Brooke Summer 0:00 Hey there business owners how you doing? I am so excited to have you back for another podcast episode at bold with broke the podcast and pleased to be if you want to make a living doing what you love. I apologize for my voice. It's a little scratchy today. We've had some spring sniffles over here and I am just trying to keep it at bay. So my voice is a little off today. But I'm really excited to have you here because today we're going to talk about six business lessons from the firefighter calendar. Oh, yeah, we're going there. I have been going to these events for 12 years, I just recently started helping them with some marketing efforts and supporting them. And I'm really excited to share this episode that has been sitting in my Evernote for about two years now I watch these events very closely. I watch who is successful in their tryouts and who maybe doesn't appeal to the crowd as much. And I think it's just fascinating the psychology behind all of this. So I wanted to share some business lessons, some things that I've learned things that we can implement in our own businesses that are directly from some hot firefighters with their shirts off. Because who doesn't love that? Am I right? So let's listen in. I would love to know what you took away from this what you loved even what you hated. Just be nice. All right, we're gonna talk about kindness in this episode. And if you are like Brooke I need more of this Bold Marketing Academy is open and waiting for you so head on over to boldmarketingacademy.com To get more information. Let's listen in to six business lessons from the firefighter calendar.

Hello, there gorgeous business owners. Welcome to Bold with Brooke, the podcast for creative business owners to learn the marketing and business skills they need to get more clients and design their lives on their terms. So we can actually make a living doing what we love, am I right? I am your host Brooke summer, and I'm an entrepreneur, educator and champion of women reminding them to embrace and step into their power. I'm bringing almost 20 years of business and marketing experience straight to you to help you get more clients and run a sustainable and successful business without burnout or overwhelmed. Let's jump into today's topic.

Hello amazing business owners welcome back to another episode of bold with Brooke the podcast and place to be if you want to actually make a living doing what you love. I am excited I have had this particular outline in my Evernote y'all know I lean very heavily on Evernote not sponsored, not an affiliate. But I've had this in my Evernote for probably about two years now. And I've decided that the big event is this weekend. We're just going to put this out there because I think that there are so many lessons to be learned from various business situations that we see around us. I used to do these episodes quite a bit. As a matter of fact, I have some that were even from movies, and it's so funny. I've had people send me DMS on social media telling me how much they love that I did a Disney movie, and the business lessons from a Disney movie. I know that we think that there aren't any things to be learned from various movies and songs and situations that are happening around us. But episode 34 It was five business lessons from frozen to have to tell y'all I actually really really love that episode. So if you've never heard it before, go to boldwithbrooke.com/034 to hear that episode, but I'm bringing back some business lessons. I've done it with Barbie, the Barbie movie and the marketing behind the Barbie movie. And I'm gonna bring back a few of the other things that I've been kind of cataloging behind the scenes because these business lessons are super important. And today we are going to talk about the firefighter calendar.

So for a little bit of backstory, the original firefighter calendar in Colorado was put together to benefit the Children's Hospital burn camps of the Rockies. So what that means is when there are kids who have been affected who are survivors of burns, or fires, they often go through a lot of really painful procedures to kind of move forward with their lives. And so the person that started this calendar wanted to start raising money for these camps where the kids can go and just kind of be kids with other kids who are in the same situation. This is an amazing organization. I've been going to their events for about 12 years now. We've been a sponsor for my business, and I am so so pleased with every event that I go to. It's just so much fun. And there's so many business lessons to take away from these events. It's so funny, I was watching this going oh my gosh, look at how they do that. So that is what we're going to talk about today specifically the tryouts event because that is coming up this weekend.

Here's a shameless plug for you if you're in Colorado check it out. Go to cofirefightercalendar.org/tryouts Seriously y'all I have a table there is so much freakin fun and we're going to talk all about the things I've seen and watched throughout my 12 years of attending these particular tryout events.

