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Ep. 129 - Creating a brand identity - Shantel - New Pics on the Block
191 Plays1 year ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays! I have Shantel in the Get a HECK YES House with New Pics on the block photobooth. I hired her company for my book signing party. They have the best photobooth. Today we talk about Creating a brand identity.
If you need a new brand identity, reach out to me.
Shantel reminds us to be true to yourself, no matter what. We got the right stuff!
Bio
Hi and aloha! My name is Shantel and owner of New Pics On The Block photo booth services. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hi. I have always loved the 80s and 90s fashion, music, movies, anything and everything from those decades.
Hot topic:
Creating a brand identity.
-“hi, name is…slim shady” create a name to reflect your company
-Get that logo to match it!
-take that name and express yourself with your branding
-create you social platforms. Colors, patterns, etc
-mix your branding and identity into your company from our prop, backdrops and our van!
-Dont stop believing. You will have hard times, your lows, moments you want to quit, but when you believe in your brand and what it can so, it will take you there.
Favorite sales technique : How do you get a HECK YES from your dream clients?
Focusing on the customers wants. A photo booth is not necessarily a need, since we are usually the last ones to get booked for almost all events, clients want something fun, memorable, and easy. Therefore, we come in to help provide a service to help capture those moments, give their guests a great time, and a photo album to help them look back on all the memories that were had.
For our HECK YES listeners: If you contact us and mention “Heck yes podcast” you get $100 off any package.
Connect with Shantel
https://www.newpicsontheblock.com/
Connect with Carissa Woo
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Chantel Mendoza and New Picks on the Block
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Woo Wednesdays. Today I have Chantel Mendoza. She is from New Picks on the Block Photo Booth Company. And yeah, I love this girl. She did Photo Booth for my book signing. I did her brand photo shoot. We met at Woo Kitchen in El Segundo. We're both on the preferred venue vendor list. And yeah, her brand is amazing. It's all like 80s and 90s, all checkered, all pink.
00:00:27
Speaker
Her brand logo is decked out on her van and her jean jacket. They're always her and her hubby with five kids. They're always totally on brand.
00:00:39
Speaker
Props are probably the best props I've ever seen in my life. And yeah, she bought this photo booth from Brandon Wong. He's in one of my episodes, Photo Booth Supply. If you guys are interested, I'll link up my affiliate link and you can purchase one and make some money, even if you're a photographer or not. But yeah, I love her story. Today is all about brand identity. She truly has a good brand identity.
00:01:04
Speaker
And this is actually what I do. So if you go to my social media, Karissa Wu, and DM me the word DEMO, D-E-M-O, I will send you a video all about how to get 10 to 15 quality leads per month. It starts with your brand identity, but you are going to love this episode. Enjoy!
Podcast Focus: Building Successful Wedding Photography Businesses
00:01:29
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,
00:01:57
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. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon!
Chantel's Journey from Hawaii to Business Owner
00:02:20
Speaker
Hey everyone! Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes!
00:02:23
Speaker
with your favorite host, Carissa Wu. I have my friend, Chantel, and she's the owner of New Picks on the Block Photo Booth Services. She was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and she's always loved the 80s and 90s fashion music, movies, anything and everything from those decades. And that's all about her brand, 80s and 90s. We'll talk more about that later. But what's up, Chantel?
00:02:48
Speaker
Woo-hoo! I'm excited to be here. Thank you all. Can't wait. Let's do this. Yay! Yeah, me and Chantel, we met at Woo Kitchen. We're both on the vendor list there in El Segundo. And when I saw your photo booth, I was like, wow, 80s and 90s vibe, the best prop I ever seen, the best backdrop, really fun vibe. You guys totally match your aesthetic. You are totally on brand.
00:03:18
Speaker
And yeah, you were there at my book signing with your beautiful photo booth and you matched everything. Everyone loved you. And now we're friends and they just shot your branding shoot and your videos. Yes. Yeah. I feel like I've been hanging out with you a lot more. I know.
00:03:35
Speaker
Yes, I can't wait for more things to come between us. So yeah, cool, cool. Okay, so tell everyone a little bit a little bio about to and I didn't know anything about you want to share. Okay, awesome. Great. Well,
00:03:52
Speaker
Aloha mai kakou. My name is Chantel. I'm born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Typical island girl. I mean, I went to school Monday through Friday, went to my grandma's house on the weekends and did hula practice on the weekends. So I mean, I grew up pretty normal. Now I'm a mother of five kids. I'm home homeschooling five kids or four.
00:04:15
Speaker
The youngest is not there yet. Just living life. I'm married to my best friend. He's my sidekick in all the photo booth fun. Even though he doesn't like to be in the photos, he's the best. He's definitely the guy that I needed in this business. But other than that, I'm the owner of New Picks on the Block.
