Lisa Marks is an Award-Winning Global Event Industry Leader and Founder of Brand Alive

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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's podcast, the number one podcast for entrepreneurs by
[00:06] SPEAKER_00: entrepreneurs. Hello and welcome to Calgary's podcast with Mario Tonoguzzi, a time
[00:13] SPEAKER_00: where we talk to entrepreneurs across the city and across the province who
[00:19] SPEAKER_00: make things happen. Joining me today is Lisa Marx, who is the owner of Brand
[00:24] SPEAKER_01: Alive. Thanks for joining us today Lisa. Oh it's my pleasure nice to meet you
[00:28] SPEAKER_01: virtually, which is just the way of the world right now. That sure is. Well let's
[00:34] SPEAKER_00: start by just telling me a little bit Lisa about Brand Alive, what it is and
[00:40] SPEAKER_01: what it does. Yeah awesome. Brand Alive is a business I started, I incorporated in
[00:46] SPEAKER_01: late 2018 and really rolled up my sleeves and started working on it early 2019
[00:50] SPEAKER_01: after about a decade of experience in the live events industry. So my special
[00:56] SPEAKER_01: team I sweet spot is end-to-end full-term key event management and production,
[01:02] SPEAKER_01: specifically supporting corporations. My ultimate sweet spot is on employee
[01:07] SPEAKER_01: facing, so employer brand events that really ignite a powerful feeling in
[01:12] SPEAKER_01: the employee base and use events to fulfill a strategy. A bunch of the work
[01:18] SPEAKER_01: that I do is also external because that's just sort of a natural cadence in
[01:21] SPEAKER_01: events and some private with some private families as well. I spent much of
[01:27] SPEAKER_01: my career on the brand side as head of events for I'm sure a known corporation
[01:32] SPEAKER_01: shop communications very close to my heart and was able to come in and really
[01:37] SPEAKER_01: build the events agency inside of Shaw and that's where I got my I sort of say I
[01:42] SPEAKER_01: got a mini MBA while working there I learned my chops in building things being
[01:48] SPEAKER_01: an entrepreneur even from the inside and prior to that I had five or six years
[01:53] SPEAKER_01: of agency experience so similar to the ad agency world but on the event
[01:57] SPEAKER_01: management side with my fresh business bachelor of commerce degree in hand I
[02:02] SPEAKER_01: got a job at an agency to start my career move to the brand side and then now
[02:07] SPEAKER_00: today I run brand life. So tell me just where you're at these days obviously
[02:13] SPEAKER_00: with the chaos that's around us caused by the pandemic. Yeah it is a very
[02:20] SPEAKER_01: very challenging time in my industry to say that we've been turned upside down
[02:24] SPEAKER_01: and backwards would be an understatement. There is a lot of pain in my
[02:29] SPEAKER_01: industry around the world it's no question that we were amongst the very first
[02:34] SPEAKER_01: to get shut down and we will likely be the amongst the last of the industries
[02:38] SPEAKER_01: to come back. Now there's a lot of opinions in there I have my own about you
[02:43] SPEAKER_01: know we're seeing restaurant and hospitality come back which is wonderful I
[02:46] SPEAKER_01: believe in let's get those industries going but certainly some lessons there
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: and event professionals on my side can bring events back safely we're just not
[02:54] SPEAKER_01: at that point yet. So it's a challenging time my business is micro by designs
[03:02] SPEAKER_01: so I can I've been able to get through the months no problem you know what I
[03:08] SPEAKER_01: really learned has been a moment for myself was you know watching what was
[03:13] SPEAKER_01: happening around the world if you have a I'll call it value proposition problem
[03:19] SPEAKER_01: before something like a pandemic which is so unprecedented it's going to be
[03:24] SPEAKER_01: really hard to keep your business the same as it was pre-pandemic during and
[03:29] SPEAKER_01: post-pandemic so I feel very self-assured and fortunate that I'm clear on what
[03:37] SPEAKER_01: value I bring and my collective brings and so we've been able to to
[03:41] SPEAKER_01: maintain some work no doubt it is much less work than we were used to in Q
[03:46] SPEAKER_01: far last year but fortunately I can say I'm doing just fine and I'm concerned
