How Do You Keep an Experience Special as More People Want In?

Some events you attend once while others you reorganize your whole year around. Nikki sits down with Maria Tassi and Kristina Bartold of High Vibe Women and Janette Downie of The Chill Space, three women who design live experiences for ambitious entrepreneurs and obsess over the same thing: how it actually feels to be a person in the room. The conversation gets into the decisions most hosts never think to make, why protecting an experience sometimes means turning down money, and how the part people remember is almost never the thing on the sales page.

What you'll hear in this episode:

• Why Maria and Kristina say no to more tickets, more sponsors, and more money, and the exact point where scaling an experience starts to break it
• The quiet design philosophy behind The Chill Space, and what Janette understands about the people who disappear to the bathroom mid-event
• How the best event hosts use other people's events as research, and the one detail that ruined an eleven-out-of-ten speaker lineup
• What "intimacy" actually means when you're designing for a room, and why it has very little to do with how many people are in it
• The thing that happens when there's no permission to step away, and why building in the exhale keeps people engaged instead of checked out

If you've ever wondered why some rooms feel like they were built for you, and how the people who build them keep that feeling intact as they grow, press play.

About My Guests

Janette Downie is a creative strategist, brand whisperer, and advocate for redefining success as something sustainable and human. As co-founder of Space Creatorz, she helps small to medium-sized businesses transform their marketing strategies into measurable growth. She's also the host of The Chill Space podcast, where she explores the intersection of ambition and well-being, and the creator of The Chill Space: a blend of virtual community calls, in-person gatherings, and physical activations designed to help ambitious, sensitive people find calm inside high-energy environments. Her mission is to help others embrace their humanity, show up authentically, and build success on their own terms.

https://www.spacecreatorz.com/
https://www.instagram.com/heynettybaby/
https://www.thechillspace.com/ 

Maria Tassi & Kristina Bartold are passionate about helping business owners think of their businesses in a bigger way than they could have ever imagined. They are the co-founders of The Social Snippet, a digital marketing agency that helps entrepreneurs grow their communities online using social media and podcasting. They are also the co-founders of High Vibe Women, a community that hosts local events for Canadian female entrepreneurs to connect and network. 

The Social Snippet: https://www.thesocialsnippet.com/

High Vibe Women Full Day Experience: https://www.highvibewomen.ca/october-2026-event 

Connect on Instagram:

@_mariatassi @kristina.bartold

Connect with Nikki on Instagram: instagram.com/iamnikkimck 

The Would Recommend Standard is a free guide to the five principles behind businesses people can't stop talking about. 

Grab it here: theopsshop.biz/wouldrecommend-standard 

A Spark Session is a 90-minute strategy session where you and Nikki dig into your client experience and figure out exactly where it's working and where it isn't. 

Book yours here: theopsshop.biz/sparksession 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

This is the one I was telling you about. It is the You will not believe this place so that I just literally obviously the second cheaper. Tell them I sent this is my favorite. Girl. Ten out of ten would recommend.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

I want you to picture the coolest event you've ever been to. And if it was like my favorite event, there was a room full of ambitious women, there was music, the energy was high, there was fist bumps and high fives at the door, and the buzz just followed me home for days. And tucked off to the side, there was this quiet lounge with a couch and a soft drink and a permission to just stop for 20 minutes. And that contrast is exactly what I want to dig into today. Welcome to Would Recommend. I'm Nikki McKnight, a customer experience and operations strategist and founder of The Ops Shop. And this is the show about the businesses that customers can't stop talking about and what they actually did to earn it. Today I am sitting down with three women who design live event experiences for a living or as a side hustle, depending on who you're talking to, and the way that they conceptualize space and intimacy and service blows my mind every single time I attend one of their events. Maria Tassi and Christina Bartold are passionate about helping business owners think of their businesses in a bigger way than they ever could have imagined. They are co-founders of the Social Snippet, a digital marketing agency that helps entrepreneurs grow their communities online using social media and podcasting. And they are also the co-founders of High Vibe Women, a community that hosts local events for Canadian female entrepreneurs to connect and to network. Jeanette Downey is a creative strategist, brand whisperer, and advocate for redefining success as something sustainable and human. As co-founder of Space Creators, she helps small to medium-sized businesses transform their marketing strategies into measurable growth. She's also the host of the Chill Space podcast, where she explores the intersection of ambition and well-being, and the creator of the Chill Space, a blend of virtual community calls, in-person gatherings, and physical activations designed to help ambitious, sensitive people find calm inside high-energy environments. So if you've ever wondered how some businesses make people feel like they belong the second they walk in, or why the best experiences somehow stay that good even as they grow, please keep listening because we're about to get into it. Go bigger next time or keep it the same size on purpose.

SPEAKER_04 2:54

It depends, I guess, what we re what we mean by bigger. Like if we're if we're talking about more people, not necessarily, but I always believe in creating a bigger impact every time.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

I totally agree with Jeanette. I my initial gut reaction was keep it the same size on purpose. This is where we are yin and yang.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Yeah, yeah. I'm like, go bigger.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Let's go. I ended with that question very deliberately on purpose because I worked for many, many years in event production and design, and it was something that I think we were always kind of hitting up against, right? We put on successful spaces, activations, events, and people get so hype and they're so pumped. We love this so much, we're gonna come back. And there's almost like a pressure to well, if people are such raving fans of this, why don't we just invite more people and make more money and get bigger and get known for bigger and bigger and bigger events? And I do think there is a line where the size of the event or the size of the space, just in terms of body count or people size, can go up against the standard of service, the standard of care, and what you really at the end of the day want it to do for your business. When you think about looking at, we'll use events specifically. What are some maybe like non-negotiables you keep in mind versus what you're gonna happily blow up because you're not married to it?

