The Power Of In Person Connection

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio

In today’s episode of the podcast, I have just come back from being a speaker at the Heart Centred Conference up in the beautiful Noosa here in Australia. And I am feeling so inspired. My cup is feeling so full. And in today’s episode of the podcast, I wanted to talk to you about the power of inspiration.

In person connection and why you need to get yourself to a live event, ASAP.

So as I shared in the intro to today’s episode, I’ve just come back from spending almost a week in conference. So, the event was held up at Noosa on the Sunshine Coast here in Australia, which is such a beautiful part of the world in and of itself and I was actually asked to be a speaker at this event.

Now I shared in the previous [00:01:00] episode of the podcast about how far I’ve come on my speaking journey about how I’ve kept doing the uncomfortable thing again and again, and let’s just say that this was no exception to that. I definitely felt a tonne of anxiety in the lead up to speaking, but the feedback that I’ve received from everyone has been that it was really well received.

A couple of people really enjoyed the way that I presented, teaching about money, but doing it in a fun way, which is something that I really love to do. So it was wonderful to receive that beautiful feedback. I was paid for speaking at the event as well, which was, again, such an honour and a blessing that I’ve moved into the space of being a paid speaker.

But the really wonderful thing that I took away from the time at conference was really about the power of in person connection. At [00:02:00] conference, I made some new friends in particular someone new that I’ve connected with that I hadn’t really spent much time with before is Leonie Dawson, who I’ve actually had as a guest on the podcast before, so I will link to that episode, but this was our first time meeting in person and we just had a real click, a real vibe.

We had a ton of fun hanging out together. I also got to spend some time with some friends that I’ve previously hung out with, Denise Duffield Thomas, Kerry Rauer, Tina tower, some really amazing entrepreneurs, of course, Tash Corbin hosted the event. Some really amazing entrepreneurial women, got to spend a lot of time with the other speakers at the event.

And also with a lot of the attendees, I met some beautiful people in the room. We had so much fun, a tonne of laughs, and I’ve definitely made connections that I know will continue on. And I’ve already bought my ticket to next year’s conference, because I’ll [00:03:00] definitely be going along again. I will pop a link at the time of recording there are still a few tickets left. I believe it is a sellout event every year, but I will link to the conference if you do want to come along to the heart centered conference next year. But let me share a little bit more about why in person events and in person connection is so important.

So the first thing, you get a different sense of someone’s energy when you meet them in person to online. I don’t know exactly why most people that I’ve met tend to be pretty consistent with the image that they are presenting online. Some people, not so much by the way, interestingly, but a lot of, a lot of people do have a pretty cohesive, experience of what they’re like online.

But there’s something about someone’s energy in person that just really can take that connection, that trust, all of those things, to a whole new level. [00:04:00] There’s certain things about someone’s energetic state, their mannerisms, things like that, that you can’t really pick up online. I know that hanging out with a lot of other people in the room, sometimes you go, Oh, that person’s really kind.

Or that person’s really funny. I know this sounds a bit weird to say, but people often say to me, I’m funnier in real life than I am for example on the podcast. It’s like I’ve got work mode, when you hang out in person, you get to be a bit more yourself, so you’re getting to experience people’s energy and you’re getting to build a deeper level of trust and rapport that you can’t really get online.

So why is this important? Let me explain a couple of reasons. Firstly, being in business first and foremost is obviously the opportunities for collaborations, referrals. So [00:05:00] I personally don’t refer my, I don’t refer to people unless I know them either have worked with them or I personally know them because it’s my reputation on the line.

If I say hey you should go and see so and so for that problem and then someone doesn’t have a great experience, it’s a reflection on me. So I need to have experienced either someone’s service or product firsthand myself, or have spent enough time with them that I feel really confident in their integrity and their ability to deliver what they say.

So there’s definitely referral opportunities. And a lot of the opportunities that have come my way have literally come my way from being at in person events. This very speaking gig itself came from the fact that I met Tash, the founder of this event, at Denise Duffield Thomas’s Rose Farm retreat many years ago.

We’ve got to spend some time together. We’ve also hung out together since then a couple of times, but [00:06:00] it ultimately came from us meeting at an event. Other opportunities that are coming my way, I’ve recently had another speaking opportunity that came up from an in person event that I attended. I got to meet the founder of the event and she’s recently asked me if I’ll come along and speak at an event.

This is the kind of stuff that happens when you’re in the room and maybe speaking doesn’t excite you, but there are other collaboration and referral opportunities that do exist. People who’ve attended my retreats in the past or come along to my live events have said, Oh my gosh, I got so many clients from being in that room.