[03:52] SPEAKER_01: greatly about the future of my industry I'm also greatly excited I'm sort of
[03:57] SPEAKER_01: an optimist by nature I believe that there's opportunity in this and you know
[04:01] SPEAKER_01: it's our job to rule apart sleeves and create what's next there is no
[04:04] SPEAKER_01: government around the world that is going to create it for us in terms of my
[04:08] SPEAKER_01: industry so you know there's opportunity to so you're you're still holding some
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: events yeah so certainly number one priority is playing inside of the
[04:19] SPEAKER_01: guidelines that the Alberta government and whatever government that you're
[04:24] SPEAKER_01: working in has outlined it is you know not a good practice to try to push those
[04:28] SPEAKER_01: limits so certainly the restrictions are there and there's not much we can do
[04:32] SPEAKER_01: about that but inside the restrictions you know there's opportunity to be
[04:36] SPEAKER_01: creative about what's possible safety first and then once we know we've got
[04:41] SPEAKER_01: some safeguards we can bring some creativity to the table so you know I
[04:45] SPEAKER_01: spent my spring re-stratigizing on projects that were supposed to take place
[04:49] SPEAKER_01: this fall so of course they're for the most part not and then when we had a
[04:53] SPEAKER_01: moment to breathe our clients were ready to talk about what might be possible in
[04:57] SPEAKER_01: the fall from a virtual or Hagrid standpoint so virtual is just like this
[05:01] SPEAKER_01: typically you know either a two-way experience or one-way viewing experience
[05:06] SPEAKER_01: that is as immersive as possible hybrid means you've got some people in a room
[05:11] SPEAKER_01: and you've got some people viewing in from home or wherever they're viewing in
[05:14] SPEAKER_01: from so we got to play with that a little bit and I will say you know majority of
[05:20] SPEAKER_01: the work we're doing as well is about what's possible in 2021 and beyond what's
[05:25] SPEAKER_00: funny how you adapt right because I was just experiencing that myself just
[05:31] SPEAKER_00: recently I'm a I'm part of a fundraiser that happens every year and it's a
[05:36] SPEAKER_00: difficult sit-down dinner right and drinks etc so this year it was different
[05:40] SPEAKER_00: and it was a virtual event that I I'm an EMC for every year so it was a
[05:46] SPEAKER_00: virtual event and we did a scotch tasting and and a charcootery thing and we
[05:54] SPEAKER_00: had some just entertainment and stuff so yeah I guess you just have to adapt
[05:59] SPEAKER_01: to the times right absolutely and you know great point about nonprofits and
[06:04] SPEAKER_01: fundraisers I believe that that is the most challenging one you know to
[06:09] SPEAKER_01: recreate a gallon of virtual experience and think about the five senses is
[06:12] SPEAKER_01: super smart and on the easier list of things to do there's still logistical
[06:16] SPEAKER_01: execution but the really challenging part is igniting the emotion in the in
[06:21] SPEAKER_01: the participant or the viewer to then result in giving in the moment and have
[06:26] SPEAKER_01: a really clean and easy way mechanism forgiving in the moment is proving to be
[06:31] SPEAKER_01: a challenge so I hope if there's any virtual platform listeners if you
[06:35] SPEAKER_01: create it if you create platforms for a living please create something that
[06:39] SPEAKER_01: ignites the desire to give to charities so I think that's the gap in the market
[06:43] SPEAKER_00: right now well for event planners obviously the busiest time of the year usually
[06:48] SPEAKER_00: is December with Christmas parties I would presume right what's your feel I
[06:54] SPEAKER_00: obviously ink on the half in this year right yeah so you know you looked at
[06:59] SPEAKER_01: Calgary used to be Canada's you know head off the city so when I was starting in
[07:04] SPEAKER_01: the industry back in oh seven oh eight oh nine you know obviously there was
[07:07] SPEAKER_01: the crash in there but the corporate Christmas party was standard you know
[07:11] SPEAKER_01: a couple thousand people in a room and it's beautifully done and it's it's got
[07:16] SPEAKER_01: great purpose like that is how you ignite an employee basis to give back in
[07:19] SPEAKER_01: that way in a really great experience the numbers don't allow for it right
[07:23] SPEAKER_01: now so you know you'll you very well may see some corporations that can host