SPEAKER_03 4:22

I feel like I'm willing to blow most things up. Um I think the most important thing for me is one, having fun and two, making people feel cared for, like the experience is intentional, like it's designed for them, like we thought of them. So as long as those two things are happening, I don't really care much about the rest of the logistics, like the venue, the schedule, the speakers. I'm kind of fine to be blowing things up as long as those intentional details are there and people are gonna have fun and they're gonna have a good time.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

It makes me wonder is there a size? It mean girls Lindsay Lohan does the limit does not exist, but is there a limit when you can deliver an experience at a certain size or in a certain way, and you just can't later? And it's that difference that people go, mmm, I don't like that. This isn't what I expected, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Yeah, we play around with this all the time with high-vive women in particular, with our like our retreats we collaborate with Jeanette on, and then also um our VIP night. Because as you know, Nikki, our VIP night, like our tickets sell very quickly. Well, like, you know, we'll get we'll be done selling a week in a week and they're six months out. And business-wise, we're it's like supply and demand. We're like, oh, we have like a demand issue, and so we should add an extra 10, we should add an extra 20. And revenue-wise, it actually does make kind of a difference for us, but we know it's not VIP if everyone can do it, so we really want to make sure that like we can pour into those women, that it's really meaningful. We're always trying to add those extra special touches, and we know as like this has grown from you know being an event that had 80 people to an event that had, you know, 150. And now, as we're gearing up towards our first event of 200 plus, like we know we can't provide the same experience with VIPs if we had 180 VIPs. So, like with VIP nine in particular, we want to talk to everyone, we want the activations, everyone have time. We say no to more people, to more sponsorship, to more um activations in the interest of the experience of the people who are there. And it's the same with the retreat because retreats are one of those things that are actually kind of hard to sell. Like, people, I think, don't give it enough credit, and that's why I think a lot of the people we've seen who've run retreats have backed down on it. We're ramping up on it. And why is because we're bigger, we're going somewhere warm now. Like we're going somewhere warm now. Bigger longer. But the size is the same, and even though we can make more money adding five extra people or four extra people, 10 extra people. When we talk about it, it's always like, How could we do that? Like when we have 12 people, we're at max capacity on how many people we feel like we can serve in a weekend and be really intentional and pour drinks for them and connect with them one-on-one and do all the things. I think uh sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit of profit, a little bit of money for the long-term experience. And we have a huge like resign up rate, right? Most of our retreats are filled with with people who've already done it before. Um, we see the same thing with the VIP night. We already have people asking about our VIP night in March if they can buy tickets. But there's people are slipping your money under the table, being like, this is for the fund. Um, someone literally was like, I will pay you double if a ticket comes up. I'm like, that I can't make a ticket. There's no there's no seat for you. I you can you'll have to sit on my lap to eat. Um, so I think we uh have been really steadfast, the three of us in our collaborations, but Marie and I on the high vibe woman side of like like anything that we can keep intimate where there's like a lot of meaning behind it, we take the investment so seriously that we really want to make sure that um anything that we do is kind of scalable on that end.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Yeah, I love that, Christy, that you brought up intimacy because that's exactly where I wanted to go with Jeanette. It's not just size, right? But I remember the very first high vibe woman I event I went to was probably like three years ago now. Um, and when somebody mentioned the chill space, I had a moment of like, what do you mean? There's a quiet room I can go to and just not people for 20 minutes. And it was a different type of intimacy because I think you can have the type of intimacy that is like small group, the the vibe is not necessarily low, but it's chill, haha, branding. But it's just different, but it can also be intimate in like depth of conversation, depth of forethought. So, Jeanette, when you think about intimacy beyond just it's a quiet space, what are the feelings that you keep in mind when you're designing something like the chill space?

SPEAKER_04 8:41

I think the big through line for me is how are we being thoughtful about people and how are we thinking about the kinds of experiences they want to have and applying that to all different kinds of people, right? So, not everyone who comes to an event feels the same, acts the same, dresses the same. It's all a huge array of people and their needs are also varying. And so for me, when I think about how does the chill space play out in an event, I'm thinking about all of that. And so, what does someone who needs to step away need to encounter when they walk into that space? It's actually not really about how many people should be in the space at a time because it's open and available to as many people as need it. Of course, if we had a ton of people in there and it was really loud and it was crazy, then it would completely defeat the purpose. But thinking about it in okay, what's the flow of the room? What can people do in the space? How can they actually get what they need? If it is quiet time, how can they do that? If they don't want to talk to someone, how can they do that? Considering all of those different needs, that's even like how I think about intimacy is like, how am I being thoughtful about everyone who could possibly use this space?

SPEAKER_00 10:05

One of the most thoughtful moments I've ever experienced. It was at the Retreat in Collingwood when I showed up to check in. And I don't know if it was Christina or Maria, but said to me, Nikki, we put you in the furthest cabin in the room, furthest away from everybody. And I had a moment of, oh my god, these people know me.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

I get to have quiet time. I didn't have to hear pit bull karaoke at three o'clock in the morning. It was majestic, y'all. Like that was the first thing. I was like, I'm gonna have a great weekend because these ladies know I need my quiet space with me, so I need to be away from people.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

And you were part of our last Airbnb retreat. How amazing for you! Because the pitbull karaoke took us all out. I think that's something, Nikki, like we've learned over time, is like asking those questions, right? Like, even whether it's our retreat, our VIP night, you know, our main day, like what we're always trying to do is create a space where we're asking like people what they need and like how we can bring them closer to it. So even like on a deeper level, that you know, like when we were talking about the VIP night, our last one, something that we noticed was we wanted to actually be providing like so much value to the VIPs, like people pay a thousand dollars for these tickets, like they buy so far in advance. We were like, you know, this extra night we want to make it great. And so we added our VIP coaching tables this year where people could be coached by speakers, and um, that was really meaningful, and people loved that. And people were coming out to us like that night, being like, This is the best thing you've ever done. I've been at every single one. Like, we'll go so yeah, like thank you. Like, and but a big part of that was like very intentional, and then we bring people upstairs and we did assign seating for dinner where we put people based on like kind of questions that they had in a survey that they had filled out, and these things are things you need to think about, but they're not that hard to implement, you know. And I think with events like whether people are hosting events or attending events, those are the touches that I definitely look for. And when I think about returning to an event, like when I, you know, because I'm a mega returner, I'm one of those people like I find a community, I'm like, you are my community, and that's where I live now. Never getting rid of me. Yeah, a ride or die. Yeah, I'm a ride or die. It's the people who make you feel so seen, or you love those special touches. Jeanette and I have gone to a ton of cream cultivate stuff. Um, Maria's joining us for the first time this September. And like the thing that I love about it the most, even though there's thousands of people at these events, like thousands, and it but it's the special little moments, right? These curated brand moments, or you go and you sit and there's a handwritten card, or things like that make such a difference. And so um, I'm just encouraging anybody who, as you're thinking about running events, or you know, if you're trying to think about an event you want to go to, it's like where do you feel the most seen and excited about kind of what people are up to?

