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Ep. 197 - Charging Premium Prices and Mindset with Aislinn Eileen
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Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Woo! I have a special guest today. Her name is Aislinn and she was a wedding photographer for 14 years and then transitioned into a coach for wedding photographers. My mind is blown on how she gets people to charge $10k for weddings! She's really good at mindset and being a teacher.
https://www.instagram.com/carissawoo
https://www.instagram.com/aislinneileencoaching
Recommended
Transcript
Emotional Experiences in Wedding Photography
00:00:00
Speaker
happy woo wednesdays wow i just got off the podcast episode with aislaine aileen she is a coach for wedding photographers and i'm so emotional because it was just so good it was all about like mindset she gets photographers from charging 6500 which crazy um which is crazy um I don't know, everything she said was just blew my mind. And i feel like anything is possible after this conversation.
00:00:28
Speaker
You are going to love her. we get into like EFT tapping. um We get into a lot about mindset and how to charge 10K about leads and who to network with and your um mindset just in life. And I don't know, just excited to listen to this podcast over and over. I think it's one of my best episodes ever.
00:00:50
Speaker
So if you're loving my podcast and um you just want more content from me, please leave me a review on Apple or Spotify. It's going to help me um rank higher and get more ears into this podcast.
00:01:07
Speaker
So thank you for listening. Enjoy this episode.
Introducing 'Get a Heck Yes' Podcast
00:01:15
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.
00:01:25
Speaker
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,
00:01:44
Speaker
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.
00:01:56
Speaker
i hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesdays so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon.
Journey from Wedding Photography to Coaching
00:02:06
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get Heck Yes with your girl Carissa Wu. I have a very special guest to today. Her name is Aislin McKenna and she was a wedding photographer for 14 years and then she transitioned to a coach for wedding photographers and you have to go check out Her Instagram, she gives you really good advice. um I've learned so much just on my walk this morning at the beach. And yeah, my mind is pretty blown on how you get people to start charging 10K for weddings. um You're really good at mindset. You're a really good teacher. even have like the little chalkboard at the back. And I was like, wow, like, wow, she's a really good teacher. But yeah, welcome. Welcome to the podcast.
00:02:50
Speaker
Carissa, thank you so much for having me. This is such a joy. i love being on podcasts and I love having these chats with other wedding photographers because there's just so much depth that we can get into around all of these different topics that we're go to touch on today. Yay. Okay. So tell the heck yes listeners who you are. Yeah, absolutely. Hi guys. My name is Ace Lynn. You can call me Ace if you can't remember my full name.
00:03:12
Speaker
So I was a wedding photographer for 14 years and towards the end of my career, i was charging $1 anywhere between 10 and 17K. if you take inflation, that would be closer to like 20K at this point.
00:03:24
Speaker
yeah So I was also published in Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, Southern Weddings. I have a very long list of accolades I'm not going to bore you guys with. But now I have retired officially from weddings back in 2022. And I am helping other creatives with mindset, with charging luxury prices, with sales, with I love what I get to do because it has such a huge impact on the industry.
00:03:46
Speaker
And I'm one of those people that like my parents always taught me like you leave a place better than you found it. And so now that I'm out of the wedding industry, I'm like, OK, how can I make this place better than I found it?
00:03:57
Speaker
Oh, I love that. Yeah, I was a server for so many years. So like I'm always like wiping the counter after I go the restaurant and just like making it all nice. Yeah. So I love that little mantra.
00:04:08
Speaker
um Let's that's really impressive. um But let's go back to your origin story. Where did you grow up and what were you like as a kid? Yeah, absolutely.
Beginnings in Photography and Education
00:04:17
Speaker
So um i i find this like kind of a really fun little topic because I was actually born in a place called Niceville, Florida.
00:04:24
Speaker
So if any of you guys are listening to this and you're like, man, this girl sounds like a really nice person. Yeah, it's because I grew up in a place called Niceville, which if you're not familiar with that area, it's very close to Destin, Panama City, ah thirty a that general area. So I grew up in a tourist destination And when I was 16 years old, I started doing photography for my friends because as you do at 16 years old, in the early 2000s, like that timeframe, you go out and you have photo shoots.
00:04:52
Speaker
It's just what you do as a teenager. yeah And so I started to have all of these friends who would ask me to do like their Their family photos, their senior photos. And i I kept getting all this feedback of like, wow, you're really good at this. And at the time, I was probably charging like $30 because at 16, that was a lot of money.
00:05:09
Speaker
yeah and I kept getting like all of this feedback like, wow, you're really talented. And i was like, yeah, cool. Whenever I'm 16, like I have like not a care in the world, don't need any money because at that age you don't. yeah And I remember when I was 17, like that time range, I um had a friend, my mom's friend, who offered for me to come along to a wedding.
00:05:29
Speaker
And I went to this wedding and I... Like I literally remember like being driven home by my parents because I didn't have a car of my own from these weddings. yeah And I remember like being like, I would never do this like as a career, like I would never be a wedding photographer. This is so stressful. um And i had that like moment for myself where i was like, I would never do this.
00:05:49
Speaker
And then a senior in high school, we had to do like these capstone projects for my high school. And I was like, well, I really love photography. And I all have all these like connections like ah with like people who are starting to get married or their older siblings are getting married.
00:06:02
Speaker
And so um I like was like, well, what if I just intern other and other under wedding photographers and see how I like him. And so the next wedding I went to, I was like, oh,
00:06:13
Speaker
oh, this is magical and it's romantic. And like I get to have a really fun time and there's no pressure on me. And so that's when I really fell in love with weddings was when I was 17 years old and like had like stars in my eyes about this career.
