Meet Shannon Tarrant
What is your job title?
Co-Founder at Wedding Venue Map
Chief Helper at Venue Help Desk
How would you describe your company & what you do in one sentence to a wedding venue?
Wedding Venue Map is a digital and print resource that connects newly engaged couples in Central Florida to a sortable list of all wedding venues in our area and to high-quality, vetted Trusted Vendors.
Venue Help Desk is the resource that venues have been looking for - experts willing to help wedding and event venues solve one problem at a time.
How did you get started working in / with the event industry?
I started my career in off-site catering. It was an amazing experience to work with and at so many different venues. Catering taught me how to “make it happen” on-site at a wedding. I also learned the importance of creating quality and reciprocal relationships with venues and the power of their referral.
Fast forward 5 years and I became the wedding sales manager at a family-owned golf resort that wanted to grow their wedding department. Within 18 months, we were able to triple the amount of weddings each year, double the total amount spent by creating better packages and turning weddings into a $4.5 million line of business for the resort.
I also had the ability to build the dream team at the venue - hiring and training my coordinators to provide an exceptional client experience and developing a marketing plan for higher quality leads and better sales conversions.
After 10 years of working with engaged couples, it was time for a change. I love everything about the wedding industry and our community. The tides shifted and national marketing platforms had changed their policies, only venues with a paid membership would be listed. This created a challenge for the couples planning their wedding as well as the venues that didn’t have national platform marketing budgets.
Wedding Venue Map was born - a local Central Florida wedding venue search engine that features EVERY venue in the market with both free and paid listings. For the couples, we added fifty different criteria to filter and sort the list.
The venue directory brought together all of my passions - guiding couples to plan their dream wedding and helping wedding and event venues connect right to their ideal clients.
I get to spend every day learning from couples planning their wedding what their search process looks like, their frustrations, and what they are really looking for . . . and then take that info back to share with venues, both in Central Florida and across the country.
How many years have you been involved with the wedding and event industry?
I started working in the wedding industry full-time in 2007 after a few years of serving and bartending at events while catering.
Why do you love working with venues specifically?
What I love most about coaching venues is that they usually have more to lose than most other vendor categories. Their operating expenses and staffing costs are high. So, when a venue is ready for coaching and help - they are usually quick to implement the tools that I give them.
And after implementation comes quick wins and long-term success. Helping venues achieve their goals fuels me to continue - and sparked us building Venue Help Desk! (Link to about page)
What is a common mistake venues make in regard to your area of expertise?
When it comes to marketing, so many venues throw money at the problem with expensive online directory listings and social media ads that don’t always convert. There is so much opportunity through the use of grassroots marketing like social media posting done with purpose, hosting / sponsoring local events, and working SEO behaviors into their regular routine that could really move the needle.
Where do you see the greatest opportunity for venues to improve?
Venues work so hard to market to their ideal client and get the lead. Then chase the lead in the hopes of booking an in-person tour. They get them there and then, nothing. The tour doesn’t convert and sometimes worse, they ghost and disappear. The easiest thing for me to help a venue improve is turning the tour into an experience that guides the couples to either book or ask to close their file!
What kind of challenges do you think venues have that other wedding pros don’t experience?
The concept of Venue Help Desk came from the need for venue-specific resources and education. Other wedding pros have conferences, groups, and support while venues often feel like an island.
If you could wave a magic wand over our industry, what would you change and why?
The way everyone looks and treats a venue’s preferred vendor lists.
VENUES should consider the types of vendors that not only take the best care of their clients but also believe in partnership and giving back.
VENDORS should realize that they have to work to earn this spot and then continue to strive to stay there.
What’s your favorite quote and who said it?
This quote actually came from my dad, “No rain, no rainbows”
Just a constant reminder that the good does come without weathering a few storms.
What was the wisest advice you received from a mentor?
Be your word - My very first mentor in the event industry was Molly Crouch. She told me there was nothing more important to my professional reputation than executing on the things you say. It’s so easy for people to lose faith in you when you promise something as simple as “I’ll call you on Monday” and then you don’t follow through. I was lucky to learn this lesson very early in my career and it’s even written on a post-it note on my computer screen.
We are building a library of business books that every venue should read - Which one would you suggest?
My current favorite everyone in the event industry MUST read is Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara
It’s FULL of essential lessons in hospitality for every business, from the former co-owner of legendary restaurant Eleven Madison Park.
Just a few of my favorite takeaways:
“Fads fade and cycle - but the human desire to be taken care of never goes away” - when you focus on the customer experience and how you make them feel, you’ll always be successful
“While most people save the best bottles of wine in their cellars for celebrations, he drinks his best bottles on his worst days” - I’ve decided to look at taking care of myself better on the bad days in a new way.
“To do something with intentionality means to do it thoughtfully with clear purpose and an eye on the desired result” - this quote is my new mantra
What 3 educators/coaches would you invite to your fantasy dinner party?
Gary Vee - This guy just tells it how it is and gives me permission to be myself, including saying things the way I want (cough cough - using naughty cuss words).
First known as a wine critic who expanded his family's wine business, Vaynerchuk is now more known for his work in digital marketing and social media as the chairman of New York-based communications company VaynerX, and as CEO VaynerMedia.
Simon Sinek - the first time I saw him was his Ted Talk “How great leaders inspire action”. I became an immediate super fan. His views on leadership are outside the box and push the boundaries of what we’ve been told to do.
Dan Sullivan - Author of Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork (one of my other favorite books). While he’s written over 30 books, this book changed my life. The concept is simple - When we want something done, we've been trained to ask ourselves: "How can I do this?" Well, there is a better question to ask. One that unlocks a whole new world of ease and accomplishment. The question we should ask instead: "Who can do this for me?"
(Thanks Tom Chelednick for recommending it)
What one piece of business advice would you have given yourself 10 years ago?
Start working on your leadership skills NOW. When you’re early in your career, you focus on doing and executing and achieving. All my learning was about sales and marketing. Then all of a sudden you have people reporting to you. It was HARD for me to shift from being a doer to being a boss - and I struggled bussed it for a few years until I added LEADERSHIP to a part of my education.
