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Episode 148 - Live out your brand - Mikey Ramirez
91 Plays4 months ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays.
Mikey Ramirez is an international filmmaker & entrepreneur primarily filming for weddings & fashion brands throughout the U.S. & overseas.
HOT TOPIC
Clients will believe our message & brand by how we live it out.
Connect with Mikey
Connect with Carissa Woo
https://www.instagram.com/carissawoo
Sponsors
17hats.com - Use code heckyes
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship Acknowledgments
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Woo Wednesdays. I just got back from Honolulu, Hawaii with my family. We had a blast and I'll be posting three vlogs on my IG. So stay tuned for that. And quick shout out to my sponsors, Seventeen Hats, for allowing me to be in the beach and still be able to run my business because I've implemented so many automations. Use code HECKYAS to get 50% off the entire year. And thank you to AfterShoot AI, which edits my galleries in minutes. saving me hours in my week. And lastly, DM me the word coaching if you want a free video on how to get 10 to 15 quality leads a month without posting on Facebook groups or running ads. All right, let's get to
Guest Introduction: Mikey Ramirez
00:00:43
Speaker
it. We have Mikey Ramirez from Mikey Films, and he is such an impressive guy. Go check out his IG right now, Mikey our Films, and the wedding he shoots are insane.
00:00:58
Speaker
I know Mikey from Whippa and he always raves that he gets the best clients in the world. So find out today how he attracts
Mikey's Business Transformation Story
00:01:05
Speaker
that. And also you will be surprised on what he did to turn around his business from making no money to being booked out solid. This is one of the deepest conversations on Get A Heck Yes. He goes so deep into why you should live out your brand in your own real life and there is just no more faking it. Clients can tell. Enjoy this conversation.
00:01:33
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 hacks 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.
Exploring Wedding Filmmaking and Client Vision
00:02:24
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with your girl, Carissa Woo. I'm here with my friend, Mikey Ramirez, Mike Ramirez is an international filmmaker and entrepreneur, primarily filming for weddings and fashion brands throughout the whole entire U.S. and overseas. What's up, Mikey? What's up? How's it going? Good, good. I just went for a two hour walk on the beach, so. Nice. Super sweaty. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. A good energy. I feel very clear minded. I'm just ready to get to know you and have my audience fall in love with you.
00:02:59
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Well, that's something already that we have in common. I usually go on hikes every morning. I don't live near the ocean, unfortunately, but I do live near like hills and sort of mountain e areas. ah So I love getting my my morning hike in and ah yeah it just it really sets the tone for the day. Oh, totally. Yeah, I have like a natural smile, not a four smile. like Yeah, yeah, exactly exactly. Where do you live? i So I live in Temecula. um So I live near all the wineries. And it's basically Italy in California. Totally. Oh my god, cool. Well, I guess tell the audience a little bit about you, what you're all about, who you serve. And yeah, just anything you want to share.
00:03:48
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. um So from a business perspective, um yeah, I'm ah a wedding filmmaker. I've been doing weddings for about eight years now. And I make sure I love a lot of things. um So in the beginning of my career, I did. um commercial work, I did music videos, entertainment stuff, um things like that, social media ads, working with influencers and things like that. But um yeah, it's since then has developed into being into weddings full time. um We are doing some more fashion stuff as people are, I don't know, I guess they like our work and they want our stuff on their Instagrams and and websites and things like that. So that's pretty flattering.
00:04:26
Speaker
Um, but yeah, so, uh, but for the most part, our main focus is wedding and events. Um, generally even on the event side, um, you know, we do events for, um, uh, you know, corporate events generally in the wedding industry. So we'll get like planners or organizations asking us to like film their stuff, but yeah, our, our main focus, uh, our weddings, uh, we really work with, um, couples that are. um They're very passionate about their vision with their wedding. um They're very, they have a certain idea in their head. They they want their wedding to be a certain way. ah They hire the best planners and the best vendors to really make that vision happen. And generally speaking, we see ourselves more as like partners in their vision, ah rather than like um ah functional videographers or somebody who's going to come in and just kind of film whatever happens and then give them whatever we end up coming up with.
00:05:21
Speaker
but it's ah there's a real vision behind it. There's a real partnership behind it
Personal Growth and Independence Journey
00:05:25
Speaker
as like they're hiring us as their filmmakers to represent their day and really do an amazing job at it. Yeah. Heck yes listeners. Go check out Mikey Films. The work is insane. He gets a top notch clients and then does a top notch work. I was just on Instagram, your Instagram all day. So it's just insane. I never seen anything like it, but let's get back to like young Mikey. Like what were you like growing up? Yeah, oh man. ah So I would say growing up, um I was definitely I was definitely a really outgoing person. um So like, there's pictures of me when I was a kid. And I'm just like playing on the playground, like we're playing tag with people, um you know, um and and what what's so funny is like, um I have friends to this day.
00:06:14
Speaker
that I've known um pretty much since we were kids that but that told me that I was their first friend in like middle school or high school. I was the one person that you know, kind of came up to them and offered to like play with them and things like that. So I was a pretty outgoing person. I cared about you know, connecting with other kids and Um, just, I don't know. And that, that still has sort of remained the same as I, as I've gotten older. But, um, yeah, I was always very outgoing. I would never sit down. I would never stop talking. I would get in trouble as a kid. Cause I was always like walking around, like getting up mid-class and then like trying to talk to people.