[07:29] SPEAKER_01: an environment for less than 50 if that's the numbers that allow it so small
[07:33] SPEAKER_01: media businesses or perhaps client hosting and set of employees or doing it by
[07:37] SPEAKER_01: teens and departments that's a great strategy but we will see a lot of
[07:41] SPEAKER_01: corporations go to a virtual model whether it's a lighthearted virtual
[07:45] SPEAKER_01: concert you know the nice thing about virtual as you can tap into talent around
[07:49] SPEAKER_01: the world at a very different price point so that's a win right but yeah in
[07:55] SPEAKER_01: person events are just challenging right now what we're seeing in a lot of
[07:59] SPEAKER_01: conversations is the importance of okay if we can host an employee only only
[08:03] SPEAKER_01: event you know adults only what do we do for the families that is really what
[08:07] SPEAKER_01: people get in their hearts about the companies if the company hosts something
[08:10] SPEAKER_01: for the entire family typically children right of the age of 18 so we're seeing a
[08:14] SPEAKER_01: lot of drive-through concepts you can pull up to you know the event to
[08:18] SPEAKER_01: navigate a bunch of great experiences you get a great little box to take away
[08:22] SPEAKER_01: and a gift from Santa you know that can be as immersive as it can be so we're
[08:28] SPEAKER_01: seeing some ingenuity which is what you know which is what you hope for in the
[08:33] SPEAKER_00: perfect world in the normal world I'm curious about what makes an event
[08:40] SPEAKER_00: successful and and truth be known a lot of people don't know this about me but
[08:45] SPEAKER_00: I have a certificate from Mount Royal and public relations and and one of the
[08:50] SPEAKER_00: classes I remember taking was event planning and I always remember in that
[08:56] SPEAKER_00: class talking about how you got to get your parking right and you got to get
[09:00] SPEAKER_00: the access to the facility right so you talk a little bit about what are some
[09:08] SPEAKER_00: of the key elements that as an event planner that you have to have right to
[09:13] SPEAKER_01: make it a good event yeah I'm sure I'm glad that's that's fantastic you took
[09:17] SPEAKER_01: that course I know a lot of people that take it I probably know the teachers
[09:20] SPEAKER_01: that that taught you were all good friends in the industry but it's a great
[09:23] SPEAKER_01: course so you know I believe in building strategy for the event first before
[09:28] SPEAKER_01: getting into planning and execution all of your decisions in terms of the event
[09:32] SPEAKER_01: should ladder up into an overall strategy there's purpose behind every
[09:36] SPEAKER_01: decision I was friends with an architect who was an architect school when I
[09:40] SPEAKER_01: was in business school and I remember him saying to me when you're building a
[09:43] SPEAKER_01: home or just when you're architecting a home there is no less than 300,000
[09:46] SPEAKER_01: questions you will ask yourself as an architect no less than that it's like this
[09:50] SPEAKER_01: over here this or this that okay great now this is five new questions about
[09:54] SPEAKER_01: that this is the same in events so every question you ask yourself should be
[09:58] SPEAKER_01: supported and bolstered by the overall strategy so I just always like to
[10:02] SPEAKER_01: answer this question by saying ensure that there's a consultant or a
[10:05] SPEAKER_01: strategist at the table if you have a project and you just don't know what the
[10:08] SPEAKER_01: clear path is that's great strategy then what we're talking about design of the
[10:12] SPEAKER_01: experience you're absolutely right first impressions go a long way and it starts
[10:17] SPEAKER_01: even before you pull up to the curb really beautiful elegant clear
[10:22] SPEAKER_01: communications well written copy that is both exciting and clear is really
[10:27] SPEAKER_01: important so we have a communication strategies on our in our in my
[10:32] SPEAKER_01: collective that I typically always have look at things in the event because they
[10:36] SPEAKER_01: see things through a very different lens so really clear communications up front
[10:40] SPEAKER_01: managing expectation and then you know if you're looking at an outdoor event in
[10:44] SPEAKER_01: pre-COVID world when we're going to festivals and you know outside in big
