Fuel the Fire: Inside Our ICON Conference Prep and Team Rituals
If you’re an entrepreneur gearing up for your biggest event of the year, this conversation guides you through how top leaders master both the logistics and the inner game of high-stakes preparation. Discover the secrets behind building a true community (not just an audience), the RASCI and spot analysis tools for flawless execution, and the rituals that keep energy and creativity high when the pressure is on.
Welcome to another empowering episode of She Means Millions! In this episode, we pull back the curtain on everything that goes into planning and preparing for ICON, our annual eWomenNetwork conference. We share candid insights about the logistics, the content, the inner work, and even the self-care rituals that drive one of the most dynamic women’s business events in the nation. If you've ever wondered what it truly takes to create a thriving, values-driven community event, this is the episode for you.
This week, we answered a fantastic listener question from Premier Success Coach Paula Omisko, who asked us to go deep into all aspects of preparing for ICON. We talk about how preparation isn’t just about logistics and content, but also the inner work of managing our energy, stress, and mindset for optimal performance. From our RASCI and SPOT analysis systems to our behind-the-scenes routines, we unpack the secrets to building a vibrant business community, not just an audience.
Key Topics & Takeaways
- Community vs. Audience: Over 90% of our event attendees are already members of the eWomen Network, making ICON a true community gathering, not just an audience event. Relationship-building and values-alignment drive everything we do.
- All-in Preparation: We spend 11 months each year preparing for ICON, using strategy tools like plan-do-review cycles, RASCI charts for accountability, and SPOT analyses to continuously improve based on feedback from both staff and attendees.
- Logistics & Systems: Our preparation involves hundreds of line items, weekly status meetings, and a massive effort from more than 50 team members. We share how we manage tasks, coordinate with hotels, and ensure every detail is covered.
- Self-Care and Energy Management: We discuss our personal rituals for managing stress and staying fueled during conference week from healthy snacks and coffee routines to sneaking out for ice cream or In-N-Out as stress relief!
- Balancing Content and Delivery: We explore the balance between preparation and over-preparing, honoring different working styles, and how trusting your process leads to authentic, powerful delivery on stage.
- The Power of Relationships Over Views: In a world obsessed with social media metrics, we underscore why building genuine relationships within your network will always outweigh going viral or chasing views.
- Personal Growth and Reflection: The episode is filled with honest conversation about how we’ve each evolved both personally and professionally embracing change, health journeys, and how motherhood or life experiences have shaped our work.
Are you ready to step into a powerful community of women helping women achieve massive business growth? Join the eWomenNetwork today and experience the difference of a values-driven, relationship-first business environment.
Share this episode with another entrepreneur who needs a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to build a thriving, million-dollar network. Visit ewomennetwork.com to learn more and become part of our next ICON conference! And don’t forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and let us know how you prepare for your own big moments.
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She Means Millions is part of the eWomenPodcastNetwork
Sandra Yancey [00:00:00]:
We really don't have an audience. We truly have a community. I mean, well over 90% of our audience are in the eWomen Network community.
Briana Dai [00:00:10]:
Yeah, I need to be prepared, but I can't over-prepare because if I come and I think I have to stay up and I have to practice and I have to rehearse, I'm not gonna be my best the next day.
Kym Yancey [00:00:18]:
And that's not going there with a preconceived notion, you know, I'm coming here to get a whole bunch of business. Yeah, it's I'm coming here to connect, to learn, to give, to share. And that permeates the whole thing.
Briana Dai [00:00:41]:
Welcome to She Means Millions. I am here with the trifecta, and I was on Instagram Live this morning and I asked, what questions would you wanna ask for us? And of all people, Paula Omisko out of Canada.
Sandra Yancey [00:00:54]:
Don't you love her?
Briana Dai [00:00:54]:
Love her.
Sandra Yancey [00:00:55]:
One of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. She's great.
Briana Dai [00:00:57]:
Premier Success Coach.
Sandra Yancey [00:00:59]:
Past Premier Success Coach. Yes.
Briana Dai [00:01:01]:
Yes. And just a rock star. She asked a really great question that I thought was a perfect episode to bring to the table.
Sandra Yancey [00:01:09]:
What's that?
Briana Dai [00:01:10]:
Well, we're almost here at ICON, our annual conference, and she was curious if we would peel back the curtain on the preparation process. But more specifically, she said the content preparation, the logistics preparation, and I think she saved the best for last, and that is the inner Preparation, the inner work going into this event. And that's a piece that I've never heard anybody talk about.
Sandra Yancey [00:01:32]:
Right.
Briana Dai [00:01:32]:
And so I thought that this would be a really great opportunity for us to do that because we all kind of have a different process going into the event. And this year in particular, with our theme being Fuel the Fire, I thought, how interesting of a question, because you can't pour fuel on the fire if you're not fueled yourself.
Kym Yancey [00:01:54]:
Right.
Sandra Yancey [00:01:54]:
Right. You know, so we really have to have the spark.
Briana Dai [00:01:56]:
You have to have the spark first. Yeah. And so, yeah, let's talk a little bit about that. And going into conference, you know, there is the logistical piece, right? We've been planning for this all year long.
Sandra Yancey [00:02:06]:
Yeah. 11 months basically.
Kym Yancey [00:02:08]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:02:09]:
That we plan. We come back out of conference and that next 30 days is just a lot of just buttoning down everything that happened and welcoming, you know, all of our, you know, new clients. And we send out a survey getting data from all of our Attendees about what they thought, what they loved.
Kym Yancey [00:02:30]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:02:30]:
And we also ask all of our team to do what we call—
Sandra Yancey [00:02:34]:
Spot analysis.
Briana Dai [00:02:35]:
Spot analysis.
Sandra Yancey [00:02:36]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:02:37]:
Where everybody talks about— it's different than the SWOT analysis that most corporate people have been trained on.
Kym Yancey [00:02:42]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:02:42]:
So that's really where we shine.
Kym Yancey [00:02:44]:
Yep.
Briana Dai [00:02:45]:
The spot, the S, and then the problems, meaning the things that we experience as issues on the back end that nobody really saw. That creates churn and anxiety and frustration and stress and all of the energy that you don't want your team to be carrying during an event. And then the opportunities, the, oh, how could we improve or do things better? And then the threats, meaning these are the problems that the attendees did experience or—
Sandra Yancey [00:03:11]:
And we never want them to see them again.
