41. Magnificent Million Surprise Celebration

This podcast was transcribed using Descript. Please forgive any typos or errors.

Brittany: Hi friends. Welcome to Life with Loverly. I'm your host, Brittany Sjogren. I'm excited to share my heart with you beyond the 15 seconds. So we get on Instagram, grab a nice coffee and let's do life together. 

Hi friends. Welcome back to today's episode of Life with Loverly. I don't even think I'm coming off of the high of the weekend yet. I'm still up on cloud nine after experiencing the most fun night. Truly. I feel like of my adult life. You guys pulled off the surprise of a lifetime with this surprise party. 

Nichelle: You don't know how happy it makes all of us to hear you say that. Cause I think just the anticipation leading up to it actually being executed, it was just like, is she gonna love this?

She's gonna love this. Is she gonna love this? 

Brittany: It is so crazy. 

Nichelle: And keeping a secret from you is nearly impossible. Pretty sure I have like three ulcers now.

Brittany: I know I'm like, everyone's gonna need weeks of vacation after this to recoup. My team and Chris threw this amazing party to celebrate hitting 1 million followers on Instagram.

And it's so funny because I'm trying to even think of when this could have all started cuz all of this was done without me knowing and then the surprises of the night that I was just completely shocked by. I had absolutely no clue. So let's take it back. Cause I feel like I have some questions.

 I will say I had knowledge that something was gonna happen.

Because as we were hitting milestones of 700 K, 800 K, 900 K, I always wanted to celebrate in a way.

Nichelle: But something more than what we were doing flowers and here's a spa day. This, it just didn't feel like enough because we know how much work goes behind the scenes. I think that's what a lot of people don't understand that part of it. Sometimes they're a little confused okay, why? I don't understand. It's just like any milestone you hit in any job you do, right?

Brittany: Like a promotion or any type of opportunity to celebrate a big win. We were doing that, but never on a caliber and not that you have to.

Nichelle: It was just something that we envisioned I think happening once you hit that big milestone, because it went really fast. I would say from when I started, I think you were at 620, 630 something. I feel like it was 632 if I remember correctly, and then it was like, by Christmas time we all went, whoa. This is happening fast, and I think just with trends in social media, and obviously you hitting the nail on the head sticking with what you believe in, it pays off, it shows that in the numbers. So then we were like, okay, we're at 700,000.

 Then it was like we're at 800,000 and we blinked and it happened. Yeah. And then 900,000. And I think we all looked at each other and we were like this is gonna happen so much faster than I think we anticipated, and from 900,000 to a million was really fast. It was so fast almost to the point where you're like, I'm not ready. 

Brittany: Yeah. I was just oh my gosh, because reels and all these ways of social media that help boost who you are and get your content out there, then it, all of a sudden there's all these new people, and it's like this weird thing to balance. Yes. I'm glad I'm touching the lives of more people.

 It's also a little bit scary to know that so many more people are now looking at what I'm doing and maybe they don't know me or they don't know my story, or they haven't taken the time to do the research or read back through my blogs and figure out that this is a lot of hard work or I've had trials or things that we've gone through that I've talked about.

And so that kind of scared me a little bit getting that close. Sometimes I was like, I don't know if I want to. How can I just stop it here? And I don't know. I feel like you were what if we threw some kind of thing. Yeah.

Nichelle: And we really started asking, what would you want if we were able to throw a party, would you want a party? Would you want it to be, intimate? Would you want it to be big? And I think it just it just happened. It just honestly progressed very naturally where when you hit a million, you were getting close to going on vacation, or I was getting close to going vacation.

That's what it was. We all sat there and we were like, oh, you're going to this place. I'm going to this place. And she's about to hit a million. We were feeling really nauseous, not being able to be here for you. That's when Chris and I talked and he's like we're going to do something very intimate for her this weekend.

She's gonna hit it by x date. So at this point, the way it's trending, so we're gonna take her out with her closest friends and just have a little intimate gathering. And he was like, we'll do something big as a team. Once you get back, we'll start talking about it. And honestly, we were like big, let's just rent out a restaurant, let's just do this.

And it literally just became huge within a matter of two weeks we were like, what can we rent out? Where can we go? How soon can we do it? And of course this summer travel was a lot more. I don't even wanna say sporadic, but there was a lot more travel that was going on this summer. There were the event spaces here were getting booked because weddings are back on now.

So they were every single weekend at all of these venues. And so we went back and forth with a couple of dates and finally landed on one. And we were like, it's never gonna get here. August is never gonna be here. This was in May. Okay. 

Brittany: Yeah. And I had no clue that cuz Chris told me we are gonna celebrate you. This is a really big deal. I want you to know something big is happening. We're planning it. I just need you to trust. We want it to be a surprise because I'm terrible at surprises. I don't like surprises. I just wanna know. My mom used to always joke at Christmas time, I would just be like, can I just open my present now?

So I know what to expect. And then I'll wrap it back up. And she would always be like, that's not how this works. No. So I just don't like surprises because I like just being in the know and being on the other side of it. So to pull something off and for him to pull off even the first dinner.