00:06:52
Speaker
ah So that was kind of fun. I would always get in trouble that way. But, um you know, nobody ever really made me feel like that was wrong. You know what I mean? Like they never like I was fortunate enough to go to a school where I wasn't treated like I was going to be some loser kid that was going to, you know, come become nothing because I didn't focus on my work or things like that. um But it just kind of like went to show like how much more I cared about ah relationships or I cared about um other people's experiences. um So i I don't know that was always kind of who I was, I was always very creative. um i I was very like, creative and independent in a way where, um like, i I got really into skateboarding, I played a lot of video games growing up. um I played music in high school, things like that. So so things that were, I could
00:07:46
Speaker
I could go as far as I wanted to without using anybody or anything else as an excuse. It's just me. um ah But it was always in fields that were like creative or challenging or things that I knew that I want to take this challenge on for myself and figure it out and become really good at it. What were your parents like? ah My parents were they were pretty great. They um so ah my both my mom and dad worked. My mom was a nurse. um She still is. Um, and, uh, my dad worked a, um, he delivered, um, he was a delivery for Frito-Lay. Uh, so we worked for Frito-Lay and delivered. Yeah. So he, yeah. so he and he shook me but yeah so So he drove the big trucks and you know, he like delivered all the stuff, all the, all the chips. Uh, so that's what he did. He was the the sales rep. I think it was his technical, um, his position.
00:08:42
Speaker
ah But yeah, so they so they did that. So again, still very, ah you know, people oriented, very service oriented. And so yeah, i I came I come from a family of of of servants, I come from a family of of entertainers in a way, um you know, people who like to host things and um and, and give people a good time. So yeah, I mean, I guess you you do make people feel comfortable. For sure. We're part of the WIPA. um I think the first conversation I had with you was at Harbrock in Vegas for the DJ. And you told me you didn't drink, but you're just there to have a good time, like chatting people up. So I thought that was pretty cool.
00:09:21
Speaker
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah all all my ah All my drinking days are over. I had all that in in college and um I think, I don't know, i' maybe I had enough. So now I'm just kind of like, I'm good without it. Yeah, I think when you get used to it, it's probably just like, um maybe like empowering, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's it's fine. You know, I, I always tell people like I never had a problem. You know, I was never like this super, you know, ah alcoholic guy. Like I just, I don't know, I had my fun. And then, um, as I got a little older and I started my business, uh, I was like, all right, you know, it's not really doing much for me anymore. So yeah, yeah. We talked at the Friars event, um, Friars Tux 50th anniversary event and
00:10:02
Speaker
You said you're like a connector. You connect. You're good at connecting people. um Tell me a little bit about that. Like, were you always like that as a kid and how did it translate into your career? Yeah, I think I was I was um like I said, I was was always really good at at making people feel comfortable. I was always really good at like introducing myself to people. um And one of like, it's so funny how ah on like a psychological level, us as people and One of the biggest fears that we have is the fear of of rejection or the fear of um social
00:10:40
Speaker
um Awkwardness. Yeah, like social awkwardness, social. um There's a specific term I'm trying to think of, but but basically like humiliation, like public humiliation, huge fear for a lot of people. So ah sometimes it's almost like to a fault where like I want to make sure people like don't have that experience with me or like because because I'm like super like a public humiliation is like it makes me so nervous. um But I always ah so that so, you know, I ah Total believer in the philosophy of like, you know, treat people how you want to be treated kind of thing So, you you know, I always want to make people feel comfortable I always want to go out so so a part of that like I think as I've developed, you know that personality and and the business I think I've learned over the years that
00:11:24
Speaker
um a part of the the i'll ah helping people feel comfortable. There is also a part of of getting people around other people that are familiar. So if they don't know anybody, you know, I'm always thinking like, who would this person really like hit it off with? Like who would this person feel comfortable around? And it's not like a I wanna find somebody who has the same interests as this person, um but I wanna introduce this person who, it could be like an easy connection, somebody who they can bounce ideas off of or personalities off of, you know just somebody that would be a good fit for them in a way. um and And yeah, that's that's something that I think I've developed. I wasn't that way as a kid. It was more so like me trying to connect with everybody. But as I've gotten older, I realized I'm very limited. I can't connect with every single person.
00:12:12
Speaker
So for me, it's more of like a win when I can connect somebody with somebody else that I know that would be a good fit and they could just, you know, ah ride off into the sunset together. Oh, I love that. Yeah, like I have um two mantras, ah maybe three big mantras in my life. And one is don't make people feel like shit, which means like, I'm even if someone's like super awkward, and like I don't really feed into it. I'm just like, Oh, cool, cool. You know, or they say something dumb, which like, oh you kind of just play off of it. And then my other mantra and business businesses. ah Just do it. like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah ah what What I've sort of learned over the years is like, especially when I'm talking to people, because there are people out there who
00:12:55
Speaker
um How do I put this? How do I put this? um they ah there's They deal with um maybe it's insecurity with themselves. I don't know what it is. I think it's different from person to person. ah But everybody feels awkward. We all feel awkward at some point. And there are some people who feel more awkward than most. ah There are some people who just haven't been practicing, right? They haven't been practicing going out talking with people, sparking conversation. So they're really nervous. um And I think I've had enough experiences in my life where I talk to people who are just extremely nervous. And um and I've sort of found with that when I'm communicating with somebody who looks extremely nervous, my next go to is it's not just asking, it's it's sort of digging.
