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Introducing Integrating AI Efficiency + Human Connection to Better Your Business from Mind The Business: Small Business Success Stories. Follow the show: Mind The Business: Small Business Success Stories AI isn't about replacement – it's about enhancement. Austin and Jannese travel to Tampa, Florida to meet Alexa Kritis Mancuso, founder of Alexa Kritis Events, who reveals how she masterfully blends artificial intelligence with the personal connection essential to event planning. Discover how Alexa shares how she leverages AI platforms to handle routine tasks as well as showing clients how she can bring their creative visions to life. Like QuickBooks, there’s a perfect combination of AI-driven processes and human expertise that can help free up your time to make more money and focus on the things that matter. Whether you're AI-curious or AI-cautious, Alexa explains how to harness this technology to boost your bottom line while creating deeper connections with your ...
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- [00:00]
Austin Hankwitz
Foreign the views, information or opinions expressed during this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent Those of Intuit QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone brands or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal or other professional advice or services. No assurance is given that the information is comprehensive, accurate, or free of errors and the information presented is for general information purposes only. Intuit QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying on them.
- [00:38]
Janice Torres
Welcome back, everyone. This is Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by Intuit QuickBooks and Ruby Studio. I'm Janice Torres.
- [00:47]
Austin Hankwitz
And I'm Austin Hankwitz. Janice, I'll tell you what, sometimes it just boggles my mind knowing that we are living in the year 2025. I mean, I remember growing up and watching movies like Back to the Future 2 or shows like the Jetsons and I'm like, where are the flying cars at you?
- [01:04]
Janice Torres
I wouldn't mind a personalized robot assistant like Rosie from the Jetsons. I've definitely seen the self driving cars and it just continues to boggle my mind how quickly technology is rapidly evolving to make our lives and work easier. I'm talking specifically about artificial intelligence and machine learning powered technology.
- [01:25]
Austin Hankwitz
These two incredible buzzwords absolutely have some potential use cases in business and they are incredible. I cannot wait to dive in.
- [01:33]
Janice Torres
Absolutely. I'm a big fan of a for marketing purposes in my business. It helps me write emails, it helps me break through writer's block, it gives me inspiration for social media content. The list goes on and on. And even our guest that we're going to speak to on today's episode has had clients using AI to help her in her business.
- [01:54]
Austin Hankwitz
Yeah, as an event planner, I mean, everyone has their own dream for what the perfect wedding or birthday party might be. And so being able to use AI and bring that dream to life I think is really important. It's crazy to think that these days we can just go on these specific websites and say, make me an event on a lake house that has specific fireworks in the background and you see a photo of it.
- [02:15]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Absolutely.
- [02:16]
Janice Torres
There is so much potential for AI. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's meet our guest, Alexa Critis Mancuso of Alexa Critis Events in Tampa, Florida.
- [02:26]
Austin Hankwitz
Do you own a business that's ready to thrive? It's time to let Intuit QuickBooks take things like unpaid invoices and tracking expenses off your plate so you can take things to the next level. Intuit QuickBooks is a powerful AI driven all in one business platform that can help with day to day tasks like invoicing expenses and taxes. Intuit QuickBooks can help you unlock the growth in your business so you can get back to enjoying your business. Manage and grow your business all in one place. Intuit QuickBooks your way to Money Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments, Inc. Licensed as a money transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
- [03:10]
Janice Torres
Alexa grew up on Long island and she credits herself with being a workaholic since middle school, having started working as early as 14 years old. By her senior year of high school, she was employed in a bridal salon and one day she went across the street to the wedding planner to see if they needed any help. And it was there that she realized what she wanted to do with her career. After a brief stint in fashion and a move to Florida, Alexis found herself pursuing her dream career as a wedding planner.
- [03:35]
Austin Hankwitz
At first she was working as a planner for a large corporate company with aspirations of striking out on her own. After powering through the role and a job at a high volume catering company, she launched her own business, Alexa Credus Events, and never looked back. Today she runs her Tampa based business in the luxury and ultra luxury wedding and event planning space where she prides herself in quality over quantity and in giving her customers the very best experience from start to finish.
- [04:03]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Alexa, welcome to the show.
- [04:04]
Thank you for having me.