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yeah, I love that you start from there because I think when we think about events, for many people they look at them first as this is probably a marketing or lead generation type of activity for me. I want to get into new audiences, new spaces, I want to show off expertise, I want to show off different speakers and provide value. But at the end of the day, they're kind of I I don't know how many show Bibles or run-of-shows I've made for events that are like, okay, Mike A is gonna be here, I need this slide deck up here, the music is gonna play here, I need to cue the jugglers and the contortionists, because yes, we had that in an event I ran. But like it was very much focused on what is the list of things I do. And when I reverse that into like a sales page or how people talk about the event, people tend to lead with this speaker, this is provided to you, almost like that value stack list you can get on sales pages, which is valid. People want to know what they're buying. But what I've always loved about all of you in the collabs that you do is yes, that exists. And that's not the first place you are thinking about.

unknown 13:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

It's who are the people. I think Nikki, like, and not to monopolize too much time on this, but I was I was gonna say one of the things that's so interesting about all three of us and the way that we've run events or or activations is that we actually have a predominant business, right? We all have, you know, pretty successful agencies that are the things that actually feed us. And you know, the chill space and high vibe women, these were these extra things we created from a place of need. And I don't know that like of course, was there a moment when we started High Vibe Women where we were like, oh, this will be good advertising for the social snippet? Yes, but it's so we don't even think about it that way at all, right? So it actually isn't a funnel into anything. And so for us, it's like we just want to build community, we want to serve women. We know that when women are doing great things in their community, um, in in in their businesses, they're doing great things, greater things for their community, right? And so that's of service for us that we want to be of service to women, and so I think that that's kind of the the difference. And and this is what I tell anybody who wants to run an event is like you actually have to be okay with you know getting a profit for it or breaking even, but being open to the magic that can come from it. You have no idea what's gonna come from it. And it's been podcast appearances, it's been relationships and connections, has it been agency clients? Of course, but I think we haven't made it like it was never about the sales of it, it was really about bringing women together.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Yeah, Maria, I'm curious as the more woo of the two of you, where Christina, I feel like the woo adjacency is getting just a little bit more every time.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

It's a little bit more. A little less adjacent than it used to be.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Yeah, but I'm just curious, Maria, like as you think about things like that. I know you love human design and how do people's types uh interact with other types and what what do people's intuitions tell them? I'm curious when you start thinking about the people in the room and centering those folks and their experiences, what do you have in your head outside of like the marketing needs of what's on the sales page, but really maybe bringing some of that woo energy into it and centering that in a lot of your decision-making processes through all of the events that you do?

SPEAKER_03 15:36

Yeah, it's a great question, and it's one of my favorite things about our collaboration, the three of us, because we bring such unique perspectives to the table. And like what I would want to see at an event is very different than what Christina would want to see, and it's very different than what Jeanette would want to see. And that's why I love these tools like human design, because we can design the experience so that a projector gets what they need, a manigen gets what they need, a generate, like everybody gets what they need, and that's I think something so beautiful about the chill space. Um, but I feel like at the end of the day, what makes us such good event hosts, if I do say so myself, yeah, is we're good event attendees. Like we attend so many events, we take notes, we think about what we like, we stay humble, we're always learning from other people. Like, I never go to an event without learning at least like 10 different things. Um, and I think paying attention to from my own intuition, like what I really love about an event, but then also listening to other people. What was your favorite part about the day? Hearing their compliments, not only for our events, but for others, and building that community, I feel like is really important. And now we've extended that to our team as well. Like, we've built a very diverse team with diverse perspectives who have all different needs. Like on our core high vibe women team, there is one of every human design type other than Reflector, which is only one percent of the population. They're hard to find, okay?

SPEAKER_01 16:57

The unicorn, like, I don't know who they are or what they're gonna do, but they're gonna breathe and they'll just be on a shelf and be like, we got one of those. It's like Pokemon cards.

SPEAKER_03 17:05

Exactly, exactly. But as leaders, we're not standing up here saying this is what we want and this is how our event's gonna be. It's like we take little pieces from what we know everybody would like and everybody would want, so that it feels intentional and curated for everybody. And that ties back to your example of even when we're selecting things like what room we're gonna people are gonna stay in, like we're thinking about what your human design type is, we're thinking about what your preferences are, and I think that goes a long way with people. I know for for me it does, and as an event attendee.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

I love that you brought up this. I there I'm a huge stand-up comedy fan. I go see it as often I can. One of my favorite comedians is Elijah Slesinger, and she was talking in her wedding special about weddings are the only things in life you can do where you do it once and suddenly you're an expert who will give their advice to anybody, and people listening are going, that's a dumbass wedding. I'm not doing that. But honestly, I feel like events are that other thing. Like people do it once and they're like, Let me tell you, let me preach at you on how to do things. So I love it when people say, like, I attend events because it's the only way to really learn and see what works in what context beyond logistics. But you know, oh, you know what? It was really frustrating to me that there was no break for the first four hours of the day because I availed myself of the free coffee, and holy crap, did I have to go to the bathroom? That was a concern for me. Or the parking lot was so far away, and I had to haul a bag with me, and it was just so annoying because I put it under my chair, and there's never enough room under a circular table to put a bag without your feet kicking it. So understanding all of these little friction points that if you can remove those, automatically you're like, oh my god, this is so majestic. And Jeanette, this reminds me of I think it was the chill space at the last event. Just walking in, yeah, because it was at the Pearl, just walking in and being like, there are butterflies in places. There is soft music, there are massage tables, and it was like it wasn't friction I thought I had to just look at something that wasn't digital, but to see real things in a way, something not on a screen, my eyeballs got rest. And I was like, Oh, I didn't really think that was something my eyeballs needed at this point in time, but oh my goodness, they did.

