Day 179: Pamela Yager
“… whenever I have new business ideas, which is usually about 1:45 in the morning, I write them down, but that’s when I work best and my mind is the clearest … putting those down on paper and then, you know, asking an advisor or a consultant to maybe talk with you about it or even just … have some time alone to think about those ideas again. That’s always been … sometimes when you go back to an idea, then you have a fresh perspective on it.”
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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Pamela, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Pamela Yager: Hi, I’m Pamela Yager, and I’m President of Bride’s Night Out Inc., which is a bachelorette party planning company.
Toni: Fantastic. This is going to be interesting around the bride’s bachelorette party planning. When you think about the word inspiration, Pamela, who do you inspire, and how do you do that?
Pamela: I think that I try to inspire women in general to create new and different traditions to go a little bit further in creating their own tradition for their weddings. I also help them with the pre-wedding parties as well, but instead of copying off the guys and creating sort of imitations of theirs or something that they’ve heard that was out of the box, you know, they should, you know, be creative and really think about their own style and what really works for them.
Toni: So what are some examples? How do you do that?
Pamela: A lot of times it’s based on the actual woman themselves, you know, the guest of honor. What is her personality like, her hobbies, and that’s the type of party you should have. A bachelorette party can take all different shapes and forms. It’s not just going to a strip club. It’s not just going out bar hopping. It can be, you know, based on what the personality of the bride is, so we help them identify what the style and personality of their party is and then give them personalized details that will make it really special and help execute that party. It could be a, you know, a day at the spa, but the day at the spa may involve, you know, a martini party that also includes maybe a singer that comes in and also a French cook. It depends on what you’re interested in as to what type of event we can create for you.
Toni: So do you find yourself inspiring others through your professional work – is there personal work you do as well?
Pamela: You mean as a mommy?
Toni: Yes, absolutely.
Pamela: I guess I’m inspiring mothers all the time. I guess I’m inspiring other people who are working mothers. I am a … I have multiples, I have twins that are approaching eight months old, and I do have friends who are also in the business and they’re, you know, they ask me “How do you juggle work and family and new businesses?” I moved into a new home two weeks before I had the babies. It was … I’m glad everyone is all healthy and we made it okay, but it’s very, very challenging, and you really have to sort of budget your time and do have a few moments where you can clear the air.
It’s interesting, and I’ve heard this from other people – as soon as you become pregnant, a lot of times you’re even more inspired to work harder, and then after you even have the babies they are an inspiration to me because I want to provide for them, and I want to be a good role model, and so I try to excel as much as I can in my own business.
Now I’m a … we have a party consultant program where it’s mostly women so far who are in our party consultant program who want to sell our party packages and buy supplies from us at wholesale, and they have their own website, and I help them and train them into becoming party planners. And you know … and they ask me, you know, “How do you do it, how do you juggle it,” and it inspires me to be a better leader for them and to show them, you know, it is possible, it’s just about the management of time and also, you know, listening to your personal voice. If you need to take a nap, you need to take a nap, you know? When it’s time to actually … if you’re refreshed and you approach a project in a different way. So you really have to listen to that voice.
Toni: Well that is a great lead-in to the second question of the Project, which is what do you do to help explore the potential in others?
Pamela: Well you know, a lot of times when I’m working with different party consultants, everyone has a unique situation going on in their lives. I have, you know, some women who are in their, you know, forties and fifties who are mothers and have more adult children that are in college years. And some of them have, you know, situations where they’re dealing with sort of problems with that and also trying to … they’ve been mommies for so long that they’re trying to get back into the workforce. So that’s one, you know, situation of helping them start to feel confident again and identify what their individuality is and their worth, and they really do.
You know, they have their own person and independence, so I kind of inspire those groups of people and then also the young people who also need confidence because, you know, while they may be talented, they just haven’t had the experience yet, and so they don’t … they are a little hesitant about taking on new sales opportunities, so I try to help inspire them just to go for it and feel a little stronger about themselves. You know, with the right sort of tools and the education, you can feel confident; you can feel more confident.
Toni: So, Pamela, what inspires you, and what do you need to be inspired?
Pamela: So my babies inspire me. Programs like yours are a great inspiration.
Toni: Well thank you.
Pamela: I think we can always learn from other women who are out there; men too, but especially women. I think women have a special kind of unique thing, challenges. I always look at other women. Mary Kay of Mary Kay Cosmetics was an inspiration. I look at business leaders, read books, and try to learn from what they’ve done and take a little bit and adapt it to my own personal life.
Toni: When you were realizing that this is something that you wanted to do, this party planning and to help others get into this business and so forth, did you … were you inspired by a point in time, an event that made you realize “Yeah, you know what, this is what I want to do?”
Pamela: Toni, you know, I’ve always been in some sort of role growing up to be a helper. I think in my own family I’ve always been sort of a helper, helping my mother out. As the youngest child I just was … just that personality type. And then in high school, I was peer leadership person, so I think I always had that just interest in helping others and inspiring others or feeling sensitive to maybe I was a little more confident, level-headed. And I saw other people were struggling, and they could get something from a message that I’d give them and their home life would be a little bit better.
