Hey friends, it's your host Ellen Yin. Welcome back to another bonus episode of cubicle to CEO, the podcast where we ask successful founders, the business questions you can't Google. Today's conversation with Laylee Emadi is perfect for you if you have a goal to attend more in person events next year, and you're currently in the research process, trying to decide which ones to invest in, or if you're on the other side and curious about and considering hosting your own event in 2024.
Hey, friends, welcome back to the show. I'm excited to have my friend Laylee Emadi here with me today. Laylee and I have known each other for a couple years, we've gotten to hang out several times in person, which I feel so lucky to have done. She is every bit as joyful, kind, fun, funny too in-person as she perceives to be online. So anyways, Laylee, thank you for joining me.
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited. Of course.
Well, I wanted to bring you on for a couple reasons. One, I am very much looking forward to returning to the second year of your conference, the Creative Educator Conference, I had the immense honor of speaking and attending last year, and then I am coming back as a speaker this year. And this is an event that I really believe all of you who are in the educator space or wanting to be in the educator space, meaning coaching programs, courses, memberships, stages, anything where you are sharing your knowledge, I want you to be at this event with me and lately, and we'll talk a little bit more about why I think the creative educator conference is so different from other conferences I've attended, and how Laylee kind of put together such a special event. And I also just to continue setting the pre frame here for our listeners, I feel like this is a great conversation to listen to if events are going to be part of your 2024 strategy in any way, whether it's you researching events you want to attend, or whether you're someone thinking about hosting your own event, and you kind of want to get an inside look at someone's brain who's done it successfully likely. So anyways, did I miss anything Laylee in the intro?
No, I love that. And I'm so excited to talk all things events.
Amazing. Okay, so let's kind of start with high level Creative Educator Conference. Like I said, this is your second year running it. Why did you decide to take on the herculean task, because it really is, of hosting your own conference, what did you feel like was missing in our online space that you wanted to create your own conference?
Yes, it's funny because the conference is actually like the extension of the thing I created that I felt there was a gap for and that was back in the day, like over a decade ago, I was a high school teacher and curriculum developer. And then I became a creative entrepreneur. And I noticed that there was just this huge gap and people who had amazing skill sets, but like couldn't teach that skill set to other people. And they couldn't teach it well. And I kept going to educational conferences and seeing that. So what I did was I created my signature program, which is the Creative Educator Academy. And in doing so I just like I love to come together.
And I've always hosted workshops and retreats. But I realized, like, I would love to have a space where educators can come and all be on the same level. Because at a certain point, you almost graduate out of like getting great knowledge out of conferences and events, and you go more for like the networking, but I still wanted to have a place for myself to learn from my peers to learn. And so it just kind of organically came to be part of my vision. And then of course, 2020 happened. So it got postponed by a couple of years. But here we are. And I just I've like loved every second of it. Because I do truly believe that there's like not another conference that's structured this way for educators like you and I to come and actually get to leave with knowledge gained, as well as connections made.
Absolutely. And I really liked that distinction you made about how just because you are an expert in something, or really skilled in a particular area, it doesn't necessarily mean you have the ability to teach. It's a totally different skill set. And it kind of reminds me of how in the corporate world like you could be the best, let's say, data analytics specialist on the team. But it doesn't mean that your only next natural path is to graduate to being a manager of that team, which is usually what happens. But managing people is a totally different skill set than like analyzing spreadsheets. So I love that distinction that you made. You also mentioned the term creative entrepreneur, creative educator. It's obviously in the name of your conference as well. How do you define someone who is a creative entrepreneur versus you know any other type of entrepreneur?
Yes. Great question. I feel like for me, creative just implies that the service that you're providing is within like, the creative industry. So whether that's, you know, photography or art, I work with a lot of artists, I work with a lot of makers, a lot of like E commerce, a lot of even brick and mortar shops. So like anybody who kind of takes on entrepreneurship as like a small business, but is not necessarily out here doing things like corporate but smaller, you know what I mean? Like, I love the idea that the people I work with, they get into something because of the passion of the creativity around it. And it's usually a subject or something that they want to offer that they feel really, really passionate about. And I think passion also makes for a great educator as well. So if you can tie in the to like a high level skill set and a high level passion, like it's a recipe for success.