SPEAKER_04 19:13

Yeah, I think that one of the things a lot of events miss is the focus of the guest experience. And so many times they are thinking about the logistics, they are thinking about okay, what are we including? What are we making, how are we making this valuable for the price that people are paying? And all of that is super important, but all of that doesn't really mean anything if then the guests come and they have a horrible experience because they had to walk super far, or they didn't get fed enough food, or there wasn't water, or these are all things that we've actually experienced, which is kind of crazy but true. And so I completely agree with what Maria and Christina are saying. By being attendees, we learn so much about what people actually need as part of their experience. And so whether it's the full high vibe women event or the chill space in particular, I feel like that guest experience is the forefront of what we're all thinking about. And I think that's what makes Christina Maria's events so amazing, is I think that's the first thing that's on the list of like, hey, how are we making sure that everyone that's coming has the best experience possible? And how do we have the best speakers? And how do we make sure everyone's really well taken care of, and so on and so on. But a lot of events miss that. They don't actually think about once someone's in the room, what's happen, like what's their experience like, not just what did they pay for?

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Yeah, I'm curious for all of you talking about attending all of these other events and seeing what works. Was there something you experienced in this market research attending of all of these events that you noticed and said, huh, I'm gonna take that back with me.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Yeah, it's interesting because I think we we learn so much from events that we go to, both positive and negative. Like, and it's funny, I went to an event a few months ago and the the host was like, Oh my gosh, I'm so nervous that you're here. And I was like, You have no reason to be nervous. I'm not passing judgment. Like, I don't care. I know how much events like cost. I know, you know, like this is a smaller event than what we do, but I know what goes into doing it just like this. Like, so like really we we pass no judgment. And after every event that we go to, the three of us will be like, Hey, what did you like about that? Like, or what didn't you like about that? And the things that we don't like are never really anything personal against the hosts. It sometimes there are things that other people love, it's just not our jam. Something that's always been really important to us is feeding people. This has been very important because the three of us actually went to an event that like um it felt like they had decided we were all on a calorie deficit that day.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

It was like a collective display. You're biohacking, it's intermittent fasting, y'all. Eight hours you can do this.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

We were intermittent fasting for many hours. And all of us went, these were, I would say, uh 11 out of 10 speakers, maybe the best speakers I've ever seen at an event. Um, didn't matter, didn't matter. We were starved.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

We couldn't listen. Train was not functioning.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

And at the end, they even had like meet and greets with the speakers, and all of us were so hungry we opted not to meet any of these high-level people because and then we all went out for dinner and we were standing there eating, like we had someone pre-order the food. Like, so why I'm telling you this is that now Maria and I in particular with the big events, with the small, like our retreats and stuff, you are fed 24-7 as you are. We are so well fed. Yeah, like you're well fed. But with the big events, Maria and I kind of walk through the day of like, yeah, we're starting at three, but they need a snack. We would just never want anyone to ever feel uncomfortable. That's top of mind for us. So it's things like that that I always kind of take away from events is kind of like what makes somebody Uber eats themselves something, like a coffee or like seeing that happen at events. I've definitely not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's just for us, we want people to just feel like they get there and they have everything in front of them. And um, so not necessarily only about food and drink, but just thinking about like even this year, like a mistake we made is we didn't have notebooks, um, because you know, the event had uh what we thought were notebooks and they were just pieces of paper. Mistake, and the amount of times throughout the day, Maria and I were like, Oh my god, like people can't write. Like, this is so the and you know, we really dwell on that stuff. So I would say those are the things that kind of when I leave events, I I've thought of. I don't know, Maria, if you have any.

SPEAKER_03 23:23

The food was also where I was gonna go with it. Um, I think the interesting thing when you're planning an event, it's really hard to conceptualize what is gonna make or break the event for people. And so for things like notebooks, we're like, do people even care if they don't get a notebook? Like, do people even write things down? Do they just write it in their phone? Like, does it actually matter? And then when we didn't have notebooks and each person got three pieces of paper, it was the number one piece of feedback I got is that they wish they had notebooks. And I'm like, wow, when we were thinking of that and like just conceptually, we never realized it would have had such a big impact. And I think that's why it's so important as event attendees because we get impacted firsthand. So even though speakers of that event were 11 out of 10, the fact that we didn't eat, I was like, couldn't, but didn't eat, we couldn't even absorb what the speakers were saying because we couldn't think properly, we couldn't think straight.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

Yeah, you just start looking at them, it's like the old like Hannah Barbera cartoons when your eyeballs turn to like chicken wings, and you're just like you see the person, and like that's just a gigantic hot dog.