00:13:43
Speaker
right like I'm digging for what is this person interested in? what What makes this person light up? So I'll really ask certain questions. And this is so funny because I've never studied psychology. I didn't even really go to school. like like We could talk about this later, but I did not study any of this stuff in like college. It's just something that I picked up you know from personal experience. But what I found is if somebody if there's ever somebody that's really awkward or nervous to be out in public or anything like that, I always try to find a way like I need to get I need to quickly learn about what's important to this person, what this person likes, what their interests are. And one thing that I found is once I'm able to find that and I'm start able to start asking questions that surround what they're interested in, I find that immediately like their their demeanor changes.
00:14:32
Speaker
It's just their energy changes. They get really excited. Finally, somebody's understand. So and it's really rewarding personally for me from like a selfish place because I'm like, I'm like, this is amazing. Like everything that I believe in as a person and helping people have a good experience. Like I, I just want like I won the lottery right here. I figured it. I finally cracked this person and then they feel happy. So it's like a win-win, you know, but That's so special, Mikey, I love that about you. And you didn't get any special psychology training, but you're probably training since you could open your mouth, right? Yeah, oh, for sure. Yeah. Well, a couple more more questions before Hot Topic. We could have another whole podcast about that. But um you just like ooze with confidence. um and But tell me, what what what were you like in high school? like What were you all about?
00:15:23
Speaker
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 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.
00:16:04
Speaker
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. 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.
00:16:47
Speaker
Yeah, ah so in high school, with no confidence. I was so, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was a nasty wreck. wouldn't see that one coming. Yeah, yeah. i I don't know. i am I mean, I had a lot of ah experiences in high school. I think that, you know, when when you're in high school, like it, it, it sort of becomes a lot more primal, where you're more focused on, you know, like popularity or people liking you or you're, you're more, yeah I think you start, you you begin to shift into this like biological mindset of like,
00:17:20
Speaker
you want to find your place in the world. And I feel like that just kind of starts around the time of the teenager. Like, where's my place? Who are my friends? What am I interested in? what you know And so you just kind of like you try a bunch of things, which is why social pressure is such a huge thing in high school. Because you're like, you don't really know yourself. You don't really know what you find interesting or what you find attractive or what you want to do. And so um so that you know I was the same. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I had no idea who my friends were. I went to a bigger school in high school. So I went from middle school into high school to a way bigger school. And there was a lot of insecurity. you know like i i wasn't um you know I was never like the big tough guy ah that played football or played all these sports. you know um And so I was more of like the the skinny, nerdy guy in in high school. and
00:18:10
Speaker
And so, um you know, i had I had my experience with relationships and girlfriends and breakups and things like that. And so because I didn't have a real sense of who I was, I didn't really have much of a foundation to really carry me through all that pain. So I just I i struggled, um you know, ah mentally and I struggled emotionally. And then that's, you know, I drank and I wanted to go to like parties and games and things like that. um And so yeah, I was definitely pretty deeply insecure. And so that's when, you know, I started getting into into skateboarding and music because it ended up turning into the scene where I realized like, okay, like, okay.
00:18:52
Speaker
um ah you know, I'm in high school, there's all these guys are playing football or basketball or all these sports, you know, there's this performance aspect to it. So, you know, I try to find like the closest thing that I could to impress other people, if you will. um And so that came through like skateboarding that came through, you know, playing music. Like I said, I started learning how to play the drums. And so even though though I was creatively inclined to do those things, I sort of learned early on that these were ah very
00:19:24
Speaker
physically prominent things that I could get noticed for And so I I pressed into them and I started doing those things more as like a sense of like look at hey everybody Look at how good I am at what at what I do um And so yeah, there was a there was a real ah deep ah sense like a desire for belonging, you know, everything that I said that I give people and that, you know, since I was a kid, a sense of belonging, a sense of, you know, being heard and being and being loved and welcomed. ah I was really hungry for that, too. But I wasn't really getting that in in high school. You know, there was a couple of friends that I had that, you know, I became
00:20:00
Speaker
begin to become close with. um But it wasn't on the level of like, I didn't feel like a deeper sense of like, love and appreciation. um And so yeah, I sort of tried to find that in trying to be cool, you know, trying to be the skater guy trying to be um you know, the we all went through our emo phase, you know, yeah and and and then in the music stuff, you know. um And so yeah, I was pretty insecure. I was very i still very creative and outgoing, but um I wasn't getting um the the acceptance that I thought I would have. And so that sort of led to like, sort of deep insecurity. And, you know, yeah, did you thank you for sharing, you have a very strong emotional challenges to articulate that, especially as a
00:20:44
Speaker
Man because a lot of guys don't talk like that That feeling um yeah, I'm sure i many of us are the same way but did you find more like a sense of self in college and then how did you Kind of a long-winded question But then how did you kind of tap into your career and just kind of hit the ground running because your business is so You know to the you went straight to the top. Yeah. Yeah ah Yeah, so um So in college, it wasn't it wasn't much, it wasn't much different. um I would say I would say in college, I was very tough to love. um i I had experiences in college where, ah you know, and you just bad relationships that ended poorly.