Briana Dai [00:03:12]:
We never want them to see those again. And every single person on the team does that and it's really amazing because everybody has a distinct role.
Sandra Yancey [00:03:19]:
Yes.
Briana Dai [00:03:19]:
And so everybody's spot analysis always looks a little bit different because they have their different perspectives and vantage points of how they experienced the conference based off of the department or the role that they were playing there. So we always do that after the event so that we can improve internally and then take the feedback of the attendees from their surveys and we take that into account. And every single year we try to get better and better and better. And I think that we do.
Sandra Yancey [00:03:45]:
Yeah, we do. I mean, we even get, we even have data sometimes on, you know, maybe improvements they wanted to see with the hotel. And then we negotiate those things With the hotel. Yeah. In order for us to come here or come back here, these are some of the improvement things that we need to see.
Briana Dai [00:04:04]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:04:04]:
Yep. And we put them in our contract.
Kym Yancey [00:04:06]:
Yeah. That's why those engagement, those meetings we have with them, you know, pre and you said as post, because it's— they pay a pivotal role in the experience.
Sandra Yancey [00:04:16]:
For sure.
Briana Dai [00:04:16]:
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:04:17]:
Yep, yep, yep, yep. Absolutely. So it's 11 months. Takes 11 months for us to gather all that information, do our own what we call plan, do, review. We plan it, then we execute it. execute it, and then we spend 30 days just on reviewing.
Kym Yancey [00:04:31]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:04:32]:
And then the next thing you know, we're into planning the next year.
Briana Dai [00:04:34]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:04:35]:
So, and then it really cranks up 4 months before, starting 4 months. We have a weekly, for us it's on a Monday scheduled from 3 to 5, what we call RASI meeting, R-A-S-I. And we literally chart every single deliverable that needs to be done pre, during, and post the conference. And then we set dates, delivery dates that they need to be complete. And then we do our RASCI. And the R in RASCI stands for the person responsible. So there has to be an owner, one owner per line item.
Kym Yancey [00:05:19]:
Mm-hmm.
Sandra Yancey [00:05:20]:
When you have multiple Rs, then there's a lot of chances for people to assume the other person has it and that kind of thing. And so it's a language here. We always say, who's the R on that?
Kym Yancey [00:05:31]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:05:32]:
So if we have a question about a deliverable and we want to know where it stands, we always say, who's got the R? Yeah, right. And the A stands for approval, which is basically veto power. So there are things that might be getting done that either you, Brianna—
Briana Dai [00:05:50]:
I just want to have my hand in. I want to say, yep, that looks good, or nope, try again.
Sandra Yancey [00:05:55]:
Right, exactly. And same thing with you, Kim, or even me. But so sometimes the person that's the R, responsible, also has the A, approval power, but sometimes not. There could be somebody that's responsible for making sure it happens, but needs to get the approval from someone else. And then the S stands for support. So who are the supporting people? And a lot of times we have multiple S's. We usually have one R, one A, multiple S's because things go Different portals of support. Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:06:30]:
So like a real life example would be, you know, we for the production have the LED backgrounds on the stage. We do a huge LED screen behind us. What is it like 30 by 40?
Kym Yancey [00:06:42]:
No, not quite that big. Yeah, that's big.
Briana Dai [00:06:45]:
It's big. It's huge.
Sandra Yancey [00:06:47]:
25 feet by something.
Kym Yancey [00:06:48]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:06:49]:
By a lot.
Kym Yancey [00:06:50]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:06:50]:
Huge. And so, you know, I might be responsible for seeing that, or no, I'm the approval. I'm the A. I approve it. And then the R is the graphic designer, but the— or I'm the A and the R actually.
Sandra Yancey [00:07:08]:
I think you are.
Briana Dai [00:07:08]:
I'm the A and the R. I am responsible for seeing that it gets done and I'm the final approval of it, but then I also have the support, which is the graphic designer, and I also have the production team because I need the file types and the file sizes that they need, right? And then there's all these, and then the people that need to be informed are like you, Kim, because you want to know that it's getting done. You also want to be looped in and make sure it looks good. We work and collaborate together. You're kind of a co-A, if you will, you know, on the overall look and design.
Kym Yancey [00:07:39]:
You know, it's funny we talk about this, but one of the big things with that screen is how slow it needs to move. People, you don't even think about that. Yeah. They think about, You know, the effect that you want to have. And why it's so important that it moves so very slow.
Briana Dai [00:07:51]:
So it's not distracting.
Kym Yancey [00:07:52]:
So it's not distracting.
Sandra Yancey [00:07:54]:
And then I might be an I. I'm just curious. I just want to see how it all looks at the end. I can opt out of that. But if I opt out of being an I, then I can't say, I wish nobody ever talks to me about this. I wish I would have seen it. I would have loved to have known what it looked like.
Briana Dai [00:08:09]:
Yeah, that's the informed.
Sandra Yancey [00:08:11]:
Yeah, that's the informed. So if you want to know, you can just say, I just want to be informed on it. And if you're not, if you opt not to, that's okay, but then you can't complain that you didn't know.
Briana Dai [00:08:22]:
And now everybody knows their role, what they're responsible for, and who needs to be CC'd. Like, not be CC'd, but who needs to be CC'd so that they can be informed about what's going on.
Sandra Yancey [00:08:34]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:08:35]:
And so, yeah, it's a really powerful system.
Sandra Yancey [00:08:36]:
And I think it's, what would you say, it's between 500 and 600 line items.
Briana Dai [00:08:39]:
It's gotten to be so lengthy, y'all. It's so crazy.
Sandra Yancey [00:08:42]:
And we go through it every— and every— it's very expensive to run these because every single staff member needs to be on it. And I know I'm aware of the fact that I'm paying everybody their salaries to be on this call. And there's sometimes people will be like, gosh, I'm done with my part, but you need to be on it just because I think it's important for everybody to be aware of where everybody is. And because we have, you know, you'll see flurries of things that need to be done in deadlines 2 months before, right? Like the speaker that, you know, we're gonna have any kind of details 1 month before, which is when, you know, a lot of the final food menus are selected, and the layouts have to be approved by the fire marshal for the exhibit hall and all of that. And then a couple of weeks before, when we're working on all of the voice of God, the audios, you know, the introductions, the obtaining, making sure we're getting everybody's walk-on music, all of that kind of thing done, right? And then, you know, the week before, and of course we move the team in about the week before it should be showtime. But the good news is, as things get finished, they get marked finished. They get turned green to finish. And everybody loves to say, mark it finished.