SPEAKER_04 24:20

That's all I'm seeing. My event learnings have produced the chill space, right? Because I think I've been to so many events where it's just 100% scheduled the full time, there's really little to no breaks, which makes it hard to absorb information. It makes it hard to want to stay the whole time, hard to connect with people because when all of your energy is taken focused, listening to people trying to learn, trying to absorb, you have very little left to then actually go and meet people and try to engage with them. If there is no downtime and no option to walk away, then people start having to create those moments for themselves. And so I'd be one of those people who would disappear to the bathroom. I'd be hiding in there for God knows how long. I would go outside and then really struggle to come back. Like once I've actually left, then it's hard to be like, oh, now I have to psych myself up to go back into this event, right? So I experienced that so many times. And then there was one event that Christina and I went to in Florida where they did have like a relaxation room. It was, you know, like off to the side. There was a couch in there, there were some cute things in there. I think there was a beverage in there. And that for me was like the moment where I realized, oh, this is cool and could be done on such a higher level. And that's kind of what my like big takeaway was. And when I started to kind of create these spaces, my first business was photography. And doing photography, I would always realize that it wouldn't matter how good the photos were at the end if the customer didn't have an amazing experience with me leading up to the photo shoot and after the photo shoot. I always carry that. It didn't matter how good they were or how great. If they didn't have a good experience, the photos suck, right? And they're not recommending you and they're not coming back. So I apply that same thing to events that we host now where it's like everything leading up to the event, during the event, and after has to be significant and thoughtful for that person to want to do it again.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

I'd love that you mentioned during the event because we've talked a little bit about what does feedback look like after the event, what do you do with it, but also how do you conceptualize it beforehand. Events take time. There's so many logistics involved in these things. Some of the big like two, three thousand-person events I was doing, I remember I didn't really sleep for three days because it was like, oh my god, I didn't print out the things to go on chairs, I didn't create this lighting cue, and it's just so much of it, and it snowballs. And then comes the day that it's like the doors are open, people are here, what is here is gonna be here. And I hope it's great. So once the doors finally open, people are finally butts in seats, they're talking to each other, and you get to see it. What it what do you want to see? What is that green flag for you that you're like, we did it, we're gonna be fine. This is gonna be a great day.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

It's funny because I think Maria and I are our worst critics. So we're the people who, you know, it like you just very transparently, Nikki, like at the last met we left and we were like, ooh, like, was that our worst one yet? And and we were so and people like the feedback we got was overwhelmingly positive. Like everyone is like, this is their favorite one. The the venue, the food, the speakers, the but there were some things that we were so wrapped on all day that we left and we were like, oh, these were some things, and it wasn't the paper, but like, you know, things that we were like fundamentally our yeah, the notebooks took us out. Um, but like we were fundamentally like so disappointed in. And it really helped us frame a lot of our relationship conversations for this one and and and all of that. But I think in the moment, like the wins for us, the green flags are for us, it there is like an un you know this, Nikki, but like an unstoppable energy in the room. Like the women do not stop talking to our sadness when I have to use my camp counselor voice to get everyone to stop. Now we have mics like non-stop, we always need a mic, but we feel this energy and it feels like a reunion, and new people are just sucked in, and it's no one's standing alone. Like, we see it like time and time. Like, I can tell you, like, in all of the high vibe women's, like, it's so rare for me to ever see somebody alone. And that is the those are the green flags, like when we hear that energy, like it's so rare to us to ever be like, wow, that was awkward. Like, how are we ever gonna like you know, like you fill some time up? Like, no, because we attract such great women, we have awesome programming, we're so intentional about it. So I would say those are our green flags, but I just want to say, like, even though we've been at this now, like this is our fifth or sixth one, I don't even know. You know, we spend six figures on every event. We're like, you know, we have staff, we have the whole thing. We're still very hard on ourselves, and we still look at these moments and and want to make sure we're doing right by the people who've bought tickets. And so I think the biggest green flag for me is definitely like the buzz. It's a fine line to walk.

SPEAKER_03 29:24

We always stay humble, but I'm like maybe a little too humble sometimes.

SPEAKER_05 29:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:29

And it's exactly what you said, Nikki. Like, I always joke with people because I'm like, if you met me on one of our full-day experience days, like, no, you didn't. Because like the lights are on and nobody's home. Like, I am physically standing here, and in the back of my mind is like the lighting queue, the schedule, what speakers up next, what's the next intro I need to do, like this thing, that thing, the printing, the vet. Like, there's just so many things like running in the back of my head that um it's hard to fully be present. But what I love seeing in the room for me, the biggest green flag is women there, present and being themselves, having fun, being authentic. I love when people wear like crazy wacky outfits. That's one of my favorite things. I'm like, you felt so safe to be yourself, to wear whatever, even to the last one. I wore this like fur coat, and somebody was like, Awesome. That fur coat is great. Such an obnoxious fur coat, like so annoying. And somebody was like, I love how you guys don't make this about you. And I'm like, even in this fur coat, I'm like not making it. But just they have permission to be themselves, and so when I see that, that is one of the most meaningful things to me. When they're hugging, when they're laughing, when they're not no one's on their phones, they're present, they're being themselves and just celebrating each other being themselves.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

We're like, we have an online community again. We've had over a thousand women join us where we're confident there are still people that call us Katrina and Marissa, like and and they have no idea that they're and they'll do it with confidence, and it's to as such a testament that it's really not about us, and that's actually a huge green flag. Like, other people would be offended by that, but you know, we have both been there where people have been like, Oh, like, do you know anyone who's like running this event, like who can help me with this? And we're like, Yeah, us. Like, but like it's just for us, like, we don't want it to be about us, and so we're very particular with the marketing around that. We're not seeing like tons of pictures of me and Maria everywhere all the time. Like, there's a few, unfortunately. We gotta do what we gotta do out here, but I think there is just like such a beauty to the fact that the community is actually about the community, and I think that that is a huge green flag for us.