Exactly. No clue that was happening. And as we've been married for longer, he's getting better at knowing what I like and what I don't like and how he can make it feel like I was planning it, but really he was making it bigger and better the whole time. Yeah. And so that night he was like we've got something else coming.

I don't want you to ask questions. We're not telling you the date. We're not telling you any details. Just know that me and your team are working on something for you that's gonna be a celebration. Coming in the future, and so I really tried to be like, I don't wanna know. 

Nichelle: You were really good about that.

Brittany: Yeah. I would be like, if y'all need to talk about something, I will walk outta the room once he just said, please know, that we want to do something special for you. Then I had no clue when, where, who would be there. Any type of anything that was gonna be happening, literally knew nothing.

 So then it's the summer's going on and I'm starting to be like, okay, it's not gonna be that weekend. It's not gonna be that weekend. 

Nichelle: Exactly. 

Brittany: And then I was just like, try to turn it off and they're gonna tell me what I need to know when I need to know. 

Nichelle: I knew there was gonna be a point where we were gonna have to give you an idea because obviously you needed to have something to wear, and there wasn't going to be anything to do that weekend because nobody was gonna wanna do anything with you. They were gonna be like, I dunno, I'm busy that weekend. So we knew at some point we were gonna have to just be like, We're gonna celebrate you and it's gonna be great.

Don't ask questions, but you need a dress. You need to get a dress here in the next two weeks, but that was as much as I think I literally had a harder time than you did. You were like, I'm okay with not knowing anything at this point, because the big part you knew, you knew we were going to celebrate you.

Yeah. And that's really, I think all you needed to know cuz you don't like surprises. 

So it's okay, I know that's gonna happen. So I don't, I need to really worry about anything else. 

Brittany: Yeah. Even walking in and like seeing what the actual surprise was and the venue and the decorations to me, my team is so good at knowing my brand.

 It's funny how the dresses that I liked matched kind of everything perfectly. But if you really look back over my entire brand is all pinks and grays and silver. Even looking over, if I'm gonna get really dressed up for something, the chances are it's gonna fall under these few colors.

And so I feel like that was really cool how you guys stayed so on brand. So it just all really came together. Yeah. 

Nichelle: So here's the really cool part about this party. You have such an amazing following that there are so many people here in Athens local that are lining up to support you.

So the fact that we found the perfect vendors for this party, honestly. Yeah. They were like let's go, and they knew you. I think that's what was so important is I needed somebody that knew you on top of, I knew they could execute the vision. 

And thank goodness for Chris, because he was like, I trust you guys. You let me know what you need. Let me know what's going on, and he checked in every now and then, but I told him I was like, I think I know exactly what we're gonna do. As soon as I knew we were gonna do a party and we found a place, I was like, this is what we're gonna do. I had such amazing help from Lain and from the other girls. The biggest surprise of all I'll have to get to that, but literally fell in our laps and it was all due to Ellen.

Brittany: Yeah.

Nichelle: It was just so random at a baseball game.

Brittany: It was just, I don't know. I feel I'm still on cloud nine, so I guess we'll get into the day. 

Nichelle: Yeah. So I knew going into this space, so we planned it at this place called the Foundry slash The Graduate Hotel. And we knew we wanted there to be somewhere easy for people to stay and to be able to stay at the party as long as possible, and then go to their rooms right there in the same parking lot.

That was one of the things that was so great about this venue. Number two, we wanted it to be a little bit different than your wedding somewhere different that you hadn't been to actually celebrate something. And when I got in there, I was like, okay, there's a lot of red here. What are we gonna do to cover this a because that's what we see here in this business is color. So I knew it was a cool space and it was gonna be so perfect for this event. It was just a matter of making the red kind of disappear in the background. The pink balloons, the white balloons, the 1 million letters Pop and Petal Events is amazing. They hand make those letters.

Brittany: I love them. They've done a big backdrop in balloons for Hazel's birthday when she turned one, they did a big display for closet sale. They've done so much, and I feel like anytime I think of oh, we need something Chelsea is the first person that comes to mind. They are so amazing. 

Nichelle: They are, they really are, and they're so down to earth. And the other thing is they get the vision. They get it. 

Brittany: Yes. I just kept looking around and I'm so thankful that we had a photographer and videographer, which is I am so excited to see the video that they put together.

Cause I feel like that's just gonna capture the night. And once I realized, okay, tonight is the party. We are driving there. I really didn't wanna have my phone out at all. In fact, when we got there, I handed my bag off to somebody. Yep. That carried it the rest of the night, and I did not pull my phone out. At one point, once I saw there was a videographer, I was like, okay I'm gonna be able to fully enjoy this. 

Nichelle: Absolutely. 

Brittany: Memories we'll have forever once I see these videos.

Nichelle: That was so important when Lain and I were talking about it, having all of that footage saved for later. That was something I thought that I'd be able to at least have my phone out. And I was like, maybe I can even show her people on Instagram what's going on, I'll log in. No, because we were so in the moment it was so much fun.