- [04:06]
So let's start off with your origin story. I know you're a Long island girl, I'm a former Jersey girl. We're both now Florida girlies. What brought you to Tampa?
- [04:14]
After I graduated college, I really wanted to find a job in the wedding industry. Couldn't find anything. Went on the good old Internet, found a job at a five star hotel in Palm beach to be a wedding coordinator and within 30 days of interviewing, getting the job and moving down to Florida, it was a really quick turnaround. And then I accidentally met my husband while living there and we've been in Tampa for about eight years now.
- [04:41]
Okay, so you got hooked by the Florida bug and the event planning bug?
- [04:46]
Both, yes.
- [04:46]
Okay, tell me more about why event planning? Because I think of it as probably my worst nightmare. Just because I feel like people put a lot of weight on events, right? Like, you know, these are milestones of their lives. They can be very demanding clients. There's a lot of things that can go wrong that can go out of your control. So what is it about you that makes you a little bit of a masochist? That wants to do this for a living.
- [05:09]
Such a great way to describe it. I love that. So, pardon the pun, but it is a beautiful marriage of using both the business side of my brain and the creative and also working with people, which I get to do all three of those things when doing weddings, which is, I would say, most of what we do, but also pretty big social events and some corporate events as well.
- [05:32]
Okay, so you just. You just. A natural love for this stuff.
- [05:36]
Yeah, It's a blessing and a curse. It's incredibly stressful, but it's incredibly rewarding.
- [05:43]
Yeah, I can imagine. You know, when you see the end result of all that planning, you're just like, okay, this is why I do it. Because these are lifelong memories that you're creating for people.
- [05:52]
Totally. And in the past couple of days, I've had the realization that it's not only about helping customers and clients, but it's also giving business to my creative partners. And that is a really surprise, rewarding factor of what I do. Being able to support other small businesses. It's even more rewarding, I think, sometimes than, like, helping clients.
- [06:17]
It's the ripple effect that you don't actually realize you're creating when you start a business. It's just so much impact, goes around a hundred percent. So was this always the original vision? Did you imagine that you'd be spending your life helping people create these lifelong memories?
- [06:32]
So for like, a minute, I wanted to be a buyer. Like, I went to fashion school.
- [06:37]
Oh, nice.
- [06:38]
And then I did an internship in a basement of New York City, and I was, like, in front of a spreadsheet all day, and I was like, this is awful. No, put me with people. Which is ironic now, because I do spend a lot of time in front of spreadsheets working out budgets anyway. But it's on my own terms. I get bold. I get to do the budgeting spreadsheet, but I also get to work with really great clients and really great creative partners.
- [07:00]
Austin Hankwitz
That's amazing, Alexa. Now, I've seen the website. The website looks incredible. Your branding is excellent. But I'm pretty sure your company was called something else. So what led you to change the name of your business? And when did you realize that your name should be the name of your business?
- [07:15]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
That's a great question. So it was Long Aisle Events, which was a nod to my background of growing up on Long Island. And then I felt like it was a little too kitschy. I always knew I wanted to move into the luxury market, and I just didn't feel like the clients were going to connect with that sort of branding. So I just changed it to my name because when potential clients call or email me, I'm the one that's answering. It's not this like giant conglomerate of wedding planners. It's me in my office and I'm the one that's there throughout the entire planning process as well as first one there on the wedding and event day and the very last one to leave. And I just felt like naming the business after my own name would be a total better representation of that.
- [08:02]
Austin Hankwitz
I think that makes a lot of sense. We've talked with a handful of small business owners so far in the season and naming a business is something that is probably the hardest thing to do. And so kind of having this perspective of understanding the clientele who you want to attract with this name, who you think is going to resonate with that name, as well as how to best represent yourself, I think is a really hard thing to balance and you must have nailed it obviously with this new name.
- [08:28]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
It also doesn't hurt that there's the Alexa electronic. I don't play into it too much but like Alexa plan my wedding is a really easy thing for people to connect with. Or if I'm on the phone with a new potential client and they're like, hey Alexa. And then they're like thing is going off in the background, it then is an easy way to create rapport and get people to relax. So that's a nice fun little aspect, unexpected aspect as well.
