preston bailey . a speech . a few lessons

Preston Bailey was the keynote speaker at BizBash.TO’s tradeshow today. Most people are very familiar with his work, his clients, his books, etc…but not everyone is as familiar with how he got his start. This was actually my first time seeing Preston speak at an event (oddly enough since he’s everywhere). And I got a glimpse into the man who we now know as the event designer to the stars.

Preston surprised the flock of tradeshow onlookers by sharing with us that for many, many years he was a penniless floral designer. In fact, he was greatly in debt until just a few years ago (7, if I recall correctly). I actually found it refreshing that he not only shared his humble beginnings but also his business failures. He told us about his unsuccessful high end plate line and his dismal bed linen venture – and although he attributed these failures to high end price points not connecting with price sensitive shoppers, to me the lesson is this: understand what your brand is known for and deliver relevant products and services. When I think Preston Bailey, I think ‘abundant florals’ and ‘over the top weddings’. Plates and bed linens just don’t fit.

He also shared with us his many successes – aided by a visual display of images that evoked ooohs and aaahs from the crowd. What I love about Preston’s work is he is truly a transformation artist. He converts barns into magical ceremony sites that rival some of the most palatial churches and creates deliciously decadent indoor gardens out of airport hangars. He also loves to use tents (brownie points there). And although most of us don’t have multi-million dollar budgets to work with, the big lesson for me is think transformation. Look outside the ‘typical venue’ – find beauty in barns, parking lots and building rooftops.

Lastly, the biggest and most important lesson I took away from his short but poignant speech was this: it’s OK to be a PR slut. (In his early days) for 6 months straight, Preston called a magazine every single day with the intent of getting a write up in their publication. Eventually his persistence paid off. In New York, you’re only as good as what someone has written about you…or perhaps it’s more like: you’re only good if someone has written about you. The bottom line is that this article cost Preston $0 and it got his name in front of the masses. This was one of the tipping points that launched the Preston Bailey brand.

If you do get a chance to see Preston speak – please do so. It was the highlight of my week. I hope that you find some of these insights relevant to your business.

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