Brittany: Which was so great because this job is always on your phone trying to show things that are going on, but I was able to really soak up time with each person that I was talking to and reminisce on how I got to where I am because of them, or I remember when we went to this first event together.

It's crazy to see how we've grown. Anyway we got some photos back yesterday and even just looking over the spaces that Chelsea did I was just like this is amazing that her vision along with yours still, I have no clue what is happening. It was executed so flawlessly. 

Nichelle: Yeah, we knew we wanted many photo ops. We wanted there to be many places that we could go, all of your friends, family. There were so many people that were connected that I knew that there was gonna need to be many photo ops. So we made sure that she set up a wall for the photo booth. We had the really fun four piece, photo booth. Then we had that faux wall that was put up with the sofa, your new neon sign. 

Brittany: I know I saw that. We've been doing like a rebrand at Loverly Grey with a new logo, a whole rebrand. We've got a new website launching next week. We've got a new Life with Loverly website coming. So we've been so excited behind the scenes, starting to use some of the new signage and stuff like that, all over our content.

 We got a new neon sign, which if you're watching on YouTube right now, you can see the neon sign in the video. But we'll make some updates, so that'll be exciting. I saw it and I was like, wait a second. 

Nichelle: You just mentioned it last week too. And we were like, yes.

Brittany: I know. I looked back when we were recording. I was like, we're gonna need to get a new sign soon and little did I know.

Nichelle: You have a white one on the way too. 

Brittany: Oh my gosh. 

Nichelle: We'll have two. The whole thing was so fun to plan though. I knew it was almost like wedding vibes. Yeah, because you love flowers. Yes. You love, I just I needed it to come to life. Perry Ander, which is a local florist here in Athens. Ligia is amazing to work with. She owns it, her and her husband. She is responsible for sending you so many flowers from friends and family? Because that's where usually we point them in the direction, so she knew your vibe. She totally knew it, but I also wanted it to not be super girly and super wedding.

So we added a little bit of wild flower to the arrangements, just to make it more festive and fun and flirty and just different.

Brittany: It was awesome. I remember when they were taking everything down at the end of the. I just kept seeing glimpses of all the flowers together, and I was just like, oh my gosh. I love that. I love that. And I'm like, what are you gonna do with all these? And they donated them in my name to I believe it was a, maybe a women's shelter.

Nichelle: That's amazing. I didn't even know. I missed that. 

Brittany: They did a donation of all the flowers somewhere. I'll have to go back and check. Then she and her husband came over last night and brought me two arrangements. That's great. So I was. Oh, this is so nice. They were gorgeous. They did amazing flowers are some of my absolute favorites. I just love what she puts together. Anytime I send somebody flowers, local, or if people send me flowers from afar. I just love Perry Ander flowers. So those are stunning. Everything just came together. 

Nichelle: It did. And they worked, the vendors worked so well together. That was one of the few things that I had to sneak out during lunchtime sometimes just to go meet everybody and be like, okay, we're all on the same page cause balloons and flowers worked together. So I was very pleased with the way those turned out. One of the fun things that we were able to find was a coffee cart. 

Brittany: Okay. Yes. I need this in my life more frequently. Yes. Yes. 

Nichelle: So that was one thing that we were like, okay, coffee's a non-negotiable for yes, Loverly Grey.

Brittany. Coffee has to be there and it has to be iced coffee. So we found this little cart, I believe. 

Brittany: They're called Frothy's. 

Nichelle: Yes. 

Brittany: Get Frothy ATL. ATL, I think is their Instagram.

Nichelle: Lain. I feel like your sister is the one that helped us find that cuz Erin is in the wedding biz, Erin, shout out to you because you did an amazing job, helping us find some external vendors that we hadn't used before.

Brittany: Thank you, Erin. 

Nichelle: We immediately booked them because it was one day they had opened this was months ago and found out from the venue that they were, they don't accept anything outside food or beverage. And we were like skirt, what. So that was one small hiccup. I remember having a panic attack that day.

I was like, if anything, we have to have the coffee and the s'mores guys, this is a non-negotiable. Yeah. And the smores have to be there. I finally talked to Macy, the sales director, and she was like, it's fine. We just have to approve it. And I was like, Oh, okay, good. Thank you.

Brittany: I guess it was technically like outside of the venue.

Nichelle: It was gonna try to be in, but it was a little tight after it was all said and done. Yeah. So they did stay outside, which was cool because you get to start with your coffee as you enter , which is what a lot of people did. And then, they just got jacked on caffeine before the party got started.

Yeah. They were ready to party.

Brittany: A few people when we were chatting this morning were like Ellen, I think said she looked around at one point and so many people had the coffee and it was so good. Yes. I didn't get to try it, but I can't wait to have them back for something else.

Yes. They also have a same cart called Fizzies and do cocktails. They have six taps on this little truck. They can do beer, a Prosecco, a wine, they can make a big thing of old fashions and pour it out of a tap.