- [08:55]
So tell me about getting that first job as Alexa Critics, events, how did that feel? And kind of give us a timeline too because I think one thing that happens for a lot of small business owners is they don't necessarily understand like how long it takes to get that first gig.
- [09:10]
Absolutely. So when I moved to Tampa, I was working in a super high volume catering company. So I was getting my business started working at this high volume catering company, still getting to do what I am used to doing, working catering, working at weddings, working in events, while also starting my business. And then at one point I was like, I don't need this job anymore. I have enough business where my day job is getting in the way of growing my business. I knew when I was going to give my two weeks and they actually came to me and they were like, hey, we see that, like something is going on with you. Are you going to be spending the fall with us anymore? And I'm like, no, you beat me to it. Like I actually am giving my two weeks in Two weeks. But consider this my four week notice. I will not be moving forward. And they were super understanding. They knew, they could see that like I was finishing my job. That was a 40 hour work week in like 25 hours. And the rest of my time, every other waking second, I was working on my business.
- [10:09]
Yeah. Yeah. I had a pretty similar experience in the sense I think my boss knew I was like mentally checked out and called me into a meeting, was like, so I heard you're quitting. I'm like, you know what? Actually, yeah, I am. Consider this my two weeks notice.
- [10:23]
Yep.
- [10:24]
I think it's, you know, once you got that one foot out the door, you kind of just give this new energy because you just know what's coming and you're doing that quiet quitting thing that so many people talk about before.
- [10:35]
It was before it like had a name.
- [10:37]
Yeah.
- [10:37]
The other thing I was doing was I was taking off a lot. And that's because I was freelancing for a lot of other luxury wedding planners. So that was another way that I was able to get really great exposure to the luxury market with multiple days of setup, working on a really big team. And I didn't want to not have those opportunities. So I was like, okay, time to go.
- [11:03]
Once the day job starts getting in the way of the business, that's when you know.
- [11:06]
Yep.
- [11:08]
Austin Hankwitz
Can you talk more about how you found those freelance jobs? Because I feel like a lot of small business owners start in a very similar sort of strategy. Right. It's like, I'm weirdly passionate about this very specific thing. And so I'm going to go, you know, freelance or work as an intern or do something in that to get more exposure to this idea. And then as this passion takes hold, I begin to form a business around it. I quit my job and go all in on that. So how did you really execute on that strategy for yourself?
- [11:33]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
I started cold emailing.
- [11:35]
Austin Hankwitz
Good for you.
- [11:36]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Just saying. Good for you. Hi, my name is Alexa. This is what I do. I'm sure that you have a lot of events that you need extra hands for. I'm not another employee. You don't have to pay a salary, you don't have to pay benefits. Here's my day rate. These are the other planners that I've worked with. And once I started to work with one, then that was all the clout that I needed to get all of the other ones on board. So I just needed to do a little name drop in some of those cold emails. And I was in. It was Easy.
- [12:03]
Hmm.
- [12:04]
Austin Hankwitz
That's amazing. Now, an often understated thing about the event and wedding planning industry is how much of a visual industry it is, from designing the layouts and the venues to having competitive marketing and branding. So can you talk a bit about how you balance the creative and the logistical? Right. How are you designing the logos and the website and doing that fun stuff while also filing the LLC paperwork and the tax forms and everything in between?
- [12:27]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
So in the beginning, I definitely knew what my strengths and my weaknesses were as far as what I was able to manage on my own and what I needed to outsource as far as getting the business started. So when I got started for the legal part of it, I used LegalZoom. When I was getting ready to do the creative side of it, I tapped into graphic designers. And one of the things that nobody tells you also when you're starting a business is that not one person does all of the things. So you have somebody who makes all of the branding, then you have somebody else who does all of the website, and then you have someone else who does the copy. And that's such a learning curve of knowing who to hire for what all of those different things are was a little bit stressful at first, but, you know, get through it.
- [13:15]
Yeah, that's definitely a trial and error situation. You're not always going to end up going with the first vendor, the first software.
- [13:20]
Austin Hankwitz
Right.
- [13:20]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
You kind of have to find the thing that works for you.
- [13:22]
Austin Hankwitz
And earlier, Alexa, you mentioned how being in this industry allows you to sort of marry your left side of your brain and the right side of the brain. Talk to me about how you went and really began to design this first venue and sort of laid it out from scratch to show someone.
