331 THE NEXT LEVEL: PHIL VAN NOSTRAND discusses JOSH SPIEGEL/Using Social Media to Create Business During the Pandemic

Andy welcomes Phil Van Nostrand back to The Next Level. Phil is based out of New York and Los Angeles. Phil photographs weddings, commercial, and lifestyle projects and is an expert at capturing bright cinematic lifestyle imagery. Listen as they discuss Josh Spiegel, the Creative Director and President of Birch Event Design, a high-end decor, production, and floral company. 

Phil speaks about a support group of industry professionals that Josh is a part of during the shutdown and how he himself created his own network of people to reach out to. Phil also talks about the challenge Josh had to create something different for each event while planning daily weddings within the same group of individuals.

Phil discusses how Josh used social media to garner business during the pandemic while staying safe by doing smaller events, having the host testing each guest, and social distancing. Phil agrees with Josh that the smaller events will carry over because people see the beauty in creating an experience for their guests and being able to connect on a deeper level.

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330 JOSH SPIEGEL/Birch Event Design: Using Social Media to Create Business During the Pandemic

On this episode of The Wedding Biz Andy is talking to Josh Spiegel, the Creative Director and President of Birch Event Design, a high-end decor, production, and floral company located out of the New York City area. Josh has had a lot of business during the pandemic and shares the story of how he is accomplishing that feat. Josh also talks sincerely about many issues, especially how he is dealing with things now and how he feels the event industry might be different once it fully comes back.

Josh also shares how he got into the event industry and the challenge of creating different designs for the same group of people, sometimes every day. Josh talks about how he failed and learned in the early years of his business and how his business has thrived over the years.

Listen as Josh discusses his process from the first contact with a client through the event and what he did during the pandemic that has kept him and his team busy. Josh is also very open about the deep depression he fell into in the early months of the pandemic and what brought him out and gave him focus as the crisis continued.

Josh speaks about social media and how he uses it to grow his business and what he believes will change in the event industry post-pandemic. He also shares what he has learned during COVID that he believes will carry over and what the hardest part of the past year has been. Andy wraps up the interview by asking Josh how he defines success.

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329 A Conversation With: TARA GUERARD

“Our industry will come back in a really good way.” Andy welcomes Tara Guerard back to the show. Listen as they discuss the events she’s designed since the pandemic and how they kept everyone safe. Tara also speaks about what she had done to keep busy and how guests will have to show proof of vaccination before they are allowed at her 2021 events, plus much more on this episode of The Wedding Biz.

Tara is the owner of the event planning company called Tara Guerard Soiree, a full-service event planning and design company headquartered in Charleston, SC, with a second office in New York City. Tara has been in several prestigious wedding publications and published two best-selling books, Southern Weddings and Weddings. She has partnered with the luxury eco-friendly Letterpress Studio as well.

Listen as Tara speaks about how her business is structured for sustainability with very little overhead and property investing instead of leasing. Tara talks about how she has her pricing set up and says that she has raised her prices for 2021 because her time is still important and her designs are worth it.

Tara believes that the industry will come back in full force and stresses that it’s important to stay creative and keep those creative juices flowing. She says that staying motivated and inspired is critical to creatives, and using those talents for good by helping others is a great place to start.

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328 A Conversation With: RON BEN-ISRAEL

Andy has the funny and forthcoming Ron Ben-Israel on the show today. Listen as they discuss the second season for his new show, The Big Bake, and his new venture called RBI Treats. We also talk about how the pandemic has impacted both his business and personal life, plus much more on this episode of The Wedding Biz.

Ron is the Founder of Ron Ben-Israel Cakes. In addition to creating stunning and delectable cakes, he hosted the cooking competition TV show Sweet Genius from 2011 to 2013, and was a judge on Food Network’s Cake Wars. He now has a new television show called The Big Bake on Food Network, Canada.

Listen, as Ron discusses how the pandemic has affected his business and how he has kept himself busy and continued to create. Ron talks about his Instagram (IGTV) show  called Cake Talk and how he believes it helped him exercise his creativity and get back to work. Ron also shares about his television show, the Big Bake, and talks about the judges who are on the show with him.

Have you always wanted to try Ron’s amazing desserts? Ron speaks about RBI Treats, the new retail division of RBI Cakes. He shares how it got started, the challenges of selling online, shipping to customers, and how much fun he had deciding what to sell and how to package it. Check out his website for RBI Treats, www.RBITreats.com, and start taste testing.

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