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Episode 142 - The Power of Music - Keanna O'Quinn - Sonic Sommelier
79 Plays6 months ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays! Keanna O'Quinn from https://www.instagram.com/sonicsommelier is in the Get a HECK YES house.
Sonic Sommelier is a premier music boutique dedicated to curating sound experiences for brands, gathering spaces, and events. With unwavering attention to detail, we design bespoke soundscapes to elevate any landscape.
Hot Topic - The Power of Music - take a more active role in designing sound and music in your life
Keanna's Woo Factor is her mild synesthesia helps me to tap into the senses in a way that helps hwe to navigate curating intentional soundscapes.
She want to empower listeners to take a more active role in designing sound their lives & experiences.
Connect with Keanna
https://www.instagram.com/sonicsommelier
Connect with Carissa Woo
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Promotion
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Will Wednesdays! If you're loving my podcast, please take two minutes of your time and leave me a review. It helps other wedding pros find this podcast and lets me interview the top guests. ah Yes, wow, I am so buzzing. I don't know
Interview with Kiana O'Quinn
00:00:14
Speaker
what to do with myself. I just interviewed Kiana O'Quinn from Sonic Sommelier and she is truly a gem and one of a kind. Her journey from singing at her church to American Idol, to singing for celebrities around the world, and now running her own sound curation boutique. Creating intentional soundscapes is just an amazing story. We talk about the power of music at events, and it's truly a magical conversation. Enjoy.
00:00:47
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host, Carissa, and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all. I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise, some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story, time-packed because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon!
Kiana's Journey in Music and Performing Arts
00:01:38
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get A Heck Yes with me, your girl, Carissa Wu. I have Keanu O'Quinn in the house. She is from Sonic, so Malie, Sonic Somme, and she is here to just bring down the house today. She runs a lead boutique music creation and sound design company. And she specializes in creating immersive listening experiences using the science of sound. Hi, how are you? Thank you so much for having me today. I know we met at the fake house for a whip event. That was so much fun. And he's incredible. You're looking pretty fly.
00:02:17
Speaker
and your outfit and your hat. Thank you. Yeah, I was looking for an excuse to buy that hat. I bought it the summer before with another vendor friend of mine. She's a stationer um by Dami Studios. And she took me to this hat store in New York and I'm like, I don't know. I've never gotten anything from a hat store. And the next thing you know, we were trying everything on and I had a hat. So yeah, and we found a place to wear. That was the perfect spot to wear. Isn't it crazy how like the WIPO events fashion is kind of important because you definitely remember that person right away. Absolutely. So
00:02:56
Speaker
i It's interesting that you say that because even though I work in sound, there is a lot of visual aesthetic that goes into what I do because um sound design, when it comes to music and performance, um Although people hear you, a lot of times the sense that they lean into first is the eyesight, like what they see. And so um the way that we style our talent is is a really, really big component to what it is that we do. so
00:03:28
Speaker
i bring that into every aspect of, of my business yeah and my personal life, if you will. Yes. You are so beautiful. And over you you were, you were named 2024 ones to watch by the knot. Congratulations. That's so crazy. but Check out her Instagram. It's like, she does the highest of the highest Mindy Weiss weddings and everything. It's unbelievable, but we're not going to talk about that yet. We're going to talk about you growing up and just a little bit about you as a kid. Me growing up, I mean, there's a lot to say. um If I were to make it relevant to what it is that I do now, I was ah a little girl who loved the arts, who loved performing arts. I loved poetry. um I loved fashion.
00:04:18
Speaker
um Do you remember highlights magazines? Like they had these magazines specifically for kids. I remember like YM magazine. I see. I don't remember YM, but it was probably something very similar. Okay. But my mom, she subscribed me to highlights magazine too. I had this like voracious love for reading. And so to to have a magazine come specifically addressed to me every month was so exciting. And um that just grew my love for publication in general. And again, anything in the arts was something that I was drawn to dance, music, poetry, fashion, um you name it, I loved it. And before I knew it, I was singing in church. And um I had this fascination with how people responded to music.
00:05:12
Speaker
in that environment specifically. And I had an aunt who passed away and I had to be about like five years old. And we went to the funeral and her sister sang Amazing Grace. And there was this I can't even explain it. this This inexplicable energy that she created in the room, that it's almost like she took everyone's breath away. And I remember looking up at my mom and saying, um I want to do that. And that's when my love of singing started. So that's that's kind of what the art form that I leaned into for most of my life. Where did you grow up?