00:21:30
Speaker
um I just I wasn't I wasn't quite there emotionally in terms of like processing certain things and I had friends that like I'm I I sometimes think about these people I like almost every day where I like I want to call them and be like I'm sorry that I put you through this, you know But I I had like roommates in college that ah sort of walked with me through through some of these things These breakups and and these just not knowing again kind of where I'm going where where my place is in the world um and ah You know not doing very well in school I didn't do very well in school at all um And so that was another level of pressure of like performance that I just wasn't doing and so I was felt like I was upsetting people But um, but yeah, so it's so in college I think I think the the number one thing that I found about my found out about myself in college or should I say the thing that sort of ah that the that led me to the trajectory that I'm in now um is I really
00:22:26
Speaker
formed a sense of independence in myself separate from what I Learned in high school. So in high school, I learned you know that I need to do all these things in order to impress other people Whereas in college it became more on the other side of like I don't need to do anything to impress anybody um And I'm not gonna do anything to impress anybody. So I'm gonna sort of choose my own path type of thing and that ah sort of like left me more isolated. ah it kind of It kind of led me into a lifestyle of just isolation. And I didn't really have any friends. ah There were people that would consider me friend, but I didn't really consider them friends. you know i was I was sort of like in my own world. So I went from like one extreme to the other. Like one extreme of like, I want to serve people. I want to love people. To like the extreme of like, I don't want to find any happiness in any relationships or anything. And it's it's all up to me kind of thing, you know?
00:23:23
Speaker
um And so I think over the years, um so post college, ah before I really started my my business and and my career, um I started to come back to the realization of like, I can't do this alone. And I i would say 2021, 20 through 23, were some really dark years, like they were really, you know, they they were just as again, going back to like the figuring it out. What do I want? What do I like? What am I into? What am I good at? um And so I had to do a lot of soul searching around this time in in when
Therapy and Authentic Branding
00:24:02
Speaker
I was 23. This was 2016.
00:24:04
Speaker
ah around this time I moved to France to go and study film because I knew at least at that point that I wanted to get back into filmmaking. It was always something that was kind of there. um But yeah, so I moved to France and that's when I hit my like lowest of lows. And that's when I'm like, okay, I need to figure this out. um And so I moved back to California and I went to go get therapy and I really process a lot of that with my therapist. Um, and every year has been since then has been tough, but better. Um, and so now kind of where I'm at in business is it feels like way more wholesome and everything that I do now is from, uh, there's this book that I read. Um, I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but, uh, but everything that I do now is, is from love, not for love. Is it called loveability?
00:24:56
Speaker
No, it's ah it's a it's a book from John Mark Comer. I can't remember the name of of that, but it's ah it's a book from um from John Mark Comer and um it'll come it'll come to me and I'll bring it. I want to go so deep, but I have a kind of a cycle of this conversation. So I'm like, this is probably like some deep, deep ish, you know, but yeah, yeah, it's, I could go so deeper into it, but I can't, um, another podcast. another I know another podcast really talk for hours, but, uh, I think you're just such emotional guys. So you lived a thousand lives and it's just like, it could really take you down. It could take you up. So I'm glad that you you're on the flip side, and you know,
00:25:41
Speaker
yeah um that's That's amazing. um Tell us your hot topic and why is it so near and dear to your heart? Because my my kid took my phone so I don't have it. Okay, okay. I got it right here. I got it right here. ah So clients will believe our message and brand by how we live it out. Yeah. who It goes so fitting with like everything that you just said. So what does that mean to you? Yeah, so so living out living out the brand, um you know,
00:26:12
Speaker
this is This is sort of where where ah life is at now. So i you know I shared everything about my experience, about wanting to make people feel ah heard and understood, wanting people to feel welcome. And then I went on to the flip side where I felt really almost like anti-relationship, borderline, like just independent, all the way through kind of thing. and And now I feel like that ah whole story has developed into this combined mix of the two where ah there's still a hyper independence there, but there's also a I want people to feel heard and and and and understood. I want people to feel known on a deep level.