SPEAKER_04 31:26

Over you can include me in that uh name mashup as well. Um, I I feel like there's a few, like sounds kind of funny, but the first green flag for me is someone walks into the chill space, like period, you know, and and it's really cool because over time it's like first time I ever did it. I kind of like waited, is anyone gonna come? I don't know. At the last high vibe women, people came in before the event even started and was like, Is this space ready for me? And I was like, Oh my gosh, like this is crazy. Um, we're not even ready, but like, sure, come in, you know, have a seat. Yeah, exactly. So it's it's first that because you know, the space is there to be used. And in my mind, I'm always going, Does anybody even want this? Like, does anyone even care? And so the first green flag is someone actually comes in, and then you know, the second green flag that I think is so cool is you can physically see people relax, right? Shoulders drop, sit down, slouch into a couch or a chair, and just like completely melt into the moment is a huge green flag for me. It's like, okay, not only did they come in, but now they're using the space and it's doing what it's supposed to, seeing someone put on the headphones and totally disconnect. My like gold standard is for someone to fall asleep, and which has happened actually twice at like two different events, both high-vive women, actually, which is very cool that people actually feel safe and feel comfortable to close their eyes at a public event and relax enough to like take a little nap. That's pretty cool. Um, so those those kind of things become the things that I'm looking for. Like, are people coming in? Are they using it? And are they actually relaxed and enjoying it? And those visible cues are obvious.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

I love that all of you hit on this idea of this is not about you at all. My friend Sarah Khan, she had something on her social media a couple weeks ago, and it was talking about communities and some of like the masterminds and groups that she and I have been in. And I'm gonna paraphrase what she said, but it was something along the lines of if you're looking to join a community and everybody only ever talks to you about the people leading it, that's not a community. It's probably a cult. It's gonna feel clickish because everything is centered around that person and how awesome they are, and you are paying to bask in their presence. I love you all. I'm not paying to bask in your energy. That's a nice little happy side project, I guess. But because it's not about you, you're the facilitators, you're the designers, you're the architects of the community. But what I love about all of the collabs that you three have done and the events that I've been to is it's never really about you ever. It's about the space. So when I recommend the events to people, I don't ever say, Oh my god, you need to go to Christina Maria's event and Jeanette does this thing. I'm like, you need to go to High Vibe Women and check out the chill space. Like, I don't use your name. So, you know, Marissa and Caitlin and Janine. Like, okay, that's never the thing, which I think is something just really impactful, it's a measurement of success. It's not necessarily we could sell it and scale it because it's not reliant on us, but it's more like you're there to create the conditions under which everybody in the room can thrive. That's your job at the end of the day. And that I think is that's a selling feature that's attractive. I'm not gonna walk into a room full of like mean girls who worship at the altar of these like cool women.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

No, we honestly something that we're always shocked by is that people take photos with us at the end. And every time someone approaches us, I give the same spiel. I go, We can be in these photos, but if you'd like a photo on the stage, like feel free. And they're always like, No, we want the photo with you. We're like, okay, thank you. And like it's like it feels like such a weird thing for us, even for and we have we've had to create like some strategy around it, which feels like Beyonce level, but it's like for us, it's like really like not, you know, about us. And I have on many occasions, Nikki, like I can think I went to a mastermind in Miami and I was sitting next to a girl and she's like, You look so familiar, I cannot figure out where you're from. I'm like, Oh, I'm from Toronto, she's like, Me too. We're like, you know, and so I'm talking about the social snippet, our marketing agency, like, you know, this we have 85 clients, like, this is what we're doing. She's like amazing. And then I go, oh, and then I I do this other thing, like it's it's called high vibe women. She's like, Yes, high vibe women, like I've seen you before, like in the stories. And I was like, Yeah, yeah. And she's like, Why didn't you lead with that? And I was like, I just like I don't identify with like leading it that way, like where it's like, I it's like I love to talk about it. I think what we do is like, you know, like amazing. I'm so proud of the women who are in the community and all that they've accomplished and how they pour into each other, but like it's like such a big piece of our identity, but it's it's just such a different thing than I think we're not using it for like fame and fortune, you know? And I think that's what I think makes it so special, and having people like Uniquey be a part of it and and really pour into the other women. Like, that's what we love to talk about. I love to talk about the women in the community. This was one of the first podcasts we've ever done where we've gotten into the nitty-gritty of running the events that isn't like our podcast, you know? So it's like I think we really like try to lean into that.

SPEAKER_01 36:40

I like that. And I I always get photos with you guys at the end because I'm like, look at these women, they're probably exhausted and won't remember this tomorrow. But I love that you said you didn't get into this for fame and fortune. Anybody who tries to get into events for fortune, y'all, please try something else.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

You know how much a black tablecloth costs compared to a white tablecloth with a hotel venue?

SPEAKER_02 36:58

It's fucking ridiculous. Uh you just paid for something for the VIP night that is extremely optional and it will only last one hour and it's $700. I'm like, I'm in the wrong effing business. I'm in the wrong business. Stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 37:13

I would just love to be a fly on the wall for y'all's calls with Stacey or C to be like, it's a write-off. You're like, so about these spray tans. The kind of question I want to use to take us into the close is you know, we're talking about community, we're talking about the people in the room. How much of the experience that you create is something you build versus how much of that is created by the people who end up in the room.

SPEAKER_03 37:38

Oh, I think it's so much created by the people that end up in the room. It was funny when we started this because we're like, hopefully, we don't have to kick out any low-bag women, you know. And every single event we run, I leave like absolutely blown away at the quality of the women in the room. And I think it is important that you do all these things we talked about, like keep the customer in mind, design the experience to make it good for them. Um, but I actually think so much more of it is about doing your own personal development, being on your own spiritual journey, showing up in that fun, authentic energy and being yourself, staying humble because that's how you attract the people in the room.

SPEAKER_04 38:20

For me, two things. Like, one, when it comes to our retreats that we collaborate on, it is a hundred percent the people in the room. Like, yes, we put a lot of time, effort, and and energy into creating the experience, but once that's done, it literally is like who's in the room and and what are they pouring into each other? How are they showing up for themselves and for each other? That's massive, right? And so, especially when we're on a smaller scale with that really intentional group of people, who those 12 people are is so important to the end experience. And you know, we could bring any 12 people together, but if it's not like kind of a bit of a curated group where we actually think these people would mesh well together, they would provide value for each other, they actually can help push each other personally and professionally forward. That's super important, and that's like way more important than what we build. The chill space is a little bit different because I think the way that the environment is curated is the whole thing. So the build is really, really important because what's included in that space, what it looks like, how it feels, the sensory elements of that experience are the whole experience. And so it does matter who comes into the space in a sense, if, for example, they just didn't get it or like they didn't respect it and then maybe treated it differently. But ultimately, I think that the environment that's built creates the experience, and then the people kind of act accordingly from that. So a little bit different for each one.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

Before we go into the final question of what y'all would recommend this week, where can people find you? How can they connect with you? What would you like to plug?

