#279 The Events Queen, In-Person Magic and the Elegant Exit with Jo Spehr

Lovely lady, welcome to Episode 279. We're deep into season four now, The Embodied Era, moving away from cookie-cutter courses and really asking ourselves how this all actually feels in the body. And today I brought on a woman I've been wanting to sit down with properly since the moment I felt her energy across a table at a Lux dinner.Meet Jo Spehr. She directs Empire Events, and if you've ever wondered who's behind the scenes making a room full of people feel like magic happened, it's women like Jo. She calls herself Tinkerbell crossed with a spreadsheet, and honestly, that's the most accurate job description I've ever heard.From government EA to Events QueenJo takes me through her journey, nearly two decades in admin and executive assistant roles, working on events for up to 5,000 people including the Commonwealth Games, before she finally admitted to herself which parts of her job she actually loved. We talk about the identity she had to release (coaching and breathwork) to make room for the one that was actually hers.Why AI can never recreate a roomWith the global events industry set to hit $2.5 trillion, we get into why in-person connection is becoming more valuable, not less, in a world where nobody knows what's real online anymore. Trust is harder to build through content alone, and Jo explains why getting in a room with the right people is going to be a make or break for service-based businesses.The two questions that shape every eventBefore Jo builds anything, she asks what the attendee is meant to feel and experience, and what the actual business objective is. We talk about the difference between an event that just looks good and one that's engineered for transformation and return on investment.Burnout, boundaries and self-abandonmentJo gets honest about the season she burned herself out trying to prove herself to people she looked up to, and what her body had to teach her about holding boundaries while working in an industry that runs on intense, high-emotion cycles.Selling through relationships, not marketingWe dig into why Jo's own event, Mic Drop, has grown every month, not through funnels or ad spend, but through leveraged relationships and genuine reciprocity. If you've been over-relying on marketing and under-investing in real connection, this part is for you.The elegant exitI finally get to unpack this properly with someone who gets it. The one question I ask myself before I decide whether to keep talking to someone in a room: would I invite this person to sit at my dinner table? Jo and I talk about how to leave a conversation gracefully when there's no values match, without guilt, and why women in particular were never taught how to do this.Be interested, not interestingJo's parting wisdom for anyone walking into a room feeling nervous. Stop performing and get curious about the person in front of you instead.If you're not feeling a little bit of fear walking into a room, you're probably not stepping outside your comfort zone enough. Feel it, go anyway, and notice what happens.Connect with Jo Spehr📱 Instagram: @jojo_spehr💛 The Rich Lady Revolution Membership - weekly accountability, rich conversations and a community of women who get it, from $149/month with no lock-in👉 https://www.those2sisters.au/membership