I love that. And one of the thing I really appreciated last year being at the conference was the diversity of fields and industries in the room. So I remember, like, I was talking to a website designer, then I had conversations with a real estate agent, who also does like financial planning for women. And then I was talking to photographers, and wedding planners and other coaches, other course creators who are more in the business space. But there's just so much diversity in terms of people's backgrounds and what they're there for. I remember two of the women that I met at your conference, who I ended up establishing much more long lasting relationships with, we're actually coming from a university like they were running a program at a college, a traditional institution that came to learn about, you know, creative ways to educate their students. So I just think there's, there's so much in it for you, no matter what type of business you have. But if you could like pick out your perfect attendee for this conference, in terms of maybe number of years they've been in business, where they're at in their journey, or they existing educators, are they aspiring educators, like if you could give, I guess, your description of the of the most ideal person to show up for this? Who would that be?
Yeah, I think that for me, if I could kind of structure who I think it's the best fit for and like the perfect ideal attendee, they would be really established in their primary business. So whether that means they've been in business for three 5-10 years in their whatever business they've started in, that they now want to kind of monetize their knowledge and skill sets around, that would be the person and then in a perfect world, they would have already started kind of imagining or creating their educational offerings. Now, the cool thing about education, as you know, and as I've grown to experience over the past decade is, once you start doing one thing, like, you're going to end up sharing your education across platforms. So I, a lot of people will say, "Well, I just want to create my first course," or "I just did create my first course. And now I know what I'm doing." But then two months later, they get a speaking opportunity, or six months later, they decide "I want to open a group coaching program". And so for me, I don't want to like narrow that down too much. Because I feel like when you do one thing, you're going to end up having to do them all, which is why I'm like, Really, let's focus on how established Are you in your primary business? And are you ready to either scale the education or step into the education, that's who I think needs to be there.
That's another really great distinction is that education can take on so many forms. And to your point, it's not so much about the vehicle through which you are educating someone like a podcast, like a in person stage appearance versus an online course, but really about how effectively you're able to use whatever vehicle you're presented to be able to teach someone. So great distinction.
I want to talk a little bit about the experience once they're actually there, because one of the things I felt most drawn to about your conference and why I'm choosing to return for a second year is the intimacy of the conference and how it feels like you're really able to build deep relationships within those two days that we're together. Whereas, for example, over the summer, I just went to a huge conference, that was a lot of fun. And I got to spend, you know, quality time with the group that I attended with but outside of the group I attended with, I really didn't have an opportunity to make any new friends. Like there were just so many different tracks and so many different people there, that it kind of felt like people were just rushing to one thing or the other. And that's the complete opposite of my experience at Creative educator conference. So what does an intimate conference look like for people thinking about attending an event this year? Can you maybe describe how that differs from a normal quote unquote, conference?
Yeah, I think that was like a big part of my vision was I as a former teacher, by trade, I really believe in creating educational experiences that are intentionally crafted so that true growth happens. I love a good conference. Like don't get me wrong. I have a blast and a 500 person same conference. But I'm also quite introverted. I always say I'm an extroverted introvert. And so if there's too much going on, or there's not a lot of like programmed in interaction, I'm probably going to be in my room like Uber, eating myself dinner and not talking to anybody. And I didn't want that to happen to my people, you know. And so I did, I cap it at a pretty small number of attendees for a conference. And I don't think that I'll ever change that for this particular event, because like I said, it is higher level education, and higher level attendees. And so with that being said, I do think there is so much value in those attendees getting to know each other, and getting to learn from each other, because - I think it was Natalie Frank that said this, and I've since adopted it into like, all of my copy, because it truly is like the heart behind it, that this event is so unique in that the people in the audience could very well be the people on the stage, like we're all peers, as opposed to a lot of different events where they're not.
And so all that being said, that's kind of why I wanted to keep it small. And I also do my very best to kind of tie in intentional community building and intentional relationship building in there, where I separate people into groups. I mean, I go full on teacher, I'm not gonna lie, it's a little cheesy, but like, I make groups, I force you to interact, like you can't just come and run away. And just like quietly, listen, you've got to give a little bit and get a lot. And so that's kind of the vision behind it, and how I try to make that happen for people. And I think it is just because a little bit because of the way that I like to learn as well.
Yeah, and I think your teacher background really does, you know, plays such a strong influence in like you said that the curation of the learning experience, it's really unique. And I and I love that about you and about this event, just to give our listeners an idea if they've not ventured out to an in person conference in a long while or maybe ever. What is the like, when you say intimate, like, what is an actual number that they could wrap their minds around?
Yeah, so we cap at 100 attendees. And so typically, what you'll see at events that call themselves conferences is anywhere from like, I mean, I'd say like 150 to maybe like 600-700, I've been to a conference with like, 900 people before, and that I don't think I would ever go back to that. But generally speaking, you don't really see conferences that are 100 people or less.