SPEAKER_02 40:07

Ah, for Maria and I, um, we have our next high vibe event, which will be on October 22nd. Uh, you will see Jeanette there with the chill space, Nikki there. Um, and we are uh so thrilled. We have about at while we're we're talking about this, we have about less than 40 tickets left. So um we're really excited. I know nuts. Um, we're really excited about the women who are gonna be in the room. Um, if you would like to join us, you can use the code uh high vibe50. We'd love to have you.

SPEAKER_04 40:34

I'm also really excited that I just recently launched the online version of the Chill Space. And so it's a free community, it is a very low-lift community. Um, we have open hours in there, some co-working time, some body doubling time, and then we also have a monthly guest expert experience. So if you would like to join the Chill Space online community, then you can also DM me directly on Instagram and I will send you the link for that.

SPEAKER_00 41:01

I will also say for y'all listening, if you are looking to just support some amazing women, highly recommend connecting with these folks about sponsorship opportunities, activation opportunities. Hand to God, it's probably some of the best events I've been able to support in the last couple of years, not just in like, you know, financial ROI, but just the cool ass people you get to work with, you get to meet, and the experiences that you get to cultivate. 10 out of 10, I would recommend that.

SPEAKER_02 41:26

So go for it. That's a high recommendation from the host. I'll take it.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

All right, let's get into the question that I ask everybody at the end of every episode. Thinking back to some of the best experiences you have ever had as a customer. What do you recommend? And we'll start with Maria.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

Okay, I'm challenging myself to choose a product for this recommendation because I'm so not materialistic that I essentially don't care about any products really. And I was like, what products do I care about? And one came to mind, and that is my purchase from Hush Blankets. I think what makes the product so good is the quality of it. But what I love about the customer experience is one, the simplicity, everything functions well. There aren't a million choices to make. It's like we did this one thing, we did it really well, and they had a money back guarantee where it was like sleep on these sheets for a hundred nights, and if you hate them, send them back and we'll give you your money back. And I'm never sending these sheets back.

SPEAKER_00 42:30

You will have to pry them for my cold dead fingers. These are my sheets. These are my sheets. I love that. Okay, I'm gonna make a note. I need new sheets.

SPEAKER_03 42:38

They're the cooling sheets. Would recommend 10 out of 10. Oh, there you go.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

Christina, what about you? Okay, well, you have had her on the podcast, and so in thinking about amazing, amazing folks who have been members of the high vibe woman community or someone who always pour into the community. I always keep an eye out for people who like sing your name in rooms that you're not in. And so I do want to give a plug to Victoria May, who I know you just said you had on the pod before we got on, but she is a fabulous photographer. We've worked with her on many occasions at retreats, some of our larger events. Um, and one of the things I'm obsessed with about her is that she really practices what she preaches. Not only is her stuff so beautiful, but um, I made an incredible connection yesterday. She went to an event and told somebody that they needed to be part of High Bye Women, like a sponsor. And now there's like an amazing potential partnership happening with a really cool brand the women are gonna love. And Victoria just did that out of like the goodness of her heart, and I think that that shows um really the reciprocity of an amazing community. So love some Victoria.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Yeah, you're just gonna make her freaking day with that one. Jeanette, what about you? What do you recommend?

SPEAKER_04 43:42

You know what I love? Loyalty programs. You know you know why I love them, Christina. Because she's introduced me to so many, but I was never a part of any. Like, I would refuse to sign up for loyalty programs, like, even if it was like Hey, join this and you get these discounts or whatever. I'd be like, no, you don't get my personal information. Okay. But now I do so much traveling, I go so many places that getting involved in loyalty programs, I've actually seen how much better of an experience I can have. So it's not just about like the perks and the benefits that I get, but my favorite one as an example is Marriott Bonvoy. Okay. I'm obsessed with Bonvoy. She was laughing because she got me on it. Um, but I'm obsessed with it. And now I will only book a Marriott hotel everywhere I go. I love getting the loyalty points and going after the status, but it's really because of the experience that I have as a Bonvoy member when I go to the hotel. They are treating me really, really well. They always have things ready for me at the desk. They go above and beyond on my room. They'll upgrade automatically, all because of my loyalty and staying with them, right? So going above and beyond. And yes, of course, I'm giving them money by staying there and booking, but you also get the nights back. I 10 out of 10 recommend joining a loyalty program. Go go for Marriott Bon Boy. And if you need a code, both Christina and I have one.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

I love that you talk about Bon Boy the last um Marriott, like Bonvoy I stayed at. When I checked in, they're like, Oh, we've already sent your favorite tea up to your room. We've upgraded you to a junior suite. And by the way, you have concierge service. So if you need anything, just let us know. And I was like, actually, I do need things. They're like, absolutely. They brought things to my room every day. I was like, this is the most bougie thing ever.

SPEAKER_04 45:37

And I was a huge fan. So I love it. And they have an app if you're feeling introverted and you want to text them and be like, hey, can you bring me those things? Then they'll just text you back and be like, yes. So you don't even have to talk to anyone if you don't want to. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 45:51

Yeah, and if they make even the smallest error, like the smallest, smallest error, they act like they need to give you one of their organs. It's insane. I'm like, I'm I'm always like, it's okay, it's okay, it's fine, it's okay. And they're like, it's not okay. Here's a free night. Uh here's dinner on us. It's like, it's actually crazy. So yeah, um, good one, Jeanette.