- [13:35]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Sure. So when clients, like, walk into a ballroom for the first time, it's an empty space. And most people are visual, so they can't imagine you have this empty ballroom. And like, what are we putting in it? How are we going to make this into what I see on the Internet? What I actually still do now is just a 2D floor plan, but with the development of AI, we're able to make it a little bit easier for clients to be able to see the potential of what their events are able to look like in a way that, like, 10 years ago, they we weren't able to do that.
- [14:09]
Austin Hankwitz
It's amazing.
- [14:10]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
So we already know owning and running a business requires a lot of work. There's some really great platforms that make that necessary work easier. So, for example, Intuit QuickBooks uses AI powered tools to help their user track revenue that comes in, expenses going out, marketing costs, payroll and all the other things that we have to manage as entrepreneurs so that you have more time to focus on the creative aspects of your business. And they also auto generate invoice emails so that you don't have to remember to send those out. How have you personally found AI to be helpful in managing your daily tasks as an entrepreneur?
- [14:45]
So what's great about it is that when clients come to us, they see well one, events that have already taken place as well as AI generated images. So it's nice to be able to balance those two and also say, okay, so this is something that is real and feasible. It has happened before versus something that's AI generated, like an entire tablescape set up in the middle of a pond practically that's a nightmare for any anybody to execute. So it's nice to be able to say, okay, that was AI generated. That is absolutely not going to happen in the world. But this is something else that is real or that can be executed that was created by AI. And it's nice to be able to manage expectations from that perspective.
- [15:33]
Can you share some of the tools that you're using?
- [15:35]
I do use intuit QuickBooks. I have from the very start to help manage all of our invoicing bookkeeping. So they make it really easy to. Every day I just go in and log all of our transactions.
- [15:48]
So you're personally doing that?
- [15:49]
Oh, I personally do it myself.
- [15:50]
Wow, good for you.
- [15:51]
Yeah, yeah. When it comes to like the tax time, I let the pros take over. But Intuit QuickBooks makes it so easy that every day at the end of the day I can just say, okay, I can do my categories of what it is. I'm checking on our PNLs for the week, for the month, for the year to see what we need to forecast what else we need to do for the rest of the year. So it's really easy from that perspective.
- [16:15]
That's great. Any other tools that are your favorite? Right now in the AI space we're.
- [16:18]
Using Canva to create design decks for client and they have an integrated AI system which someone who's for me, I'm pretty new to it. So they make it really easy to start to integrate learning AI as well as having things like remove the background of this photo so I can then insert it into what my clients have in mind.
- [16:38]
That's awesome. I think those types of tools make it easier to create really engaging content that then can convey the message that you want to your client, which is they want to envision what it is that's in your head. And so anytime you have the opportunity to take advantage of those tools, I think that's a move.
- [16:53]
And also if they change their mind, which clients do every second, right, it's really easy for me to just be able to type in like blue linen instead of white and like boom, it's, it's changed.
- [17:04]
I love it. I don't know how we got along in like business without AI tools at this point. I feel like I'm very codependent.
- [17:11]
It's also really great for writing difficult emails too because the clientele that we work with, they are spending six figures on their events. And when we get emails for clients and everybody has a budget, we always respect what it is AI. If I type in to say like, hey, these are the budgets that we normally work with, I'm really sorry, we're not going to be the right fit. AI is able to make it sound a little bit warmer because also like there's no body language, there's no tone when you're writing email. So AI is able to give it a little bit. This is ironic to say, a little more of a personal, a little bit more of a personal feeling when delivering a little bit harder news.
- [17:51]
Yeah, that makes sense.
- [17:54]
Austin Hankwitz
Coming up on Mind the Business. Small business success stories.
- [17:57]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Everybody is so busy, so sometimes I have that self feeling of like, I don't want to bother this person to help me with this thing, but like I can bother the AI. They're never going to complain.