Yeah, absolutely. And you mentioned earlier, you know, the the many opportunities for breakout sessions and smaller pods, essentially, so that you're not always just sitting facing the stage and you know, one spot the entire day. I remember last year, something that I thought was cool as an attendee, actually, but also as a speaker was that each speaker would have their their session or their time on stage. But separate from that later in the day, you allow these essentially like breakout panels where you would group like two to four speakers together with a group of like 10 or less. And people could expand on maybe some questions that they didn't feel they quite got answered during the session, or that they wanted more information on.
And it was much more conversational in nature. And I thought that was a really cool aspect. Because you know, oftentimes, when you are attending a traditional conference, you might hear a really interesting speaker on stage, but there's really no chance for you to interact deeper with them beyond their moment on stage. And so that was just another highlight I wanted to pull out for our listeners, and especially again, whether you're thinking about attending Laylee's conference, or just looking at conferences and events to attend this year in general, maybe that's a good question. You can ask the organizers like What opportunities are there for us to engage deeper with the speakers or with our peers? Speaking of, late night lobby chats. Tell us what that is Laylee, because I feel like that's something you've like now coined and I look forward to,
Oh my gosh, I don't know like when this became my thing, but it totally is. Everyone's like oh Laylee and her late night lobby chats. You gotta love alliteration. I, I just like I said, I feel like so much of the magic of attending any event. And this is, like you said, whether it's my event or anything you attend, I highly encourage anybody who's listening to this to think about how can I literally get every ounce out of this event. And that's what I thought of when I came up with this concept for my people was I thought, if I'm going to invest my time, my money, my resources, and showing up somewhere in person, you better believe I am getting every single minute out of this as I can.
And so we do is we have like our full day of learning and then we break for dinner so that our introverts can get a breath and our communities can grow and our relationships can grow and people can choose to hang out. And then after dinner we all meet up in the lobby of the host hotel. And that is where I saw so many incredible things happening and coming together for people last year. You and I were down there as well, Ellen. Like partying it was so fun. People are like, they're laughing. They're talking. There are light hearted conversations. And there are deep brainstorms happening. There are deep dives into each other's businesses. And just like, it's incredible to see I would I, at one point, I kind of like stood there and just glanced around the entire hotel lobby, which we took over, which was amazing. And I see all these people like in their sweats and pajamas, and like, they've got like pizzas and snacks, some of them are crying, and some of them are laughing. And they're all just like, they look like they're creating their futures. And it was just like, that's so dramatic to say, but I really felt that way. It was just so incredible. So we're doing it again, we're bringing back our late night lobby chats. And they're like, my favorite thing.
I know, it's honestly one of my favorite parts too. And the beautiful thing is because it is happening in the host hotel, if you choose to come to the creative educator conference in January, and you state the host hotel with us, then you have the flexibility to like come down for as much as you have capacity for and then at any point, if you're you know, feeling your energy tank depleted, or whatever it is, you can just retreat to your room, like go up the elevators, and tada, you just disappear. And it's it's just wonderful, I think, flexible environment to create community and have conversations without it feeling like you're kind of stuck there, you know. So that's something that I definitely appreciate because I can go go go until I can't. And then it's like, Okay, I've got it, I gotta unplug and zip my mouth.
Same 100%.
And also, I feel like your advice to listeners to think about all the micro moments, all the ways you can squeeze as much as you can out of an event. I think another awesome, underrated or like not very much talked about way to develop relationships at an event is the transportation to and from an event, right. And what I love about yours is you actually provide kind of like a built in conduit for people to have conversation on. I mean, it's not a party bus, but it might as well be a party bus. So do you want to talk about getting to and from the host hotel to the venue each day?
Yeah, so if you stay at the hotel, or even if you don't, but you want to get yourself to the hotel, we do provide transportation, to and from the venue just because, like I go to a ton of conferences, I'm actually as a speaker, coach, I coach a ton of people who go to a ton more conferences than I do. And the biggest complaint is like, how am I going to get from place to place I don't want to rent a car. And I don't want to Uber. And I just like, it's so important to me to alleviate all of that, and just like adding to the experience. But again, like you said, in addition to alleviating stress, it does provide a really fun, like part of the experience for people. So we will be doing that again this year. If I have it at a venue that's off site, I will always help you get there. Like I'm not leaving you out in the dirt. I think that's also just like cultural like no, we don't let people find their way.