Nichelle: It's adorable guys. This little truck is so cute. 

Brittany: I was talking to my dad yesterday and he was like, we need to rent that for a tailgate this fall. And I'm like, I'm gonna hold you to that. Yes. Yes we are. 

Nichelle: That was a fun little nugget that we were able to add to the party

Brittany: On Saturday , I'm starting to put two and two together. Something is happening. It is four o'clock and my babysitter shows up and my makeup artist that I love that's from Atlanta shows up and I'm like, Okay, this is happening tonight. Yeah. When we were at the Nordstrom sale, I was like, Paula, I need to book you for August six.

At four. She was like, is that gonna give enough time? And I'm like, absolutely. . So we went ahead and locked that down. Yeah. I was like, okay. And so she starts doing my makeup and I'm just starting to be like, oh my gosh what's happening? 

Nichelle: Did you think maybe dinner or something like that?

Brittany: I had a feeling it was gonna be I think I thought it would be more than dinner just because we already did the intimate dinner. Yes. And Chris was like, at that point he was like, something else was coming, but I had, I don't know. 

Nichelle: I feel like we used party as a word, whenever we were first talking about it. So I was curious what you were thinking you were getting into.

Brittany: Yeah. And I kept trying to think of I couldn't ever wrap my mind around once I got there, what would happen? Was it gonna be like sitting down dinner? Would there be entertainment? I didn't even think about that.

I was like are we gonna dance? Yeah, I don't know. I don't even know. I literally don't know anything, and so we leave my house. Chris is like, wear the dress that you.

Nichelle: The couple of dresses I made you get. 

Brittany: Yeah. And then I was like, I really liked two of the dresses.

Nichelle: They were both fantastic. So it was one of those things that was like, do you wear two and I swiped one.

Brittany: You were like, I'll just take this one. We'll catch the vibe. If you feel like it might be something you wanna put on, it'll be there. Exactly. Which is funny because when I was in Beverly Hills earlier this year with the Red Dress team and I was the guest of honor at their event. We did several outfit changes throughout the event. It was so fun to it was there for a specific collection, so we were showcasing the outfits, but I was like, why do you have to wear one? And that's why I think so many brides change. Wear something and then change into a different dress for their reception and then maybe to leave, and I only had one dress for my wedding, cuz that really wasn't a thing when I got married, but I don't know. I was like these are two dresses I think are really great. I don't again know the vibe. Yeah. I feel like the first one that was tulle. I've worn pink tulle and several things that have been important or

just really fun events that I've done with Loverly Grey in the past. And so that kind of felt like more like signature. Yeah. And so that's why I wanted to start with that one and I definitely could have stayed in it the whole night, but then the other one was a little bit more party sequinsy. Anyway, we're getting in the car.

And Chris said can you close your eyes? He wanted a blindfold me, but I was like, my eye make up. I just got it done. I'm wearing lashes. I'm not getting a blindfold on. So I was like, okay, I will close my eyes the whole way. And I truly did cuz I feel like there's been a lot of work gone into this.

 I'm not gonna ruin it by being like, where are we going? I was just like, let it happen. Let the surprise happen. I was getting so emotional while I had my eyes closed. I was just calm, if you sit there for 10 minutes with your eyes closed, not knowing where you're going. I was processing a lot and I feel like I just got emotional, not even knowing what I was walking into, but just for the fact that my team wanted to do this for me. And that there was something happening that no matter what people put blood, sweat, and tears into something for me. And I was just like, before we even got out of the car, I was like, I feel like I'm gonna start crying. My eyes were starting to get a little bit watery.

 Then he came around and got me out of the car. And he was like open your eyes. We started walking in, and there was a sign and the coffee cart was outside. The people on the coffee cart were like, hi, welcome, and they started it off.

 The venue's really cool. Cuz you walk through this Archway to get into where the open space is and then there's an inside. And I had this Archway to walk into and it takes a second to get in. I turned the corner and I that's when I saw the videographer and photographer right there, and I was just like, oh my gosh this is crazy.

I could see like some of the balloons, I could see people, my parents were right there and like I walked in and I was just like, oh my gosh. Then I started seeing people from all over the country. I was just like, oh my gosh. I know that some of the video you're like, oh my gosh.

 What are you? People who are brands that I've worked with? People who I've known in this career from all over like other influencers, my best friends from high school and college and my friend group here in Athens. And it was just like some of my parents good friends I've grown up with.

 I definitely got emotional and I thought it was really sweet. Looking back at some of the pictures, Chris let me walk in.

Nichelle: I know. 

Brittany: And I was like, come with me. Thank you for letting me have a moment, but I was like no I need you to be with me. And I'm definitely like tears over excitement. Then every place I turned I'm trying to take in who is there? Yeah. But also I'm getting glimpses of the decor and I'm just like, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I was just shocked. 

Nichelle: Good. That was what we were hoping for. 

Brittany: Yeah. There's nothing about that night that I would've changed. There's nothing, I would've done different. Everything was so much fun. 