00:26:52
Speaker
And so kind of what I've taken there, um it's almost artistic as I sort of describe it, but as I take that message of the independence yet still welcoming and open that mindset, what I found is that in in in my life and my experience in my business, that it's much easier to live out and to find success when you're living it out in in a true sense. So what do I mean by that? I really mean that if you're going to find success in something um and right you know we're where we work in the wedding industry,
00:27:29
Speaker
um I work in the wedding industry. And ah what I found is that the type of clientele from a business perspective, if I want to attract that type of clientele, I have to really know and walk the walk of what these people are looking for. because when people are they want to buy something whenever they purchase something before they make the purchase or right when they make the purchase, they've made a decision in their mind, in their psyche, in their body. They made the decision that this is a company or this is a product that I need, that I agree with. This is a product that's going to do something for me. So what I found is, especially for people in their first several years of business,
00:28:11
Speaker
is that they tend to have this idea that my businesses look this way, I need to talk this way, but they don't really live out what this brand is, the passion or the belief behind the brand. um And so what I find is a lot of people doing ah certain things in their business where it just it doesn't ah it's not believable, if that makes sense. um And so I think that that's, you know, If you're in a place in your business where you're trying to figure it out, what is my business mean? What is the philosophy but behind what I do? That's okay. Try a bunch of things. just Just do it. Just try a bunch of things. If it sticks, it sticks. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But whatever place that you decide to go with your business, you need to make sure that you are extremely familiar on a level of
00:29:02
Speaker
habitual understanding that this is that you believe the message that you're trying to portray out there. Because if you don't, like, for example, for me, um one of my ideas for my brand is i I'm a very I'm a very deep feeler. It's always been that way. I'm i'm a storyteller. I'm somebody who I'm a very emotional person. ah It's just something that comes natural to me. So I know that there's a level of artistry behind that that I know that I want to press into. So but if I was gonna say something along the lines of You know, I'm gonna I'm gonna try to attract, you know ah These c-suite executive corporate clients that's like I could probably hang with them But I'm not really gonna be like I didn't I didn't graduate like this
00:29:50
Speaker
ah amazing university with honors and I didn't, you know, like I don't I don't have um all of these these ah diploma achievements. I don't have that. And so it's going to be harder for me to sort of like fit into that group of, you know, these these people who who took that route, who went to university for 10 years, who did like, it's going to be really difficult for me to like really relate with them. um Now, if they're looking for somebody who is ah very passionate driven and driven and an artist and what they do, I'm their guy, right? And so, you know, i get I get this compliment all the time where people say that my couples are amazing, and they are, they're really great. and and But I get these these, you know, I get photographers and and planners and DJ, and they always tell me the same thing. It's like, your um your couples are amazing. Every wedding that I work with you, like, I'm crying because some, speech you know, like there there's But again, it's because I've been able to press into the things that I'm good at, the storytelling, the emotional intelligence, like you said, ah which it was really difficult, right? um Going through all of that those experiences growing up. um But that really brought something, a gift that is so important to the experience of my clients, that I make that very clear. This is what I'm really good at. And so,
00:31:07
Speaker
when I say that this is what I'm really good at, it's it's not just words, but it's actual lifestyle experiences that I've had. And they can see it in my language, they can see it the way I communicate the way I talk with them. It's it's very. ah And so this is like the like overly complicated version of you attract what you put out. and And so if you if you put out a business and a brand that's not ah true to who you are in the gift that you have to bring to the world, um it's going to be a lot more difficult for future clients to help to believe it.
00:31:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I have one question because I thought when I read the topic, like maybe you're going to go, like for the audience that don't don't know you, you're pretty much in like in the luxury brand, right? So with also that mean like you have to know what luxury clients do, how they talk, how where they're hanging out, what they're feeling, what they're thinking, their their buying habits, is it to that extent too? 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?
00:32:36
Speaker
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00:33:09
Speaker
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00:33:46
Speaker
So yeah, ever since the podcast, I signed up for Kickstarter Accounting and wow, so much peace of mind in my finances. So if you are a wedding pro looking to streamline your financial processes and gain clarity on your business financial health, I have the perfect solution for you. Kickstart Accounting Inc. offers specialized bookkeeping services designed by entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. Their services are tailored to woman-owned businesses, focusing on providing clear, accurate financial records, allowing you to focus on what you do best, growing your business.
Financial Clarity Promotion
00:34:24
Speaker
I invite you to book a discovery call with Kickstart Accounting. The link is in the show notes. Mention, heck yes.
00:34:32
Speaker
And yeah, they are going to get your finances in order so you can continue to scale and succeed. Back to the show. Oh, yeah, for sure. I would say it's um.
00:34:48
Speaker
the For me, i like I said earlier, I didn't do well in school. my My experience and my wisdom has come from experiencing the world. So um before I really entered into a more luxury place in my in my business, um I traveled. like i I did whatever I could. i I used all the credit card hacks. I used all the credit card, whatever I could, ah to fly business class to a different country. I used all the credit card points to um ah to stay in some luxury hotels. um And i my main thing right now, I get asked this a lot, um where people will ask me like, oh, who do you want to work with? like who who is like Who's your inspiration in the wedding industry?
00:35:37
Speaker
And I'm about to say something that not a lot of people are gonna like, but I'm gonna say it anyway, um because it's a hot topic, right? ah But I actually don't really follow very many people in the wedding industry. um i don't I don't find a lot of inspiration in the wedding industry. There are a couple people that I look at and I think like I have a lot of respect for them. But when i when it comes to exactly what you said, and I'm bringing it up full circle, um when it comes to understanding the buying habits and the personalities and ah what these luxury clients are looking for,
00:36:11
Speaker
I have to, in the same light, ah live what I'm trying to put out, what I'm trying to sell. I had to find whatever way I could to fly first class, to stay in luxury in in hotels and to get a real experience so that I can know what are these other companies doing? What are these other like major luxury providers? What are they doing? Why are they so successful? What is it about that what they're doing? So I've done you know the branding stuff, I've done the copywriting stuff, I've done the i've done the courses, um but really in my experience, you like you have to put yourself in the shoes of your client to experience the feeling that they're looking to get. I love that. I mean, just one story pops into mind, but um like I had been a wedding photographer for about five years before I got married.