Number one in business and marketing lessons from the firefighters because who doesn't love some firefighters in my rights if you're not the best at what you're doing, show up and give the crowd what they want. So this is in reference to the dancing these tryouts events basically have two separate pieces. The first half is where they ask the firefighters questions. And these firefighters are trying out for a spot in the calendar in that first half and they're being asked questions. They're fully clothed, very calm, like we're laughing, we're having fun, there's some cheering, but it's not quiet like the second half. The second half is where things get a little crazy. People are dancing, people are taking off their shirts, we don't know what's gonna happen. But it's so freakin fun. And I have to tell you that there are some firefighters who are amazing dancers, we have like Magic Mike level stuff. In this competition. There are some that were actually professional dancers before they were a firefighter. And they are amazing. And they're so fun to watch. But there are so many firefighters that may not necessarily be the best dancer, they still show up, and they still give the crowd what they want. One of the firefighters in particular didn't want to dance, you could tell he was very uncomfortable. But he showed up with chocolate, I mean, that's always a win, right. And in full uniform, removing pieces slowly and engaging with the crowd. Others did push ups or they had other ways to engage with the crowd. One of them even took someone's phone and did video from the stage. Even if they were not necessarily the best dancers, which tends to be the focus of this particular event. They still got up there, they still did what they knew the crowd wanted. How many times in your business, have you not gone live on a social platform? Because you think you're not good at it? How many times have you not sent out an email, hello, email marketing, because you think you're not good at it because you don't know what to say. Because you may not be the best because you're comparing yourself to someone who has been in business for 20 years. This is a huge takeaway from the firefighters, thanks, firefighters that even if you're not the best dancer, even if you're not the best email, or even if you're not the best social media show up anyway, give the crowd what they want, talk to people show up and engage with them. Even if you may not be as good as that person that you see on social media, because they've been doing it for 20 years. Why would you be as good as that person, the firefighters that come out and they don't know how to dance, they're not going to dance as well as the professional dancers. That's a given people spend hours of their days in different ways, and everyone has different talents and gifts. And that's a beautiful thing. But when you're in business, and when you need to market your business to get the clients that you want and need to reach your biggest dreams, we have to keep going and showing up even when we're not the best at it. I have made some social videos that some people would say, well look at the lighting, the lighting is terrible, or I can't believe you're taking your makeup off on camera, y'all I don't care, I was talking to my audience speaking from the heart. And sometimes those are my highest engagement videos, we need to keep showing up even if we're not the best, because the only way to become the best is to keep going you're not just going to sit there and keep consuming other people's information and courses and classes and podcasts and books. And then all of a sudden be good at it. I promise you, it's going to take action, the skills and the action because that action will create clarity. So number one lesson from the firefighters even if you're not the best show up and do it anyway, give the people what they want.

Number two, pay attention to everyone. This one really hit hard because one of my really good friends that I go to these events with her mom is paralyzed. And so she's been in a wheelchair for a very long time. And she watches I can tell when we're in certain situations she'll watch when she sees someone in a wheelchair to see how they're treated. She has been in situations firsthand with her mother with some excellent treatment and some not so good treatment. And so she watched us very closely. And when we went to this event for the first time that she went with me, she said I can't believe they're even stopping to take pictures with the woman in the wheelchair. She notices those things because that has personally affected her. I saw it I didn't think anything of it. But she was very, very attuned to the fact that the firefighters were paying attention to everyone. Now of course when it comes to marketing for these firefighter events, there is a target market they know who typically buys tickets to go to these events. And I'll tell you right now, even if someone doesn't fit that target market, those firefighters pay attention to everyone when someone contacts you and they're not your ideal client. That does not mean that you should treat them like trash. These people are still human. The firefighters are kind to everyone. They engage everyone they include everyone handicapped. Oh Older women, oh my gosh, I took my mom one year, y'all, it was wild. My mom and her friend in their 70s are just having a ball and the firefighters loved them. They paid attention to everyone. I can tell you from personal experience that when I was getting married, and I contacted wedding photographers, I did not hear back from two of them. And when I mentioned this to a friend, I was like, I don't know, I thought they'd be a great fit, but I haven't heard back from them. She said, Well, you're not skinny and blonde. And that was a huge eye opener to me, because I never want to run my business in a way that makes someone else feel like shit. I will always treat people who contact me with care and compassion. Even if I can't help them. I'm never going to respond with snarky comments, I might be direct, I might be to the point, I might be clear, but I will always be kind. And this is number two in lessons for business and marketing from the firefighters pay attention too. And be kind to everyone include everyone. And if they're not your ideal client, that's okay. It's okay to say goodbye to it's okay to say I don't think we're a great fit. But here's someone that I think might be a great fit for you. We can always respond with kindness and empathy. And quite frankly, I think I know I've heard Megan DiPiero say this too. I think as females in business, that's kind of a superpower for us, we have that empathy. And we know how to treat people with kindness. I watch people in business, respond with super snarky comments on ads in emails. And it's just not for me. Now don't get me wrong. If someone is coming at you and attacking you in an ad, then by all means, say something to shut it down. But you also don't have to start going after their appearance or things like that. Here's my opinion, take it for what it's worth, I always try to respond with kindness and pay attention to and include everyone when it comes to my business. And I've watched the firefighters do this. So well.