Nichelle: That makes me so glad I spent the whole week being sick to my stomach making sure that everything was perfect.

And then only a slight little hiccup during the event. Once the big reveal was done, I felt like I could finally let loose and come see you and enjoy you enjoying the party, but it was just making sure that all ducks fell in a row cuz we had gone over the timeframe of what was gonna happen when during the party there was some tech things that were going on.

Yeah. So I wanna get into the big surprise

Brittany: Okay. All of a sudden Nichelle goes okay, Billy's gonna speak and we got something that we wanna show you. I could see a video was trying to get up on the screen. Everybody's about to come in and you were like, stand right here.

Nichelle: I want you to have the best view. I want you to stand right here. And I was like, Chris, don't let her move. 

Brittany: Okay. I was up above; there was two levels. So a bunch of people were filling in like right by the stage and that's where the DJ was. I was up above all of that, so then Billy gets up and I was like, oh man, maybe he's gonna do a cool rap or something. Cause he does these really fun, impromptu raps about people. He did it when he came to our office once. He gets up and is entertaining the crowd a little bit. Then there's a video that plays and it's from 2018 is where the photos started all the way to now. It was this sweet video showing just the change and the growth and everything that Loverly Grey's made and have been through.

 Y'all did a really cute little team video and have a fun moment there. Then Billy gets back on and he was like there's actually somebody who wasn't able to make it tonight that wanted to send you a little something. My first thought was that it was Taryn.

 I was like oh my God. So one of my really close influencer friends, Taryn is 37 weeks pregnant. 

Nichelle: We would not allow her to fly. She was like my doctor won't let me. And I was like, you weren't coming anyway. Yeah. So it's fine. Have your baby in Texas, please.

Brittany: Chris told me later that she was really trying to figure out a way to come. And he was like, I want you to be there, but it is not healthy. You're gonna be going against doctor's orders. If you even attempt, we will celebrate another time whatever. Yeah. And so I once I'd been into the party a little bit, obviously didn't see her knowing that she's 37 weeks pregnant and isn't gonna make it.

I was like, oh, that's so sweet. Maybe it's not, she made a video of some people who, couldn't be here cuz Billy said that. The video starts and it is Heather McMahan in this video playing Margie, which for those of you who don't know, Heather McMahan is a comedian.

She's hilarious. She's from Atlanta. I feel like over the past few years has really become this popular comedian. She has a podcast. She's like a breath of fresh air. She's funny. She's crude. I just love her. I've seen her live perform two times, and I just always get good vibes. She's a good, pick me up type person. 

Nichelle: Absolutely. 

Brittany: When I saw this video, I was like, this is such a cool surprise she must have done. They must have hired her to do one of those cameo videos. It was like super specific to me. It was a funny bit that she does with this other character that she had.

And it was like applying for a job to work at Loverly Grey. Yes. It was this five minute video of her, being hilarious interviewing for the job. So I was like, oh my gosh this is hilarious thinking that is the extent of it. Even watching this never in my wildest dreams, would I imagine what happened next? All of a sudden she says in the end of her video, wish I could be there. Enjoy celebrating or something. 

Nichelle: If you need a personal reference, you can ask my boss, so all the way from Italy, Heather McMahan.

Brittany: Yeah. Because she's been on her Italian honeymoon for the last two months it seems.

Nichelle: Exactly. 

Brittany: Then I don't really remember how this next part happened. I don't know if Billy said something or if Heather McMahan literally just started talking and was like, hello or I don't even know what did she say?

Nichelle: So I came over cuz I knew that she was gonna be looking for you. Where's the lady of the hour? And that's when I had to push you to look cause she was coming around the corner. 

Brittany: Yeah. She starts talking from the back, it couldn't oh she must have sent some other to really put a joke on. She's a big jokester.

 Then she literally walked into my party and walked onto the stage and was literally in person talking to me. I still so many times yesterday, I was like, Chris, I cannot believe that this happened last night. What the heck. So Nichelle and I walked down, we're standing right in front of her and she does a private show for everybody at the party for a good 30, 40 minutes.

 Everybody is dying, laughing. She's roasting people, she's roasting me, but then she also brought me on stage. She brought Chris on stage, so they just bantered back and forth. Yeah. Then I was on stage and she gave this great toast. It was so fun, so fun, never in my wildest dreams would I have even thought, that was a potential that could happen.

Nichelle: Yeah we didn't either until it actually did. 

Brittany: Yeah and then afterwards Her and her team, she brought one of her best friends who we have all these connections with cause she lives in Atlanta, which is about an hour from where I live.

 There's some crossover, which is actually funny cuz one of my friends who was in the audience was Heather's sorority president while she was in school. So she saw her and I think switched up the bit, a little bit to be like, oh my gosh, I know people here. Yes. This is gonna be really cool.

 She was amazing. She took pictures with everybody. She was so kind, she is stunning. 

Nichelle: She is fabulous, Brittany. I could not stop telling her. I was like you are gorgeous. Literally I just kept looking at her skin. Yes. And was just like, oh my gosh, girl, you are so beautiful.

