23. Wendy El-Khoury, Wedded Wonderland // How The “Fairy Godmother Of Small Business” Is Single-Handedly Saving Australia’s Decimated Wedding And Events Industries

“This is your opportunity to shine. It’s important now to deliver your services at 1000%, because that is what is going to set you and your business up to survive and thrive” (Wendy El-Khoury, Founder of Wedded Wonderland). For an industry that has such a pivotal role in crafting some of the happiest days of our lives, the business owners who work in weddings and events have dealt with nothing but sorrow and stress since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. There is a way out of the crisis, and our next guest on The Make It Happen Show is on a mission to save it and all the business owners who operate within it. Wendy El-Khoury is the Founder of Wedded Wonderland, one of the world’s leading directories and media companies specialising in the wedding, events and lifestyle industries. She’s credited for growing more than 20,000,000 followers across her own and her clients’ channels, and amplifying the voices of the small business owners in these industries in Australia and across the world. Along the way, she’s rightly earned herself the title of “The Fairy Godmother For Small Business,” and this year she’s stepped up to lead her industry through crisis.   Listen to the full episode to hear some inspiring stories of how business owners operating within the events industry have pivoted and found new opportunities to continue operating, insights from Wendy on what business owners operating in hospitality, events and weddings should be focussing on in this new normal, how Wendy sees the industry moving forward post-pandemic. This is such a fantastic interview which will leave you inspired and enlightened - we hope you love it as much as we do.   Here are the full show-notes from this episode of The Make It Happen Show:   [2:14] Wendy discusses the challenges that have been unique to the wedding and events industry over the past months, and the businesses that operate within that [3:26] Wendy breaks down the different roadmaps, restrictions and complexities that business owners have had to deal with over the past 6 months [5:50] The recovery process for the wedding and events industry around Australia [7:09] Wendy talks about how the Save Our Weddings campaign gained momentum [11:50] The wedding and events industries’ smart and alternative moves against mass gathering restrictions [13:29] Wendy’s forecast on what will be the “new normal” for weddings and events [15:19] The innovative businesses who are finding new ways to operate, survive and thrive during the crisis [17:39] Wendy’s prediction for the wedding industry for the next 12-18 months [22:09] Wendy sheds light on new ideas for online promotion and achieving cut-through in a noisy digital landscape [23:54] The best lead generators to try [25:05] Tim and Wendy discuss the build-up of online fatigue [27:13] Wendy shares what she believes is the #1 skill business owners need to develop in 2020 [27:43] What Wendy’s morning routine looks like [28:08] Wendy’s advice for entrepreneurs looking to break into the wedding and events industry, dispute the challenges it’s stil