00:06:26
Speaker
oh yeah. I can think maybe the hormones like were more like intimacy romance at that time. Totally. I was definitely a hopeless romantic like when I was growing up. Yeah. Oh, I love that. Okay. So was that like for a project and tell me more about that project and what you got a on it or?
00:06:41
Speaker
and Oh, yeah. Yeah. It was literally in order to pass like my senior year of high school, we had to do a year long project about something that we were passionate about. And so I chose like photography and you had to intern underneath of someone. And so I interned under, I think it was like six or seven different photographers where I was just their bag lady at a wedding day. And so I just like would go and like carry their bags around and occasionally I would get to take a photo.
00:07:05
Speaker
um So yes, I did. i did pass my my senior project. oh Yeah, that's crazy for that young of age. What was like the biggest lesson that you learned um shadowing all those different photographers that year?
00:07:18
Speaker
Yeah, I would say like the biggest lesson because, you know, granted, I was like 17, maybe 18 at the time. I think the biggest lesson was like how to like communicate with people and get past like the emotional communication and get down to the heart of like what actually needs to be done right now. Yeah. So being able to be a grounded presence and not be like a nuisance because at 17 you can be a nuisance.
00:07:43
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Like being a grounded presence and understanding what people need in the moment and being able to do something about it. Yeah. That's a good answer. I was just on a call with like the planner and the couple for their wedding and it was like really short, like 30 minutes, but she asked very like non-emotional questions and it just seemed like she has a question, they have an answer and then like it went by so fast and I'm like, that's how she was able to like work full time and like still do a bunch of weddings. But Sometimes time to just like, okay, like a lot of wasted time is just about like banter. But I feel like wedding planners or photographers maybe shouldn't be their best friend, but more of like, we need to get our job done first.
00:08:22
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Like, I think you should have a standard of care for every single client. And like, yes, of course, like be respectful and be kind and like be a person that they can talk to. But like, I don't need to know your entire childhood or like exactly like what you ate for breakfast yesterday in order to do my job well. Yeah, exactly.
00:08:40
Speaker
ah Well said. Okay, let's go like into college days. What were you like then? And what was up your sleeve? Yeah. So in college, this is when I really started to get into like full-time photography and full-time.
00:08:53
Speaker
Obviously I was in college. It's not like full-time, full-time, but this is where I was like, oh, this career is actually something I really want to do And I started getting published and I started getting like these like nicer weddings and I started raising my prices a little bit more.
00:09:06
Speaker
And so i'd I'd say like college was really the time where I was like trying to figure out whether or not I wanted this to be a full-time career or if I wanted this to be something that I did and then had another career as well.
00:09:18
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah. So what would the other career be if you had a choice? Yeah. So I actually, i graduated with two degrees. One was in advertising and then the other one was in event management hospitality.
00:09:31
Speaker
So I had a couple different things I thought I would do. Initially, I thought that I was going to be a concierge for a five-star hotel, like a DC hotel. like I had these like big dreams. Yeah. And then the other career that I really wanted to do was international relations. So like public relations, but on an international front, because I came from a military family and I was like, oh, it would be really, really cool to do international relations.
00:09:53
Speaker
but like on the public relations side of things. Yeah. I mean, I'm just trying to grasp my head around like your life, but it is a kind of challenging because you gain so much success so young. So, you know, in college, like you were charging, you're getting published. um You know, it could be like to the point where you're like, okay, I'm done with it. You know what i mean?
00:10:11
Speaker
But what was the aha moment where you're just like, okay, let's do it. Like, let's go all in. I think for me, it was like just how many weddings I was getting
Transition to Luxury Pricing
00:10:20
Speaker
at the time. It was kind of like, oh, well, I'm getting like 10 to 15 weddings a year.
00:10:25
Speaker
and like, I'm also full time, like at school, like doing my thing. Like the idea of like quitting it at that point, like never even crossed my mind because I was just so passionate about the journey of creating it.
00:10:37
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, even like charging 3K or 3,500 at that age, like that's a lot of money. So it's way more than like your minimum wage. I was working at like Tapioca Express. so What did you do with your money? And like, did you save it? Like, did you um invest it? ah Did you invest in more like camera equipment or property?
00:10:56
Speaker
Yeah, not property, but I did invest back into my business. Like every single year i would invest in education or I would upgrade equipment. I tried really hard to be one of those people that like would like actually like strategize what I was going to buy as far as like, do I actually need another camera? yeah Will having another camera make my clients experience better? Will it be a win for me and a win for my clients?
00:11:18
Speaker
And if the answer was like, no, I just want a shiny new camera, then the answer is no, we're not buying that. But yeah, I did a lot of investing back into my business at that age because when you're 20, you don't have a mortgage or other things that you have to invest in Exactly. So much more disposable income. Let's talk about like your business and your brand. Like what was it like? And like, when did you decide decide to go like high end 10K to seventeen k I would really consider that in the high end box.
00:11:46
Speaker
ah Yeah, definitely. So um around 2018 to 2019 was when I really started to raise my prices. okay And the reason I raised my prices was not only because I had been published at that point in Southern Weddings, I'd been published in Style Me pretty bazillion different times.