I was more of a survivor. You know, my father is an alcoholic, but I never used that as a crutch. I used it as “Well, that’s his problem, it’s not mine, and I need to move ahead.” I think it affects people in different ways, and if I can pass on some sort of strength to somebody, it makes me feel better.
Toni: That’s fantastic, and when you find yourself maybe in a day where you’re going “Gosh, I could use a little inspiration right now,” what do you tend to reach for? What tools do you consistently go after?
Pamela: The bottle – no!
Toni: I didn’t see that coming!
Pamela: And pills – no!
Toni: Well, as long as it’s both, you know …
Pamela: Well, right here – it’s comedy. Basically it’s comedy, and I think that’s what I have always used to feel a little bit better is I usually do a release. So as soon as I had some kind of issue about it, the way I dealt with it was by getting up on stage and doing standup comedy, which I’ve done for 20-some odd years or, you know, talking to a good friend and being able to vent to them.
Of course, you know, you don’t want to over-vent to your friends, so you know, if you need to, a coach would be great. I mean, that’s a nice unbiased party that … and you’re not, you know … and you also have someone who’s more of a professional listener who can help you through these things. I’m preaching to the choir, you know these things. I’m a fan of what you folks do, and the sort of the service that you provide is really excellent.
Toni: Well thank you, I really appreciate that, and we love doing it, because we get to meet people like yourself. So what do you need to explore your own potential so that you can keep, you know, yourself fresh and vibrant for your babies, for the women that you work with, the business, your comedy – how in the world do you explore your own potential to stay at that?
Pamela: It’s so … you know, it’s an ongoing process of … writing as much as possible also helps in exploring your own potential, talking to others, having ideas. And you know, whenever I have new business ideas, which is usually about 1:45 in the morning, I write them down, but that’s when I work best and my mind is the clearest, is, you know, putting those down on paper and then, you know, asking an advisor or a consultant to maybe talk with you about it or even just, you know, have some time alone to think about those ideas again. That’s always been … sometimes when you go back to an idea, then you have a fresh perspective on it.
Toni: That’s a great piece of advice. It really is. I do apologize, I don’t know if you can hear on the recording but it sounds like we have a motorcycle starting up in the back of the interview, so we apologize. Everyone knows on the Get Inspired! Project it’s very, very real, so you’ll hear the babies, the dogs, the motorcycles, and so I apologize if you’re hearing the motorcycle in the back.
Pamela: At least it’s not the earthquake; I heard there was an earthquake for us last night, but I didn’t feel anything in Los Angeles. I slept right through it. I guess that’s the, you know, the good thing about only getting a few hours of sleep, you end up having very sound sleep during those few hours.
Toni: So with what you do as far as exploring your own potential and looking for those fresh ideas, does that then directly impact what you’re trying to do in your businesses?
Pamela: Yes, absolutely.
Toni: And how does that happen?
Pamela: You know, another thing is actually looking at, you know, your competition; that’s always … I don’t have like, say, direct competition that does anything similar to what I do. I don’t think anybody’s crazy enough for that. I tend to put together a very intricate plan. But yes, as soon as you start thinking about, you know, what they’re doing and just different ideas and then what might work for you, then I try to incorporate things right away.
For instance, last night I went to an association of bridal consultants workshop that had internet website developers there, and they did an educational series about, you know, how important testimonials are. Now, they were talking about general websites for wedding planners and event planners. Mine is very different, my website, because each one of my consultants has their own page. So how do I make that so that, you know, each one of those consultants can have their own testimonial? So that information that was put out there by that workshop that I went to.
I started thinking last night at one o’clock in the morning, you know, how could they edit and put in their own testimonials, and so we have an area where they can put a bio in where it’s their own story, and I figured that would be the perfect location for them to have their own testimonials about clients that they’ve worked with on Bride’s Night Out events. And I think that that’s … you know, that will help them further their business, but it’s a new marketing idea, but I was really excited about it and I was like “I must send an e-blast to all of them and let them know about that.” So, you know, that’s just , you know, one tool. You can pick up tools, always from different people.
Toni: Absolutely, as long as you’re open to it, and you know, someone may also be sharing information that has nothing to do with what you were originally looking for, but then something comes out of left field and you’re like “Wow, that’s it!”
Pamela: Right. There are seeds to … they are creative ideas. You know, I mean a lot of graphic designers do that all the time. They have inspiration sort of pieces that they look at to get ideas to do something else, or interior decorators, and people who are … business people are the same way. They get, you know, slight ideas from one thing and they’re not copying off of it but it is an inspiration to create something that’s totally different.
Toni: That reminds me of a quote that someone gave recently in an interview, where they said, “Originality is just unacknowledged plagiarism.”
Pamela: That’s right.
Toni: Well, I can tell you, Pamela, what an absolutely interesting business and life it seems that you have with your babies and the work and everything that you’re trying to do and growing businesses for others that are within your business. And gosh, thank you so much for being part of the Project, and we will definitely be able to post where people can find you and maybe be a consultant for you, and enjoy one of your parties. So thank you so very much .
Pamela: Toni, thank you. This has been delightful and wonderful.
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For more information about Pamela Yager: www.BridesNightOut.com
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