Sandra Yancey [00:10:00]:
And so as we get closer to the conference, we move a lot faster because more and more things are finished and we're just zeroing in on the final things. And then we come back right after the conference and continue with the meetings because now we've got all the post-conference deliverables. Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:10:17]:
Yeah. And we've got a lot of moving pieces, especially when you think about the managing director training beforehand. I mean, a lot of people are not aware that while the conference days, a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, right? That managing directors from around the country, all over the world, really, are there a couple of days prior to that.
Sandra Yancey [00:10:36]:
They fly in on Sunday and they're in training Monday and Tuesday. We have a State of the Union with them on Monday.
Kym Yancey [00:10:41]:
And that's a whole community of its— of itself, you know what I mean?
Sandra Yancey [00:10:43]:
2 days of training, whole design layouts. Then we have the awards ceremony with them on Tuesday night. And then, you know, Wednesday, You know, it really starts kicking in with the full day. And then we have the Platinum Reception, you know, on Wednesday night you have the Emerging Leader Dinner.
Briana Dai [00:11:01]:
There's a lot of logistics and moving parts. Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:11:03]:
Each one of those have basically show cards for however I get a, I get a 3 by 5 card every single day on key things that are happening that are highlighted where I need to be so that I have a daily just kind of quick reference.
Briana Dai [00:11:18]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:11:19]:
Of what's happening, where I need to be. Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:11:22]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:11:22]:
That first day of the actual conference, which is the Wednesday the 12th, is electrifying.
Briana Dai [00:11:29]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:11:30]:
It's, it's, it is so action-packed. I love the format of it. I mean, I really, I mean, I mean—
Briana Dai [00:11:37]:
Can I just say I signed off on the stage for it this year and it looks like we've 10x'd. Like it's an uplevel. It's so good.
Sandra Yancey [00:11:43]:
Oh, really?
Kym Yancey [00:11:43]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:11:44]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:11:45]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:11:45]:
And we're doing—
Kym Yancey [00:11:46]:
I've not seen it yet.
Briana Dai [00:11:47]:
I know. You weren't— and I love that.
Sandra Yancey [00:11:53]:
Now you're really curious.
Kym Yancey [00:11:54]:
Can't wait to see it.
Briana Dai [00:11:56]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:11:56]:
And we're putting a stage in the Platinum reception now because the Platinum membership has gotten so big and we've got some fun things that we're doing in there. And yeah, we're serving coffee in the Platinum and Pinnacle lounge. Oh, you know, every morning.
Briana Dai [00:12:12]:
I know where you'll find me every morning.
Kym Yancey [00:12:14]:
Exactly.
Sandra Yancey [00:12:14]:
Exactly. So, yeah, it's a, it's, it's a massive project and, and it's expensive to run just from a staff admin time, let alone what happens for load-in.
Kym Yancey [00:12:29]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:12:30]:
And then a moving truck. People don't even realize. I think it's close to 600 boxes. Somebody told me of stuff that needs to be—
Briana Dai [00:12:36]:
Furniture, signage. We have our own storage basically unit here on site at the corporate office.
Kym Yancey [00:12:43]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:12:43]:
So Most of that gets taken out to go to the event. And it's interesting because this year it won't be going back to the same place because we're moving. So we're going to bring it back to the new storage space that we've, we've taken over. But—
Sandra Yancey [00:12:57]:
Because if the conference wasn't enough, we're going to come back on Monday and we have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday for all the final things to get back moved in. And of course, the truck doesn't even typically come in sometimes until Sunday or Monday.
Briana Dai [00:13:11]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:13:11]:
Um, to unload and get back in. But we're literally moving our— we're literally dismantling. And I'm starting to get a little bit emotional about all of that too.
Kym Yancey [00:13:22]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:13:22]:
Getting in touch with the fact that, Kim, we've been here for 22, 23 years.
Kym Yancey [00:13:28]:
Longer than that, isn't it?
Sandra Yancey [00:13:29]:
On this building? I think maybe.
Kym Yancey [00:13:31]:
I mean, think about this.
Sandra Yancey [00:13:32]:
When we started eWomen Network the first year, maybe 18 months we were here, we sublet from Mutual of Omaha and then took the space when they moved out. And then there was a medical facility next to us. And then when they moved out, we crashed through the doors and expanded. And then there was an architectural firm. And then—
Briana Dai [00:13:53]:
Yeah, we're squirreling.
Kym Yancey [00:13:55]:
Yeah. Are we?
Sandra Yancey [00:13:56]:
Yeah, we're going. But point of the matter is, we are now moving to the new space on that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And, you know, I'm noticing that we're kind of building a RASCI chart. Kimberly, my EA, and I, as we think about what needs to happen, all the logistics, a lot of that needs to be—
Briana Dai [00:14:16]:
Servers, everything, right? Craziness. So yeah, there's a lot that goes into the planning, and I think that we're really excellent at that between the RASCI, the spot analysis. But there's one piece to this that I don't think that is talked about enough, and that is, you know, when in the midst of doing all this, particularly with the extra things that we have on our plate, like the move while we're planning the conference and making it a bigger and better experience. And we just relaunched technology. There's like also managing your sanity.
Sandra Yancey [00:14:42]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:14:43]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:14:43]:
You know, and how you handle the stress. And it's so funny because I've noticed something about myself. So one thing that most people probably don't know about me is I get eczema breakouts, specifically in and around my ears, which is the most random thing. I don't know a single other person that has ear eczema. Have you ever even heard of it?
Kym Yancey [00:15:04]:
First of all, I didn't know that either. Oh, really? And I'm your daddy.
Sandra Yancey [00:15:10]:
It's because mommy always took care of it.
Kym Yancey [00:15:13]:
I would've lost that bonus question. I'll tell you what.
Briana Dai [00:15:16]:
But you know what's crazy is it only flares out when I'm stressed. And what I've learned about myself is I carry, I've learned to carry stress really well. So I don't necessarily feel stressed, but my body tells me that I'm stressed because my ear eczema starts to get get, get irritated. I have to, I have my little ointment and all the little things that I do to help with it. But, um, it's actually this ear, not this ear. I get it in one ear, not both ears. One ear breaks out eczema and I know, okay, I'm getting, I'm, I'm, I'm, my stress is heightened because my ear eczema is annoying me and I get, it gets itchy and dry and it's just a whole thing. So I have, I've learned to listen when my ear gets angry.