- [18:08]
Austin Hankwitz
We'll be right back. Are you a business owner looking to grow your business? You did what most dream of doing, starting your own business. But now you're faced with the reality of how to make your small business run smoothly. Intuit QuickBooks can help. Intuit QuickBooks is a powerful AI driven all in one business platform. That means those day to day tasks like invoicing expenses and taxes can be done effortlessly. But here's where it gets really good. You don't need to hire a team of analysts to find growth opportunities hiding in your business data data. Intuit QuickBooks can help with cash flow optimization, profit and loss analysis. It helps you see how your business is doing and uncover new ways to be more profitable. Intuit QuickBooks can help you unlock the growth in your business so you can get back to enjoying your business. Manage and grow your business all in one place. Intuit QuickBooks your way to money. Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc. Licensed as a money transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services. Welcome back to Mind the Business. Now, something I'm really curious about is how AI perhaps has maybe helped you generate even more revenue. Because if I were you, I'm saying, okay, I've got this really cool tool that every time I sit down with a new client, I can help them just bring their dreams to life and show them how much cooler it would be if they could, you know, maybe up their budget to this and really show them what that looks like.
- [19:46]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Definitely, because there's trust there, then. So if there are people who have a hard time envisioning what something's going to look like, if we use AI and say, hey, here's where your money is going. This is what you're spending all of this money on, then they're way more likely to go ahead and invest in it. So I think I've seen it a little bit, but the potential for it is, I think, really great at this point.
- [20:10]
Austin Hankwitz
That's amazing because I'm not a very visual person. So if I was sitting down with a wedding planner or a big event planner, and to your point, I walked into the ballroom and it was completely empty, I would just have no idea what it would turn out and look like. And so being able to lean on AI for that, I think is really important. How has AI helped transform maybe the way that you run the processes of your business and onboard new clients?
- [20:31]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
I think because there's essentially no limit with AI that I still like to go to the client first. So I still like to go through the process of asking them what they like, what they've seen, their likes, their dislikes, and then use AI to help them maybe also recognize something that, like, they don't realize that they want. In another sense, for our creative partners, I think it also helps them if there's something that they've never done before. There's such an opportunity for uniqueness to then be able to go to a vendor, partner, creative partner, and say, hey, I generated this in AI. Is this something that you can make happen in real life? So the potential also for doing something really customized, really unique, really high design is also there, which I love too, because I really love to create unique designs for our clients. We're not just, like, copying and pasting exact things.
- [21:25]
Austin Hankwitz
One of my favorite phrases as it relates to AI is not going to take your job. The person who knows how to use AI better than you is going to take your job. And so you're using AI to help sell People on this vision of the event, the visuals, everything to help them, you know, visualize what the heck's going to go on on your specific wedding day. The person who knows how to use it to their advantage, to help sell their products or their services in a more intimate manner, I think will probably have that extra edge, which seems like that's what you're doing.
- [21:53]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
And it also allows me to then have more of these human moments, more of these personal moments, because I'm not spending so much time figuring out how to show my CL what this is going to look like because AI is doing it so quickly. So if I have help on the technical part of it, I am getting to spend more of my time on the personal part.
- [22:15]
That makes a lot of sense. And I think when AI first started becoming a little bit more mainstream, a lot of entrepreneurs were kind of like intimidated by it or maybe even scared by it because of the implications of, oh, is it going to replace me? I find it really interesting that you've actually like embraced the technology versus kind of shying away from it. Sometimes there's so much going on in here that when you can have something assist you to get the task done, it's like, why wouldn't you want to use that?
- [22:42]
And everybody is so busy. So sometimes I have that self feeling of like, I don't want to bother this person to help me with this thing, but like, I can bother the AI. They're never going to complain.
- [22:52]
That's great.
- [22:53]
The AI was such a millennial thing to say.
- [22:56]
So there's so much data that you can gather from Intuit QuickBooks that lets you then plan that next phase of your business. Can you tell us about what that looks like for you?
- [23:05]
So the way that intuit QuickBooks makes it easy to see what I'm categorizing each one of my expenses are, then lets me know, okay. I didn't really invest that much in advertising and marketing last year. Maybe if we invest a little bit more this year, we'll see more growth.
- [23:24]
Yeah, I think that high level view really helps you make those strategic decisions without getting caught in the weeds. It's just very easy to visualize, oh, we might be spending too much money here, or maybe we're not investing enough.