00:04:42
Speaker
Yeah, I'm kind of boring, I guess. No, I mean, I mean, my life has been crazy, like just, you know, with everything that I went through got me to where I am now, all the jobs, all the stresses. So just, you know, just learning, learning and putting everything I learned from the past to this business. So
00:05:06
Speaker
Oh, well shout out to your hubby, Chris. Like when I met him, he was like, he's kind of like my husband, like he doesn't like have many emotions. Like he's kind of like standing there with his hands in the pocket, like cool guy, like looking cool swag. And then when I started talking to him, and then he told me because he looks young, you guys both look young. And you said you had he said he had five kids. I'm like, what?
00:05:31
Speaker
Yeah, we like to, you know, I mean, my grandma always used to tell me, you know, laughter is the best medicine, you know, if you're just laughing and having fun, it's going to keep you young. So, but we get that a lot. They're like, yeah, five kids, like, yeah, five kids. And then we'll show our phone and we're like, yeah, this is our kids. And they're like, wow.
00:05:50
Speaker
Like we didn't adopt them. We didn't adopt them. We didn't, you know, they're our kids. How's them for nine, 10 months in my belly? Each of them. So yeah.
Cultural Transition and Opportunities in the Mainland USA
00:06:03
Speaker
Tell us what it was like growing up in Hawaii. I know you said hula practice. But I mean, I've grew up in Torrance kind of.
00:06:13
Speaker
um we're the wannabe hawaiians but no we love hawaii but what was it like growing up there um i mean it's it's it's
00:06:23
Speaker
I think it is different for sure living in the mainland. You go to the beach. They like to say Hawaiian time. Everyone is not going fast-paced. It's not, go, go, go, go. It's very like, oh, when you let go, okay, yeah, let's go.
00:06:45
Speaker
you know, carefree, very loose, you know, hang loose, you know, so it's just, but I mean, I miss home. I love home. That's, you know, that's where my soul probably go back to is Hawaii. And, you know, my family still lives there. You know, they're from Big Island, Hilo. My grandma lives in Wamanala. I still have family there. So, and my husband's side, you know, they live, you know, in Ewa Beach, which is, you know, the west side.
00:07:15
Speaker
it's, you know, it's home for us. And it's, it's, I mean, you can't beat the, you know, the food, you know, the poke and the play lunches. So that's what I miss too. Oh, Rainbow driving out. Yeah, it's like,
00:07:32
Speaker
We have a bunch of Hawaiian places here, but it's just like a little bit different. So it's not the same. I've tried like different ones. I won't name them. Yeah, I've tried it. I'm like, it doesn't taste the same. There's just something totally in Hawaii. The waters. I don't know what it is. It's just yeah, it's different. It's different.
00:07:51
Speaker
Okay, so walk me through like, I don't know, maybe getting married or all these jobs that you're talking about and moving with your family or if you didn't have kids yet, moving to the IE area, right? Yep. Yeah. Walk me through through all of that.
Diverse Career Backgrounds and Business Beginnings
00:08:10
Speaker
Okay, well, I mean, we actually just moved out here a few years ago, but most of our lives, you know, are back home in Hawaii. So
00:08:20
Speaker
in my career, I did a lot like mostly retail, restaurant. You know, they always say, you know, if you're going to learn customer service, that's the two areas retail and restaurant. And so that's where my first two jobs and that's how my husband at a restaurant.
00:08:42
Speaker
I was a hostess. He was a busser. It was so funny when I started there, meeting everyone. He looked like he was actually from Hawaii because he had shoulder length hair, he had some highlights, and he looked like a circle boy.
00:08:58
Speaker
And in Hawaii, if you know you're from Hawaii, you ask, what high school did you go to? Because that kind of puts you in a demographic of the island. So I was like, hey, so what high school did you go to? And he's like, Father Duaneus? I'm like, Father Duaneus? What's that? Where is that? I'm like, where is that? He's like, oh, I'm Guam. I'm like, oh, you're from Guam. Oh, my goodness. So he's from Guam originally, but he came out there for college, University of Hawaii. Yeah, yeah.
00:09:28
Speaker
But yeah, long story short, we met. And then, you know, careers, you know, he's still stayed in college, I did the retail thought that was going to be my go to I thought I was going to be like a visual merchandiser, a buyer or something, but that didn't, you know, pan out. So, you know,
00:09:47
Speaker
Later down the road, did other stuff. I went into medical, got a degree, did medical records, released some information. I did that, mostly that admin world of medical records of medical field. And my husband did his thing with his career. And then we had babies. Yeah, the babies.