00:05:56
Speaker
Chicago. Oh, Chicago. Did you see that like Obama sing, Amazing Grace, too, at a funeral? Obama sang? Yeah, I think it was. I didn't see that. He sang it at like ah the Sandy Hook funeral. It was so sad. But yeah, it was I was like, ooh. Oh my god. Yeah, that's the music. I wonder if I saw that. That was some time ago. I probably did see it. But I mean, listen, the song is beautiful. And when it's delivered with um true emotion, it's hard to not feel something. and Yeah, yeah, yeah. Obama knows how to move people. So I believe that it was. Yes.
00:06:33
Speaker
Yesterday, I was um at the jacuzzi with my family, or just I went to the jacuzzi, but it was all like the old Korean men. But they had their speaker and then um I was like really feeling the music and I said, Oh, what what song is this? And they're like, Oh, it's cheek to cheek by Ellis. but And I was like, and then so I like looked it up on YouTube. So all night I would just like into like my jazz and I was like, Oh my God, it just like making me like give me all the feel. So music is something for you. Actually, one of the first jazz songs that I ever performed was cheek to cheek. So that song has a special place in my heart. Yeah, I love that song. Okay, so highlights magazine, you're really into the arts.
00:07:16
Speaker
um singing in church in Chicago. um And then, okay, walk me through a little bit older, what you were into like in high school and all that. Same thing. And so my parents divorced when I was probably about 10 years old. And from that point on, I moved around a lot, transferred to a lot of different schools. And I'm naturally very introverted and quiet and shy. And um I remember my My family had told me that I had a beautiful singing voice. but And I saw how they responded to it. And because it was difficult for me to come out of my shell and make friends, one day I had this bright idea, well, if I'm having trouble talking to people, what if I just sang? Like, what if they have the same reaction to music that my family is having at home?
00:08:10
Speaker
So I entered a talent show and during the auditions, um, all the kids, you know, sat in the auditorium as each student went up to audition. And I went up to audition and I remember I started to sing hero by Mariah Carey and everybody, I could just like see one by one, everybody's mouth kind of like drop. It was like, everybody froze and turned into statues. And I thought that I had done something bad because that's not how my family was responding to my singing at home. It was very emotive and joyful. And when I finished the song, I came off and the teacher
00:08:50
Speaker
um who escorted me off the stage was just like, oh my God, where have you been hiding that voice? And it helped me to make friends. And I started to use it every time I transferred her to a new school, I would enter the talent show. yeah It became kind of like my my ticket to building relationships with people because talking to them was really hard for me. And I did that all the way through high school. College, I became an introvert, again, like a true little hermit crab. I stayed in life. What happened to you? You know, it was my first time being away from my family. I come from a really big family. And I went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, which is like two and a half hours outside of Chicago. So it's not that far.
00:09:36
Speaker
but i I had never been away from my family. I was terrified. And I was like, I have to be here for four years. Oh my God. I'm just gonna you know go to class and come back to my room and that's it. And that's kind of what I did for the first two years. um And then my senior year, I decided to enter in the Miss um University of Illinois pageant. wow And I chose singing as my talent. And I came in, I think first runner up. And the, um but it was so late in my college career that the friends that I made from that competition, and I'm still friends with them to this day, but it was just super late in my college career. So I graduated, became a teacher, I did teach for America in Chicago. And I ah stayed on in Chicago for four years. And then I moved to New York with a boyfriend. And that relationship lasted all of like six months. We broke up.
00:10:37
Speaker
I was like, you know, told I told my family that if I hadn't made it by this age that I would audition for American Idol.
American Idol Experience
00:10:47
Speaker
And so I called up my best friend who also lived in New York. She went right after high school. And um I said, they're having auditions for American Idol in Boston. Would you be interested in driving with me before I could even get the sentence out? She was like, yes, obviously. So we drove to Boston that next weekend and I auditioned in this huge stadium full of people who were so incredibly talented. It took all day long.
00:11:13
Speaker
Um, my audition was probably 10 seconds. They only let you get out about four or five words. And, um, I made it through. And the next thing I know I was being, I was getting called back after callback and I, um, made it all the way to the end of Hollywood week. It's my first time in California, you know, it was, yeah, it was everything that I thought I wanted, but I didn't make it past Hollywood week. And when I got back to New York, um the work I was doing, I worked at a performing arts high school in Harlem. And I went to my principal and I said, hey, I want to, you know, come back and still do my job, but because I'm not teaching, would you be okay with me going on auditions? You know, like there's a lot of flexibility in my position because I'm an admin.
