, especially now, as I mean, I know for me as a live artist, just on a daily basis, I'm getting inquiries from multiple different generations, like grandparents, parents, millennial and the next generations coming up, and so what does that even look like from a marketing and sales purpose to have to pitch yourself to people with very different value systems and what they consider as patronage. So it's like it's very nerdy, but I keep it in my back pocket for, like the right.

And in one of the podcasts I did with our chapter president, desiree Kelly, we talked a little bit about the idea of patronage, not necessarily in a I commission you for multiple generations or something like that, but it was in the idea of, like, creating recurring revenue in your events based business.

Yeah.

Which that's kind of like what patronage is.

Right in your events-based business, yeah, which that's kind of like what patronage is right? Yeah, I mean it can be like it can definitely be recurring revenue, diverse streams, but also a more traditional approach, like one of my. The examples I give is this this culture has kind of been lost for a little bit, but especially in Europe. There was this whole culture has kind of been lost for a little bit, but especially in europe. There was this whole culture of um, if you were a working artist, a lot of the cafes in town would like give you a complimentary meal, just as their thank you for like thank you for contributing art to society. We can't commission you with cash, but we this is what we can gift you to help you to keep going. So now, that obviously doesn't always apply to us, but the concept is there. So how can you find resources and help that aren't necessarily cash transactional resources Just to get brains buzzing of like? It's going to take some time to find it.

Yeah.

What could that look like for you?

For sure. And I love the creative thinking because when I was chatting with President Dez about this, it was kind of a reaction to hey, the post-COVID boom has now kind of leveled out and some businesses are now struggling by this newly created dip in in their, their leads. And this kind of creative thinking is is what could help us all thrive in the longterm.

Yeah, I mean like status quo is gone. You know what I mean. And I think this is where, like, there's so much opportunity now that I think people will be very grateful for that. They kind of stuck with it and, you know, did the hard work now, but yeah, I don't think just getting by anymore is possible, is possible. I think we're in a new era that really is going to, like you said, make you lean into what it means to be a creative entrepreneur.

Yeah, for sure. Wow my brain.

Look like so many different things Right, and it's a matter of finding what, like you know, for me and this isn't like a bragging thing, it's more, I think, because you know I've spent many a night on the bathroom floor crying, trying to determine which way is best.

But I checked my numbers from last year and I know I'm going to surpass them this year. But I got 400 plus inquiries last year and right now I know it's going to be more this year. So leads are there. You know what I mean. Like there is enough business out there for each one of us, but to get in front of them, of course now is going to look different. And then, of course, to earn their business is going to look different. And then, of course, to you know, earn their business is going to look different. But like, if you're feeling that leads are down and whatnot, like you know, status quo is gone, and I know that hurts and that maybe that's a little bit of tough love, but now you're going to thank yourself so much in like one to two years if you dig deep now and figure it out.

Oh, yeah, for sure, and I love like I share the same mindset. There's more than enough to go around, because it's not even that you're competing against people in the same category as you. Oftentimes you're competing against them doing nothing Right, and that's where the real opportunity is is people who were not going to have entertainment in this part of their wedding or this part of their corporate event, and if you can creatively like through your Instagram, which has almost 10,000 followers, show them how this is how a ceremony could be captured with real paint, real brush strokes, and now you've convinced somebody who wasn't going to spend any money on that to open their wallets and you've created an opportunity. It's like an infinite resource.

Yeah, and I also, like, I'm very passionate about nipping this whole like getting into the luxury or ultra luxury space thing. Sometimes I think that mentality can be so harmful and now again, maybe it's my own personal bias because of all the factors that go into what I do but I make a really good living serving people who are not at all near that space because they value me enough to find the cash to give me and I'm at the top of the pricing spectrum for live artists, like my Montana wedding. I adored them. When I got to check Montana off my list, it was like a 25-person wedding in the backyard of their house. I was the most expensive vendor and they flew me all across the country because they valued me enough to do that.

And so I just I'm very passionate about about giving people the grace to, kind of, if they're feeling frustrated with, uh, if, if they're not getting into a certain budget category or their weddings aren't looking a certain way, I get it in terms of artistry right, like, especially, you know, for florists or planners or whatnot, if they want their portfolio to start looking a very certain way. I have all the empathy in the world for that. I get it. But in terms of like, making a really good living, you can do that without constraining yourself to like all of these budget tiers that someone, somewhere, crafted for this industry. And if you just convince really good people to pay what you ask them to pay for you like you're going to do great. And so that started off on a whole other tangent. I apologize.

What you said makes total sense and I think it kind of goes to show like our stereotypes about what is luxury, what is high end are not always black and white. 25 person wedding in Montana wasn't the most quote unquote luxury event as possible, yet you still got paid a quote unquote luxury price, whatever that means. Then you've created that event, you've turned it into what others might call luxury, but it's.

it's just you being good people, for really good people, and it and it's never lost on me and I never take that. That. You know that's such a blessing for me as a in contrast to. I've certainly been in positions where the budget is there because of the budget tier the event is existing in and I'm just an add on.

I mean they say that you attract who you are.

Yes.

And so if you're attracting good people, I think that's a very good sign that you're a good person yourself.

I hope so.

Yeah, and I think it kind of circles back to like what I get from you is you are a an authentic individual willing to share their experiences, their journey, their talents, and that comes across in the way that you create these paintings at weddings, but also in the way that you create the experience for the couples, the way that you share your knowledge and expertise with other event professionals through these talks and even through this podcast. And yeah, so you're, you really practice what you preach and I think you get paid accordingly.

So I don't know.

It's great. This is a very inspirational interview for me and I appreciate it because I am striving to be like you in various aspects of my life and it's just a pleasure to get to chat with you. So thank you.

Thank you.

So we're approaching the end of our episode here. Before we wrap up, was there anything else that you wanted to share with our listeners, even if it's just where? Could we find you and follow you on Instagram, your website, etc.

Sure, yeah, I think both website and Instagram are by Brittany Branson. And yeah, oh my gosh, please say hi. It means the world to me.

That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing everything. Again. Brittany's website is bybrittanybransoncom. That's B-Y-B-R-I-T-T-A-N-Y-B-R-A-N-S-O-Ncom. And, yeah, feel free to hire her for your next event here in Denver or Aspen Vale. And, by the way, if you enjoyed this episode and you're interested in getting more professional development in the events industry or meeting really cool speakers like Brittany or chatting with musicians who are probably cool like myself, come to our next Denver NACE meeting. You can find our meeting schedule at nacedenvercom. N-a-c-e stands for National Association for Catering and Events. Our event schedule is up there. Our next one is in June. I believe it's June 11th.

At the Art Museum, right At the Art Museum.

You better go the Denver Art Museum, you all better go, where we'll be chatting about growing together, reigning with referrals, speaker series, how to be the event pro everyone wants to hire and, by the way, this one will be sponsored by yours truly, so you'll hear some tunes on the electric violin. Hey, come check that out. So anyway, britney, thank you so much, and to our listeners, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the denver nace podcast. See you at our next nace meeting.