Sandra Yancey [00:15:59]:
Mm-hmm.
Kym Yancey [00:16:00]:
Like, okay.
Briana Dai [00:16:01]:
Mm-hmm. You need to take a pause. Yeah. Take a deep breath, take a step back, like, you know, and do some breathwork or something to just kind of like ground yourself. Because I, my body, that's my little check engine light letting me know, okay, mm-hmm, you're getting ready to run into an issue if you don't address this. And so, yeah, and I'm grateful for that little ear eczema because it is my little compass, my energy compass.
Sandra Yancey [00:16:23]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:16:24]:
When I need to like take a beat.
Sandra Yancey [00:16:26]:
And I start craving an ice cream cone. Yeah. Every night, don't I? You take me for my little ice cream cone trip every night.
Kym Yancey [00:16:33]:
Yeah. Ice cream. Yeah. You, let's see. Yeah. Ice cream and—
Briana Dai [00:16:37]:
In-N-Out.
Kym Yancey [00:16:38]:
And that little private affair you have with Amazon.
Sandra Yancey [00:16:40]:
Oh, I'm kidding.
Kym Yancey [00:16:49]:
Yeah. They come alive.
Briana Dai [00:16:53]:
Yeah. Some people scroll social media. Some people scroll Amazon.
Sandra Yancey [00:16:59]:
Well, I have a little granddaughter that's getting ready to have a 6th birthday. There's lots of things to shop for.
Briana Dai [00:17:04]:
Yeah, it's fun.
Sandra Yancey [00:17:05]:
Yeah, all kinds of party supplies.
Briana Dai [00:17:07]:
When you can, when you can do it. Yeah, you know. Yeah. But yeah, that's interesting. We all handle our stress a little bit differently.
Kym Yancey [00:17:16]:
You know, you mentioned that, and I, uh, I think about how the members define the conference for themselves. You know, I— and I told someone, and I don't know if this is gonna stick or not, but the whole notion of, you know, what is this? You know, what is this whole experience? And I tell you, to me, it is like the combination of the family reunion, but it's the business reunion of all the different, you know, businesses and how they all interact. I've never seen, you know, with all the preparation, with all the things that we do, there is a cadence to what they do in terms of the meetings that they create. There's an energy and a vibe. I don't know how to define it. Do you?
Sandra Yancey [00:18:00]:
You know, we haven't talked about this, but I have some thoughts around all of that because, you know, we do have close to 70% of our attendees sign up for the next year's conference before they leave, which, if you know anything about the events business, it's really unheard of to get people to commit a year in advance to come. And I, I I've really thought about this a lot this last year, and we really don't have an audience. We truly have a community. I mean, well over 90% of our audience are in the eWomen Network community.
Kym Yancey [00:18:38]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:18:38]:
They are members. Right. And that's why it has the energy that it has, because they are people who are aligned already with our values. It's hard to show values to an audience of people that have come from from, you know, a bunch of ads and different spaces and places and that kind of thing and are just dropping in and they don't have, they're not in relationship with you.
Briana Dai [00:19:05]:
Mm-hmm.
Sandra Yancey [00:19:06]:
And I think our audience is unique in that. In fact, I'm trying to think of any other event, you know what I mean, that comes to top of mind that has that embedded kind of community that's very clear on its mission, very aligned with the values of how we are going to be with each other. I mean, I think the, I think what shocks first-timers is that they can meet people they don't know. And there's just this sense of everybody walking up and saying, tell me about you. And then using our 5 favorite words, how can I help you? Do you feel like you're drowning in your business? Like you're doing everything and something has to give, but you're afraid it might be you? What if I told you there's a network of over 500,000 women entrepreneurs all dedicated to supporting each other, a network of women helping women. I'm Sandra Yancey, founder of eWomen Network, and I'm inviting you to join us and become a member. ewomennetwork.com. We can't wait to meet you.
Kym Yancey [00:20:09]:
Well, think about this, Sandra, the majority coming in on that Tuesday. Yeah. All right. Because the conference kicks off. I mean, the teaching learnings and all that. The first program begins at 9 o'clock in the morning on that Wednesday.
Sandra Yancey [00:20:21]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:20:22]:
And, you know, you meet somebody on that Wednesday, then, you know, that evening you see them again. The next, you know, you see them the next day. I mean, relationships are being formed, you know, like nothing I've ever seen before. I mean, think about the people who have told us that they have actually in one weekend at Evenmin Network at the conference, they've done all the business they needed to do for the year.
Sandra Yancey [00:20:43]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:20:44]:
I mean, think about that for a second. You know, that they could have never imagined. I've seen people, they're in a place of glee.
Sandra Yancey [00:20:51]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:20:51]:
You know, like, I can't get over how much business. And that's not going there with a preconceived notion. Oh, I'm coming here to get a whole bunch of business.
Briana Dai [00:20:59]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:20:59]:
Is I'm coming here to connect, to learn, to give, to share. And that permeates the whole thing.
Sandra Yancey [00:21:06]:
Well, when everybody's doing it, there's this, this energy of reciprocity because everybody's looking to look out for everyone.
Kym Yancey [00:21:14]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:21:15]:
It's rare. Most, most events are what can I get for me?
Briana Dai [00:21:18]:
I think we do a really good job of setting the stage for that though, too. I mean, yes, most of the people that come are involved in the community, so they know the culture. But there are also people that aren't as familiar.
Kym Yancey [00:21:28]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:21:29]:
I mean, maybe they just became members, but they don't really know. And it's really their first experience with you, myself, and Kim.
Sandra Yancey [00:21:37]:
The trifecta.
Briana Dai [00:21:37]:
That leadership level, right? To really see, because everything hinges off of the leadership.
Sandra Yancey [00:21:43]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:21:43]:
You know, if you don't have a solid leader, your culture is going to reflect that. And so, you know, You kick it off, you do your own kind of State of the Union. Yes. And you really set the stage and you set the energy and that energy just— it is magic. It really is magic. And it's hard to explain to somebody who has never experienced it. You just have to, to be there. And I can say that with confidence because I go to so many conferences because I'm a student.
Briana Dai [00:22:13]:
I love learning. I love going to other conferences and they're great. No doubt about it. But there is definitely, and I know I'm biased, but there really truly is something special about it.
Sandra Yancey [00:22:24]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:22:25]:
You know?