Number three, give people a story. Again, I can tell you there were gosh, I think like 15 or 18 firefighters trying out for the 12 calendar slots. And you could tell some of them were very, very uncomfortable. Some of them got up there. And they just looked super shell shocked. But when they got on stage, and they asked a question of these guys, and these girls, and these ladies are Asian, say girls, when they started sharing their story, they did so much better than the ones that did not share anything about themselves. And this included clapping and cheering and at the time, I wasn't involved with the calendar. So I don't know if that actually got them into the calendar. But I would imagine it did, because sharing a little bit about themselves gave the crowd a little glimpse into their lives. And it gave them something to relate to what are you holding back on? What stories do you want to share that you haven't shared yet? What is a little part of your past that you know, one of your ideal clients might relate to, but it's kind of scary to share it. And again, I'm not saying go for the overshare. Okay, there are certain lines that we don't want to cross. But when it comes to marketing your business, people want to know like and trust you. And when you share stories that make your ideal client raise their hand and go, Oh my gosh, me too, that is going to take you so much further than constantly trying to push what you're selling down someone's throat, I promise you share a little bit of your story. I have watched these firefighters share stories on stage and just be completely real. And they get so much more of a response from the audience and the judges and the people who share nothing and simply rely on being hot. Just gonna throw that out there. Maybe I'm not supposed to say that. I don't know, there is no question that these events definitely have a visual component to them. Okay, we have people dancing on stage, trying to get our attention. But I promise you that the people who are sharing a little bit about themselves and their stories and how they got there are doing so much better than the ones who don't. So that is number three, give people a story.

Number four, don't let your insecurities run the show. I shared with you in the first half of these tryouts and the show this event, the firefighters that are auditioning are asked a question by the judges. And there are usually about four celebrity judges. And they also give people the chance to auction and bid to win a slot to be one of the judges. But they asked them a question similar to kind of like a beauty pageant field. And one of the firefighters I remember this so well. And I absolutely love this. One of the firefighters got up there. They asked him a question. And he was completely honest and said, I'm so nervous. But I'm just happy to be here. And he got huge applause and a huge response. And I can't imagine how many of us would be so much further along in our own careers. If we were just completely honest. And put ourselves out there. I had a coaching call yesterday with one of my students. And when she asked me a question, and I said, Oh, I'm not really sure how to do that. Let's figure it out. And she stopped me and said, I love that even when you don't know how to do something, you admit it and then you just figure it out and to be completely transparent that it never even dawned on me not to that's always what I do. But how many of us don't want to admit Though we don't know something, how many of us want to look like the experts. And in the process, we're hiding the fact that we may not know everything. And the reality is we don't know everything, we have to stop letting our insecurities run the show, we have to stop letting our fear of what might happen, our fear of looking dumb, our fear of maybe not looking like we have it all together, run the show, if I can be completely honest for a second, that's why I don't like Instagram, Instagram feels very, very, very curated, it feels like everything has to be perfect. These people have the perfect house, the perfect car, the perfect outfits, the perfect office, everything looks like it's perfect all the time. And I really, really, really don't like that. That's not how I roll. I am very open and honest, if I don't know something, if I'm not wearing makeup, if I haven't washed my hair in a few days, like you're gonna see real meat on social media. Is it everything? No, because it's curated. But I have learned that I'm not going to let my insecurities run this anymore. I will say it was a very long and hard lesson. But life is too short. And I know that that's very cliche. And then so many people say that to get away with bad behavior. But the reality is that life is far too short. You never know how much time you have left? Are you really going to let the fact that you have a giant zit on your face stop you from going live and helping the person that needs your help? Are you really going to let the fact that you don't have any makeup on? Or you're just not feeling super confident today? Or someone said something nasty to you yesterday? And so you're kind of down in the dumps? Are you going to let that stop you we can't let her insecurities run the show. And this is especially important when it comes to marketing. I watch this all the time. And I experienced it myself as well. We know what we need to be doing. We know the steps we know the skills we know the things that will help us and yet so many of us aren't doing those things, why nine times that attendance because of fear and insecurity. And that is part of what I actually that's like 90% of what I coach on, I can teach you how to do things that's very easy. Teaching a skill is very easy. Teaching character. And resilience is not so easy. We have to let the real s come out and stop letting our insecurities run the show the number four is don't let your insecurities run the show.