00:12:02
Speaker
I've been published in a lot of places. So I had those accolades behind me. But I also, my client experience was way under charge for what I was delivering. yeah And then I had these extra skill sets that like I could charge more for. So like I want you guys to think about like premium skill sets. So like I could walk into any, any, any venue and I could shoot at that venue, whether it was dark, whether it was a barn, whether it was a ballroom, it didn't matter. i knew lighting, which meant that I could walk into any space and be good to go.
00:12:33
Speaker
That's a premium skill set that you can charge more for. It also makes you like a better fit for a lot more clients and Because you're able to like actually like do what you say you're going to do, not just think, oh, maybe maybe I could do this. like No, you actually know you're good to go.
00:12:47
Speaker
So that was the first thing was having premium skill sets. And then the second premium skill set that really helped me was I learned how to do in-person sales. So I learned how to do um product sales, wall art sales, album sales.
00:12:59
Speaker
And so I was able to take that and put it into like my wedding photography career. So like I had clients who were paying me 5K for weddings, but I was averaging like 8K for weddings because I was like up charging on different things, upselling different things, selling products.
00:13:15
Speaker
So truly it's like a premium skillset thing. Like if you have the skillsets, then yes, you can be charging that price. Yeah, I tried to go that route, but it was just like too hard for me um just to, you know, be able to like shoot the wedding and then come home and then try to like edit the sneak peeks and then like do the blog and album, um but then have the time to like sit down with a couple. um What was like your mind tip shift where you're like, hey, I could make double, triple my the sale like through in-person sales? Yeah.
00:13:48
Speaker
Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me was I um i had like these like physical health things where like I would go to a wedding day and I don't tolerate heat very well. And so like if I went to a wedding day in the summer in a barn with no air conditioning, I was just like unable to function. yeah and I hit this point where i was like, I don't want to charge 3K for weddings anymore.
00:14:09
Speaker
If it's going to cost me my physical health, I need to value that at a higher level. And so I hit this point where i was like, okay, I have these standards now of what I will say yes to and it's no longer these things. And so if I have standards of what I will no longer say yes to, i need to have standards of what I will say yes to. And that means that I need to be making more per client. What are the ways to make more per client?
00:14:32
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. Okay. I feel like a lot of people could say that kind of stuff and be like, yeah, like I could go anywhere, you know, any like ah lighting situation. But how are you like finding these clients?
00:14:46
Speaker
Sorry, I kind of like went into Hot Topic that before we went into it to Hot Topic.
Networking for High-End Clients
00:14:50
Speaker
I'm like so curious. oh youre great um Like how do you find these clients that will pay that much? So like the clients will pay like 8K, 10K. Yeah.
00:14:59
Speaker
Yeah. I think really a lot of it has to do with like positioning your brand as the go-to brand at that price point. Like there are... people who are going to pay $500 for wedding photographers today.
00:15:12
Speaker
There are people who are going to pay $15,000 for wedding photographers today. yeah And you have to choose where do you want your brand to sit on that spectrum rather than it be like, oh, where do i find these clients? It's like, well, obviously like we have to be networking. So we need to make sure that we are in spaces that these clients exist. So like i personally, i had a lot of clients who they um had interior designers. And so I networked with interior designers.
00:15:37
Speaker
all of my clients would have some form of a wedding planner. Sometimes that wedding planner would be like a friend of the family or that um planner would be like part of the venue or they would be like associated with a venue.
00:15:48
Speaker
So I just made sure like I was always in spaces where I would be top of mind with people who they want to refer vendors who have my skill sets and they want to refer vendors who can show up in a professional manner the way that I'm going to show up like on a wedding day.
00:16:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's so interesting. Like I was thinking about that, too, because I kind of stayed in like the mid mid ah range price like my whole career just because I was kind of scared of like the rich people are charging enough or like if I was good enough and I felt very safe in that spot.
00:16:20
Speaker
And i um I had really bad networking skills. I didn't know, if someone said, oh, you should go talk to that person. I like felt like icky about that. um i was just like, no, that's weird. You know, like, you know, I either was like BFFs with people or just nothing.
00:16:34
Speaker
But I really gained my networking skills like after I joined like WIPA and like had my coaching business. And then now like I feel like after 16 years, now I'm finally networking with like the the big venues and like, like not smoothing them, but like just bringing them like lunch and just um It's kind of like constant. It's just like, it never ends. It's like, okay, well, um anyone that sends me like, hey, can I get a gallery? I'm like, hey, can I bring you like donuts and your coffee whatever? and just like getting in the room with people and like, I don't know. It's just, um I wish I knew that, you know, 15 years ago.
00:17:08
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's such a common experience. And i I hear it from my clients as well. Like when I'm talking to them about networking, they're like, oh, but what if that person doesn't like me? And I'm like, what if you have a conversation with that person and they end up being a really, really close friend of yours like down the road?
00:17:23
Speaker
Like, what do you have a conversation with that person and they have a resource or a connection that's something that you've been looking for? Like, I think like having that human to human contact is something that ah people miss a lot in the wedding industry because they're like, oh, this person's above me. They're doing better than me or whatever. And it's like,
00:17:40
Speaker
all right, like, what do you gain by putting people on pedestals? Oh, you get to stay in your safe little zone of like not charging more and not networking more. Cool. That's, that's the benefit that you're giving yourself. Yeah. Is that actually what you want?
00:17:54
Speaker
What do you actually want to be creating? Like, let's like match the actions to that. Yeah, totally. Okay. Well, we've been talking about this whole time, but what is your hot topic, Ace? And why is it so near and dear to your heart?