Brittany: It was so cool. We took pictures. She did photo booths with people. Then her team was awesome. Talking with her manager, Chris, I just was like, you guys are legit people.

Nichelle: She is surrounded by some amazing people. They're so easy to work with, so personable. That was the one thing that I was like she is a real person cuz you know that's how people talk to you too. Oh my gosh, you're a real person. You're just as sweet in real life. It's so hard to make the connection so you actually meet somebody in person , but she was phenomenal and willing to do whatever cuz she wanted to make your night.

Brittany: She literally made my night. I was so shocked and some of my friends that were there went with me to see her in concert. . Chris for our anniversary last year, instead of buying something for like him and I to do together, he bought me tickets for Heather McMahan show for me to take my friends because he was like I know how much you love her and wanna be with your friends to see her perform.

 Then the fact that she was there, that she knew who I was, had studied my blog and podcast and listened to stuff to put a whole show together. Which is so cool. I will never get over that night. 

Nichelle: It's so funny. So it all started. We all were going what if we could have Heather McMahan there?

What if we could have Trey Kennedy here? What if we could have Hayderz come? You know what I mean? Literally I feel like it was a week later, Ellen was sitting in her season seats at the Braves game. Randomly was sitting next to one of Heather's friends, and they started a conversation and oh it was the mom of the friend.

The friend is in Italy with Heather celebrating her wedding. So that's how it all started. She's like, well I can give you an email or something if you wanna try to reach out and see. That email turned into, like I got copied on it and it just literally kept snowballing. This is really going to happen.

 I literally went through I felt like 20 people to finally get to her. She has a huge team. Kudos. Once we finally got the, okay. It took a couple weeks cause she was on her honeymoon and we were like, this may not happen. What if it does, what if she doesn't accept it? You know how it works with brand, deals and stuff like that.

 I finally get a call from her talent manager, which is Chris and so we wanted to kinda talk it through. I have Heather on the phone right now and oh my gosh. Hi, Heather in the car on the way home. 

Brittany: Were you like freaking out? 

Nichelle: Yeah, I, yes. Lain can tell you. I called her squealing like a school girl.

I just talked to Heather on the phone and I'm freaking out. 

Brittany: I didn't realize obviously you guys talked to her before. So they had been setting up all day and I guess Heather came to do a walkthrough through and so then I'm like wait a second. You guys got to be with Heather earlier today too. Like how was that? What was that? I was still just shocked. So hearing some of this, I haven't heard any of this stuff yet.

Nichelle: I know. So we originally had a, I really wish Lain come over here and talk too it's like I'm sitting here talking to the back of her head right now, but it was so fun leading up to it because we'd come up with this really cool idea for her to come out of nowhere. Billy being like did you ever think you did a million followers? And her be like, absolutely not. 

Brittany: Oh my gosh.

Nichelle: She was like it's such a good idea, but literally the day before was like we have a really cool idea. What do you think about this? Cause it was gonna be super formal. Her come up and do a set and then she was gonna come say hey to you. And then leave no meet and greet, no nothing. Because again I was talking to her management company and she said I just wanna make it casual go to the bar and talk to people and have fun.

 That sounds like the ideal situation. This is so much more casual than we thought it was gonna be. She's like no I just love these events so much, and I love talking to people. I'd rather come and do that, but she's wanna do a little video. Can we get a video up there beforehand?

I wanna play Margie from Costco. She's one of my old characters and I was like, I know .

Brittany: You're like, yes, I'm very aware. 

Nichelle: I know Margie. I think I'm gonna do a video. I'm going to record it tonight. Totally changed things up cause she really wanted it to be about you. She was like this is Brittany's day. I wanna make it about her oh my gosh. 

Brittany: It all was about me and it was even funny just her roasting me, but it was still respectful, funny. I don't know. She said she would come on the podcast guys, so I feel like we gotta make that happen.

Nichelle: I feel like that's gonna happen. 

Brittany: Before was she just like sitting down at the bar with people down there did or she was away? So did people like guests know she was there before? 

Nichelle: I think only a few minutes, during the video. 

Brittany: Okay.

Nichelle: Because what we did was this is the craziness that was going on while you were watching the other video is while the champagne was being spill on my computer and messing with audio, we're also trying to get the other two, I'm trying to get Lain and Ellie to help me go get her cuz she's in the green room. Where I put your dress is where we had them just hang. The printer wasn't working, so she had to jot down her notes. I was like go take them alcohol here, tell them hang tight. She ended up coming in. I told them when I started the Margie video. And so they were just waiting outside the double doors. She's literally just sitting on the bar, watching out there and Chris is waiting for her cue and I walked down there and I was like, oh, you're here.

 Nobody's over here cause everybody had been pulled into where the stage was. So she was getting ready for her cue to come on. 

Brittany: Oh my gosh. So much fun. She had my parents laughing so hard. The next day my dad was like she's so funny. In some of the like photo books that we have is like all these pictures of Heather and my parents.