[10:48] SPEAKER_01: grounds is people will very rarely forgive you the planner if you've messed up
[10:53] SPEAKER_01: our lines and if you've messed up washroom lines those are the two things that are
[10:57] SPEAKER_01: really hard to recover from and it's you know the testament of a great planner
[11:00] SPEAKER_01: knows that or the right ratio is more washroom stalls for women than for men
[11:05] SPEAKER_01: that is just a human science that we don't even need to explain any further
[11:11] SPEAKER_01: for me I believe how does it for me I believe in elegant design like I think
[11:17] SPEAKER_01: less is more and I love really thoughtful clean physical design in the
[11:22] SPEAKER_01: room so we're not seeing any rough edges everything's like thoughtful I like to
[11:26] SPEAKER_01: use the word elegant user friendly which means you know you want humans to walk
[11:30] SPEAKER_01: into the space and just feel consistent from how they felt all day or feel not
[11:36] SPEAKER_01: anxious about unsure of where they're going you know there's a lot of human
[11:40] SPEAKER_01: psychology and understanding how the brain operates and reacts to things I'm
[11:44] SPEAKER_01: at least on a general level in in our industry so you know we we look a lot at
[11:49] SPEAKER_01: how will humans navigate the room and you know then if we know our priorities
[11:54] SPEAKER_01: based on the strategy we design around that yeah so what's your favorite
[11:59] SPEAKER_01: thing about being an entrepreneur I love and have loved over the last year
[12:04] SPEAKER_01: and a half the control over my time I operate best in terms of my brain power
[12:11] SPEAKER_01: from 5.30 in the morning until about one 30 or two o'clock and I loved my
[12:18] SPEAKER_01: job at Shaw and loved working corporate in-house I worked in sort of a bullpen
[12:22] SPEAKER_01: environment with the media team and external affairs and it was just powerful to
[12:27] SPEAKER_01: go on that team but you are regimented to you know when the majority of your
[12:31] SPEAKER_01: executive team is in the building that's when you're there to you know you have
[12:34] SPEAKER_01: to show up and be present and be functioning and I just really listen to my
[12:38] SPEAKER_01: body and I work really well in the early hours I love working in the dark and
[12:43] SPEAKER_01: then you know I like to let my brain just be kind of lightly creative in the
[12:47] SPEAKER_01: afternoon so I really enjoyed the time the management of my own time and you
[12:52] SPEAKER_01: know it's like played your strengths and capitalize on when you are the
[12:56] SPEAKER_01: smartest and brightest and the most high functioning and I feel like I've been
[13:00] SPEAKER_01: able to do that so I really enjoyed that. What's your least favorite thing about
[13:05] SPEAKER_01: being an entrepreneur? This has happened a couple of times but I lay in bed at
[13:10] SPEAKER_01: night with financial worries you know I'm a numbers person so I feel the
[13:16] SPEAKER_01: weight of the world in terms of you know we're good for the next three quarters
[13:20] SPEAKER_01: three-and-a-half quarters and there's always conversations from a sales
[13:24] SPEAKER_01: perspective happening you know in the queue out of the funnel but you know
[13:27] SPEAKER_01: then your brain starts to get trained to think about what's the fourth quarter
[13:31] SPEAKER_01: fifth six beyond that and so you know falling into the negativity bias which is
[13:36] SPEAKER_01: worrying about what might not happen I'm an optimist by nature but I but you know
[13:41] SPEAKER_01: the weight of the the financial woes on your shoulders as an owner just is a
[13:45] SPEAKER_00: part of it and I guess that's kind of amplified now right because of the times
[13:49] SPEAKER_01: you're in for every entrepreneur for every entrepreneur and you know I have a
[13:54] SPEAKER_01: very global lens in the industry I sit on the board of governors of the
[13:58] SPEAKER_01: International Live Events Association and I've been a leader in Canada for a
[14:01] SPEAKER_01: decade and now I sit on the board of governors and so I have a lens into how
[14:04] SPEAKER_01: people are feeling in terms of event props around the world and there is so
[14:08] SPEAKER_01: much worry and it's all valid and you know a lot of his evoke in the business
[14:14] SPEAKER_01: survive when you're bleep right you know large large businesses and in my
[14:19] SPEAKER_01: industry carry a lot of product it sits on the shelf and just like hotels with