- [23:35]
Absolutely. Like, where has all of the income that we've made? Like, where is it going? Am I using it wisely? Am I taking enough of it home also? Because that's important too. It's not about how much you make, it's about how much you keep Absolutely.
- [23:47]
I'm always shocked at looking at my P and L. I'm just like, we really made that much, but we also spent this money.
- [23:52]
What is happening?
- [23:53]
But it's good to know some of.
- [23:55]
Austin Hankwitz
The small business owners we've talked to this season have talked about how challenging it can be sometimes to find the right people that you want to hire and work with with. Can you maybe share your experience with finding the right hires and training them and making sure that they align well with what you're building and sort of follow these processes? Sure.
- [24:15]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Other wedding planners are the best help because one, there is enough business to go around here in the Tampa area. It's really important to me, the wedding community that I have other planners that I am friendly with. It's not a competition thing because they are really great when it comes to like needing their help. So that is something that I really feel strongly about as well as when it comes to finding help for like office things behind the scenes. I know what my expectations are for our clients, like what their experience is and then being able to put that down on paper and then look for those same qualities in someone else when looking for an assistant that I know my strong points, I want them to have some of the same. But also if there are things that I'm not great at, it's amazing to have someone else who has those sort of qualities as well.
- [25:10]
Austin Hankwitz
I think it makes a ton of sense. Right. Higher tier weaknesses. And then also something I've heard more recently is small business owners going out and to your point, hiring other freelance. Kind of like what you did before. Right. You were very a self starter, son of freelancer. So I've heard a lot of success stories around that strategy as it comes to hiring and bringing on team members that have that self starter mentality as well.
- [25:33]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Yeah, the wedding community here in Tampa is really wonderful. So it's been really easy to grow that network of other planners who I can call just for if I need advice as well as, hey, I have a really big event. I need like a team of five of us. If you guys are free, I would really love to have you on board with me for the day.
- [25:54]
I think that speaks to the strength of the entrepreneurial community here in Florida.
- [25:58]
Austin Hankwitz
So you've been in the game now for about 10 years. Plus what was going on before with the freelancing? What would you tell the Alexa 10 years ago that's just getting started, who's really excited about building this and taking this new chapter of her life to the next level.
- [26:12]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Well, one that it gets wilder than you could ever imagine, first of all. And second of all, to be patient and be kind throughout it. I. I think those are. The kindness part has really gotten me to this point, because you don't get anywhere by having an attitude, being nasty to someone. Emotions are high. There's a lot going on. It's super fast paced. But that's the one thing that I always remember at the end of the day, like, just kindness is always number one.
- [26:42]
Austin Hankwitz
I think it makes a ton of sense. I'm right there with you. Right. If you do good business and even if you aren't the right fit for the customer at that time and you recommend them to maybe a competitor that you vetted and you know, is also a trusted event planner, that experience of the customer saying, okay, I was the right fit for this person. I had a great experience over here because they trusted me to go over there. Now I trust Alexa because Alexa is always going to have my best interest in mind.
- [27:10]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Totally.
- [27:11]
What is your favorite kind of event to plan? It's like choosing your favorite child.
- [27:17]
Yeah. So they're really tough. But private home events.
- [27:22]
Oh, is that becoming more popular?
- [27:24]
It is. We do quite a bit of private homes, private estates, because they are so unique and everyone is so different. It's not like the same four walls of a ballroom. It's an entire property. And there's so much more opportunity for customization. So they're really tough. No one realizes how putting 150 people in your house for eight hours and they need to be fed, and they need restrooms, and they need lighting, and they need somewhere to sit, and they need water and food. But I love that challenge. It's really fun.
- [27:59]
150 people in my house. That sounds like the stuff of nightmares.
- [28:05]
Austin Hankwitz
I could probably fit maybe 12.
- [28:07]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Yeah. How are these people gonna be. That's really cool, though. Cause I think it just adds, like, another personal touch to an event when you're like, literally welcoming people into this space that you call home.
- [28:18]
Absolutely. And that's why we do it. Over the summer, we did a big tented wedding at a property in Michigan. And that was exactly what they wanted, was the bride's childhood home. And they wanted to welcome all of their guests there or back because it's friends and family, so they've probably been there before. But to be able to celebrate such a huge milestone in the home that the bride grew up in, the bride's parents, obviously still live there, is really special.