00:18:07
Speaker
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00:18:23
Speaker
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00:18:38
Speaker
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00:18:50
Speaker
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00:19:02
Speaker
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00:19:13
Speaker
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00:19:25
Speaker
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00:19:38
Speaker
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00:19:53
Speaker
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00:20:05
Speaker
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00:20:17
Speaker
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00:20:33
Speaker
o I mean, ten k like I love like talking to people about like charging those premium prices. And i could talk about this like all day long. I've had so many clients come to me who are charging 6K for weddings and by like two, three months in,
00:20:48
Speaker
they're charging 10k. Or I have clients who are like, Oh, I haven't had a lead or I haven't had ah a booking in like a year and a half. We worked together for five weeks, all of a sudden they have a 13k booking. And there truly is like such a magical moment when that happens. Because I'm like, I believe in you way, way before you believe in yourself sometimes. But it's really cool to watch like, the actual like magic and manifestation like happen like when they have that result.
00:21:11
Speaker
Yeah, it's kind of no fair because you think of like second shooters working their ass off and they make like $600 per wedding. And then you're like someone making 13K for like the same amount of hours.
00:21:24
Speaker
yeah Okay, let's let's get into it because i feel like my mind mine is going to be blown right now. But um let's get get some tips from you.
Mindset and Internal Work for Success
00:21:33
Speaker
Yeah. So tell me more about like what your audience, like where they're at and like what they're trying to do. Yeah, that's a good question. um Well, audience is wedding pros. So photographers, florists, wedding planners, DJs, and they're probably stuck in the mid range and just trying to make ends meet and trying to get bookings or like just starting off and just, you know, hungry for education.
00:21:59
Speaker
um So I feel like they're in the right place, right time right now. Yeah. So I would say like, don't go change your pricing guide today to ten k It's going to like just like blow up your nervous system if you go from charging, let's just say you're charging 5K right now, to like changing your pricing guide and be like, I charge 10K now. Because if your subconscious does not believe it, even for a second, it's going to tag it as completely unsafe.
00:22:26
Speaker
And so everything that's going to be showing up for you is going to be showing you how unsafe it is to charge that price point. there's um There's a quote by Louise Hay that if you accept a limiting belief, then it will become true for you.
00:22:39
Speaker
Not that it becomes true, but it will become true for you. So if you accept the limiting belief of I'm not someone who can charge that price point, you are going to constantly be looking for evidence of why you can't do that. You're going to see your friends who charge that price point um not be able to get the bookings that they want. Or you're going to see like educators like charging that price point. And you're going well, she's just so lucky.
00:23:04
Speaker
Like she didn't have to work for that or whatever the mindset is, that's what's going to get reflected back to you. So I think like the biggest thing when it comes to charging more premium prices is you have to do the internal work first before you can actually like charge that price.
00:23:20
Speaker
Because if you like, i mean, like what do you do? Can I to ask what you're charging right now? Me? Yes. I charge like 8K for photo and video. Okay. Beautiful. um If I told you tomorrow i want you to raise your prices to 15K for photo and video,
00:23:36
Speaker
how How does that feel like internally? i just, my mind always goes to action. So I'm just like, oh, what venues do I have to get in and like make them flyers and do this and do that and make the whole website like cater to those venues?
00:23:49
Speaker
Yeah. What if you did not have to do a single thing differently between today and tomorrow charging the different price points? Like you're charging 8K today, tomorrow you're charging fifteen k because you decided. um what comes up for you?
00:24:03
Speaker
It seems impossible, honestly. Okay. And what tells you that it's impossible? Just because... I can't even get that price. I think 2021 was the last time i could probably get a good like solid 10 couples um a year that would pay that price.
00:24:21
Speaker
And now like um people want $6,500 for both. um And it's fine. I mean, um I'm happy. But before like 2021, I was charging like up to $10,000 for photo video. So it's kind of like gone down. um I think because of like more saturation and people are like hurting to buy houses and just like all these things, you know?
00:24:48
Speaker
Yeah. So the belief right now is that it's not possible for me to do that. The belief right now is that because I have all of this evidence and this evidence and this evidence and this evidence that it's not something that I can do, but there are people out there and I can tell you because I have clients yeah who are out there um who are charging 12 K who are charging 15 who are charging 23K.
00:25:12
Speaker
And i i the difference between those people is not that they added more things to their pricing, like more things to their packages. It's not that they um like went out and like did like these huge marketing pushes.
00:25:26
Speaker
It's that they had like the conviction and the belief and the sales skills in order to, and it's also positioning of course, But they had these things in place that allowed them to show up to a consultation call.
00:25:38
Speaker
And of course, the price point is going to be 12K or 15K or whatever their price point is. So i I would say like when it comes to charging a more premium price, yes, it is scarier to do that than if you've been charging 5K or 8K or whatever the number is.
00:25:53
Speaker
But at the same time, you start to have so much more conviction within yourself of I know what I bring to the table. I know what my experience is that I give to my clients and it's a win for me and it's a win for them.
00:26:05
Speaker
And I know that like I am positioned within the market and I have the network, all of these things. Of course you have to do work. Like, of course you have to do work. Yeah. These things and actions, but we have to have that like level of self-trust and like level of um like self-concept in order to show up that way.
00:26:23
Speaker
Yeah, I was hoping this would be like a coaching session for me. So I'm like, free coaching. yeah but i Do you have a podcast? Okay, so what are like some of, I know you have many, many breakthroughs because I see your reels and like all the um crazy results you've given to your students. But um talk about like one or two like big mindset shifts that you had for students and how it happened.