Number five be inclusive. Now we talked about this a little bit before. But we're going to do a little bit more of a deep dive. And I talked about this a lot in the Barbie episodes. So if you want to hear more about inclusivity the Barbie movie did a good job. Maybe not a great job but but it was a start. And so episode 109 and 110 are the business lessons from the Barbie movie actually not just business life lessons too. But when it comes to your marketing, and when it comes to the people that you want to reach out to be inclusive, it's one thing to niche down. But it's another thing to niche down and not include certain people in your marketing, I promise you you are losing money in doing so I attended my first firefighter event in 2012. And I can honestly say at that point, it was about 90% Male 10% Female if that there were so many more men than women since then, so much has changed. And while I don't run the events, so I don't have the exact numbers, I would guess that in 2023, it was closer to 60%, male 40% female, and let me tell you, the ladies were just as rowdy if not more so than the guys. I love that this organization is inclusive, that they have so many different firefighters from so many different backgrounds. And I think that we need to embrace that in our own marketing. When I'm sitting in the audience. As a larger woman. I absolutely love seeing larger bodies onstage seeing women on stage, seeing older guys onstage that are not necessarily the 2510 doll supermodel lookalikes. But they're strong, and there's still good looking. And we are still cheering for them. We need to start looking at what our marketing looks like, if you are using stock images. Are they all looking like the same person all the time? Are you including people that look different when it comes to if you're a photographer, your portfolio? Or even if you have any portfolio that's built on photos for estheticians for makeup artists, anyone that shows a lot of photos of their work? What are you showing? Are you showing people with different skin colors? different body types? Are you showing people with different skin types? I know older skin holds makeup different than younger skin? Are you showing people that look different? Because I promise you the more that you include different types of people, the more you're going to see other people start to contact you. I had a woman gosh, it was years ago, long time ago, contact me and I always ask people how did you find me? And was there anything in particular about my website that stood out to you that caused you to contact me because if there's a specific image or something in particular that they really loved that was the deciding factor. The thing that really made them want to contact me above other people I want to know because I'm going to repeat that shit, right? So I always ask those questions and someone contacted me and she said I really love that you have black women on your site in your portfolio and it was really taken aback by this because As I was like, Well, of course I do, why why wouldn't I? But when I was talking to her further, she said, I don't see a lot of women that look like me on boudoir photographers websites. And that was a big eye opener for me. And I was like, why aren't we showing people? Why aren't we showing the larger bodies? Why aren't we showing the people who are older and they're not the 22 year olds, the 22 year old Brides, I did a wedding between two people that were in their 70s. It was one of the best weddings that I've ever done, we need to be showing these things in our marketing and our websites and our email and our social platforms be inclusive is number five from the firefighters.