As a directionally challenged person who also is a lifelong passenger Princess, I gotta say, I really appreciate the built in transportation, because there is no way you will ever catch me renting a car in a city I don't know, and driving the streets like No, count me out. That's not for me so much, much appreciate. But you know, again, as you're listening to this conversation, just be pulling ideas for how you can apply this to any event that you attend this year. So like, for example, if an event you go to doesn't or you know, isn't as thoughtful as lately to provide you to and from transportation, maybe thinking about how can I connect with some attendees ahead of getting to the event, and maybe you create like your own little Uber ride pool, right where you, I guess, carpool with two to three people to and from the conference each day. And that allows you some extra time to really develop some of those deeper relationships.
Yeah, and just it's a safer way to roll. Like if you're going somewhere and you don't know where you are. Find a friend on the internet first, who's also going
Yes, 100%, which that kind of brings us to the next piece of if you're thinking of attending events, especially if you're thinking of attending this one. A lot of the magic happens, like you said, Laylee before the event starts right. So as soon as someone purchases their ticket to Creative Educator Conference, you allow them a space to immediately start meeting other attendees, other peers inside a private Facebook group. So why did you want to curate that experience? And how have you seen that impact attendees overall experience?
Yeah, I mean, I just think it's so important to get to know get like the awkward, like who is everybody out of the way as quickly as possible? And so for me, that means providing as many opportunities as I can for people to understand like one who all is going they get to kind of stalk each other a little bit, which I think is really helpful. She says in a non creepy way. You know, just find out like What is this person selling? What are they educating on? What are they doing that I find to be interesting so that I can ask them about it when I meet them.
Because as we all know, especially in this situation, because we're all educators, educators love to help people. That's why they are educating like, Yes, we all want to be profitable. Yes, we all want to scale. Yes, the numbers matter. But at the end of the day, like, typically the impact and the furthering of our industries and of people to people, that's why educators do what they do is because of the passion to help each other grow. So it's really nice for attendees to get to know what the others are doing so that they can prepare questions and let those other attendees shine and help you. So it's a very much like help me help you, and give people the opportunity to kind of stalk one another before sitting down in a room for the first time.
Absolutely. And I love just like popping my head into that group and seeing people find roommates, you know, to bunk with over the two day conference, although of course, you can be a solo Queen too, if you'd like. And just start to see the seeds of like collaboration spark within that community long before we ever stepped foot into the same room together. And then after two, I remember last year, there were a lot of like ongoing conversations after the event ended and everyone was going home and implementing what they learned. It just felt nice to know that that community wasn't just ripped away from you, essentially. And it wasn't just like you were on this two day high from being together, and then you know, crickets as soon as you get back home to your regular routine. So I think that's a piece that if you're someone listening to this conversation today, and maybe you're on the other side of things, maybe you're thinking of creating your own event is one thing that I think lately has just done so well that you should definitely consider doing for your own event is creating some sort of private community before and after the event for your attendees to connect.
Yeah, I also love I love seeing like people give opportunities to each other in that group as well. Like you said afterward, we had so many people offering you know, like, Hey, I have a podcast, do you want to come on it or you know, view are in this field like X, Y, and Z is looking for this expert. And I think that's also another great utilization of it, especially like you said, if anybody's considering hosting their own event, I think it's 100% Worth, like the little bit of extra work to provide that.
Absolutely. Is there anything else on the event host side that knowing what you know, now? I feel like events is like a crash course in everything. I mean, I have not personally hosted my own event beyond like 50 people, but even just like planning my wedding this last summer, I was like, wow, there's just so many little details and logistics that you don't think of until you're in the moment. So for anyone listening who's like I'm thinking of creating an event this year, whether small or large. Is there anything you wish you had known ahead of time that you would want to, you know, share with those people?
Oh, my gosh, like everything? There's so much I could say here. I think probably the biggest thing that I wish I would have known is that there's no such thing as like the perfect event that goes off without a hiccup. So I actually think my husband said this to me, he said, the day before the conference, and I probably I wish he would have said this like months before is let's talk through what to do when everything goes wrong. So list all the things that are going to go wrong and then lists what you're going to do when they happen. Because in that sense, my mindset was then, okay, I'm here as a troubleshooter, like I'm here to put out fires when they happen. And I'm not going in there with rose colored glasses thinking like, oh, everything is great. And then something bad happens. And it's the end of the world, like being able to pivot and navigate those lives, like missteps that are going to occur, I think is just a great mindset shift to have before you start planning.