00:26:46
Speaker
Yeah. So i um I had a client who, when she came to me, she was charging 6,500 for weddings and she wanted to charge 10K. It was like the biggest like deal to her. Like she had put it on this pedestal of like, this is my dream.
00:26:59
Speaker
I know my photos are good enough. I know that I'm doing the work. I know this is the thing I want to do. And I was like, great. Love it. Let's look let's look at everything. So when she came to me, like I asked her, i was like, why are you charging $6,500? You have an associate team that is charging $4,000 and you're charging $6,500. Why would any anyone hire you at $6,500 if your associate is $4,000?
00:27:22
Speaker
where' What's the difference in these products? Because right now they're way too close to each other. And so what we did was we positioned her as the premium product by raising her prices.
00:27:33
Speaker
And when we did that, so like, of course, like we looked at her pricing structure and stuff. And at the time she was doing packages and I suggested to her to do custom proposals. And a lot of people get into this really, really like weird limbo territory where they're like, oh, I do custom proposals, but actually they do packages that are just really weird that they let people take stuff out of.
00:27:53
Speaker
That's not the same thing custom proposals. So we um we changed the way that she was structuring like how people paid her. And so we made it where it was custom proposals. And we also worked heavily on her mindset. So I asked her a lot of subconscious subconscious reprogramming questions.
00:28:10
Speaker
And then we worked on affirmations to help her solidify that I am someone that my minimum is 8K to work with me. And like, of course, of course that felt silly and crazy when she first started saying it. But once she like started to like really integrate that and started to look for the proof outside of herself that like I am someone who I bring a lot to the table and this is my minimum to work with me, she started to notice a lot of shifts and it was probably like...
00:28:38
Speaker
I want to say it was like two months um of working together. She had a 25K month and she charged 10K for the first time for weddings. And remember she like, ah like a couple months later, she texted me. She sitting in her hotel room um where like she was like at the first wedding where she was charging 10K. And she was like,
00:28:56
Speaker
I feel like I, this is a dream. Like this is literally a dream. I'm sitting in my hotel room and like everyone is so nice. And the planner is so nice. The couples are amazing. And like, you know, like I'm just having the best time. i can't believe I'm getting 10, like 10 K for this wedding.
00:29:10
Speaker
So that was like one of my favorite client transformations. Like it was just like really fun to kind of watch that. Cause I knew, but like, you know, it's not my life. Like she has to do the action in order for it to happen.
00:29:21
Speaker
Yeah, that's a beautiful, beautiful story. I mean, once you get that first like deposit, you're like, whoa, you know, even if it's like broken up into four increments, it's still like cha-ching.
00:29:33
Speaker
Yes, yes. Okay, you talk a lot about nervous system. I'm into nervous system too. um Ever since COVID, when I had like a mental breakdown and yada yada yada so I'm very like I'm very sensitive but um I try to regulate my nervous system even before like I get out of bed so I'm just very like not trying to look at my phone even though sometimes I do and I'm trying to like take a walk and look at nature and just try to like relax before I start the day um what is like your background on nervous system why are you so into it
00:30:06
Speaker
Yeah, so um back in 2014, I went to my very first Abraham Hicks workshop.
Techniques for Mindset and Success
00:30:13
Speaker
So if you guys are like familiar with Abraham Hicks, um it's like a mindset, motivation, nervous system, manifestation, law of attraction, like all of that kind of stuff like They are like the premier people within there within that category.
00:30:27
Speaker
So when I was a teenager, I was going to like these like manifestation workshops. It was just something that like my family was into. And then I like lost the plot a little bit and got back into it probably in 2021.
00:30:41
Speaker
In 2021, I started doing affirmations again, way more seriously. And I would literally email myself my affirmations every single day of like, I'm so happy and grateful that I booked four new clients or whatever it was, I would email it to myself every day. That was also when I started doing mirror work. And it was when I started doing EFT tapping and breath work. Wow. And I literally this morning, like, this is probably like the most I've done in a while.
00:31:05
Speaker
But this entire week, I've woken up every single morning and done an EFT journal visualization, like tapping session, where I'm like tapping on different like topics for myself. And what has come up this week has just been like, so validating and fascinating. Like,
00:31:20
Speaker
You will always meet yourself at a new level, always. And so like, the more we do this work, like the more we like kind of are like, oh, that's why that's happening. Like, of course, that's happening because of this. So yeah, I mean, that's, that's my background. And I am very passionate about my clients, like getting into nervous system regulation as well.
00:31:37
Speaker
Yeah, that's so cool. I got into, I mean, like college, I was into the secret, blah, blah, blah. But I think um after two kids and like a lot of postpartum and just shooting a bunch of weddings and just being over it, like um I felt like a lot of, I felt like a ticking time bomb at some times.
00:31:56
Speaker
um And it's very triggered um to the point where like something not little would happen, but medium would happen. And I would just like fall to the floor and just be like crumble.
00:32:07
Speaker
And I was like, this is not right. So, um, I went to like spiritual activator, um, workshop by myself, um, with his wife, I think Maddie or something. Um,
00:32:20
Speaker
But I had like a bunch of epiphanies and stuff. um And I just kind of let go of that ah being busy as a armor or like a badge of arm armor. I kind of let that go and just try to create some space in my life. So I think so many people need to hear that.
00:32:39
Speaker
Like if you are spilt milk away from crying on the floor, you're at your, your breaking point. yeah Like that shouldn't be your, um, your, uh, stasis state, your stasis state should be contentment.