00:10:10
Speaker
with everything going on and then you know we his career took us to California to SoCal so um and yeah and then I mean my last official job which is funny to say is Yelp. Oh so I was the one that probably called you small business owners. Many times. Hi would you like to start some Yelp ads with us? That was me. Yeah. I got hired into that role and I
00:10:39
Speaker
It wasn't the dream job. It wasn't the job I wanted to do because it was very commission salesy. I just like to talk to people personally. It was funny, even though I didn't like the job, I gave a lot of props to it because it pushed me to where I am today. It actually pushed me to, okay, let's do it. Do the small business because I talked to so many small business owners.
00:11:03
Speaker
and they gave me their insight, the whys, why they love it, how they did it. It was the
Starting the Photo Booth Business: Name and Brand Identity
00:11:09
Speaker
drive, so. Interesting. Yeah, so yeah, you know.
00:11:14
Speaker
This is good and bad, but it helped me. Yeah, it's a really good skill. Yesterday, I was a speaker on the speak off for a wedding MBA. And I talked about how to get on the preferred vendor venue list. And I told a story where I was seven years into my business, never gone on a list. And I never could ask for anything. And I finally sent edible arrangements to a venue. And I called them. I was shaking, literally drenched in sweat.
00:11:43
Speaker
I was like, did you get my edible arrangements? Like I could not talk to anyone. I could not pick up the phone. And then for my book, I actually interviewed a bunch of venues and they said like barely any like two photographers call them a year.
00:12:00
Speaker
So it's crazy. People just can't pick up the phone and call. It is a total mind block for so many people. So that skill just gives you so much advantage over everyone else. And I used to, with that job, it just
00:12:22
Speaker
It gives you that etiquette, that phone etiquette that a lot of people don't have nowadays, like how to talk, how to read people even through the phone. So I mean, I have to say all the jobs that I've had, you know, it's, it has helped me, you know, be the person I am today. Yeah. And also take with me into the business too. That's that back end of it.
00:12:43
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Maybe one more question before we talk about how you got started with new pigs on the block. But, um, Tony. Sorry. Always dancing.
00:12:59
Speaker
Well, what is it like, like popping out all these kids? I have two, you know, but you have double plus one.
The Power of Branding and Marketing Strategies
00:13:13
Speaker
I mean, it was crazy. Like when we had our oldest, you know, Chris really just graduated college and I was
00:13:26
Speaker
you know, think it, okay, this is what I wanna do. You know, we had just plans, right? And then he came over like, oh.
00:13:33
Speaker
what do we do now with this child? And then it changed our perspective on life. Like, you know, we knew we wanted to have a family, but it came a little sooner. Yeah. But it, you know, it was just, it was just a sign like, okay, let's, let's refocus. Let's do things that align with our family, you know, provide for our family. Um, and you know, we, we could not have done it really by ourselves. You know, we had the help of our family.
00:13:59
Speaker
Yeah, grandparents, you know, free babysitters and you can use them use them. Bye, you know, go to work. So they really did help. I mean, just having that support from our families. When I was pursuing going back to college, you know, they were there when
00:14:17
Speaker
you know, my husband had to take work trips. They were there to help me. It was this, you know, it's a team like they say it takes a village. So yeah, our village for sure. That's beautiful. And I guess walk me through what it was like moving here, because that must have been like a culture shock for your kids. And just, I don't know, you don't have any more family anymore to help you out. And everything's different. I'm sure Chris got a promotion. But
00:14:44
Speaker
You know, still it's like you don't have this village anymore. You have to create the village. You'll have to do that. Yeah.
00:14:52
Speaker
Yeah, it is tricky because then again, it's like, okay, now I'm probably half, you know, I'll be the stay at home mom. And then that's when we decided to do the homeschooling route. And it's just been, you know, it's, it was difficult. Culture shock, moving from the islands and, you know, leaving, you know, our, our Hana, our home, our family home, and then coming out here. And it's been a change the weather for sure.
00:15:18
Speaker
It's been tricky navigating through it all. But our kids love it. They love going to Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. There's not much you can do in Hawaii. We love Hawaii, the beach and everything. We still have family.
00:15:34
Speaker
You know, there's Disneyland here. So that's why the kids on the island, yes, you can have. Yeah. So, I mean, we, we just see it as, you know, more opportunities for our kids to enjoy. And, you know, they're doing jiu-jitsu. They're, you know, they have a lot of friends out here.
00:15:53
Speaker
So it's great. I mean, we've finally found our stride, I guess you could say. Oh, good. Yeah, you found your flow, your stride. That's awesome. Found our flow, for sure. Good. Okay, now I guess it's time for you to talk about how did you start new picks on the blog? Tell me.
00:16:13
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.
00:16:30
Speaker
create a beautiful brochure so you could start getting on Prefer venue vendor list and we do all your sales so we actually make you a sales presentation leading your client to the heck yes so you get paid. I have a free 20 minute demo training. It's only 20 minutes. Go to my Instagram at Carissa Woo.
00:16:53
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.