00:12:03
Speaker
And she's like, absolutely not. I'm not letting you hide behind them anymore. You are way too talented. Go out, audition, just go and fly. And so I left and the next thing I knew I was auditioning for a pretty big agency in New York that um provided live music entertainment for luxury events around the world. And that was my start in this industry. wow That was a good flow. Well, it was it was definitely, you know, it feels like it was meant to be I couldn't have written it better myself. That's crazy. Let's go back to the the ah the hero. Like, what was it like when you got on stage? And what was the feeling that feeling? And can you remember like the feeling after that you finished up performance? I did it feel like a new a new Kiana, like a new you.
00:12:56
Speaker
If that is such a great question, I think that one thing one thing I'm noticing even in in in speaking about it is that the thing that has led me in music is feeling and wanting to create that for other people. um When I first heard Mariah Carey's name, Hero, I was moved. it was It's hard not to be moved by that song. And I was so moved by it that it became my my song. Any time I was auditioning for anything, it was that song. And it I just ah began to embody it. and
00:13:38
Speaker
um It's carried me. That song carried me all throughout my childhood and my young adulthood. And I probably haven't sang it since I was 17, 18 years old. I probably did it at the pageant, maybe at the pageant. And yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the song that I chose. How we haven't sung it since I was like 21. There's a true world. Yes, it is a true world.
00:14:05
Speaker
And it's a song that pretty much everybody knows and it's powerful. So I think I felt powerful. I probably felt seen in her, which is something that I didn't feel as an introvert at a new school. That's so interesting. And then how about what song choices you picked for American Idol? Pardon this short interruption, but guess what? I have a new program. It's for all wedding professionals. It's called The Triple Threat. We redo your brand messaging, the homepage of your website. Part two is we do all your marketing. we
00:14:48
Speaker
create a beautiful brochure so you could start getting on Prefer venue vendor list and we do all your sales so we actually make you a sales presentation leading your client to the heck yes so you get paid. I have a free 20 minute demo training. It's only 20 minutes. Go to my Instagram at Carissa Woo. and DM me the word DEMO. I will send it right over. It's how to get 10 to 15 quality leads in your inbox per month. Enjoy guys. Krista Wu is a LA based wedding photographer who's actually turning business coach. She helped me grow and change and I'm so proud to call you coach.
00:15:34
Speaker
tell us how you're feeling. Like I want to just know a little bit more about your thoughts. It's beautiful and you're you're awesome. It's beautiful. I'm speechless. I just like the fact that it feels like myself. like i can I feel myself when I see this. Oh, man. Well, you got me pumped and excited for this. Carissa, thank you. Oh, so that was harder. I was like, okay, I want to do something that's cool and current and unexpected. And right around that time, CeeLo started Narl's Barkley. And the song Crazy was super hot, but I wanted to sing it a bit more soulful. And um I kept trying to think of songs the whole way there. I did not even have a song. We drove, I think the distance from New York to Boston is about five hours, five and a half hours. So it is a long drive.
00:16:32
Speaker
I did not have a song until we made it to the hotel that night. i It's going to be crazy. And I rehearsed it like six times. And the very next day I listened to, I have a song that I listened to. whenever I had to audition for something as an adult and it was Touch the Sky by Kanye West. Wow. um I listened to that in my ears like 80 million times before I went out for my audition and then I sang crazy. Oh my God, how funny. Yes, yes. Dude, after this, I'm going to make like a YouTube soundtrack.
00:17:05
Speaker
like a You know, I didn't realize how much music has really, really carried me. um And it's been, I think we all have a soundtrack to our lives if we sit and think about it. And who I love so much about this work is that I get to tap in and talk to people about the music that has touched them. um and find ways to incorporate it into the most important moments of their lives. Oh my God. Okay. That's so cool. Okay. So you were working in performing arts in Harlem and then you your teacher lets you audition and then you are working for a live event company. And then yeah tell me a little bit about that and then how you started your own.