00:32:55
Speaker
And then like, if you have a bad day, it's like, Oh cool. I'm like negative two below contentment. Not, I am like, you know, I have a bad day and I'm at like negative 20. Like it's, um, I love that you're like, you you got into that, but that also got to actually go to like one of those workshops.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah. So cool. And then kind of piggybacking off one of the things you said, but um I felt like it was kind of like surrounding yourself with positive people because you said, you know, that mind shift or like telling yourself, oh, like, you know, there aren't enough weddings and no one's going to book me and I could only charge $2,500. And then you do all the things to validate what you already think. So,
00:33:34
Speaker
Um, you know, I have some second shooters that are very like, not all of them, but some of them are very like, what was me? And it's always like, oh, I'm broke or, um, I need money. And they're I feel like they're kind of begging me to book them for weddings. And it feels like a little bit of, um I don't know, a little bit icky to me.
00:33:55
Speaker
And i was just telling like one of my second shooters, like, I don't really want to be surrounded by those people not to be negative But I'd rather surrounded with like very like positive people and like things are going well for them and they're thriving and they're very like um shooting for the stars.
00:34:12
Speaker
um What do you feel about that? Like surround surrounding yourself with like top five awesome people in your life? I have so many thoughts about this. um So I think the first thing I want to say is like there is a difference between being around hungry people and being around thirsty people. Oh, uh-huh.
00:34:30
Speaker
And if you are around people who are thirsty, they are in this like victim mindset, this space of like, you owe me things that I won't do for myself. Like, you should help me because I'm not helping myself. That's thirsty.
00:34:44
Speaker
So like you're they're going to say things like, I'm broken. like i'm Like, I need this. But there's a difference between that and someone who's hungry. Someone who's hungry is striving. Somebody who's hungry is going to put in the work. Somebody who's hungry is going to hear the emotional like noise that's going on and they're going to do the work anyway.
00:35:03
Speaker
They're going to take the action anyway. They're going to take the emotion out of it. And they're going like, well, my dream is worth like more than my emotional discomfort right now. So for me personally, I want to be around hungry people. I want to be around people who are like, OK, like, yeah, maybe I'm not making like, you know, 10K per wedding like yet, but I am headed that way. heard this quote recently that I really loved, which was that like we should be more loyal to the person we're becoming than the person that we've been.
00:35:32
Speaker
So if you're someone who's like saying words like, and I don't even want to say them. out I know. I you know. If you're somebody who's woe is me, I want you to hear that you are more loyal to who you have been and who you have like currently been practicing than you are to who you are becoming. Wow. So that's my personal thoughts on it. And I think like also like recognize there might be seasons where it's a little lonely because you are like in between you're in limbo land, unfortunately.
00:36:01
Speaker
of being surrounded by those kinds of people who are hungry and like they are ambitious and they're striving for more. Yeah. I mean, everything you're saying is ah so powerful. I just felt like it's very like dark this week, um just everything on the the news. And i I don't want to like feed into the darkness. And I always want to be like vibrating high. So this conversation is so good. And I actually did your visualization on one of your reels um about kind of um just like knowing that everything you're doing today is working. um And it's working for your better self and thinking like,
00:36:37
Speaker
Everything that you're doing, like every task, every person you meet up with, a wedding pro is like kind of leading you to like your future perfect identity self.
00:36:48
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. And I think it's also just like a reminder of like, we are human, like we are having a human experience on this earth. Like it is not our job to always be happy. It's not our job to always be high flying and like super excited and super striving and super ambitious.
00:37:04
Speaker
You are here to have a human experience and you are going to have negative emotions. You're going to have positive emotions. And for me personally, I would not appreciate the positive things in my life nearly as much.
00:37:15
Speaker
had I not gone through the negative emotions and the negative experiences that I've had. The negative experiences do not mean that my entire life is built around those though. My life is built around, i was talking about like a stasis point.
00:37:27
Speaker
My life is built around stasis point. if i If I literally utter the words, I'm bored right now, cool, we're in stasis. That's great. If I am bored, that means that I can choose in that moment to do something that is exciting to me.
00:37:41
Speaker
If I'm bored, it doesn't mean that I want to choose to do something that is going to like be like specifically scaring myself away from the things that I want to create. um And I think it's just important to, like yes, like surround yourself with really great people, but also don't hold yourself apart from having emotions in this lifetime.
00:37:59
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I have to like kind of wrap my head around when I re-relisten to this, but I did take a pill this morning called stasis. so but
00:38:08
Speaker
I didn't know what stasis meant, but it's kind of like ah Adderall supplement, but not Adderall. But um okay. So after I wrap my head around that, after I re-listened to, um i want to talk about something a little bit different.
00:38:22
Speaker
um You mentioned like networking with like architectural people, which I thought was pretty clutch and pretty unique. There's people like in like Yeah. Being around like people that have money. um But let's talk out more about like how do you get
Expanding Networking Beyond Planners
00:38:35
Speaker
leads? So say like that girl um went from 6,500 13,000.
00:38:42
Speaker
um Where would you recommend like finding these people? I know just being around like planners and venues and all the things, but any concrete things that you um could give us tips?
00:38:56
Speaker
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00:39:08
Speaker
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00:39:19
Speaker
Get your weekends back and comment me at Carissa Wu, the word info, and I'll send you a free sneak peek guide on how to make passive income. And if you're ready to start making money from home while being there for the moments that matter, I can't wait to connect.
00:39:37
Speaker
Yeah, I would actually say I've had a lot of conversations with florists and um designers and people who aren't necessarily like wedding planners or venues, where they'll be like, I have people I want to refer.