00:17:16
Speaker
tell us how you're feeling. Like, I want to just know a little bit more about your thoughts. Yeah, 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. I can I feel myself when I see this. Oh, man. Well, you got me pumped and excited for this. Carissa, thank you.
00:17:36
Speaker
So, you know, we've been wanting to start a business for a while. And, you know, we went through the flows like, okay, what do you want to do and whatnot? And Photobooth kept coming up as, you know, let's do it. You know, I feel like it's something that, you know, I love talking to people and love capturing, you know, moments and, um, just seeing the joy in, you know, people when they step in our booth and they take pictures or they're laughing. It's something I've always wanted to, to,
00:18:02
Speaker
get into. And so, but then I told my husband, I'm like, I'm not going to start it unless we have a cool name and a cool logo. And so Chris with being, you know, he's very artistic and creative. He's like, we were thinking of ideas, throwing some names out. I was like, no, no, no. And then finally, he's like, what about new picks on the blog? I'm like,
00:18:24
Speaker
I was like, yes. 80s, 90s, I was like, that's genius. Because we knew we wanted to use, we love the 80s and 90s. Our kids are very retro. They love 80s, 90s music and movies. So we taught them well. But it's just a different time. It was so carefree. Life was gray, so much.
00:18:54
Speaker
you know, pop culture, you know, they're trying to bring you back now, you know, with a lot of, you know, remakes and stuff, but we really love that era, you know, just with fashion, the movies and music. So I knew I wanted, we knew we wanted a name that matched what we love, but also that era. So New picks on the block was born. Then the logo, you know, we love checkerboard. I love pink. So Chris kind of just meshed the two and then,
00:19:23
Speaker
That's how it came to be. And it's funny because when we went to your book signing and our logo is kind of plastered on most of our equipment. And so Vivian, I didn't know she was behind us. And so she's like, wait.
00:19:47
Speaker
Are you guys new picks on the block? And we're just like, yes. Oh my god. And she's like, oh my god. I was like, wow. Rockstar status. Oh my god. And we were starting to get like, oh, you're new pick. They'll see the logo. They're like, oh, there's new picks. Like we have some of our friends from Jiu-Jitsu or just people we know. They'll take a picture and they'll send it to me. Hey, I just saw you on the road with our van. Oh my god. I'll get a picture through my business phone.
00:20:16
Speaker
who's sending me the, who's stalking us. And then I'm like, oh, we saw your battle. Okay. Don't worry. It's not stolen. It's us in there. You guys are like branded up the art. Yeah, we are. We are about Vivian Hana social. She was on my podcast about, yes, there's a goal go. Um, and she told me that story too. So it's so cool to be recognized as your brand. And this is kind of like an interesting thing I've been thinking about, but for a long time, um,
00:20:47
Speaker
photographers, their website looked like mine, like pretty clean, like the logo was pretty clean, and, you know, pretty photos. But then I feel like now the style is getting like a little bit more like, wow, like pizzazz and more like magazine style websites where it's like full of like,
00:21:05
Speaker
clips and colors and designs and cool logo. And I was thinking I was like, should I go that route? Like should I even make like my logo like crazy so I could brand my car like you guys and have more cool stuff or it's more recognizable. So anyways, we're gonna talk all about that. We're gonna talk about creating a brand identity.
Brand Identity's Role in Business Success
00:21:30
Speaker
So why is this your hot topic? And why is it so near and dear to your heart?
00:21:34
Speaker
So the reason why we picked this because we love our brand. As you said, we branded everything of the Yooza from our cards or equipment. The brand identity is so important for a brand. I mean, you look at popular brands like Coca-Cola, Nike, they're just staples. You just see the color.
00:21:56
Speaker
you know, like Tiffany Blue or the Barbie Pink. You're like, oh, that's Tiffany. That's Barbie. You know, you just those are just recognizable symbols, colors, or even just, you know, like the swoosh. Right. So just having, you know, an important brand and a brand message is crucial for business. Like, I mean, when we started, I did a lot of deep diving, like research. I researched every single photo booth in California. Then I went out and
00:22:26
Speaker
I did the FBI, I did the FBI investigation, went down the list. Okay. Look, look, look, look. Okay. And then I reached out further like Arizona and Texas and East coast. Like I was just like doing my research, right? Marketing research. And I was like, okay, I see a lot of similarities and I don't want to be that.
00:22:47
Speaker
Wow. That's what my main thing is. I don't want to be that. I want to do a different logo. I want to do a different brand. I want to, you know, have a name that stands out. Like, yeah, we have pics in there, but it's cool. It's not like, you know, snap something or something, you know, it's recognizable.