I remember one of the women who attended my retreat many years ago said to me. I ended up working with literally every single person who came along. So you get to build those connections. You get to build collaboration and referral opportunities. Maybe the people in the room aren’t your ideal client, but guess what?

You’re the first [00:07:00] person they’ll think of when they need a digital marketing agency, or when someone needs some help with their relationship. They remember that you’re a relationship coach. There’s a lot of literal opportunity from being in this space with other people. Of course, parking the business side, there’s also that real sense of connection that I believe we are all craving – having true friendships with people who are like minded.

I find a lot that I love to hang out with business owners because we all get it. We’re going through the same struggles. We’re experiencing the same highs. We can talk about money and clients and marketing and all kinds of interesting things with people who actually really get it. I genuinely don’t believe that I would [00:08:00] still be in business coming up to nine years now, if it wasn’t for the connections, the humans the wonderful people who are in my world.

And again, a great place to both find and deepen these friendships and connections is at in person events? The next thing of course is inspiration and learning. I just love being around amazing people doing big things, hearing how they are doing it, what they’re learning along the way and getting inspired by what lies out there.

Sometimes we can get so caught up in our little bubble that we forget there’s a whole big world out there. There’s so many opportunities and when you’re around other people doing big things, Oh my gosh. It’s such a great space to expand, to get excited, to want to step into your next level.

And the next big thing that [00:09:00] I experienced being away on conference is just how amazing it can feel when you give yourself that spaciousness to get away. If you have children, particularly like I do, not having to be doing washing, dishes, cleaning all the time, actually just having some space to be you.

It really is such a great way to fill your cup up. It always surprises me because I make a lot of time for myself. I make sure that I get away with girlfriends, my hubby and I have weekends away without the kids. I go away on retreats a lot of the time because filling my cup is so important. To be able to have the level of energy and giving that I do for my clients, my students, my family, my [00:10:00] friends, so many people in my world.

And I forget that not a lot of people prioritize themselves, actually carve out the time to go and do it. I was talking to someone about my retreat and she said, I can’t get away from my family. I was like, it’s one night. Sometimes we think that we can’t do these things, but as someone who regularly does take the time, my gosh, I always come back with my stress levels lowered, I’m feeling inspired, feeling excited. And this is why I continue to make my me time such a priority.

I just wanted to share one last thing. It’s a bit of a random segue, but it’s really interesting with in person events, how a lot of times I think one of the biggest misconceptions about in person events is how much money they make, because a lot of times we see the cost of the ticket or the cost of the investment.

And we think, Oh, wow. But as someone who’s run live events, attended a lot of events, a lot of my friends run events. Let me tell you that events rarely make a [00:11:00] huge profit. A lot of times they run at a loss. I know that my whole book tour that I ran last year, every event lost me thousands of dollars. And when people would say to me, I can’t believe the tickets are so expensive.

I’d think, oh my gosh, you have no idea how much money I’m losing on each ticket sale. I’ve really been focusing in on profitability and really trying to hone how I can make my events profitable, but just, I just wanted to share that it is a misconception that, events are always making a tonne of money because they, it does actually cost quite a bit of money to pull together in person events.

And most people that I know, myself included that do it, it’s not about the profit. It’s about bringing people together. It’s about connection. It’s also about visibility because it looks really cool and fun. And it is. So just wanted to share that as a bit of a wrap up on the end. So look, there’s a lot of power, as I said, I’m feeling so [00:12:00] empowered, so excited, so inspired having come back from conference.

I’m so excited to do it again next year. And I’m really looking forward to the events that I have coming up before then as well. In person events are just a whole new level of connection, collaboration, opportunities, inspiration, friendship, and of course, stress reduction. If you are feeling called for an in person event, I’d love to invite you to come along to my retreat happening in November.

There are still a few spots left at the time of recording, although I am having quite a few conversations with people about what that looks like. It’s a two day intimate event, we’re going to be having a chat about game plans for making more money in 2025.

It’ll be mapping out money goals and things for the next year, as well as actually having a look at the things that are holding you back. We’ll be working a lot on your money mindset as well. And also just having time [00:13:00] too. We’re going to be doing meditations and some really chilled yoga. We’ll be hanging out and meeting some really other amazing, inspiring business owners as well.

So if this is calling to you, please do click on the link in the show notes for today’s episode. Like I said, there’s a few spots left. If it’s speaking to you, I’d love to welcome you inside and whether my retreat is the right event or not, please make sure that you do consider getting along to some in person events because it will really change your business and your life.

Have a fabulous week. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the podcast and I’ll chat to you soon.

* Transcript created by AI – may contain errors or omissions from original podcast audio