00:39:48
Speaker
But like people don't look at me like they look at planners as like, the planner is the person who's going to refer everyone. And like, I have been the person who refers other people like basically my entire career.
00:40:00
Speaker
i have always like, you know, if I have a wedding um where like I have a florist in mind for that wedding, I'm going to say that person's name in a room full of opportunities, which is the room that has my client in it.
00:40:11
Speaker
So I think like when I think about like concrete ways to get more like leads, I want you guys to think about your network and I want you to stop putting planners on the pedestal as the only people who can feed you and the only people who can give you leads because they are not the only people.
00:40:25
Speaker
And I also want you to look at where am i walking into a networking event or a networking room and saying, this person is not worthy of my time or this person, it doesn't make sense for me to talk to them because they're not X, Y, and Z.
00:40:38
Speaker
Or this person, like, I have nothing in common with, so I shouldn't even try. Where are you, like, telling yourself a story before you ever give it a chance? There's so many times I walked into, like, networking rooms and I always, like, I think this is just me, like, you know brainwashing myself into doing this. But I would walk into a networking room and I'd be like, okay.
00:40:57
Speaker
you just have to talk to one new person. Like you, you just have to like go across the room, talk to one new person, make one new connection. So if you guys are like going to networking events and you're like, Oh, I'm only going to talk to planners tonight. Yeah. No, knock it off. Go talk to other people.
00:41:12
Speaker
Like just see the other people in the room as humans and make human connection. And it will serve you so much better than you ever think it could. Yeah, I was at a Whipple event and just I just talked to whoever and then um Susan and James fragrances shout out to them. But then the next day I got an email and they wanted me to pay me to make content for them and then pay me recurring. So I was like, hell yeah, like what the heck?
00:41:36
Speaker
And then ah last night I went to two back to school nights for my daughters and I was just kind of like I met someone with a good energy next to next to me. So I just sent her a little note, you know, on a paper. Let's have a play date. Here's my phone number. Text me.
00:41:53
Speaker
So was like and then I walked out. i was like, yeah, you just need one one content. like Yeah. that's ah Another place that people don't really like think about is like ah local boutiques are a really amazing place because it's very likely your ideal clients are shopping at local boutiques. They don't just shop at Target. So like don't go to Target and talk to the cashier and be like, hey, can you do that? Sorry, guys. like How are you?
00:42:16
Speaker
Probably not what's going to happen. But if you go to a local boutique and like you make friends with the owner or you make friends with like the shop, like employees who are there all the time relationships are everything in this industry. And I think people like want it to be like, they want to go from like having a first date to being married for like 50 years in one interaction. it's like, guys, that's not how relationships work. Yeah. That is not how networking works. If you actually want it to be like paying off in the long term. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I totally agree. Like relationships.
00:42:49
Speaker
build on the conversation and next the next conversation, next conversation.
Increasing Earnings with Custom Proposals
00:42:53
Speaker
and Okay. Any tips and tricks for custom proposals? I make them too on 17 hats use code. Heck yes.
00:43:00
Speaker
Um, but I'm all about custom proposals. That's how I make more money. I would say. Yeah, I mean, I love custom proposals. i People fight me on this all the time. like when Like when they first come in to like work with me, they're like, no, but I have packages. And I'm like, cool, how's that working for you? Why are you here if it's working for you? Yeah, yeah. um But with custom proposals, there's a couple different things to kind of keep in mind. So the first thing is you have got to know what your minimum get out of bed rate is.
00:43:26
Speaker
So when I was a wedding photographer, i my minimum like to get me out of my house for a normal wedding, not a micro wedding, was $81.90. So $8,190. So if a person comes in and they're like, my budget is $3,000, it doesn't necessarily mean they're not going to work with you. I actually had clients who they said their budget was $3,000. They spent $12,000 with me. Hell yeah. With custom proposals, you need to know your stuff on your side. So you need to know like um with custom proposals, what we would do is we'd have eight hours of coverage in the initial package.
00:43:56
Speaker
And then if a client was like, oh, we want you for a rehearsal dinner. i know because I have a pricing sheet. that nobody else sees but me yeah okay oh that's this this and this so i can make a custom proposal for them really easily and quickly and get it back to them but it's not them having to make that decision it's me showing them hey you made this like um like you made this choice here's the option like laid out for you think a lot of people make the mistake of like showing like all of their all-a-cart pricing lists and i'm like guys Like if I was hiring an interior designer to like do my house, I would not want to know how much it is per lamp that she's going to pick out for me or who's pick for Interesting.
00:44:35
Speaker
Yeah. So those those are kind of like the the kind of like big things is know your get out of bed rate and you had better have a pricing sheet behind the scenes so you can actually make custom proposals quickly. Yeah. Damn. I would totally get out of bed for that.
00:44:48
Speaker
I would too. It's funny though. we like I just want to touch back on like networking really quick and long-term relationships. I retired from weddings in 2022. I still had wedding inquiries for 8 and 10K in 2024 because of the networking I did over the course of my entire career.
00:45:04
Speaker
So I want you guys to hear that sometimes things don't pay off until like years later. But like that's why it's worth building over time. Damn. And for you to say no, that's some willpower.
00:45:16
Speaker
ah But I got to refer it out to a friend, which was really nice. That's so nice. Okay. We come up to the 40-minute mark, which is crazy. This conversation is one of my faves.
00:45:27
Speaker
um But last question. um You said so much, but what's like your biggest and best, heck yes, sales technique. As far as like consultation calls? Yeah.