And number six, I wanted to keep this short and sweet this week, know your audience and what they want. There is a phrase, I'm so sorry, I looked it up there were different sources. So I'm not sure who said it first, but it was sell them what they want. Give them what they need. And there are so many books about this. There are so many articles about this that you can read. But ultimately, what it boils down to is that often people won't necessarily buy what they need, but they'll buy what they want, which sounds kind of funny, but when you think about it, it makes total sense. So many brands do this really well. My friend Natalie kita does this so freakin wellness. She is a love coach that teaches women how to find the partner that they want their dream partner. But ultimately what she's really teaching is how to love yourself enough that you attract that partner now is she going to market it as such, maybe maybe not Marie Forleo actually does the same thing. And she has talked about how she has written a book about how to get the right man. But it was really about finding clarity within yourself. There are so many brands that do this and do this very, very well. And within my own boudoir photography business, I have done this quite a bit as well. My clients come in and they want beautiful photos. Usually it starts out as a gift for someone else. But they learned very, very quickly that this is far more of a gift for them. This is about re igniting that person inside of them that's been hiding. This is about the girl that used to dance on tables in college, it has been snuffed out because now she's a wife and mother. And it might be time for her to come back out. Again, if you know what I mean, we're gonna have some fun, really knowing your audience and your ideal client is so incredibly important. And so many people glaze over this, I'm going to point you in two places to different podcast episodes, because I've done quite a few podcast episodes on ideal clients and why it doesn't necessarily matter where they shop. So the first episode that I did on this, we intentionally made it the first episode because we knew that it would be something we would reference over and over and over again. So it's episode one. And it's five questions to build and define your ideal client. And then we did another episode. More recently, it was episode 107. That was five essential and unusual questions to identify your ideal client, I can tell you right now, knowing your ideal client and who you're speaking to, and who your audience is, will influence every single decision that you make in your business. And it makes your marketing so much easier. When you know exactly who you're talking to. You don't have to scream to the masses, you can speak quietly and simply and very directly to the people you want to speak to most this sixth lesson from the firefighters of knowing your audience. And what they want is huge. The ultimate goal for this event and for the entire calendar is to raise money for the burn camps, right. And we are here for that. But we also want to have a night out and have fun. Firefighters know this and they do their best to make it happen. The financial focus is always the kids, that's where all of that money goes. And it's an amazing cause. But when they can foster a fun evening that isn't necessarily about kids, they're going to raise even more meaning they're going to pass the end result even more because they have given the people what they want at that event. And they know that sell them what they want. Give them what they need.

I am really really excited for this event this weekend. Again, if you're in Colorado, come out and join me it's fun. If not, look for something in your community that lights you on fire, look for a cause that you're really excited about and ask how you can help maybe it's just writing a check if you don't have time to help or maybe it's just something super simple. If there's something that you're good at that you can contribute, I believe strongly in giving back and doing what we can to help these organizations. And I also know from personal experience that when you are priced appropriately and profitable and sustainable in your own business, you have the time and resources to actually give back. So that's just another plug for pricing yourself appropriately knowing your worth and having a business that lights you up having a business that excites you something that you're excited to share with people.

Let's go over those six lessons from the firefighters one more time very quickly. Number one, even if you're not the best still show up and give the crowd what they want. Number two, pay attention and include everyone. Number three, give people a story. Share a little bit about yourself. Number four, don't let your insecurities or fear run the show. Number five, be inclusive. Number six, know your audience and what they want. I love doing these business lessons episodes, let me know if you like them, too. I know, I've gotten the DMS about the frozen two episode, which is so funny to me, because that's a Disney movie. But I mean, who doesn't love Disney movies? Right?

Let me know if this is something that you enjoy. And if you love this content, and you're like, oh my gosh, Brooke, I love these little snippets like this, how can I thank you, I would be so honored. If you would head on over to iTunes and leave a review. I know that it is such a privilege to show up in your earbuds when you're walking the dog or taking the kids to school, wherever you're listening. But I would really really love those reviews for a quick and easy way to find it, you can go to boldwithbrooke.com/itunes. Go ahead. I'll wait. Because that is what allows us to bring in amazing guests and keep producing the content. To help more people. These podcast reviews are kind of a little bit of podcast currency, the podcast is free. So this is like a little nudge a little thank you. And we appreciate all of them so much. I would love to know some of your biggest aha moments or Takeaways you can share them in the community of boldwithbrooke.com/community which is our little cozy corner of Facebook or take a screenshot and tag me on social at bold with broke pretty much everywhere. Your business is just one way that you impact the world and you move through and change people's lives on an everyday basis. And you get to do that in the way that you choose. It's time to step into that power and own it fully including marketing your business to get the clients you want and need to reach your biggest goals. I can't wait to see what you do with your business and how you change the world because what you do matters. Have an amazing rest of your day. Thank you so much for joining me today and listening in. You can find all of the show notes for this and every episode over at boldwithbrooke.com/podcast where you can also find all of the links or resources mentioned. I can't wait to work with you have an amazing rest of your day.