I feel safe in this community of Live Event Leaders. Safe enough to pronounce once and for all that seashells spray painted in florescent colors are NEVER OK.



Agreed?



I was hosting this swanky dinner party at a beachfront private club on a gorgeous patio overlooking the ocean. I had connected with a DMC (Destination Management Company) to provide centerpieces for the event.



We had a build your own flower arrangement bar set up for guests (so they could each make something to brighten their hotel rooms for the weekend) so more floral arrangements didn’t seem like the right fit for centerpieces.



The thought was to have square vessels filled with sea shells on each table instead.



Pretty and classy, right?



Well…not so much.



You see my vision of what that looked like and the vendor’s vision of what that looked like wasn’t in alignment.



When I saw the centerpieces the day of the event my jaw dropped in horror. They had used seashells that were spray-painted in a variety of bright flu...

Have you heard of Jesse Itzler? 

If not, you should start following him, like today.



I'm absolutely smitten with his work in this world.



Here's why. His work is a mashup of so many of the things I love: live events, adventure, family, personal growth, biohacking, and the power of eating plants.



You know I'm obsessed with the idea of everyone in this Live Event Leader community doing "R&D" as I call it...researching other influencers' events.



Well, I practice what I preach and I do my R&D and you know what I noticed about this dude? This dude does his events OUTSIDE!



He mashes up personal growth and physical fitness and endurance and the great outdoors. So flipping cool.



When I first learned about 29029 Everesting I couldn't take my eyes off it. The live event producer in me was all 🤯 over the thing.



I came from an event space where events were inside hotel ballrooms like 90% of the time, so to see the mold "I" was used to, broken, actually, shattered, just blew my mind.



All tha...

Have you seen Dave Asprey sporting his signature yellow lenses?

You know those yellow eyeglass lenses that have become sort of the ‘in’ thing?



I got some. My eye doctor casually mentioned they’d be a good idea given how much time I spend staring at screens all day and I jumped at the opportunity to look this hip.




But, seriously though. Isn’t being an entrepreneur hard enough as it is?!

I’m kinda like, if there’s something out there that’s going to make it a little easier on me, make my body a little healthier, make me feel a little saner, I’m in.



Green smoothies. Sleep. Meditation. Exercise. Eating more plants. Breathing air in the great outdoors. Drinking spring water.

Are you all over things that might give you the competitive edge as well?

If not, I’d encourage you to start.

I mean come on, it's what all the cool kids are doing. 😂

Make it an outstanding day.

Sarah :)

Has the idea of hosting your own live event (or scaling the one you’ve got) ever sent you into overwhelm?



I get overwhelmed easily when I can’t see the path or when I know I need help but I’m afraid to ask.



Regarding #1, “seeing the path”: I’m a planner at heart. Very type A. I like to “see” things. I like to know what the steps are to getting things done and what order they need to be done in and what the “best” way is to do them.



Regarding #2, “afraid to ask”: This is probably my biggest shortcoming. I know when I need help, yet I don’t ask. Have you ever been here?



So what to do about it, right? Overwhelm, for me, manifests itself in procrastination. So unhelpful, right?!



For me, forcing myself to focus on only the very next thing I have to do, helps a lot.



And when it comes to events, what I’ve found to be most helpful is the parking lot. And that’s the gift I want to give you today: permission to park.



If it helps, I give you permission to say: “not this event.”



There’s go...

I went to a family reunion recently. It really is so awesome to see family from all over the globe gathered. I know in my family, it doesn’t happen nearly often enough. So, suffice to say, I was thankful for the opportunity to bounce around six different airports in four days to attend. Whew!



One of my relatives graciously went through the trouble of reserving a discounted block of sleeping rooms for us all. However, I don't think we filled it because so many folks went and their own thing. It got me thinking about how old the school of concept room blocks is.



Just think about all the options there are these days for guests at an event… they could stay at the event hotel, or with friends or family in the area, they could use a vacation rental website like Airbnb or VRBO, they could use an online travel agency like Travelocity or Expedia, book with points, book with a military or government discount, or maybe they use a travel search engine like Kayak, my personal favorite, to find so...

A monthly letter from the desk of Sarah Fejfar

Hey there

I hope this note finds you enjoying sunshine and summer!