Importance of Mindset in Sales
00:45:39
Speaker
Yeah. I think this is always going to come back to like the internal work that you're doing, like behind the scenes. So it's going to be the mindset work. It's going to be the affirmations, mirror work, um like EFT tapping, breath work, meditation, visualization.
00:45:54
Speaker
and I think they those are kind of the big modalities. But when it comes to showing up confidently in sales, you cannot wait for the person across the table from you to validate you before you validate yourself.
00:46:06
Speaker
They're not going to come to the table and be like, oh, yeah, like your price is exactly what I want to pay. They're not going to say that. yeah They're going to say, i really want to work with you. Like, I want to make this work together.
00:46:18
Speaker
So you have to have that conviction first. Otherwise, they're going to go find somebody else. So- That's why I, for me, mindset is like one of those really, really big things. And I'll give you guys an affirmation to just to kind of like wrap things up with a nice pretty bow.
00:46:31
Speaker
So the affirmation that I've been loving so much is that the only the best can happen next for me. only the best gets to happen next for me. um And this is like just one of those affirmations that I'll say to myself, like as like choices are being made or things are happening in my business where I'm just like, okay, like, I don't know what's coming next. And I'll like repeat after myself, like only the best things can happen next for me. Yeah.
00:46:54
Speaker
And then my brain is out there looking for the best things that are happening to me. Oh, I love that. This conversation, I'm just going to like make it my, i don't know, my life coach of the day.
00:47:06
Speaker
but like put it on but Yeah. um Okay. So are you um okay with some rapid fire questions? Yeah, go for it. Okay, cool. So um social media hack?
00:47:18
Speaker
Social media hack. um B-roll is everything. ah You can have like a folder in your phone of just B-roll. And like whether that's like you pouring coffee or like on a wedding day, it's just like a quick swipe of flowers.
00:47:31
Speaker
And a secondary piece of that is when you do B-roll, I recommend that the videos be 30 seconds to a minute long and then cut them down ah rather than like these little five second videos because it'll be easier for you to like edit later.
00:47:42
Speaker
Yes, be real clean. Okay. um You know, you were very high-end wedding photographer, but c client experience tip? Ooh. Yeah.
00:47:56
Speaker
i One of my favorites is call notes. um So after every single time that we would have a call with a client, because my little ADHD brain cannot remember what conversation we've had verbally.
00:48:07
Speaker
So for me, this is actually more of a hack for myself, but it was really good for my client experience. So after a consultation call or like a timeline call or anything, I would send them an email and I'd say call notes at the top. And then I would just jot down anything that was interesting that we said or if any changes got made.
00:48:22
Speaker
I do the same thing. And, you know, Chachabiti has helped me. um they have blah blah bla bla bla seven but Like I'm like trying to wrap my brain on the whole conversation. Okay. um Biggest struggle in the coaching business and how you overcame it.
00:48:37
Speaker
Biggest struggle in coaching business has definitely been because I had 14 years as a wedding photographer and I was a very one-to-one service and I was very like limited on how many people I would take on in a year like towards the end of my career I was taking on like five to ten.
00:48:53
Speaker
i have had to retrain my brain that it is okay for my nervous system and my capacity to handle. having sales come in every single week and having new clients come in every single month, because that's very different than what the pattern I had for 14 years was. I'd say that's the biggest struggle is like, I've been having to like unlearn and unpattern some things when it comes to how many people can come into my world.
00:49:16
Speaker
Damn. Yeah. That's very interesting, but a good problem. Um, very great problem. Okay. Last question before we tell everyone where to find you and your podcast. Um,
00:49:28
Speaker
What is your woo factor? What is your ace factor? What makes you stand out from all the other coaches? Mindset. Mindset. You guys, like the reason why my clients go from $6,500 weddings to 10K weddings in a couple weeks or a couple months, or they go from not having a lead to 13K weddings is because of mindset.
00:49:46
Speaker
It's not some like crazy strategy that you've never heard of. It is the inner work. It is the subconscious work. It's the reprogramming. What I literally just said about how I'm having to reprogram something that I had for 14 years and now it's like something completely different.
00:50:02
Speaker
That's the work I do with my clients. And it is vastly different than what is like generally taught in the wedding education world. Damn. Okay. I'm so inspired. Where can everyone find you and work with you and your podcast?
Aislin's Mastermind Launch and Social Media
00:50:15
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So my podcast is Clarity Convos for Wedding Pros Podcast. So you guys can find that anywhere that podcasts exist. And then I live and breathe on Instagram. So this is the place that you can find me. And you can find me at Aislin Eileen Coaching.
00:50:27
Speaker
If you happen to find my wedding page, do not follow it. It is retired. Don't go look at that. um So Aislin Eileen Coaching is where you guys can find me. And then I also have a website that you guys are more than welcome to explore. It's AislinEileen.com.
00:50:40
Speaker
Yay. And anything coming up for you for that people could? Yeah. um So I am actually relaunching my signature program, Success Accelerator program for the very last time. So the very last round of it is going to be November of this year. I'm retiring the program and I'm going to be breaking it apart into smaller pieces and then selling those smaller pieces.
00:50:58
Speaker
And then I also am going to be launching a new mastermind early of 2026. freaking excited. so freaking excited Oh my God. Aislinn, I am obsessed with you. Thank you for being on this podcast.
00:51:10
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me. This was such a joy and like such a great way to spend my day.
00:51:20
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.
00:51:35
Speaker
See you next time, wedding pros.