00:17:45
Speaker
Yes, that was amazing. When I when i first auditioned, um I wasn't sure if I made it. I am very hard on myself. um And I remember the audition and leaving and calling my dad immediately after. He's also hard on me. And I said, you know, I should have practiced more. And I just, I don't think I got it. And he's like, Kiana, you got to practice more. You got to put the time aside to just you know really, really hone in. And it wasn't even an hour that had gone by before they called me. And they're like, you are probably the best singer that we've seen in years. Would you be you know open to joining us? and
00:18:29
Speaker
um Obviously, the answer was yes. I wanted to find a way to do two to make a living doing what I loved, which was creating music and singing.
Entrepreneurial Leap and Business Ventures
00:18:42
Speaker
um And it didn't stop there. I joined the company and um you know we were we started out doing smaller events. Anything that came up and I you know got to gratefully contribute to that company growing quite a bit over time. And now they have offices literally all over the world. And I've performed, you know, at the White House Correspondents Dinner and for, you know, George Lucas' wedding. and
00:19:13
Speaker
you know, for people in places that I never dreamed of. um And then my role went from performing and I realized I was, I was styling and then I was doing a bit of um A and&R and artist development and I was... Who am I talking to right now? Well, I didn't know that I was contributing in those ways. I was kind of just being myself and wanting to see the the best. I think a lot of time as women, we do that when we enter into a space, we kind of just, you know, we turn ah a little plant into a garden. um And I feel like, you know, it's nice to look back and say that I had a hand in co-creating this beautiful experience. And then when once I realized that I had um done so much, I've
00:20:08
Speaker
i I had the desire to do it on my own. um And actually, honestly, and I wanted to do it there. And I went to the owner of the company. And I didn't realize at the time that I was asking for equity. I was saying, hey, look at all of these amazing things that I've helped to create with you. what How can we share in this in a different way? i I love singing, but clearly that's not the only thing that I'm good at. And unfortunately, um the owner did not want to co-create that experience in the same way. yeah And so I had to step out on my own because I didn't want to be pigeonholed and I didn't want there to be a ceiling on you know my potential. So I stepped out on my own and I started i i had started Honey and Vinyl while there. So Honey and Vinyl with me and then a few years later,
00:21:06
Speaker
started Sonic Sommelier. Honey and Vinyl, is that more of like a music group? Yes, we are at the end that performs um for luxury events around the world. And we lean into reimagined you know jazz, hip hop, soul pop. um And i Sonic Psalm is really born of Honey and Vinyl, because i started once I had the the the independence, I had an opportunity to kind of like look at how I was perceiving and conceiving ideas. It was actually my fiance. He said, you know, you have this really
00:21:50
Speaker
elevated way of seeing things. You don't just go up and sing. I watch you storyboard an event. I watch you create you know a mood board for your styling. um I watch you sit and create these these set lists, these playlists in a way that is very methodical. You're not just a singer. like Maybe sit with that. And at first, I was a little resistant because I don't like being told what to do. And I did, I would take time every day and go and sit at the coffee shop on our corner and I would
00:22:26
Speaker
um go on Google and just research the power of music and um the influence, like how music can influence so many things about the human experience, everything. Like we know that music can influence our productivity, right? Like when you go for a run and you have a really good playlist, you might run a little faster or you might run a little longer and build that endurance. We know that, you know, music can just in general help us to focus depending upon what type of music you're listening to. But I was coming across findings centered on how music can influence the taste receptors, how sweet or sweet or bitter or fresh something can taste, or how music can influence buyer behavior, how much money we spend in a space, or how long we stay in a space shopping.
00:23:17
Speaker
and It became evidently clear that you know retail has been using this this science for decades. Vegas has been using this science for decades. wow Why isn't this being used in events? And so I kind of merged that science with a ah bit of my intuition. I took information and intuition and kind of blended them together and realized that you know I wasn't just performing music. I was creating music pairings.
