Kevin Cochran - 718 Creative // What's Been on My Mind Recently

Kevin Cochran steps outside the usual Texas Wedding Podcast interview format for a short, personal episode, no guest this week, just a thought that had been building for a couple of months.

After years of shooting Texas weddings ranging from a couple thousand dollars total to a couple million, Kevin shares what's struck him most: not the differences between those budgets, but the similarities. He also opens up about where the Texas wedding industry stands right now for a lot of vendors, bookings down, timelines shorter, and offers a word of encouragement to anyone feeling it.

Hear more candid conversations with the people moving and shaping the Texas wedding market on the Texas Wedding Podcast.

This episode's core idea, that luxury and fulfillment aren't about money, echoes something Mary Wright Shah said on her own episode. Pair this one with Mary Wright Shah's episode to hear her version of it.

The Texas Wedding Podcast is hosted by Kevin Cochran of 718 Creative, a Texas wedding videographer.

Full Transcript (condensed)

Why I've Been Looking Back

Kevin: I've noticed myself spending more time lately going back through old weddings, redoing edits for past clients. It's the slow season, maybe it's getting older, maybe it's just life, but I've been more introspective than usual, and there's a thought that's been building for a couple of months that I want to share.

What Wealth Does and Doesn't Buy

I've been lucky enough to shoot weddings across the entire spectrum, weddings put together for a couple thousand dollars total, and weddings with a couple million dollars behind them. What's struck me most isn't the differences between them, it's the similarities. I've worked with clients who are billionaires, people lacking nothing, never wondering where a bill is coming from. And across every level of wealth I've seen, the thing that actually determines whether someone is happy on their wedding day, whether their life feels fulfilled, isn't the investment level and it isn't net worth. It's who's around them. It's how much love is in the room. And it's whether they're the kind of person who loves other people well in return.

I'll admit that in my own life I think about money and net worth more than I'd like to, maybe it's my accounting background. But watching this up close, at every level, from a couple thousand dollars to the pinnacle of wealth, has convinced me that the golden ticket isn't net worth and it isn't power. It's being surrounded by people who love you, and being the kind of person who loves the people around you.

A Note to Fellow Vendors in a Stressful Season

Starting this podcast has put me in a lot more conversations with other creatives in the industry, on the show and off it, in the DMs. A lot of people are telling me they're nervous right now, that bookings are down from a couple years ago, that booking windows are shorter. I hear it from people who've been doing this a long time and from people still in their second or third year trying to figure out what normal even looks like. If that's you, you're not alone, I'm hearing it constantly.

Talking to people who have been in this a long time has been a bit of a reality check for me too, this industry ebbs and flows, for individual businesses and for the industry as a whole. It's easy, especially working alongside these big investments and incredible events, to start thinking small about yourself and your business, or to start comparing your business to your clients' businesses. If you're having a down year, I hope you can pause in the middle of it and say, yes, it's a down year, it ebbs and flows, and keep fighting to make things better. And I hope you can also take a beat to look at your own life, and make sure you're doing everything you can to be the kind of person who loves the people around you well.

One Last Thought

This isn't an interview with someone moving and shaping the wedding industry, and I know that's usually the whole point of this show. But this has been on my heart, and I wanted to share it. Whether your year is looking good or bad right now, I think we can all take a minute to be thankful for the people in our lives who love us, and think about how we can love the people around us a little better. Let me know what you think of this one, good or bad, I mean that. This isn't going to be the norm, we'll be back next week with a normal interview.

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Kevin / 718 Creative: https://718creative.com | https://www.instagram.com/718.creative