Kym Yancey [00:22:25]:
And, you know, if you notice, you know, I particularly have been paying attention to what I see in social media here leading up to the conference and the proliferation of people saying, you know, we can get you, you know, 10 million views. And I've noticed this whole, what I call this view culture, where people are saying, let me help you get, you know, thousands and thousands of people to view you. But pay attention to what word they're not talking about. They're talking about views. They're not talking about clients, relationships. They're talking about numbers. Yeah. And they're flat and they're empty.
Kym Yancey [00:22:59]:
And anyone that's been in it realizes, hey, listen, having thousands of views means nothing. I didn't sell one book.
Briana Dai [00:23:05]:
And they attract the wrong kinds of views too. I mean, I've had a post go viral and my intention was to talk to the ladies and I had a army of men commenting with their keyboard warrior mindset. I'm like, I wasn't talking to you, bro. So views don't necessarily— they don't— they're not really truly what you want at the end of the day. What you want is an aligned audience.
Kym Yancey [00:23:25]:
Well, think about, you know, the video that went viral with us with, um, decisions, right?
Sandra Yancey [00:23:32]:
Right.
Kym Yancey [00:23:32]:
I haven't— I mean, millions. Yeah, millions.
Sandra Yancey [00:23:35]:
I think it was over 11 million, wasn't it?
Kym Yancey [00:23:37]:
I think so. Oh, that was a while ago. I mean, Yeah, but no, but that one person has said, oh, I bought a ticket to your conference because I saw your decisions.
Briana Dai [00:23:45]:
Right, right.
Sandra Yancey [00:23:46]:
No, it's true.
Kym Yancey [00:23:48]:
It's a cute video. It's fun to watch. It gives you a great laugh. I think about the people that I laugh at, you know, or we exchange, oh, have you seen this? Have you seen that? And you see all this stuff and do what with it?
Briana Dai [00:23:59]:
Yeah, but also listen.
Kym Yancey [00:24:00]:
Okay.
Sandra Yancey [00:24:01]:
Okay, here we go. I was waiting for this. I'm like—
Briana Dai [00:24:04]:
Don't hate on the views either. I'm not hating on it. Because we do live in an economy where the follower So if you are able to garnish a ton of views that then lead to followers, now you have the growing following. Think about it like a realtor, for example. Are you going to book the realtor that has no social media presence or the one that is on and popping? I mean, I think about my realtor. She sold my house in a weekend based off of a TikTok video.
Kym Yancey [00:24:31]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:24:31]:
She sold it from the TikTok video from a person who saw the house on TikTok and didn't even see it in person.
Kym Yancey [00:24:35]:
Right.
Briana Dai [00:24:36]:
And they bought it.
Kym Yancey [00:24:37]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:24:38]:
$60,000 over asking.
Sandra Yancey [00:24:39]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:24:39]:
That's a— that at the time, that was like a $640,000 house, $640,000 sale from TikTok video, bro.
Kym Yancey [00:24:47]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:24:48]:
So no, you're right. Views don't automatically mean clients, but they, they are definitely a lever.
Kym Yancey [00:24:54]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:24:54]:
You know, it's a lever and it's also an important one in the trust recession that we live in. So, so, but, but, but I think what I get what you're trying to say though, is that views don't necessarily mean Community. An audience and a community are 2 different things.
Kym Yancey [00:25:08]:
And trust. I mean, I'm just saying at the end of the day, I will take a relationship any day over a view.
Briana Dai [00:25:16]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:25:16]:
Any day. And I understand and I totally get it. And I think it's a really good example that you use with your realtor and plugged in and tapping the audience and knowing where to put that communication. But I will tell you to this day, The only thing that I've ever seen move anything in a massive way is that relationship.
Briana Dai [00:25:36]:
No kidding.
Kym Yancey [00:25:37]:
Yeah. You know what I mean?
Sandra Yancey [00:25:38]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:25:38]:
And I'm telling you, man, you get a stopped up toilet, there's nothing more important than that relationship you have with the plumber.
Sandra Yancey [00:25:45]:
I can't believe you said that.
Kym Yancey [00:25:46]:
You would have called that plumber on a Friday night. Hey, listen.
Sandra Yancey [00:25:49]:
Wait a minute here. Like, where are we going with this?
Briana Dai [00:25:53]:
Like, well, he wasn't talking about your toilet. Oh my God. Okay, so let's talk about energy for a second because we've talked about logistics, we've talked about the energy of the conference, but how about our energy? Because pulling this off demands a lot, not only of us, but our entire team.
Sandra Yancey [00:26:08]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:26:08]:
And I, I know for me, we kind of talked about it, we touched on it in another episode. But, you know, there is a level of hustle that you have to tap into to, to pull off this lift. I mean, we have a massive team. I think there's over 50 people that we acknowledge for, for contributing to pulling off conference of this size. But on site, I mean, it's not— we're maybe 30 people on site.
Sandra Yancey [00:26:36]:
Yeah, 30, 35.
Briana Dai [00:26:37]:
30, 35, right?
Sandra Yancey [00:26:38]:
Um, some of our team doesn't come to the conference.
Briana Dai [00:26:41]:
Right, exactly. And so, you know, for us, particularly because we're on stage, we're delivering content. So there's all of the backend preparation that goes, but then there's the energy that we bring to the stage where we really lay it all out there, where we're really pouring our hearts out. To serve this audience.
Sandra Yancey [00:26:58]:
And can I just say shout out to the team members that don't come to the conference because many of them are the ones that are keeping the business going while we're there.
Briana Dai [00:27:07]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:27:08]:
I mean, you know, we've got thousands and thousands of members that are not coming to the conference that for them, you know, it's just another day. It's just another day. And so we have to be able to service them while the rest of it, majority of us by far are at the conference, no doubt about it.
Briana Dai [00:27:24]:
Mm-hmm.
Sandra Yancey [00:27:25]:
And I know for me, I have a whole load-in list. I mean, I literally bring my own coffee pot because I like my coffee and it has— I like a certain kind of cream, you know, and I'm a real sugar and I don't want to be tearing up those little things. And I, and I'm up before 6, which is often when the room service starts. So I want my coffee, you know, when I'm up.
Kym Yancey [00:27:50]:
Right.