00:23:49
Speaker
because I wanted to, you know, I wanted to take a more, I wanted the details to matter. yeah I wanted to incorporate the design of a space, the timeline, um the demographic, all those things that what was being served on the menu, all those things became so inspiring to me that I wanted the music to pair and and to complement all of those elements. I said, well, we're pairing, pairing compliment. Yeah. He uses wine to compliment cuisine. I would say that that's what we're doing. We're kind of like a sommelier, a sonic sommelier. And that kind of caught on. That's where it all started. Wow. You're like a dupe box. No, i was I was hoping to hear the story because, you know, I look at your Instagram and I meet you and
00:24:47
Speaker
I'm just like, Oh, wow, like these are at the top of the top weddings. And I'm thinking that it was just like all your experience and your talents and your expertise. Because I'm like, that's why I really wanted to pick your brain about like your story, which is so empowering and so special. Do you feel like things just naturally happen for you? Just like I know being an introvert, but just maybe after just all this experience, like things were just like boom, boom, boom, boom, just hitting, hitting, hitting. Like you're on this like whirlwind of success. I think that um as much as I would like to say that things just naturally happened and just kind of fell into my lap. As I get older, I see that
00:25:37
Speaker
A lot of the experiences and opportunities and doors that have opened for me have been a root ah reflection of me preparing for them, even if I didn't know that I was preparing for them. There has been quite a bit of work that has gone into everything that I've done. you know When I first discovered that I could sing, I didn't know that I could sing. I had an uncle who loved Patti LaBelle. And if you know any Patti LaBelle song, she like sings into the rafters. She is one of America's greatest entertainers, bar none. And she has a version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow that is just incomparable. And i wanted I saw that he loved that song so much. He was so impressed by her. He would play it around the house all the time. Then I went and I learned it.
00:26:29
Speaker
And I said, I'm going to surprise him and sing the song. And so I remember saying, hey, Uncle Gary, I have a surprise for you. And he's like, what? And I sang the highest part of the song. And he was like, oh my God, you are amazing. And i I didn't do it to, you know, I did it because I wanted to connect with him. I can't say that it there had to be something natural, you know, there that I didn't, I didn't create myself, you know, my mom, my dad, God, a higher power, whatever you want to call it. I had no hand in it, but I didn't have to go and sit in that closet and rehearse that song. Oh, it sounds like that. Or I was prepared to go and sing it for him. You know what I mean? So it's a bit of both. And I didn't always know that I was preparing. I didn't always know that I was working because it was something I enjoyed doing.
00:27:23
Speaker
it So like, yeah, it's still a part of you. Like it was exactly your power. Let's talk to the audience through maybe one of your favorite weddings or just experience that your company gives an event or wedding like from I guess start to finish from when the guests arrive. One of my favorite weddings. They're also great. I we and just feel so blessed to even be a part of these moments for people. you know like There's nothing like it when two people decide that they want to spend the rest of their lives together and then all of their family is there or the people that mean the most to them are in one room.
00:28:07
Speaker
It's such an honor to be invited into that space to co-create with all of the other incredible vendors, the florists and the planner and the photographer. Like to be a part of that team, it's really, really hard to choose just one. yeah um But if I had to, the one that just keeps coming up is George Lucas's
Performing for George Lucas
00:28:29
Speaker
wedding. I have to say, that was incredible. um Hearing Steven Spielberg, his best man, you know, he was speech at the dinner and um seeing Oprah walk by and and Harrison Ford and and Samuel Jackson and Quincy Jones listening to me sing and then sharing the the stage with Janelle Monae who did a ah feature performance and it was just
00:29:01
Speaker
something that dreams are made of. I could not have, um I could have never imagined being a part of something that special. And it it took place at Skywalker Ranch. So to be, you know, yeah it was incredible. It was absolutely incredible. Oh my God. How did you grow the business like the first couple of years? And like, did you kind of know you wanted to go like straight to the top, like luxury? And like, how did you do it? I'm excited to share with you all about our first Get A Heck Yes sponsor, Seventeen Hats. I've been using the CRM company for over a decade and I've been referring them to all my frienders for all this time. I always know when I'm going to get paid and most importantly, I get paid. So here is a question. What is holding you back? What's keeping you from finding success as a small business person?
00:29:56
Speaker
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00:30:50
Speaker
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00:31:25
Speaker
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Curating Authentic Experiences
00:32:03
Speaker
about that. It was about curating experiences that feel true to the people who we call our clients and then become friends.
00:32:21
Speaker
i
00:32:24
Speaker
As much as I loved working for the larger agency, I felt as though it began to feel like a factory. yeah And to me, While growth growth is great, you know, we are looking to grow all the time in our businesses, right? Especially as, you know, small businesses, boutique businesses. There's nothing about our businesses are small, right? But even as boutique businesses, as we grow, the thing I love most about my company is that I get to be hands on and to tend to these very special one of a kind moments.