[14:23] SPEAKER_01: beds that you have to sell every night otherwise it's a loss for revenue it's
[14:27] SPEAKER_01: the same goes for event gear or rentals or decor and so you know I really feel
[14:32] SPEAKER_01: for those businesses that are having to grieve what was and I think we've gone
[14:38] SPEAKER_01: through that process but but also roll up their sleeves and decide what might
[14:42] SPEAKER_01: be next for them so that's a painful process but you know we're getting through it
[14:47] SPEAKER_00: so what do you do and your personal time in terms of interest to get maybe
[14:54] SPEAKER_01: get your mind off of ball that stuff yeah it's a great question I when I'm in
[14:59] SPEAKER_01: project mode my you know you probably know how this is like your brain just is
[15:03] SPEAKER_01: it's the physical act of slowing your brain down and turning it off is
[15:08] SPEAKER_01: challenging so I love group fitness it's was turned off for a couple months
[15:14] SPEAKER_01: during covid and it certainly looks different now but there's a place up the
[15:18] SPEAKER_01: street that I love to work out at so I'm there probably daily it's super
[15:22] SPEAKER_01: safe they manage it really well but I'm learning to run so I'm really
[15:26] SPEAKER_01: enjoying that so I run in my class as part of one of the activities we do and
[15:30] SPEAKER_01: then I take into teaching myself how to run on the road so I'm enjoying that I'm
[15:34] SPEAKER_01: gonna see if I can run in the winter and brave the cold so we'll see how that goes
[15:40] SPEAKER_01: and I like I mentioned I'm a volunteer of leader in the industry and so I do
[15:45] SPEAKER_01: spend a significant amount of time working on projects for the industry with
[15:49] SPEAKER_01: some of my best friends that I love to collaborate with and you know we have
[15:53] SPEAKER_01: that in common and we like to do good work so I do spend you know some time in my
[15:58] SPEAKER_00: spare time on that okay one last question for you Lisa you know if you're
[16:03] SPEAKER_00: talking to your fellow entrepreneurs out there what's best piece of advice you
[16:07] SPEAKER_00: could give them for the times that they're in right now yeah I would say no
[16:13] SPEAKER_01: myself so find a way to explore inside of yourself in terms of what's important
[16:20] SPEAKER_01: to you what do you value and what are your strengths get arrogant and excited
[16:24] SPEAKER_01: about it and understand it and then play to those strengths there's so much to
[16:29] SPEAKER_01: be said about looking at yourself in the mirror and saying I can be in the
[16:32] SPEAKER_01: driver's seat of this situation I just have to put myself there no government
[16:36] SPEAKER_01: is going to give us the exact solution that's going to save us all no bank is
[16:39] SPEAKER_01: going to give us enough money to save all of us in our own respective businesses
[16:43] SPEAKER_01: we have to do it ourselves and that takes confidence and self-love and self
[16:48] SPEAKER_01: actualization so I you know if I encourage you to spend some time away in the
[16:52] SPEAKER_01: mountains in the quiet if you need to to really come come back to yourself and
[16:56] SPEAKER_01: start the journey there I like a glass of scotch that helps me I'm a big red wine
[17:03] SPEAKER_01: drinker so you and I can hop on I feel like scotch and wine are great late-night
[17:08] SPEAKER_01: conversational drinks so I hear you on that you know one I just funny when you say
[17:12] SPEAKER_00: that because I there's two things that you know obviously wine and and scotch
[17:17] SPEAKER_00: for me but but the outdoor so I find that you know one one I'm just like
[17:22] SPEAKER_00: everybody else I'm an entrepreneur myself I just find that you know what a nice
[17:26] SPEAKER_00: glass sitting outside and you know where the trees are etc it's really helpful
[17:31] SPEAKER_01: oh good that's great advice and I mean into that advice many times a week as
[17:37] SPEAKER_00: well okay great well thanks Lisa for joining us today my pleasure thank you for
[17:43] SPEAKER_01: inviting me best of luck with everything you're doing and let's see each other
[17:46] SPEAKER_00: on the other side okay you said that that was Lisa Marx who is owner of a
[17:52] SPEAKER_00: brand-alive in Calgary this has been Calgary's podcast with Mario Toneguzi on
[17:57] SPEAKER_00: Canada's podcast network