Sandra Yancey [00:27:51]:
And because, as you know, makeup and hair show up at 5-something in the morning often. And, and if not, I'm getting ready before they come kind of thing. And then I have my own, my blueberries and my yogurt and the things that I need to fuel myself, to keep me kind of going, and to have my snacks behind stage so that when you're up, I'm back there and I'm keeping myself fueled, you know, in a very healthy way. I am not eating junk food during the conference. We did do a We did do a sneak away. There was a— we were at one hotel years ago and across the street was In-N-Out and we snuck out the back, the back way and went across the street to In-N-Out one time. But that's the exception.
Kym Yancey [00:28:36]:
That was a stress release too.
Briana Dai [00:28:37]:
Yeah, we were like, I remember that's your little thing. And so before I was on the team.
Sandra Yancey [00:28:41]:
Oh yeah.
Briana Dai [00:28:42]:
And I was digital marketing and I would run the social media during the event. And I had a team that was working with me that year. And I remember you were feeling stressed. So we actually left. We went to In-N-Out and picked you up your order and brought it to you and surprised you.
Sandra Yancey [00:28:54]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:28:54]:
It was a moment.
Sandra Yancey [00:28:55]:
It was so fun when y'all walked in the room with bags of In-N-Out. Yeah, that was fun. Yeah. But yeah, but that's the exception. I mean, for the most part. And that was like right before we get going. Yeah, kind of thing. But once, once it's showtime, we are fueling ourselves the right way.
Sandra Yancey [00:29:14]:
Yeah, for sure.
Briana Dai [00:29:15]:
For sure. It's going to be interesting this year because I've never even thought about working out, but I'm going to see if I can manage my energy and be prepared enough to bring my workout clothes and actually I'm gonna actually maybe try to see what the fitness center looks like this year. 'Cause I don't even know what it looks like 'cause I've never seen it 'cause I'm just so in event mode.
Kym Yancey [00:29:34]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:29:34]:
You know, but, you know, this year has called for a different version of me. And I know that when I do start my day with that endorphin rush, it does carry my energy through the day.
Kym Yancey [00:29:45]:
Science backs it too. You know, I mean, there are doctors who prescribe exercise, you know, working out 20 minutes, 10, whatever it is, instead of a Prozac pill. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Wow.
Sandra Yancey [00:29:56]:
I have my bands, I have my P-Touch, I have—
Kym Yancey [00:29:59]:
yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:30:00]:
And I still often don't get to them, to be totally honest with you. But I do my squats in the shower.
Kym Yancey [00:30:05]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:30:05]:
I mean, it's— it is an all-encompassing 4 days for us. I mean, because it's not just coming prepared with our content. It's also like, I can't even think of like the little things. Like, did you remember that we're supposed to acknowledge this person on the stage? Oh, let's get that in the run of show. Oh, do we need a slide for them? It's like little last-minute things like that that pop up, you know, or, oh man, we didn't, you know, as prepared as you try to be, you could forget, you know, oh, we have this sponsor giveaway. Did you put that giveaway in the run of show? Okay, we need to make sure we have a note card for that so that we can mention the giveaway. Where are we going to plan that into the run of show for today? How are we going to— and so there's just always, no matter how prepared you are, there are little things that get thrown at you that can throw you off of your game.
Sandra Yancey [00:30:48]:
And my room actually looks like a NASA center, doesn't it? Yeah, it's got monitors, 4 monitors, my 2 monitors, Kimberly's 2 monitors. Of course, we're in the presidential suite. in the adjoining room so that, you know, we can walk back and forth. Kim often doesn't even sleep in that room. He'll sleep in another hotel room because Kimberly and I will be up in our robes.
Kym Yancey [00:31:09]:
And I'm working on my presentation too. And I just, you know, it's just a lot of movement.
Briana Dai [00:31:14]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:31:14]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:31:15]:
So he'll get a hotel room, but we'll be there the night so that because it has a wonderful living room to do our plan-do-review. What went well? What didn't go well? Did we? And that's when And things will come up and then we'll run to the computers and adjust the run of show and print a new card and all of— so we have printers in there, 4 monitors. Just, I mean, it looks like a NASA center. Yeah. In the presidential suite. It's crazy.
Kym Yancey [00:31:39]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:31:40]:
How it looks. Stuff just happens as much as you plan. There are little things that happen.
Briana Dai [00:31:44]:
And just even rehearsing and just being so grounded and knowing that you know your stuff. It's, there's, I've had to learn, um, there's a difference between preparing and over-preparing.
Kym Yancey [00:31:56]:
Mm-hmm.
Briana Dai [00:31:56]:
And I, I've had to learn, particularly since my, uh, brain injury, that I need to be prepared, but I can't over-prepare. Cuz if I come and I think I have to stay up and I have to practice and I have to rehearse, I'm not gonna be my best the next day. And so for me, there's a balance between coming, knowing that you know your stuff, being grounded and trusting in that and trusting that you're gonna, So if you're speaking from your heart and you've done your homework ahead of time, you're going to do your best on the stage if you just frickin go to sleep.
Sandra Yancey [00:32:28]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:32:29]:
You know?
Sandra Yancey [00:32:29]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:32:29]:
And I—
Sandra Yancey [00:32:30]:
if you sleep like me, you prepare in your sleep.
Briana Dai [00:32:32]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:32:32]:
I feel like I close my eyes and I'm walking through it.
Kym Yancey [00:32:35]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:32:36]:
Just, I'm ganked up.
Briana Dai [00:32:37]:
I would be so interested for you to have like an Oura ring or something, because those— what's been interesting for me this year with my health kick is this tracks my sleep. But what it does is it doesn't just say, oh, you were asleep from this time to this time. tracks my REM sleep, my deep sleep, my awake windows. And so you can see how good the sleep quality that you're getting. I'd be fascinated to read your sleep data, you know? Yeah, just because it is— it's, it's— I, I, for me, there's a direct correlation between when I get good sleep and when I perform.
Kym Yancey [00:33:11]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:33:11]:
Do you have a guilty pleasure? Do you have a little munchie thing that You have in your room?
Briana Dai [00:33:17]:
Um, you're a munchie girl.
Sandra Yancey [00:33:19]:
Mm-hmm.
Briana Dai [00:33:20]:
You have a lot. You have a bunch of 'em. Popcorn.
Sandra Yancey [00:33:22]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:33:22]:
Twisters.
Kym Yancey [00:33:23]:
Yep.
Briana Dai [00:33:24]:
Those are always in there.
Sandra Yancey [00:33:25]:
And a little bit of chocolate.
Briana Dai [00:33:25]:
And a little bit of chocolate.