00:37:03
Speaker
Um, and it was, you know, when you first start, you like have an ego and it's ah kind of like what you want, you know, like, you know, like your way, the highway type of thing. But, um, as a bride, what I kind of learned was it's not about like the photographer, which, you know, I was a bride at the time, like it's about what the client wants. So my whole like entire mindset shift is like, I didn't want to unplug weddings. I love perspectives of guests. And my photographer was like telling my grandma had to like put down her camera, you know like stuff like that. But i'm like ah just these little things like irked me. So that's when I really like dug into like
00:37:46
Speaker
I don't know what the client wants, but also giving them like experience that everyone's on like the same page. so Yeah, yeah yeah that that's one thing that um you know I hear. I mean, I was the same way. like you know When you first start your business, you're you're in your you're one, you're two. um you you have this sort of like, you're in this high of like, I just quit my job, or I'm just I'm i'm taking my success into my own hands. And you feel like this boss, you know, ah type person, this personality of just like, man, I control it. I had the same thing. like I was going around telling people like, Yeah, I'm a business owner. Like I run my own business. I'm so busy and stressed out all the time. And it was like, it was all these things that, you know, I would tell people, but
00:38:30
Speaker
ah Really, I was stressed out because I didn't know what I was doing. you know I just didn't want to admit it. yeah but But I went through the same thing that you did where I was like, because I'm not married, um but I went through the same thing, a similar thing that you did where I had to come to a point in my business where my business, there was a year in my business, a year, maybe a year and a half where my business was basically failing. It wasn't making any money. um i I was making very, very little. And so I really dug into ah other like, you know, mentorships and coaching
00:39:07
Speaker
from people who actually weren't in the in the industry, people who were had more of a track record of just building pretty much any business they wanted to and building it successfully. So I'm like, I want to learn what these guys are doing and what these guys have done in their businesses. Even if it's not even if it's not like apples to apples, there's still a lot of value a lot of value there for me. And so um from when I started to like my way or the highway kind of thing, I went from that into Because again, i had i at the time of my life, I was a very independent, this sort of like, you know, again, my way or the highway type of thing. But what I learned is that, um and this is a great negotiation tip from from one of Chris Voss's books, Never Split the Difference, is that ah the the aggressive tone, it never works for anybody. Because it's like a slap in the face, right? When you're aggressive, when you're, you know, my way or the highway, this is how things are gonna get done. It's just not, it's not gonna work.
00:40:05
Speaker
Now um with luxury clientele, with people who have a lot of money, A lot of people don't like this, but with a lot of people who have a lot of money, they got to that place and got to that point in their life because they didn't take no for an answer. And that is one of the hardest lessons that I've had to sort of the hollar hardest hurdles that I had to work through was, okay, they don't want to take no for an answer. And it's not because they want to be
00:40:37
Speaker
horrible to work with is because that they know in their life and their experience, the life that they built for themselves, they did it and they would do it over and over again because they had the capabilities. They didn't take no for an answer in their own life. The vision that they had, the vision that they created, the the desires they had for their business, they made it happen regardless of whoever helped them get there Whatever they made it happen And so they have this philosophy in their mind that they know and if you can put your mind to it You can get it accomplished and you can figure it out And so I used to think that I had to sort of combat clients and say okay Well, this isn't gonna work. So I guess I'm just not the right one for you. It's like that's that's like anyway, so what I've learned now is that if I take every project
00:41:29
Speaker
um and And I don't mean every single project because there are still couples out there who i'm just it's just it's just not going to work. ah The vision is not there. They have a different vision than you know what we could do. But I try my best to be accessible to most people. and And what I mean by that is most people who are in that line of, like I said earlier, they're looking for the esteem, they're looking for the belonging, they're looking for excellence. and ah So this world of like, i I better live and breathe that, right? And um so they'll come to me and they'll have this idea of like, Hey, you know, we have a 300 person wedding, we have, you know, this and that. And it's up to me to figure out how to make it work.
00:42:06
Speaker
And so that's really where the gift comes in for me and connecting with these people is like, okay, you know, like you have this vision. I mean, if you, as long as you got the money, as long as you have the money to pay me, like I'm going to make it happen kind of thing. Um, and so that's really the mindset of like, that's like winners want to hire winners. And in their mind, they're winners because they've won the lottery, right? They built a life. They've spent the last 20 years developing this life that they want and they made it happen. Um, so.
00:42:38
Speaker
Yeah, there there are times again, where the difference in expectation, like if we're going to say no to a client, it's really so much more when it comes down to how controlling they want to be over our process. And people who generally ask for more and more and more tend to be clients that aren't really, this is going to sound horrible saying this out loud, but really aren't worth the time for us and for them.
Pricing and Client Attraction Strategy
00:43:09
Speaker
yeah um Because if they're going to continue to ask for more and more and more and try to change more and more things, it's generally going to lead to resentment, but it's going to um
00:43:22
Speaker
There's an obvious issue with how we're already doing things. And if there's an already an issue that how we're already doing things, then that's kind of a problem. um Because the people that we want to work with are people who have high expectations, but they know and trust that we're going to get that done. And they don't have to bother us or they don't have to, you know, micromanage us. um and There's a quote from Jim Rohn that I really love. It's, don't spend major time on minor things. And if that was like a slogan that I could put on my website and be like, every client needs to believe this, um that's how it would be. And the interesting thing is with our process, that's how all of our clients are. They don't bug us about anything.