I’m writing to you from the middle of a four-week road trip. We’re making our annual trek to visit family and friends (in SD and MN,) visit some of our favorite vacation spots (Coeur ‘d Alene, ID, and Door County, WI) and see some new places (this trip it’s Park City, UT, Boise, ID.)

Yes, it’s exhausting, and yes, the adventure is worth it to figure out how to work on the road and sleep new places each night in order to connect with people and places we love.

Welcome to July!

What did you learn last month?

Here's a quick recap of my favorite aha’s:

1. Stepping Into the Role of CEO: The universe delivered lots of opportunities in June for me to learn about how to step into the role of the CEO of a multi-million-dollar online info-product business BEFORE I’ve achieved that goal.  (A few of my favorites are The Common Path to Uncommon Success by John Lee Dumas, The 4-Hour Work Week b
...

Recently, a leadership conference I could have attended was canceled and turned into a virtual event. Stuff happened outside of the event leader’s control that made it so the event couldn’t happen live.



I was so impressed with how fast the conference pivoted and switched the entire event over to a virtual event.



They were able to increase the capacity for the event now that it was virtual, which drove up excitement for the event.



They stayed strong in their communication efforts with their guests, in fact, they probably increased their communications.



They created success from a situation that could have turned into a huge failure.



A quick perspective switch and thinking outside of the box made it possible.



It got me thinking… there will be times when a virtual event just makes sense. You’ll know when that’s the case. Your gut will tell you.



If that’s the case, what do you do to make it feel special and unique, and successful in the eyes of your guests?



Here are three big ideas...

A monthly letter from the desk of Sarah Fejfar

Hey there

Remember back in grade school during standardized tests when the teacher would make the announcement "pencils down?" 

I had to tell myself that this week.  I spent May finishing my sales page for Live Event Academy (you can peek here: www.sarahfejfar.com/academy (any and all feedback is welcome)) and while there's so much more I could do and want to do, I had to tell myself, it's good enough to move on to my next project (the live webinar funnel) and I can make it better after the funnel is up and running.

I'm training myself to be more about progress and imperfect action and less about perfection... and gosh it's hard.  This quote by Ira Glass is exactly why.

So, we've made it into June.  Blows my mind. It’s summer! This is exciting stuff!

What did you learn last month?

Here are a few of my most notable learnings:

1. EVERYTHING is figureoutable.  I read Marie Forleo's book of the same name in May (it's good - worth a read.) I firmly be
...

A monthly letter from the desk of Sarah Fejfar

I’m a bit emotional as I write this note today.  I have the gift of a three-hour, uninterrupted block of time to work today while my 9yo daughter, my kiddo, is at school (3^rd grade) … for the first time in over a year.

She’s nervous and excited and was wondering “what to wear on the first day of school…” which struck me as so very interesting… what a question to be pondering in May!  She gets to go for 3 hours, outside, 2x a week for these last 4 weeks of the school year.  Progress.

So… what did you learn about yourself or your business last month?

Here’s what I learned:

1. My New Zero Tolerance Policy: In April, at my life coach’s recommendation, I read the book Dollars Flow to Me Easily by Richard Dotts, to help me work through some subconscious limiting beliefs I have about wealth.  My biggest takeaway was making the decision that I now have a zero-tolerance policy for thoughts that don’t serve me. And wow, it’s triggered a new awareness of
...

A monthly letter from the desk of Sarah Fejfar

Well hello there!

Our family took a trip to see the tulip fields on Easter Sunday.  All the pictures of serene, sun-kissed tulip fields I had collected in my head from their social media were met with the reality of a tulip farm turned circus complete with carnival rides, a craft fair, food trucks, and large crowds… yikes, the comedy and horror of it all.  

It got me thinking about how the importance of intentionally crafting not only the experience but also the expectations for our event guests.

It also got my inner entrepreneur thinking about clear CTAs.  I could not find a clear call to action to take tulips home (and I wanted to!) and was noticing missed opportunities for order bumps, upsells, and increasing the average cart value everywhere.  Oy vey.

Tulips aside, I wanted to pop into your inbox to see how you’re doing and also give you an update on my March.

I’m curious, what did you learn about yourself or your business last month?

Here’s ...