Kym Yancey [00:33:26]:
I don't ever have to worry about it because you got it covered.
Briana Dai [00:33:29]:
Yeah, I know.
Kym Yancey [00:33:30]:
Where's your stash?
Briana Dai [00:33:30]:
I want a munchie of the stash.
Kym Yancey [00:33:33]:
Where's your stash?
Briana Dai [00:33:34]:
And I'm gonna, I'm gonna mooch off of her popcorn stash.
Kym Yancey [00:33:37]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:33:38]:
Usually.
Briana Dai [00:33:38]:
I don't know. I mean, I, I, uh, Yeah. When I'm in the room, I try to always bring my like yogurt or a protein drink for breakfast. I find that I like a protein drink of some kind for breakfast. This past year I got into protein coffee, so I'm definitely going to pack that with my almond milk so I can make my protein coffee in the morning so that I get my protein and my caffeine in one so that I can kick off the day. But I think that starting the day with protein is so critical for me, just cognitively.
Kym Yancey [00:34:07]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:34:08]:
I always have my supplements. I'm really not a munchy snacky girl though. And then when I do, I'm— I always regret it. I'm like, you know who I know has them?
Kym Yancey [00:34:16]:
Me.
Sandra Yancey [00:34:17]:
Mom. You know, I am. When it's late, I like to— I don't have a lot of it. Maybe a cup of popcorn or—
Kym Yancey [00:34:23]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:34:24]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:34:24]:
You're good at— you're good at moderation. That's why you look the way that you do. Because if I had that in my room, it'd all be gone. Yeah, it would all be gone.
Sandra Yancey [00:34:32]:
I let myself eat everything. I just don't I just don't eat everything of it. I just—
Briana Dai [00:34:39]:
Yeah, you can have a spoonful. See, that's the problem. You can have a spoonful of dessert. Should we get a dessert? No, because you're going to eat a spoonful and then I'll have the rest of it. I don't have that. I like— I will eat the whole thing. Yeah, it's a self-control issue. I've learned that about myself, so I just don't want to have it around.
Kym Yancey [00:34:56]:
It's a self-control issue. There's no doubt about it.
Briana Dai [00:34:58]:
I think I got that gene from you.
Kym Yancey [00:35:00]:
You probably did.
Briana Dai [00:35:01]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:35:04]:
I think, I think last night he was like, you want to go to—
Briana Dai [00:35:07]:
what is it? Pink?
Kym Yancey [00:35:09]:
Pinkberry. Pinkberry.
Sandra Yancey [00:35:10]:
Want to go to Pinkberry? He loves Pinkberry. Want to go to Pinkberry? I'm like, yeah, whatever. Okay, so we go. So I get the mini, you know, the mini. It's like this. It's teeny tiny. It's like 3 ounces, maybe not even that, 2.3 ounces or something. And he gets the small, which is 7 ounces, 8 ounces of it.
Sandra Yancey [00:35:28]:
And, you know, we're sitting outside and he finishes and I've got 3/4 of mine to go. And he goes, are you gonna eat that? And I'm like, nope, I'm done. And he goes, here, can I have it? And he reaches over and he takes it, eats mine.
Briana Dai [00:35:40]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:35:41]:
Guilty as charged.
Briana Dai [00:35:42]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:35:43]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:35:43]:
I would honestly probably be doing the same.
Kym Yancey [00:35:46]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:35:46]:
It's an issue. So I just don't have that stuff around me because I know myself. Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:35:51]:
I made Rice Krispie treats last week.
Kym Yancey [00:35:53]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:35:54]:
I said, you need to take at least half of this pan with you. You cannot leave this whole pan in my house, Mother, because I will eat it and that's a problem.
Sandra Yancey [00:36:01]:
Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:36:01]:
So you did. I did. Thank God.
Sandra Yancey [00:36:02]:
I took half of it.
Briana Dai [00:36:03]:
And it didn't even make it to the office. No, I kept it because he ate it. Thank you.
Sandra Yancey [00:36:08]:
I'm free.
Briana Dai [00:36:09]:
I'm free. You wanted it too. Yep.
Sandra Yancey [00:36:13]:
I know. Yeah.
Briana Dai [00:36:15]:
But I love those sweets with my coffee. That, that is a you thing. I got that from you.
Sandra Yancey [00:36:19]:
Oh, because when I, when I was training for my first little sprint triathlon, my coach said to me, he says, I'll deny this if you ever say, if you ever attributed this to me, Sandra, but if you want something sweet, The time to do it is in the morning. Is in the morning. You know, kinda like that whole coffee cake idea. So, you know, I have, if I'm gonna have a sweet, I'm more likely, as you know, to have it in the morning with my coffee. And then, you know, I've got all day to burn it off or to say, okay, that was, I really went over the top. I've got all day. I'm gonna do a little extra 10-minute walk or, you know, you know, 10 extra squats or go to the gym or whatever it is.
Briana Dai [00:36:57]:
Mm-hmm.
Sandra Yancey [00:36:58]:
Or be careful later not to do anything to add on to it. So I do. I have my— I tend to have my sweets with my coffee in the morning. Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:37:07]:
Mm-hmm.
Briana Dai [00:37:07]:
I like them breakfast, lunch, and dinner and midnight snacks. I love my sweets. I'm a sweet tooth, but I do love salty too. But I do gravitate towards my sweets. Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:37:18]:
And I'm way more salty girl. But when I have my sweets, I have them in the morning. Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:37:23]:
My, my, my.
Sandra Yancey [00:37:24]:
Yeah. Yeah. And you're definitely a sweet tooth. Yeah, yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:37:27]:
I've got a sweet tooth.
Briana Dai [00:37:29]:
How do you prepare for the conference? What's your ritual?
Kym Yancey [00:37:34]:
Well, you know, I have to surround myself with mental stimulus. So I'm, you know, I'm listening to music. I'm, you know, I really focus on how can I bring something that they've never ever heard before or a point of view or perspective they've never heard before.
Briana Dai [00:37:55]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:37:56]:
And music helps me get to that place because of the power of the beat, the groove. Emotionally, I can't think of anything that grounds me faster than a melody. So I will lock myself away. I'll start— I'll do some practice runs in my home office where I'm just talking and that kind of thing. But it's a combination of all of it. You know, the practice, my own discoveries, things that I look and I notice, you know, that hit me. And I start to format it that way.