00:23:02
Speaker
People get it once I say, oh, yeah, we're new picks on the ball. They're like, ah, I like that. You know, it sticks with people, right? So it's it's all about, you know, knowing your, you know, who you are. And it all comes down to you. Like, you know, I like I say, you know, we both love 80s, 90s, like,
00:23:24
Speaker
we walk outside, we're not going to be wearing like, you know, high fashion clothes or whatever, right? We're going to be wearing something like I'm wearing Backstreet Boys shirt. Like I'm wearing, I'm wearing, I'm rapping, you know, I, you know, we're, we're rapping, you know, 90s stuff or wearing jean jackets or something or checkerboard. So that's us, you know, we're not trying to be something else that we're not. And we love what we, you know, we,
00:23:54
Speaker
We just love everything about the eighties and nineties. I mean, if I could do my hair like crazy hair, I would, but I don't know. My hair is already pretty damaged. I do. I do. I do. But I mean, really knowing who you are as a business owner and if you can replicate that into your business, do it. But for us, that's us, you know, we're not trying to gimmick. We're not doing anything.
00:24:19
Speaker
Oh, it's a facade. It's not. It really is. So I think it has helped us with our brand identity, our branding, because if you love it, I mean, if you love what you do and love
00:24:36
Speaker
the 80s and 90s, for example, you're gonna love your brand, you're gonna love your logo and your name and everything. I love your brand so much, I would rock it. So send me the link. Awesome. So I went to the Bob Marley movie yesterday, highly recommend.
00:24:58
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it's so good. And then after my friend was like, Oh, we have to go to Target because you have to get these jeans for
Personalized Client Experience and Event Customization
00:25:05
Speaker
$7. So we went to Target and I was telling her I was like, Oh, like, find me.
00:25:12
Speaker
pink shirts because they look good on zoom for me. I really stepped into my like pops of color brand and it's been doing for years and I'm like, it's your brand but it's like you are the brand but then the brand is you. So exactly like even when I'm feeling like, oh, I want to go like monochromatic. I was like, that's not my brand. Yeah.
00:25:39
Speaker
I can't do that. I don't recognize her. Like, you know, I'm wearing neon green right now and my mic is pink. I love it. I love it. Yeah. You have to step into her brand. Okay. So when I got your questionnaire, you said,
00:25:54
Speaker
The first tip was hi, name is Slim Shady, create a name to reflect your company. So you talked about that. Get the logo to match it. Okay, you talked about that. Take the name and express yourself with your branding. Okay, you talked about that. Create your social platforms, color patterns, etc. Okay, you can talk a little bit more about that part.
00:26:16
Speaker
I mean, I love how you went down the list. I was like, oh, did I knock? Check, check. Okay. I mean, social media, it's its own beast. Like, I think for small business owners, you don't like, that's just another to-do list every day. Okay. Did I post? Did I, you know, engage? Did I add to stories? You know, being present on social media is very important, but also making sure your brand
00:26:45
Speaker
fits in that, if that makes sense. So I love it when just our Instagram, just our feet is matching. Kind of cohesive. So we're showing brown color sometimes. We're showing our logo. It's just those itty bits and pieces.
00:27:05
Speaker
You know, that's important for me. I want it to be visually appealing, but also, bam, here's our logo, or here's our colors, or something checkerboard. Giving in that repetitiveness of your brand is important. And even when I do my reels, I put our logo at the end. It's important for me. We love our brand so much.
00:27:26
Speaker
I love it. You gotta watch it again. I have to see it again. Sorry I mean, it's just like, you know, it's it's it's that I don't know who I read it But it's just almost like a mind trick, you know, you see it constantly. Okay. All right Yeah, I know your new picks on the block, but I'm gonna have you see it over and over and over again But I love it. I mean, you know, it's just you know, I
00:27:50
Speaker
Like we said, we just love our brand. So just making sure you're still showcasing that wherever you are. It's never too much. It's never too much. Never too much. Shout out to Photobooth Supply, Brandon Wong. He was the early one on my podcast, but you bought the Photobooth from him, right? Mm-hmm. Okay, so I'll link it up in the show notes, so I'll make some money.
00:28:15
Speaker
a lot of money. Sure. Yeah, yeah. To buy one with this link. My student Danielle in the pops, you bought one from my link and nice doing it with photo booth. But I just wanted to give you a shout out for really, it's not just about your brand. It's about the client experience you give. And I know that from watching
00:28:37
Speaker
you and working with you and hiring you as well but for my book signing like you had me send you the inspiration board and you made the graphic so cute you gave me options and then when you came it was all like branded like you even made the flowers that I had on my inspiration board which was
00:28:58
Speaker
really crazy. And then the backdrop matched my colors, which was like pink and orange. So cute. And then you really work it, you know, during the whole time, just like making people laugh, feel comfortable. And I asked your husband, I was like, is she always like this goofy? He's like, Oh, yeah.
