She was a corporate girl for a super, super long time as an accountant who did all the math, all the numbers — even though she hated it. Meet Brandy Blackford who jumped into a creative business of wedding planning out of corporate life. She took her talents into being a small business owner living her dreams. She’s a wife, mom and genuinely one who looks out for others every day. She follows the trails for weddings and couples to take ideas and thoughts with the money to make it all work together and give someone a flawless event. She is able to see the big picture using all the little pieces and create memories.

We talk about the details of her industry, the changes of what is happening in choices of such a big event and how couples are presenting their wedding dreams and how it all comes together.

There’s more to Brandy and we dig deep into who Brandy is as a mom and a woman who definitely has impact in her community. She says she is a listening ear and can sometimes be the place for a vent.

Brandy is a firm believer in the rising tide philosophy of community over competition, and a rising tide raises all boats. There are more people getting married than there are event industry professionals. “We can't do everything that there is to do. We cannot take on every couple that is getting married even if they could afford us or wanted us. And we all approach our couples and our clients and our philosophy differently,” says Brandy and that means it’s a chance to become who you want to represent which is a thread throughout the conversation.

We talk about self worth and that you have to feel inside that you are worth something other than a dollar amount, but she’s happy to help anybody calculate how much they should be charging for their service because it truly is just math, and her thought is that you just need to sit there and plug some numbers into a spreadsheet, and it'll tell you how much you should charge.

Stop the fear and make your brain accept — it involves head and heart. There are so many gems in this episode from parenting thoughts, education, fear, mentors and community. Tune in!!



A few topics include—

The shift from couple-focused to family-focused weddings.
The stress of planning vs relationship stress.
Keeping a couple focused on the future.
Listening with your heart and listening with your head.
How do you set business boundaries?
How to make a marriage work?
Teaching empathy to kids.
How do you figure out your worth?
The fear bug in small business. 
Homeschooling makes you a better listener. 
The importance of having a list of tasks.
Taking a break when you need it.


Music "STOMP" used by permission of artist Donica Knight Holdman and Jim Huff

Stacked Keys Podcast

Episode 152-- Vision Weddings -- Brandy Blackford -- Commit and Move Forward

Relationship Panel One—It’s Not Just About You

Let’s talk love languages and how relationships run the gamut from romantic relationships to relationships in the work place to students in the classroom and even relationships with art. There are plenty of levels to relationships that involve communication and understanding individual perspectives and needs. Our panel discusses the beliefs that relationships should be mutual, an equal playing field and they should improve the lives of those involved. This one specific word touches everything in life with many aspects and when you understand then you are more equipped to convey your love and appreciation. Relationships are connections.
The guests on this panel discussion have been guests on the podcast before and bring vast life experience to the table—Traci Weafer is a doula creating strong bonds with those families she helps. (Episode 24)  Zoe Kakou is an educator to the core (Episode 54) and Ann Carney (Episode 60) is in the midst of parenting young boys and works in marketing 
The idea of the love languages is that each person wants love in their relationships expressed a particular way and author Gary Chapman coined the phrase 5 Love Languages and dove into expressing how to be equipped to build a foundation to explore. The various categories are— Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. Each individual has at least one language that they prefer above the other… and this is where it gets interesting. Tune in!


The music “STOMP” is used by permission of artist Donica Knight Holdman and  Jim Huff

Episode 79--Relationship Panel Love Languages --Traci Weafer, Zoe Kakou, Ann Carney

The idea to talk to women who are out there living and making a difference is where the Stacked Keys Podcast was born. There are women who make a difference, but never make a wave while paddling through life. Immediately I can think of a dozen or more who impacted me, but I want more. I want to talk to those I don't know and I want to share with an audience that might need the inspiration to find their own beat. 

 

This podcast is to feature women who are impressive in the work world-- or in raising a family -- or who have hobbies that can make us all be encouraged. Want to hear what makes these women passionate and get up in the morning or what they wish they had known earlier in life? Grab your keys and STOMP to your own drum.

Episode 152-- Vision Weddings -- Brandy Blackford -- Commit and Move Forward

Stacked Keys Podcast

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