Sandra Yancey [00:38:40]:
I do notice that you have different types of music that you listen to for maybe different ways in which you're handling whether the speed that's going on in your brain or a sense of calming or whatever. But you'll listen to smooth jazz. And then other times it'll be more the oldies, you know, if you will, from, you know, your band days and all the guys that you knew. And, or it might be just what's popping now, whatever it might be.
Kym Yancey [00:39:09]:
Yeah, but I definitely, I get in a mode of, you know, I mean, like, you know, I tell people all the time, you know, your repetition is your reputation. You know, it's like what you do over and over again. And so, you know, Right now, there's always been this river of sameness for people. I don't care, in marketing. My thing is all around branding and marketing. But how do you spin yourself out of that batch? How do you separate yourself in a way that is not only authentic, which happens to be one of those overused words too, authentic. Everybody talks about being authentic and clear.
Sandra Yancey [00:39:46]:
Mm-hmm.
Kym Yancey [00:39:47]:
Of course. Yeah, absolutely. But how do you deliver a message that will stick, that stays with people, that they can apply? And you don't need a lot of them. I'll start with one. If you walk away with 2, you hit the jackpot.
Sandra Yancey [00:40:04]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:40:05]:
Of just strategies that you'll say, I will apply this to my life. I'll pull this into it. Yeah, but it's, but it's the summation of everything.
Sandra Yancey [00:40:16]:
Everybody loves the top 10. But my whole thing is, once you have the top 10, what's— to your point, what's the 1 or 2 you're going to take action on?
Kym Yancey [00:40:22]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:40:23]:
You know, to get going, because I think it's so easy to have all this information and then feel stuck.
Briana Dai [00:40:28]:
Yeah. Overwhelmed and analysis paralysis and figuring out where to go from here. It's interesting. One thing I want to address too, though, before we wrap up is The different styles of our performance natures. So, you know, you, you're very prepared. You are famous internally for your 11th hour brilliance. And I remember one year, um, having to kind of call out the team because they were giving you a hard time for your 11th hour, oh, this video would be great. Can we get this video kind of a thing? And first of all, all I gotta say is thank God there's only one of those because you, you could have triple the trouble, but you only have one to deal with.
Briana Dai [00:41:09]:
That's okay.
Kym Yancey [00:41:10]:
But.
Briana Dai [00:41:10]:
But there is, I think, you know, some, some beauty in, in that nature. And then you're completely the opposite.
Sandra Yancey [00:41:19]:
Completely.
Briana Dai [00:41:19]:
You know, and it's fascinating.
Sandra Yancey [00:41:22]:
I have the binder, I have the cards, I have the, you know, one-page rundown. I've got tabs on every PowerPoint, the iteration after iteration of practice. I am.
Briana Dai [00:41:32]:
And that's completely not your style. And yet you two are the most beautiful couple I have ever witnessed in your love for each other, even though you're complete polar opposites. It's wild to watch and to witness. And I don't know where I fall in that mix because I think I've, I think I've become more of a preparer, particularly since my injury. Like, I cannot— I used to fancy myself more of a wing-it kind of a girl, and I am certainly not that.
Sandra Yancey [00:41:57]:
You'd been, you'd been going in that direction.
Briana Dai [00:42:00]:
I had.
Sandra Yancey [00:42:01]:
Even before your, your health scare, but even more so now for sure. And you also have 2 children. And I mean, there's just a lot now to, to be thinking about and organizing. I think some of that comes with motherhood. Some of it comes with the need, you know, from your incident. And some of it just comes from sanity. You know, I can wing it. I just don't like that feeling.
Kym Yancey [00:42:27]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:42:28]:
It's not like I can't wing it. I've been in many situations that I've had to wing. And people have said, that's some of your best work. And I'm, I'm like, but it's not my happy place.
Briana Dai [00:42:37]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:42:38]:
Yeah, I don't think of it as winging it as much as I am— my antenna is always open.
Briana Dai [00:42:46]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:42:47]:
And I'm—
Briana Dai [00:42:48]:
You're open to a spark of an idea.
Kym Yancey [00:42:50]:
Yeah. I'm open to a spark of an idea or a road that I was going to— I have, I've been in a situation where I went down this road and it just didn't sit with me. I mean, I thought it did, but then the next day I felt differently and I had to change everything. Change everything because the message—
Sandra Yancey [00:43:08]:
Yeah, I used to get really frustrated frustrated about your last-minute changes. And what I've learned after 48 years and being in business together 25, what I've learned is, you know, some of those 11th-hour changes, I've just had to admit, for as much as it drives me crazy or I don't want to do it, or I'm like, we should be closed on this by now, they are sometimes some of your best.
Kym Yancey [00:43:33]:
Mm-hmm.
Sandra Yancey [00:43:33]:
And I've had to learn to really honor You know, and just like, you can't get mad at somebody who's got a brilliant idea at the 11th hour. You just can't.
Kym Yancey [00:43:45]:
Well, I think too, you know, if you happen to be working with a team and you get, you know, the rolling eyes or something like that, it's completely different when you are driving a creative experience. You know what I mean? I'm just saying, with all the creatives that I know, when they're driving a creative experience, You know, different things will stimulate their approach to something. And, you know, you just have to make sure your team knows, you know, this is how I work best, you know.
Sandra Yancey [00:44:18]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:44:18]:
It's not to create drama, but, you know.
Briana Dai [00:44:21]:
Yeah.
Kym Yancey [00:44:22]:
But it is game time. You know, we are in our— you know, this is the countdown to our Super Bowl. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, Sandra, and you say this, and I love I love it and I use it myself. And that is when it's time for the conference to kick off, it's showtime. Yeah. And that's showtime from the standpoint of, oh, I'm going to show out.
Kym Yancey [00:44:43]:
No, it's showtime from the standpoint of I'm ready to amp myself up. Yeah. Lock in. I want to lock in.
Sandra Yancey [00:44:49]:
It's showtime.
Kym Yancey [00:44:51]:
Let's go.
Sandra Yancey [00:44:52]:
Be nowhere else but where, where my feet are.
Briana Dai [00:44:54]:
Amen. Because she does not just mean business.
Kym Yancey [00:44:57]:
Yeah.
Sandra Yancey [00:44:58]:
She means millions.
Kym Yancey [00:45:00]:
And millions.
Sandra Yancey [00:45:01]:
And millions.
Kym Yancey [00:45:02]:
And millions.
Briana Dai [00:45:03]:
And millions.