SPEAKER_00 46:13

That's the standard we all need to uphold too. Would these people give you an organ if you asked? Well, that's one way to measure it. Amazing. Thank you so much, y'all. This was delightful. I just want to know. This is so fun. Thank you. This is me basking in your energy. I will do it here. I will do it nowhere else. All right. It is time for the Would Recommend after show. It's just me, Nikki, here, to pull out a few things from that conversation because yes, we talked about events. We talked about in-person experiences, but ultimately, like everything I hope to bring you with Would Recommend, what we're talking about is not exclusive to just in-person events. The day after we recorded this, I went to an event that High Vibe Women did in partnership with Holt Renfrew and with TD. And I got to hang out with Maria and Christina that day again. And it's just like when you're in a space where people have thought about what it is like for the people coming into that room, there it does so much. For as much as I am a theater kid and I carry big theater kid energy, I am fairly introverted. And it's always a challenge for me to go into event spaces. I'm always kind of nervous and kind of scared. Oh, I really wish I had a designated extroverted best friend to come with me to this. But I think when when you find spaces that really match your energy or your vibes, if you will, that is where you are gonna want to stay. So the first thing I want to pull out for you is the thoughtfulness thing that Jeanette named. And she talked about the chill space, not just as a quiet room, but as a question. Who is actually walking into the room and what what does each of them need? And it's not one person because not everyone shows up the same way. Some people want the loud, hype, dance party energy, and some people, aka hi, it's me, um, need 20 minutes away from the noise or they're gonna quietly combust. So the point with Jeanette and creating the chill space at the high vibe events or you know, in the different ways that she does it, the point is not the couch or the cute beverages. The point is that someone thought about the person who needs to step away before that person had to ask. And in your business, the equivalent is simple. Are you designing only for the client who's easy to picture, the loud raving fan, the easy to please one? Or are you thinking about the quieter one too? The one who's never gonna tell you they were overwhelmed, the one who's not really going to share preferences. And honestly, if you ask them, they'd probably say, it's fine. Are you thinking about them? Because real thoughtfulness is noticing the person who isn't asking for anything. And how are you considering them? The second thing I want to pull out is what Christine and Maria said about scale, and I think this is such an interesting one to sit with, especially with my background in events. Um, there is a level where adding more people makes more money, but it also breaks the experience at the same time. So when we think about Maria and Christina with High Vibe Women, the VIP night sells out months early. Like the fact that people are attempting to bribe them with paying double is bonkers to me. And they say no, because in Christina's word, um, it's not VIP if everyone can do it. They've decided that 12 people is the ceiling at a retreat, not just not because 12 is profitable, but because 13 is the moment that the pouring into people stops being real. So you can look at it as a scaling decision, a capacity decision, but ultimately at the end of the day, it's it's about people and the service and the standard that we want to deliver at. And most of us have a number that, you know, call it your capacity number, call it like what's your maximum roster size, like what have you. And most of us probably have a number like that. And it's not just in terms of the money you want to make, but your capacity. Can you actually fit physically take on more clients, more people? Give everybody the type of attention that you want them to have if there's more of them. It's more clients, it's more seats, more yes. And then the experience that made us worth recommending is gonna quietly thin out. And we can't figure out why the referrals slow down. But ultimately, the truth was the growth was the thing causing the leak. Sometimes protecting the experience means leaving money on the table on purpose and trusting the re-sign-up rate, the referral rate, the would recommend rate to pay you back. And I think they gave a great example of how theirs does. Most of their retreats are filled with people who have already been. The third thing to pull out is something I love doing, and I would consider it maybe the most stealable here is the research. The reason these three are so good at what they do is that they go to other people's events constantly as guests with their judgment switched off and their notebook open. They're not there to critique, they're there to feel it. What made me want to stay, what made me high in the bathroom, what made me Uber Eats a coffee to myself because nobody fed me. And then they take that home. So here's your homework, whatever you do. If you run events, go to events. If you're in hospitality, go eat somewhere with service you've never had and pay attention to how it makes you feel. If you do skincare, go be a brand new customer at a company you know nothing about. Because becoming a stranger in someone else's experience and noticing every single thing, the good, the bad, etc., is only going to help you get better because you can't design a great experience if the only one you've ever studied from is yours. The fastest way to get better at your craft is to become someone else's customer. And no, that's not just an excuse for you to spend more money on events, although I've definitely been doing that. Uh, and the last one ties it together because this is where the research really does pay off. Um, the three of them talked about how they they sat through an event with maybe the best speakers they'd ever seen and they couldn't absorb a word because nobody fed them. They were so hungry, they skipped the meet and greets with people they'd normally line up to talk to. 11 out of 10 speakers, zero retention because of a snack. And that's that's an example of a moment of truth that organizers or hosts might not even clock. And it connects back to what Jeanette was saying about um some of the additional power of the chill space is that when there's no downtime and no permission to step away, people don't push through. They're going to invent the break themselves. They vanish to the bathroom, they go outside, they can't psych themselves back up. So this disappearing isn't a people problem, it's a design question. What would it be like if you gave people a real place to exhale, like the chill space, and they stay engaged instead of escaping? So food breaks, a quiet corner, these things are all gonna read like logistics, but ultimately they're retention. If your clients keep checking out part way through your experience, don't assume they're not interested, but instead maybe ask where you forgot to build the exhale. Where could you use a breath, a beat, a moment, a pause, a little side room to help them reset, feel better, and get excited about going back to doing the work. Because I think that's the through line about everything today is all of these decisions is someone choosing the person in front of them over a potentially easier, potentially more scalable, potentially more profitable version of the thing. And that in itself is their strategy. And that is it for this week. Thank you so much for listening. If you'd like to support the show, please rate, review, and subscribe on your podcast for Rite of Choice. It genuinely helps more founders find it. If you think you have a business bestie that needs to hear about this live event, either experiences or the way that we do research, then by all means, please send them this episode and say, hey, I would recommend you listen to Would Recommend. If you want a framework for building a client experience worth talking about, you can grab the Would Recommend standard at the link in the show notes. It is free, and it's five principles that come back to you every single time when I think about customer experience. And if something we talked about today has you thinking about your own client experience, I'd love to dig into it with you. And you can book a spark session at the link in the show notes as well. Next week I'm back with yet another business worth talking about. I am Nikki, yours in Quiet Corners in High Vibes, and we will see you next time.