00:33:08
Speaker
in a in a mindful, thoughtful way. And that just means a lot to me. Yeah. No matter how how much we grow over time, that is our ethos. And that is that is something that will be preserved no matter what. I never want you know to to be so focused on being at the top that I can't I don't feel like I'm touching the the thing that we're co-creating for our clients. Yeah, I love that. just um Just to wrap my head around your business, is it kind of like you have different bands and musicians under your company and then
00:33:58
Speaker
you work with like the planner and the couple and then you create this like experience where they could have maybe like walk into one band and maybe the same for a ceremony and then maybe a different one for like reception or a DJ. And then you just curate like every like the playlist and the style and the experience and the song choices. yeah Correct. So there are three different vectors of our business. um The first is when we um, recommend talent that we represent. So we have a small number of bands and DJs that are a part of our team. And, uh, if, if a client wants live music performance and they have, you know, an eight piece dance reception band in mind, then, you know, we will refer
00:34:53
Speaker
um our talent um that also applies to if, for instance, we have a couple that is having an anniversary lunch. we we Honey and Vinyl performed for their wedding reception a year or so ago, and they're celebrating their anniversary in the same place, ah just the two of them, and we curated a digital playlist for them. um so either myself or one of our curators will create digital music experiences as well. um Then there's the vector where one of our ah acts may not necessarily be a good fit. And so as Sonic Som, having worked in this industry, having worked for you know
00:35:44
Speaker
planners around the country and beyond and and with different agencies. um I know so many talented bands and musicians. And so I can say, hey, our talent may not be the best fit. However, we know this band and we know that band and we know this company. What we can do is we can refer you to them. But we can stay on as the curator. And so we work hand in hand with a band that may not be one of our acts to ensure that it still has the sonic sommelier signature, where we're pairing to the menu and we're pairing to the design. And um it just has a more up close and personal touch to it.
00:36:28
Speaker
Um, the third vector is our immersive experiences. And this is, uh, when we design, um, a dining experience, for example, we had a couple that married at the peninsula in New York a couple of years ago, we worked with the amazing Leslie Mastin events and the couple wanted to pair the, um, the live performance to their wine list. And so, um, we. created custom arrangements of classical music with a a soulful kind of spin to it.
The Sonic Sommelier Concept
00:37:06
Speaker
We reimagined the ja genre quite a bit to make it a bit more modern. They really liked soul music. um And then, so we paired each song, each arrangement to a specific wine selection. And then we created with ah the another amazing vendor called Paper. we ah made We created these,
00:37:27
Speaker
um They were like place cards, if you will, that outlined the wine selections and the the song selections were outlined via QR code where their guests could scan that QR code and you know later on pair wine with that particular playlist. And it's custom, it's private to that couple only. And we will never ever, you know,
00:37:58
Speaker
um use those arrangements again. And so they have their own little customized arrangement that's a reflection of their day, their dinner, their loved ones, their celebration. Wow, that's pretty cool. It's a lot of work, but it is a lot, a lot of fun. Oh my God, you're just so amazing. Okay, nosy question. How did you meet your fiance?
Personal Connection: Meeting Her Fiancé
00:38:22
Speaker
So we actually met um while I was working with that large agency, um we were hired to create a custom soundscape for a couple who had been married for like 30, 40 years. And they were very, very different.
00:38:38
Speaker
um The husband had worked for the Reagan administration. um The wife worked at the Guggenheim. The husband was a Republican. The wife was a Democrat. The husband was Jewish. The wife was Catholic. Just on paper, they could not have been more different. wow And um they were gathering with, I want to say like 150 of their closest friends and family. And my partner had been hired to, he is a writer and poet, and he was hired to write a customized poem that reflected their life together. ah So, but he also had the ah task of announcing the birth of their first grandchild. They did not know that their daughter had informed him
00:39:30
Speaker
that she was pregnant and she wanted the news to be shared through his poem, his new celebration. ah And he's just, he's an incredible writer. He synthesizes, we've done that as well as part of our immersive experiences with couples will, you know, customize a ah poem with customized music bed underneath. And that's what we did for them. we He wrote this poem. We created a custom music arrangement and he performed it as a spoken word piece. um And yeah, we haven't left each other's side since then. Were you like drooling at the mouth? No, not at all. i and When I'm working, I am working. so i a I have tunnel vision, I have blinders on, it's just about work. yeah um But once we finished the event,
00:40:25
Speaker
i I would always rush to go home. like I would always go to the green room, grab all my stuff, and then go home. My entire band would. And I was on my way to the green room to get my stuff, and I rushed past him. And he said, hey. And I looked back, oh, hey, thanks so much. You were amazing. you know I hope we get to work together again someday. And he said, well, um Where's the after party? I was like, after party, we don't do that. We all go home. We're corny nerds, you know? And um he said, well, would you want to go for a drink? He didn't even drink. He didn't even drink. And I had not been on a date in a really long time. ah And I said, you know, I had like this out of body experience. You know how in movies where the main character will look at the camera and go, do it.