00:44:00
Speaker
they don't request all of this stuff, they let us know what their vision is. And then we asked sort of the questions of like, Okay, where is this going? What's this going to look like? You know, what's your hope and vision for this kind of thing. And we really get into the the nitty gritty, generally with the planner. um But All I care about is, are you going to pay us enough to make sure that this works? And um are you going to allow us to do our jobs? And like 100% of the time, when they allow us to do our jobs, it becomes even better than what they think it's going to be. Yeah, I mean, your work is incredible. And you get the best clients. I have to be very pickly picky about my questions because your answers are so good.
00:44:43
Speaker
and so deep. But I just have like, I guess my last question is, just in a nutshell, like from that time you said you weren't making money and then to like maybe getting the coach or the mentor, maybe tell like speak into the hearts of the audience and tell them maybe like how you turned your whole company around, like some action steps. 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.
00:45:30
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.
00:46:15
Speaker
Yeah, um well, first of all, it was, um like we were talking about earlier, was that pride. It was the ego. It was the, you know, um I deserve to get paid this much. um One thing that I've been hearing the past year is that everybody's slow. ah Everybody is struggling to get bookings. Some people don't have any bookings at all. And everybody, every single time, cringes when I bring up the idea of lowering their rates. They hate it. They hate the idea of lowering their rates because they built this business that in their ego, they think, I'm i'm deserving of of making this much money. Now, there's a lot of things that you can do to sort of change that. um Yeah, you know, you could post more. Yeah, you could you could work on your website more. Yeah, you can take on more styled shoots. Yeah, you can do all these things. You can sort of be busy body. But there are a lot of the times
00:47:12
Speaker
when I was struggling in my business, I was charging like way too much money. And that's why I was struggling was because I was out. um I was outcharging the market that I was supposed to be in. And so what ended up happening was um I was getting a lot of no's. I was getting a lot of ah like a lot of lack of inquiries because I had my pricing on my website and it was like, oh, this is the price. This is Ray. And nobody wanted to pay that. And So it again it led to more ego it led to um ah me feeling like but I'm I'm so good at this I was emotionally attached to my business and there was two years in a row where I had like five or six weddings.
00:47:57
Speaker
And I made like, I don't know, like, I think I was charging maybe about like 5,000, like 6,000 or whatever. And I only had five, six weddings. And I'm like, this isn't feasible. Like, I can't, I can't really pay my bills. Like, i so I had to pick up other work, you know, second shooting for people, lead shooting for other people. And what I realized was I was ah letting the e the ego sort of get in the way of making the decisions that I needed to make. And so you have to, and this is the one thing that the the mentor that I hired at this time is one thing he taught me is like, you have to emotionally disconnect yourself from your business and you have to emotionally, and and it's so hard, right? Like, especially for somebody like me, who's very emotionally inclined, I still i' i've i feel everything.
00:48:45
Speaker
i had to I had to really remove the emotions and the ego behind the decisions that I was making in my business and so I like I I've lowered my rates I went back to ah the rates that I was charging two years prior like my first ever year like really full-time like I had to go back to those rates and it was so like ah like Everything around me was telling me that that was a bad decision. Everything around me was telling me that, no, you're way better than that price. You need to raise your rates, whatever. um But I wasn't making any money. And I was hearing all the time, oh, but there's going to be planners out there who won't refer you because you're too cheap. And I'm like, hey, look, like if if the planner wants to fill out my schedule at that price point, you're more than welcome to.
00:49:29
Speaker
But and until that happens, I'm going to continue to work at a rate, at a lower rate that i um you know I'm not losing money. I'm um i'm fine. right like it's not I'm not going to lose my business because of this. But i I doubled, almost tripled my business because I lowered the rates. And you know I moved things around so that like I'm still getting a lot more profit in all the cards and things like that. That's a completely different conversation for another time. but um ah you have to get rid of the ego like You have to get rid of the ego. You have to get rid You to make short-term sacrifices for a long-term success. And there's a lot of people who don't want to do that. um But that's what I did. That's what I did to get my business back up and running to get more. I like to call it, you have to curate demand. You have to learn how to curate demand. If you don't know how to curate demand,
00:50:16
Speaker
um you're going to go have to find a job somewhere and just play the wedding game because you'll get there eventually. um But if you can learn how to curate demand in the short to medium term, even if you're you no longer work at weddings, whatever business you will start later on anywhere, whatever you want to do, learning to curate demand is one of the biggest gifts that you can give yourself and your business. That's the most important thing for me. like you know i would You have to look like you're in demand.
00:50:47
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. so mean Yeah, that like means of working weddings and showing showcasing the wedding. So whatever you have to do to get there. Right. And hey, look, like when I when I lowered my rates for the first time in like two years, um I thought like, the like, this is one of the the things that people fear, you're going to lower your rates. Now I'm going to attract low budget couples. And that was so far from the truth. like As a matter of fact, I felt like like i I had more of a volume of amazing couples. and again easy yeah And again, going back to the original main point that we were making from this entire podcast is like because I figured out how to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk.