Yeah, I can see how that gives you peace of mind to knowing you kind of have a ready made solution for any possible chaos that could ensue. Although I must say that on the non planning side, like as a speaker as an attendee last year, I personally did not notice any fires. If there were any, like great job, keeping it away from us, because I truly did not notice anything. I felt like it would all smoothly without any sort of hitch.
I love that.
You're like, I love that for you.
It was and honestly, it went a lot more smoothly than I thought it would. But we did. Of course there were always like a couple things here and there that that a couple of fires. But yes, we kept them under wraps.
That's fair. I appreciate the realistic take on that. Switching to the other side of things. Is there anything we didn't cover in our conversation today from an attendee side that as people are researching which events they want to partake in next year? Any tips for how they can make the most out of any event they attend, but especially if they choose to come join us in January for the Creative Educator Conference?
Yeah, oh my gosh, I have so many so many things. I could say to attendees because as it avid attendee myself, I do speak a lot of conferences and events and I put them on, but I love attending them. And I think the biggest thing is just don't go in blind. I think sometimes we get excited and we like buy the ticket, and then we let it go. But I really love to kind of go to anything that I'm investing my time in. And think I had, like, what do I need to walk away with for this to have been a successful investment of my resources? Like, what are some things that I can go in knowing that I should be walking away with.
So doing a little bit of research ahead of time, and really allowing yourself the opportunity to prepare for that event, so that you're getting, like I said, every ounce out of it that you can, the other thing is just kind of stepping outside of your comfort zone. Like I said, I'm more introverted, especially in larger group settings. I won't like shove my way to the front. And I'm not saying that you should. But what are a couple of things that you can do to kind of push yourself outside of that comfort zone, make more connections than you normally would show up more bravely than you already would? Like? How can you be a little bit more bold, a little bit more brave to walk away feeling like that was where I should have been, and that was 100% worth it?
I love the intentionality of like almost starting with the end in mind, just like you would I guess if you're investing in a program and coaching and anything else that up levels you or your business, like what is the outcome? I guess, like, what are you going into this for, and I will say that's been helpful in my own life, too. As an attendee, sometimes I truly go to events, not because of anything I'm going to learn on stage. But truly, because I'm like, my one goal for this event is to, let's say, connect with three new people and develop some quality relationships there. Sometimes it can be as simple as that. And sometimes it is more so on the education tactical side where you're like, I'm really looking forward to XYZ speaker, which, by the way, all of the speakers and their bios are listed on Laylee's conference page. So you can do your research ahead of time and be thinking about Ooh, what might I want to learn from so and so versus so and so.
And the beautiful thing about everybody being in the same room and not having to juggle so many tracks, like some conferences do is that you don't have FOMO I hate when I go somewhere. And I'm like, Oh, my God, there's three sessions happening at the same time that I really, really want to be at, like, how do I, you know, I feel like I need to be Hermione in Harry Potter, when she's like, trying to take multiple classes. And does that like time travel thing? Like, I'm like, I feel like I need that. Not at Laylee's conference, thankfully. So anyways, I realized, too, that we should probably tell people where they can go to actually get a ticket to see the dates get the information. So what is the link first of all, and then real quick, if you could just do kind of a rundown of the dates, the location, anything else they might need to know to make that decision?
Yeah, absolutely. It is January 15, through the 17th in Dallas, Texas, and so excited to welcome people to my hood. And the link is creativeeducatorconference.com. And if you have any questions, our DMS are always open and like either myself or one of my team members. Usually it's me honestly, I can send a voice memo I love chatting it out. So if you have questions on if it's a good fit for you, you can find us over on Instagram at @Creativeeducatorconference as well.
Amazing. We're going to drop the Instagram link the website link below in the show notes. So super easy for you just scroll down click Check it out. I would love to personally see some of you in person who are a part of our podcast community they're like lately said the late night lobby chats are fire. And this really is one of those events where there is not a clear delineation between speakers and attendees, which is what I love, you don't feel like oh, all the speakers are in their like own exclusive club over here that were excluded from and you know, you're just kind of like a passive observer of the event you really do get to participate and everybody speakers and attendees are like are contributing to conversations are developing relationships, we're all together the whole time which is just so unique. So I would love to spend some late nights in a lobby and and hang out with some of you who are listening to this. If you want to use my speaker code 'Ellen' that will also save you $100 off your ticket. So again, just go to creativeeducatorconference.com type in 'Ellen' at checkout and that should save you $100. Laylee, thank you so much first for joining the second for creating such a beautiful container for all of us to connect and grow together and you are light embodied in a person and I'm so grateful to know you so thank you. Thank you for coming on the show today.
Thank you so much. This is so fun.
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