00:41:19
Speaker
You need to go on, yeah I've been on a date in 80 years, you're going on this day. And that's kind of what happened. Like I had this kind of fire. age Just like, you feel like. he
00:41:30
Speaker
thought exactly I was like, sure, let's, let's go. There was literally a bar up the street. Um, and yeah, we went and had a drink and had a lot in common and we just been together ever since. Bam girl. Yeah, she's amazing. Nobody ever asked me about him. It's kind of weird. So cute. I love a a good love story. What is your WU factor? What is your sonic song factor? What makes you stand out? Photographers, I am so thrilled to announce my new sponsors Aftershoot, an AI editing company. They do AI editing, unlimited cropping and straightening. I am seriously blown away by the precision and five hours a week I get back in my life. My life is so much better and I literally don't have any more anxiety. It's so crazy.
00:42:27
Speaker
I remember being at barbecues with my laptop because I had to get out of shoot and and that was so stressful, so not fun. And the best part about after shoot compared to their competition is that it's a monthly minimal cost, not cost per image because I am a true overshooter. I could shoot like, I don't know, 3000 photos in an engagement shoot, which is not good. But anyways, using my code in the show notes to get a 30 day trial and 20% off You're going to get in the software and just go crazy with it. And AfterShoot edits 2.0 just released, and they have a lot of new features that you are going to love. AfterShoot, I can't thank you enough for giving me back my time to focus on this podcast. Oh, yeah, back to the podcast. I'm sensitive. I'm very sensitive. um Like I said, it's all about feeling for me. And um I say this all the time.
00:43:23
Speaker
Every time I speak, I say this, a gathering is, a and this includes weddings, a gathering is a room full of nervous systems. And I think that if we went into these experiences with that in mind, the way that we speak to one another, the way that we move in the space, um what we think about ourselves, just everything would change so that you know we can honor our nervous system. Everybody's in fight or flight. We're always hustling. you know We're always on to the next thing. and
00:44:00
Speaker
yeah For me, its I'm very sensitive to, ah I'm an empath. I guess you could say that, I'm an empath.
Client Sensitivity and Environment Awareness
00:44:08
Speaker
So that is my rule factor. And I use that to help guide my um choices as ah as a musician, as a curator, as a sommelier. Isn't that crazy? Like our nervous system could like either sense good right away or bad. Right. If you listen, so if you listen closely enough. or and i think you're Yeah. If you understand yourself. If you understand yourself. And i another thing that I say all the time is that, you know, when I decided to create Honey and Vinyl, it was while I was on stage at an event performing and I wasn't the band leader.
00:44:47
Speaker
And so the band leader was you know calling songs that just didn't seem to fit with what was taking place in the room at the time. And all I could hear myself saying was, we're not listening. We're not listening. You guys sound great. like I've always worked with the creme de la creme of musicians, right? Artistry is just top notch. yeah But we have to be good listeners. Um, and I would say that to every vendor actually, but specifically as it relates to music, I think that because we are on stage as musicians, a lot of time we think that people are there to listen to us. as vonic song Our, um,
00:45:31
Speaker
mission is to be really, really good at listening to what's happening in the room so that we can respond to it in real time. Wow, that's next level. Yeah, gotta be next level. Yeah. Last question before we tell everyone where to find you, but what is your best get a heck yes technique? How do you get your heck yes from your dream client? How do I get my heck yes? My mentor would say I get my heck yes.
00:46:04
Speaker
from being myself. Anytime I've tried to do or be or act like something, it has not worked for me. But the more that I lean into just being Kiana, the more the universe says yes to me. And you can feel that yes. So I follow that. I love that. And where can everyone find you? you can find us at sonicsom.com or at on Instagram at SonicSommelier. Yeah, this is this conversation was next level. Thank you so much for being a part of this. Thank you for having me, Carissa. This was great. Yay!
00:46:55
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine. See you next time, wedding pros!