00:51:34
Speaker
what you put out there is what you're going to attract. So if you want to put out aggressive, if you want to put out, I'm the boss, if you want to put that, that's what you're going to attract. But my business i'm I'm very proud of this. My business and my brand has attracted some of the most amazing clientele out there. And and they're they're not just amazing because they have a lot of money that they throw at their weddings, but they're amazing because like you should hear some of the things that I hear at these weddings. like People are crying. People are loving each other. There's big hugs going all around. like I work with some of the most loving clients, some of the most passionate clients. like It's pretty amazing.
00:52:12
Speaker
And so that whole concept of if I lower my rates, I'm going to attract budget brides. It might be because you have a budget way of communicating or a budget website or a budget philosophy. And you need to really work yourself out of that budget philosophy because I lowered my rates. And again, they're they're slowly climbing again. So I i have been raising them ah more again. But that demand is still there, right? And so anyway, what you put out is what you're going to get in. And um so yeah, work on that that philosophy of of business, that philosophy ah of of branding. And you're even if you're at a lower rate, you're going to get more business, but you're also going to get more business with a specific specific clientele that you attract out there.
00:52:58
Speaker
Yeah, this interview could be turned into a book. So so crazy. Okay, so just rapid short answer questions. But um I mean, I heard you speak on the panel for the WIPA at the fake house. That was really cool. And you kind of blew me away. But what is your best heck yes, technique you said so much, but in kind of like, yeah. ah The heck yes technique is ah it's storytelling. um so So everybody, every single person on the planet ah has has us as human beings, we respond to stories.
00:53:33
Speaker
OK, so we respond well to the stories. We like to go to the movies. We have to read a book, whatever that looks like. We love a good story. Right. ah So if you can the the the ways that I get my couples to say, heck yes, is by telling them a good story of what it's going to be like working together and what their what their life is going to be like when they get their wedding film. Oh, I love that. OK, next question. I had to kind of not cut you off, but not thoroughly let you answer um ah after high school. But like why weddings? like um Weddings. You said France for film school, but then how did you like take the plunge at like weddings? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Weddings. um Well, well, because I went to go study to be a director and and I hated it. I was like, I this like these people. It's too big. It's too. ah there These productions are too huge. um There's too many moving parts. There's too many people.
00:54:25
Speaker
um and And I just, I didn't like that. So when I started doing the first wedding I ever did, it was like awesome. Cause it was like, it was just me. ah Everybody was happy. um You know, there was no real ego behind it. People were just getting married and having a good time. and And so I loved it. I was just like, all right, let's keep doing this. And I tried a bunch of things. Like I said, the music videos, commercial stuff, and all of those were just so emotionally disconnected compared to like weddings. And I'm an emotional person. So it was like the perfect fit. ah I love that. Okay, cool. Last question before you tell everyone where to find you. But I know everyone's, you know, you said people are slow right now, which is, you know, true. So um what can they do today to get more leads?
00:55:09
Speaker
Yeah, more leads. Oh, that's a good one. um I would say I would say the the posting more is definitely really good. um I that and I'm like practice what you preach kind of thing because I don't really post a whole lot. But I get most of my referrals from planners, photographers and venues. So I don't really need to post that much. um But if you're if you're looking for more leads, um Definitely post more. ah Take advantage of Instagram. Take advantage of TikTok. Take advantage of YouTube Shorts. um Take advantage of... I've heard really good things about LinkedIn right now, but Facebook Reels has been really good too for people. um Just just ah volume. like Try to get as much stuff out there. Network more. Go meet more people. Take people out to coffee. Take people out to lunch.
00:55:54
Speaker
If you really want to do something that is like going to get, like if you've had past clients, try to figure out how you can leverage ah your relationship with the past clients, whether it's like if you're a photographer, videographer, come up with like a special edit that you can send to them, um or you know something to keep the ball rolling. like you want to you You want to take advantage of the leverage that you have now to bring in more, either whether it's more money, um But yeah, sponsoring events is really good. um networking Networking takes time. um But if you start yesterday, like you're before you know it, like you're going to be getting more business and more referrals. Mikey, this is so cool. I don't know. This is probably my deepest interview. um But tell everyone where to find you and start following you to see your amazing films.
00:56:46
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. so um So my website is just my name. It's mikeyramirez.com. And then you can find me on Instagram at MikeyRFilms. So that's M-I-K-E-Y, the letter R, and then films. So MikeyRFilms. But yeah, you can find me there. We've got a lot of exciting things coming up, um developing a lot of internal stuff, have some ah potential, not potential they're going to happen, but some ah future events that myself and my team are going to be putting on. um So hopefully one will be videography focused in 2025 and then the other one is going to be more the wedding industry as a whole ah in 2025 and then 2026. What's that? Let me know if you want to be a speaker.
00:57:30
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure. And then ah in 2026, I haven't announced this yet. But I guess this is the first time I can tease it, I guess. In 2026, it's going to be our 10 years of doing business. So be prepared for an announcement for a big event that we're going to put on just showcasing the years of business that we've done, what we've learned, how we've grown, and where we're kind of heading next. And um yeah, so I'm excited. Thank you, Mikey. Thank you for being vulnerable. Yeah, appreciate it. Thank you, Carissa.
00:58:04
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!