That's amazing.

Nichelle: My dad told me yesterday that he has invited her back to Athens to do a tailgate and he's gonna take her and her husband to a football game. And I'm just like Heather and we were like, what? We're like is everybody gonna be okay with her jokes? 

Brittany: Yeah. Cause she's a little crude. I think Chris told me that he was like prepped my parents and some of their friends. FYI if they need to step outside, if this is gonna offend anybody. She was totally fine. 

Nichelle: And she even asked me on the phone, and I said, look chris and I have decided that you need to be you. Don't candy coat it. We enjoy you as a comedian, so don't change that. You need to come be that for Brittany. 

Brittany: It was so fun to see my friends who were such huge fans just be completely shocked. When she Kristen from Red Dress. I texted her the next day and she was like, I literally blacked out when she put the microphone.

Nichelle: The one time in her life she's ever been speechless.

Brittany: I know I was. It was so fun to watch other people enjoy what I was enjoying. Absolutely. Cuz while the night was about me, I don't always love being the center of attention. I just I feel like a lot of what I do professionally is very put out there. That's not how I am in my private life. I would like to stay behind closed doors. So to be at an event that was for me, gave me a little anxiety, but then to see everybody enjoying something I enjoyed. I appreciated that she was there.

 Everybody was excited that somebody else was there, but it was also for me. If that makes sense. I don't know. I loved that feeling of it. So yeah, she hung around and it was so fun talking with her and talking with her friends and just I don't know, the whole night, I still was like, I cannot believe this is happening.

I cannot believe this is happening. And the night went on and we took so many photos. We danced everywhere. At the end of the night, probably the last 30 minutes. We had the DJ really turn it up. Yep. Those of us that were left were just dancing on the stage.

 It reminded me so much of being in college with some of my best college friends that were there. We used to always get a cocktail napkin at a bar and write out a playlist and take it to the DJ. Yes. And be like okay here's our playlist. He'd be like, who are you?

And we're like, these are the songs we wanna hear next. We're gonna stand right here and dance, and that was our Friday and Saturday nights in college. So we did that again. I don't know, it was so cool because it wasn't a wedding, but it was this fun celebration for people to come together and celebrate, but dance and just have a good night.

Nichelle: One of the great compliments that we got was that it didn't feel like there was a stranger in the house. 

Brittany: I love that. 

Nichelle: You know you go to some events sometimes and you're hanging in the corner cuz we're the only people that really know each other. It wasn't like that. Everybody really came together because they were there to celebrate you. That's what they had in common. It was so much .

Brittany: I thought it was really cool too. I have some other influencer friends who were there, and so then my friends were meeting some of these people that they follow, and that was really cool. Then even some of like those influencer friends were talking with some of the brands that were there. The connection with everybody was just so cool. Then at the end of the day, I still can't get over that many people were there to support me and celebrate me. so many times I think of hitting these milestones in a business sense. I'm like, great we reached the goal what's next. I am sometimes bad about sitting in the moment and accepting the reward or letting that soak in.

And so that was just so cool to reflect and I don't know. It was amazing.

Nichelle: It was so fun hearing all the stories over the years of how people connected and your business, 

Brittany: All walks of life. It was so cool, and it was so fun for my parents to see people that they hadn't seen in a long time. It was awesome. I would go back and redo that night over a hundred times the exact same way, because everything just was so fun. 

Nichelle: Robert looked at me yesterday so what's the next party, cuz I feel like you've put so much into this over the last couple of months that you're ready for the next one.

I was like, what are we gonna do? What are we gonna do with our time? I don't know what I'm gonna do with my time now. Like I'm gonna have to, I'm gonna have to put something together now.

Brittany: Which is so crazy because there would be weeks that obviously I now know that they were working on this for a really long time, but every person on my team was also executing their daily job at it's normal expectancy.

 I was never like, okay, why are we slacking? Oh, cuz you're like planning this party. I've never felt a hiccup in the business. But yet here they all are busting their asses behind the scenes doing all this stuff for me. It's holy shit, like all the secrets that we have going on.

Nichelle: We're like, shut up. No, she's coming. 

Brittany: There's one thing that is literally so funny. That you should win an award for your acting on this. So we're having a closet sale. Last year we did this amazing closet sale and donated all the proceeds to St. Jude, and we were like let's do another closet sale.

We're going to make a donation. We've been trying to find a location because where we did it last year is now built out. There's an actual brand store that is there. We have been searching all over, it's coming in September. So we wanted to lock something down.

We're starting prep with the clothes and just getting as much ready as we can, and it's been like, where are we going to have this? 

Nichelle: It's proven to be a little challenging because real estate's harder to find. Not only in housing market, but in businesses as well. 

Brittany: We wanted something commercial that had good parking cause there were a few places that I was like, oh, we could just do it there and the parking is terrible. Last year there's probably 200 people that came through. 

Nichelle: Yeah. 

Brittany: It's just been challenging to find a place. And I even had my realtor friend looking for some commercial space cause we wanted to rent it and we were finding some great options, but it was going to cost $10,000.