00:29:19
Speaker
You are the brand, but also like they're hiring you I feel like, you know, same for winning photographers, it's kind of like, we're bringing the energy. Yeah, bringing the fun. And even though my brand saw 80s or 90s,
00:29:33
Speaker
I wanted to be associated with your brand because we're just fun. We like to have a good time. And for all my couples listening, if you mentioned, heck yes, to new picks on the blog, Chantel, you'll get a little percentage off. And I highly recommend them. Yeah, so I guess the next thing on your questionnaire, you said, mix your branding and identity into your company from your props.
00:30:03
Speaker
backdrop and your van.
Investments in Props and Van Branding
00:30:06
Speaker
I know we talked about the van, but talk even more about it because you did a lot of investment in your business. Oh, yeah.
00:30:12
Speaker
I mean, it's it's one of those things where you're like, okay, you have to put money into it to make money. But for us, it's it's our brand, right? And we're, you know, we stand by our brand, we love our brand. So, you know, our van has, you know, checkerboard, we're working on other things for the van. You know, we have our big logo on the back. It's pretty identifiable. Like I said, people see it on the road, they're like, take a picture, send it to you. And they're like, Oh, okay.
00:30:38
Speaker
Hi, are you following us? What are you doing? And then, you know, like you mentioned the props and the setups, like our props, like I hand pick those props personally because I'm like, okay, I want to be able to, it needs to look good on people. It needs to feel good. It needs to be good quality.
00:30:56
Speaker
We bring back a lot of the 80s stuff, like the cassette, the Polaroid camera. We have the keytar. We just got a keytar. If you guys don't know, Google it. Just certain things from the 80s we brought back. A blockbuster gift, the blockbuster car, things like that. It's just that's us. It's fun. But like I said, it's just...
00:31:20
Speaker
quality products where people, I'm scared they might take home. It's that good. I'll be like, Carissa, did you take our hat? We have you on camera.
00:31:42
Speaker
And then our setups too. We try to do unique backdrops that we love, that matches us, but also we feel like for you, you have this beautiful pink to orange and yellow, because that's you.
00:31:55
Speaker
Oh, we have a backdrop like, let's see if she'll like it. And then it's so funny because, um, you know, somebody else at your, uh, at your party was like, that's my brand colors. I was like, Oh, you can hire us too. Yeah. So it's.
00:32:15
Speaker
You know, it's definitely, you know, for us, it's just making sure the guest has an experience. It's almost like walking into Disneyland, right? Versus walking into like, I don't know, another theme park, Six Flags, whatever. You walk into Disneyland, it's an experience. You're in that land, frontier land, tomorrow land, where, and you, when you come into our photo booth, you know, you're not just going to see a machine and a backdrop, you know, you're going to see,
00:32:42
Speaker
the backdrop with a set of like the florals or disco balls or whatever it may be. We want it to look presentable. We want it to look like it's meshing with your theme or your party, whatever it is. We just go that extra mile.
00:32:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, just to tell the audience, it doesn't mean that you have to have all the 80s and 90 props, like I've seen on your Instagram and you know, you did like the Galentine's Day party and it's all like Valentine's Day thing. Yeah.
00:33:13
Speaker
props. But if you do have that brand, it's like people trust you, and then they're willing to reach out to you be like, Hey, well, you know, we're throwing a completely boho party, like, can you do that for us? And then you customize everything for them, right? Yeah, yeah. Totally. I mean, like, with I mean, Valentine's is one of my favorites, because of the colors, you know, the pinks and whatnot.
00:33:37
Speaker
uh so that was a definitely a fun event to do but we know we've done halloween um you know we've done a 90s party we've also done like a taylor swift recently where we just rolled out all like
00:33:49
Speaker
you know, pop star stuff, microphones, guitars. So, you know, we tried our best to match the theme as much as possible, but we always have our staples, like our hats or, you know, our phones or whatever it may be. So we do our best to match whatever you want us to do. Yeah.
Gaining Recognition through Networking and Vendor Shoots
00:34:10
Speaker
How, like,
00:34:12
Speaker
How did you get all the leads in the beginning and what was like the main, I don't know, takeaway that first year of like getting yourself just probably in profit?
00:34:28
Speaker
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00:34:53
Speaker
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00:35:10
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:35:48
Speaker
In the beginning, it was very rough. Getting out there is always the tough part. We stood by our brand. We stood by our local. We stood by what we were. It's just we needed to get noticed. We needed people to find us and see us. We did a lot of free stuff. It's always a bad thing. I'll let you do free stuff here.
00:36:10
Speaker
We did some of the big markets in our area, also in SoCal, just to get notice. I did the emailing and messaging to some planners. Hi, that was me. Sorry. Just getting to know like, hey, I'm out here. Take a look at our business, see what we're all about.
00:36:30
Speaker
It was rough. And then what actually did help move it forward was actually we got invited to some vendor shoots, like styled shoots. And we got to like network with a lot of them. So a lot of them found like they saw our setup, they saw our quality in our captures and they got to meet us, you know, they got to meet me, my crazy me.