- [28:44]
Oh, my gosh. That's like Making me teary eyed.
- [28:46]
That's so cool.
- [28:48]
Austin Hankwitz
That is so special.
- [28:50]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Yeah.
- [28:50]
Austin Hankwitz
If you could pick a favorite event or wedding that you have planned or thrown to date, does anything come to mind?
- [28:59]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
So one of my favorite events that I planned was for a client who absolutely loves the Grinch. So we turned her home into Whoville. So I took inspiration from both the 1960s version with like, the big pink archway entering into Whoville. We did that at, like, the archway of her home. We had the big, wonky Christmas trees. We had had the best Grinch I have ever seen. The clients were like. We went to Universal a couple of weeks after our event, and our Grinch at the party was better than the theme park Grinch. And I was like, that's how I know I've done my job. Right? And it's a party that, like, I'll meet people for the first time and they'll be like, oh, you did that Grinch party right? I'm like, yeah, that was me. It's my claim to fame, the Grinch party.
- [29:49]
It's like one of those things you never knew you needed.
- [29:52]
Yeah, exactly. And that's the fun part about doing this as a career too, is like, most of these events, it's like, do you need any of this? No. But the people who have the money to spend on it, they go above and beyond, and it's really great.
- [30:06]
Wow. I mean, good for you. Yeah. There's something about an event that, like, when it's done right, this is something people talk about forever. So it leaves a mark. I am very excited to potentially one day go to one of your events because they sound spectacular.
- [30:21]
Thank you.
- [30:22]
We want to wish you so much success and thank you so much for being here.
- [30:25]
Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure.
- [30:33]
Austin Hankwitz
Janice. I had such a great time learning from Alexa. What are some of your biggest takeaways?
- [30:38]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
I really love the fact that she has embraced AI as this new technology. Right. I think a lot of folks are intimidated by it, especially if they just don't understand how you can utilize it as a business owner. So I just love that she jumped in. She's using it to her advantage. And she also open to continuing to use new tools as they come about to continue to make the solopreneur life just a little bit easier. How are you, Austin?
- [31:00]
Austin Hankwitz
I'm right there with you. AI Tools. All about them. I love them. But I think my biggest takeaway was this idea of Alexa freelancing into the event planning space before she jumped in headfirst and quit her job and went all in. Right. I think a lot of small business owners and solopreneurs and even entrepreneurs out there, there we have these grandiose ideas of I want to start this business or I want to be this type of entrepreneur and I want to sell these products, I want to have these services. But we say those things without yet sometimes having even done that in the first place. And I think Alexa did a great job of freelancing a bit in the industry to get a foot in the door. And then once she started working alongside some of the awesome other event planners in her space and in her area, she was able to say, okay, this is something I really like. I think I'm seeing some momentum. I think I can do this on my own and really, really build a business over the next decade doing it. So I think that's just super powerful.
- [31:51]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Absolutely. Well, it's a wrap on this episode of Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories. You can find me on social media at Joquero Dinero Podcast and you can.
- [32:00]
Austin Hankwitz
Find me at AustinHankowitz. You can follow intuit QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks. To get the tools you need to start, run and grow your business, head to QuickBooks.com today.
- [32:11]
Alexa Critis Mancuso
Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes.
- [32:16]
Austin Hankwitz
We also want to hear from you, so be sure to leave us a rating and a review.
- [32:19]
Janice Torres
See you next time.
- [32:25]
Austin Hankwitz
Money Movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc. Licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
- [32:33]
Janice Torres
This podcast is a production of iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and Intuit QuickBooks. Our executive producer is Molly Socia, our Supervising Producer is Nakia Swinton and our writer is Eric Lee, our Head of.
- [32:44]
Austin Hankwitz
Post Production is James Foster and our Mixing Engineer is Paul Vitalins of Audiography. Do you own a business that's ready to thrive? It's time to let Intuit QuickBooks take things like unpaid invoices and tracking expenses off your plate so you can take things to the next level. Intuit QuickBooks is an all in one business platform that can help with those day to day tasks like invoicing and expenses. Manage and grow your business all in one place. Intuit QuickBooks your way to Money Money Movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc. Licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.