The Wedding Biz – 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.
Have you heard about the brand new show on The Wedding Biz Network, Stop and Smell the Roses with Preston Bailey? Listen as Preston shares the secrets, tools, and technologies behind his extraordinary ability to create a theatrical environment out of any space. Also, don’t forget about Sean Low’s podcast The Business of Being Creative, where Sean discusses the power of being niched, pricing strategies, metrics of success, and so much more. You can find both shows on The Wedding Biz Network.
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Show Highlights:
[02:55] Welcome to the show, Josh!
[03:33] Josh shares how he got into the event industry.
[05:31] Most of Josh’s business has been large events with Orthodox Jews.
[08:56] Because he worked with the same group of people all the time, it was very challenging to come up with something new for each event.
[10:36] How did you put together a tight business that has lasted all these years?
[12:53] Josh discusses his process from the first contact with the client through the actual event.
[14:47] Josh speaks about how talking to clients through zoom calls was less fun and disconnected at first.
[18:27] Josh shares the deep depression he went into at the beginning of the pandemic because his identity was so wrapped up in his company.
[21:21] Were you able to thrive again even before the work started coming back in?
[23:27] Josh speaks about the measures he took to keep his company going.
[24:40] Josh tells the story of creating backyard weddings for clients during the pandemic.
[27:06] Josh discusses designing events during the pandemic and how they stay safe.
[29:28] Josh shares how he priced these events and how he explained it to the clients.
[31:15] Do you believe that the event industry will change post-pandemic?
[33:22] Josh speaks about how he uses social media to get business and show people they are attainable.
[35:58] Josh shares what the hardest part of this past year has been.
[37:28] Success now is being able to put food on the table for those you care about and the feeling of validation through this crazy time.
[39:25] Thank you for being on the show!
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Title Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by PartySlate – the first website designed specifically for event professionals and venues!
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Find Josh:
@bircheventdesign