00:36:53
Speaker
And they're like, oh my God, we love you. We're going to recommend you. And then the ball started rolling. So it was a mix. We had some takeaways from the markets. But I think what helped was definitely networking, networking with a lot of other vendors, vet planners, balloons, cakes, whatever they may be. It was just meeting other people in the industry. And they're like,
00:37:19
Speaker
oh we love you like we're gonna recommend you and then you know of course meeting you at the mixer so it's just yeah i feel like those networking or style shoots or any of those types helped us because they people like you got to see us got to meet us and got to see our work and that's how
00:37:37
Speaker
You can only see so much through Instagram, only so much through a website. So when you get to meet somebody in their element, like at shoots or at mixtures or whatever they may be, that's probably the best thing.
00:37:53
Speaker
And that's what helped us. Totally. And just for our listeners, it does take time. But when you have a brand, a strong brand identity, it's so much easier because recognizable, you know, some people could meet you and they could totally forget about you.
00:38:11
Speaker
in a second, so it's totally a waste of time. Definitely what we're talking about, brand identity, that's what I do, shameless plug, help you with your brand identity. It's extremely, extremely important. What does your business look like today, Chantal? What is your best get a heck yes technique?
Authenticity in Branding: Finding Unique Selling Points
00:38:33
Speaker
It could be anything.
00:38:35
Speaker
Oh, I mean, for us, it's definitely, you know, when we talk to other clients or, you know, clients right now that we're working on, you know, it's just knowing who you are and being able to sell, you know, yourself, you're selling your brand, right? What you can do? What can you bring to the table than someone else? And for us, it's, you know, it's easy. It's our props. It's our setups. No one else does setups like us. You know, many businesses don't have quality props like
00:39:04
Speaker
from beginning to end or even just our, you know, our captures, you know, like we get that a lot. They're like, wow, you did that with your booth. I'm like, yeah, like, yeah, you know, I heard it. I was like, oh, like, it's a lot of just testing and making sure, you know, um, is this pop going to look nice or how is this like we do when we do our, so I'm like, okay, I'm planning it out. How is this going to look?
00:39:33
Speaker
And then if a, you know, if a client wants the glam, you know, the black and white Kardashian love, okay, I'm like testing the filters or the settings to make sure it looks right. So it's endless, but that's what we, you know, sell or that's what we tell our clients is that we're not just going to show up the day and like, oh, hopefully it works. I mean, hopefully these props are going to last to the end of the night, you know, but we bring the quality, we bring that experience. So, um,
00:40:02
Speaker
And in ourselves, like, you know, our brand speaks for ourself. Yeah, totally. I think about, you know, the old school props. I'm like, I'm never going to put that dirty boa on my neck. And you couldn't pay me to put the like go-go clown nose or like the wig on my head. Too funny. Because how many heads have been in this, you know, it's like, and they don't take care of their props. And it's kind of like for a while, I was kind of like, oh, I'm like, I don't even care to
00:40:32
Speaker
do photo booths. So it's cool that you guys definitely step up the photo booth, I don't know evolution, and are just making it so unique. Because you know, photo booth is always going to be around like it's just, it's just where people gravitate.
00:40:50
Speaker
Even when I would always get drunk, it was like sometimes I'm just like, where's the photo booth? You know, yes, yes. I mean, you know, not to knock the feather boas, but I would never have further boas. I mean, unless the clients like I want a feather boa, and I'm like,
00:41:13
Speaker
Okay. But I mean, like, yeah, I mean, it is, you know, we, we have to, you have to, with any type of business in whatever industry, you have to be unique. And that's what, I mean, that's who we are. I'm like, I like nice stuff. Yeah, that's what it is. So if, I mean, I want my guests and my clients to have nice stuff. So I'm not going to give them the feather boa or
00:41:39
Speaker
the little thingy on the stick, I don't know what it is, but you know, I don't, no, I don't want that.
00:41:44
Speaker
You're gonna get good stuff. Okay, so speak to someone, the people listening right now, they could be new, they could be veterans, just, they're kind of blending in with the crowd. And what can they do maybe today or on by Monday, to make their brand identity more powerful, make it stand out and inspire them to just be more
00:42:13
Speaker
more them, be more you, more authentic and step into your power, into your brand. I mean, for you, you just have to know who you are. I mean, sometimes you have to stick to one thing. Like for us, like we kind of did a little, you know, we have the colorfuls, we have the glam, but what we're known for is just our props and our setup. So
00:42:36
Speaker
Find something that's gonna make you unique like either like, you know, um, oh it's gonna be you know, um, I do arch backdrops or you know, I you know Have different like filters on my camera, you know my photo booth or whatever it may be um, or maybe you don't do props you just do just pictures just come in or whatever it may be so it's finding
00:43:01
Speaker
what you want to do and then just go full force with it.