And I was like, this is for charity. We work it all out, so I'm driving one day, and I'm just driving downtown. I was leaving an appointment and I went a way that I wouldn't normally go. That is where you have to dead end to take a right or left, at the end of that is this place called the Graduate.

That's the hotel where this party was, had no clue the party was happening at this place. I see it and I'm like, oh my gosh, they have this outdoor space. They have this banquet room. We should try to reach out to them and maybe see if they've got it available. I call Nichelle and I'm like, oh my gosh, I have got a great idea.

What if we do it at the Foundry? I don't know if you've ever heard of it. It's downtown Athens. I'm explain. From the moment she picks up the phone and I say the Graduate, the girls' acting skills turn on. Literally at my party the other night, I'm like, hold on, you knew and she's like yeah. Let me email them magically. They emailed back same day being like we have that date available. Let's go look at it. Yeah. And Nichelle's probably behind the scenes being like holy.

Nichelle: I was like, Macy, I need you to pretend like you've never met me before. Okay, bye . 

Brittany: Yes. And you even said oh, she's so excited to meet you. She's a huge fan. And so I was like, oh, this is gonna be cool. We go, we meet her and still we're at the Graduate. And I'm like, never even considering some type of celebration for me would easily. 

Nichelle: Why do you think I magically didn't come up with it on my own?

Brittany: I don't know.

Nichelle: I wasn't trying to give anything away. Honestly.

Brittany: Because it was one of those out of sight out of mind, unless you drive by it or really start looking. You gave me like a list and I'm like, yeah, I've already been through all those, but oh, the Foundry, I don't know. I've never heard of that.

Let me, and in my mind I'm like yeah, we never drive over there. Obviously, if you just did a quick Google search event spaces in Athens, it would come up.

Nichelle: I'm really not that dumb. I promise . 

Brittany: I was just like, okay.

Nichelle: We found a space. Cool. 

Brittany: We got a good deal on it. We do a little walkthrough and totally had no clue. We've literally been acting this entire time. 

Nichelle: I'm like, oh, cool. A courtyard, a terrace that's adorable. 

Brittany: And she's oh maybe we could do this. Then at my party with Chelsea, from Pop and Petal. I'm like okay, you could just keep this and bring it back for the closet sale. And she's like I already know. We're already working all that out too. And I'm like you guys just doing all this stuff without me.

Nichelle: Oh yeah.

Brittany: So I thought that was hilarious. Yeah. It's just so wild. I'm still so shocked. I'm sure there's other little things that y'all are. Yeah remember when I said I was doing this, I was really doing this.

Nichelle: Oh yeah. Let me tell you, there's probably gonna be a million of those moments, but right now I think because it happened over the span of a few months that it's the little things last night, I actually text Ellie and I was like, wait, do you still have that recording of when I officially made it official with Heather's team because she recorded me getting off the phone and I'm like, yes.

Brittany: Oh my gosh. I've gotta see that. Yeah, there it's just it's so crazy. Heather McMahan was here. I'm still so blown away. Yeah. It was unbelievable you guys.

Nichelle: I don't know how we're gonna up it.

Brittany: We don't need to up it. Listen. We gotta ways till we hit 2 million. Who knows what will even be going on. 

Nichelle: Exactly. 

Brittany: Anyway I'm just so grateful for my team, for all the vendors, anybody who had a hand in any part of making this party happen. There were these great Polariods all over that people were snapping. There were cookies. There was t-shirts. You guys made t-shirts for a fun party favor. Yes. Which is a little teaser for some things that are coming soon, later this fall. Love that so much. I don't know. I'm just so overwhelmed with thankfulness, and the fact that people took the time out of their lives.

I know a lot of people have kids that started school today, and they made it work to where they spent their evening with us on Saturday, and that just means so much to me. I would see people and tears would start coming down my eyes cause I'm like oh my gosh you made it. You're here.

Nichelle: Yeah. 

Brittany: And it was just so cool. The love I felt and still feel. Could not do what I do without my team. I've been very vocal about their love and support. They helped me get to where I'm at. They've helped me get to this goal. So as much as it was a party for me, I really hope that you guys were able to celebrate and felt like this was a huge celebration for the whole team.

Nichelle: Oh, for sure.

Brittany: Because I'm not a one man show I never could be. I never will be again, this is a huge team effort and I just love what we're doing here and that we celebrated.

Nichelle: I couldn't have done it without the rest of the team. Honestly. 

Brittany: Literally every person had their hand in something.

Can't wait to continue hearing what everyone's been up to. Talk about a great way to start your Monday.

Nichelle: Party week is what we've decided. So we're just gonna celebrate all week. 

Brittany: We're gonna have so much fun all week. You guys thank you so much for listening to today's episode, I'm excited with a special guest that's gonna be on our season finale next week. We will see you same place, same time. 

Thanks for listening to today's episode. I can't wait to continue these conversations with you over on Instagram. Make sure to follow. At life with loverly until next time.