Balancing Family Life and Business Goals
00:43:06
Speaker
And that's why when we started, it was like, we're not going to just throw something on the wall and just hope it sticks. A lot of people do that. They're like, okay, let's just throw so much stuff. And we were kind of thinking that. We're like, okay, let's offer this. Let's offer that. Let's do this. And then I just said, you know what?
00:43:26
Speaker
I don't think we should do that. I feel like we need to narrow down whatever we're going to be known for and then slowly roll out the stuff here and there. But really find your top two or three that you're going to be known for and stick with it and go for it. But you have to be different because people are going to be like,
00:43:47
Speaker
you copy that person or you're doing the same thing, be careful too, because then you're going to be like, oh, because like me, I was, like I said, I did my FBI looking through all the business. I'm like, a lot of them were the same. They had the same type of logo, same type of company name. We're all going to offer the same thing. We're all going to have a Salsa booth or we're all going to have the same. What's going to set you apart? What is going to make you different?
00:44:17
Speaker
And so knowing your brand and then if you have to rebrand, they do a different logo or a different company name, you know, that's all, that's you. That's, it's all up to you. But really, I mean, I would hate for you to do it, but you know, it, you have to really stand out. What's going to make you stand out?
00:44:37
Speaker
Yeah, I had a photo booth back in the day from Brandon to like the first generation. And I bought the like $350 backdrop, the gold one from like drop it mod. And I've used that for like 15 years. And then finally, my best friend was like, dude, if I see this gold backdrop up in one of our parties, like, I brought it to like, oh, man. Oh, it's too funny.
00:45:07
Speaker
Well, if I get a gold backdrop, I'll name it the Carissa. Okay, I'm gonna remember that. So one more question before graphic art questions, but you and your hubby Chris have such a cute relationship with five kids and the business and he has he works in corporate, but
00:45:31
Speaker
how do you like keep any helps with like all the events and stuff but how do you keep the family strong and the business strong together because I know he's super chill and he's he lets you do your thing but there must be some sort of bumps in the road or some hurdles that you had to overcome so any tips or like married couples like me
00:45:51
Speaker
Oh, for sure. I mean, we've been married for, oh gosh, since 2010, so 14 years, approaching 14 years. You know, 14 years, five kids, three dogs, a fish, and a partridge and a pear tree. Like, it's nuts. We're not going to have the recipe to, you know, the best life ever.
00:46:17
Speaker
All I can say is communication is key. I always forget. I'll be like, babe, we have an event tomorrow. And he's like, what? I'm like, yeah. So yeah, I mean, communication, talking to your hubby, talking to your kids, letting them know. My mom moved out here too from Hawaii.
00:46:39
Speaker
That is a big help. So she just moved out here. So she helps with the kids. And so, you know, it's just communication, you know, letting each other know what's up. Understanding, trying to understand each other because my husband has his stuff, but then I have, you know, my stuff and it's like, oh, where do we, and you know, it's like I said, it's not going to be, you know, perfect. But, you know,
00:47:07
Speaker
You just have to just try. I think in the end, you always have to have that goal or that dream. Okay. This is, you know, all this hard work. Okay. We're going to aim for this. We're going to take the kids to Disney World or, you know, our family trip. Oh, we're going to do this. It's just having that goal, having that dream and that, okay. Well,
00:47:27
Speaker
We're working hard for this. We're sacrificing this. And I think that was one of your questions was, you know, what is the hardest thing in the business? And I think that's what it is, is finding out that balance, finding that balance between small business
00:47:42
Speaker
wife, mother, and whatever it may be, and then husband, right? His work and then him trying to help me with the business. It's just a lot of balancing and you know, it's just communication and understanding. I think that's the two that I feel like helps us a lot, but also the same things that we have to work on.
00:48:06
Speaker
Yeah. So no, you guys are the cutest couple ever. And I don't know a couple on a business power couple, but I think we're a little bit over time. But I guess no rapid fire questions because we just that was so good already. But where can everyone find you and anything lasting words from Chantal and new picks on the block?
00:48:28
Speaker
Yes. And well, you can find us on Instagram and NewPix on the Block or you can check us out on our website on www.newpixontheblock.com. And I guess last thing is, you know, for our businesses, you know, we just want to be able to provide the best service to you all. I mean, our main goal is, you know, to be everywhere, you know, on every block in America. We'll love to go back home to Honolulu, Hawaii.
00:48:56
Speaker
hopefully maybe or even back to Guam, Sinhania, Guam. So, you know, that's, that's some things you would like to help, you know, you know, goal wise, but, and, but as far as, you know, for our clients is being there for y'all. Yay. Thank you, Chantel. This is a fun conversation. Thank you.
00:49:20
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. See you next time, wedding pros.