The Magic of IRL

If you're hosting events, you need contracts that actually protect you. Venue agreements, vendor terms, speaker agreements, attendee waivers. Contractista has a whole collection built for events, written by a lawyer, ready to use.

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A man once asked an event host to go get him a fork. She was in a full ball
gown, holding a microphone, about to walk out and run the whole thing. That's
one of eight stories in this episode.

Inbal and Haley Westfall asked the internet for event host horror stories and
got an indoor tornado inside a convention center, an influencer who locked
herself in a bedroom for an entire paid trip, a giveaway winner who dislocated
her kneecap mid-celebration, and a retreat attendee who came out of an ice
plunge with no memory of getting in.

Recorded in bed, in another country, mildly unhinged. Underneath the chaos: why
your liability waivers matter more than your aesthetic, how to hold a room
together while it's falling apart, and why you need other hosts in your corner.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Takeaways

• Why liability waivers matter more at a breathwork-and-ice-plunge retreat than almost anywhere else
• How to run a room and manage a crisis at the same time, when you’re the only one who can do both
• The vague phrase on your registration page that causes most attendee disappointment
• Why “I don’t have a co-founder, but I have my quad pod” is a business strategy, not a consolation prize
• What to do when a vendor confirms and then backs out two weeks before
• What attendees never see when they look at your ticket price and do the math
• The one ask you should never make of a host who’s about to take the stage

Website: http://www.inbalclaudio.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalclaudio/

Magic of Hosting Workshop: https://calendly.com/inbalclaudio/events-workshop

The IRL Effect Course: https://xoxoinbi.circle.so/checkout/the-irl-effect - Use code MAGIC10

Thinking about hosting a dinner for founders in your community? Alisha Kumar, founder of Good Time Media and The Founder's Table, shares exactly how she hosts curated mastermind dinners for women founders in cities across North America. We get into how she structures the night, why every table is capped at 20 women, how she went from $125 to $475 tickets, and what one dinner really costs to host (hint: way more than you think). She also shares why she stopped partnering, how she decides when to cancel a city, and where The Founder's Table is headed in 2027: money talk, exits, and building wealth together.

In this episode

• How Alisha filled her very first event with a line out the door, through influencers
• The structure of a Founder's Table dinner, from arrival to hot seats to dessert
• Why your ticket price decides who shows up
• The minimum number of seats she needs before a dinner makes sense
• How she seats guests so friends don't sit together
• Why she greets every single guest by name at the door
• What to do after the dinner so the connections keep going

About the guest

Alisha Kumar is the founder of Good Time Media, a marketing agency helping brands scale through paid acquisition, retention strategy, and full-funnel marketing infrastructure. She also created The Founder's Table, a curated mastermind dinner experience and network for women founders building serious companies and long-term wealth through trusted relationships.

Connect with Alisha

• Alisha's Instagram
• Good Time Media
• The Founder's Table

Website: http://www.inbalclaudio.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalclaudio/

Magic of Hosting Workshop: https://calendly.com/inbalclaudio/events-workshop

The IRL Effect Course: https://xoxoinbi.circle.so/checkout/the-irl-effect - Use code MAGIC10

Kristina Bartold's first event was a dinner for 12 women in an Italian restaurant basement, and she lost money because she did the math wrong. Today her High Vibe Women events sell out at 200+ women, twice a year. Recorded IRL in front of a live room, this conversation covers how she filled her first big event when speakers didn't sell tickets, the "sell the next event from this one" strategy behind 100+ tickets sold in a single week, and the $22 membership she refused to let die until her community told her what they actually wanted.

What you'll learn

• Why speakers don't fill rooms, and what does
• How personal invitations and "shaking trees" sold a first 100-person event
• How to build FOMO so every event sells the next one
• Why the membership pivot from $22 to $77 brought in five times the members
• How to think about ROI on the events you attend, and why the seat can beat the stage
• Building a thicker skin for the criticism that comes with hosting

About Kristina
Kristina Bartold is the co-founder of The Social Snippet and High Vibe Women. She helps entrepreneurs and small businesses grow their communities using social media, podcasting and events. She spends most of her days recording episodes of the Community podcast, coaching business owners, and hosting events for local female entrepreneurs through High Vibe Women.

Resources

• High Vibe Women
• Community podcast
• Kristina on Instagram

Website: http://www.inbalclaudio.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalclaudio/

Magic of Hosting Workshop: https://calendly.com/inbalclaudio/events-workshop

The IRL Effect Course: https://xoxoinbi.circle.so/checkout/the-irl-effect - Use code MAGIC10

“Friendship first, business second” is how I run everything. But what happens when the bill is due or prices go up? A listener asked how I handle those conversations when my clients see me as a friend, and my answer might surprise you.

In this quick solo episode, I break down the two kinds of friendship in my business: friendship as my strategy for meeting people, and the friendship that actually makes a community work (spoiler: it’s not with me). Plus why my real friends are always the first to buy, share, pay on time, and tell me the truth.

In this episode:

• Why I walk into every room looking for a friend, not a client
• The honest truth about being “friends” with every member (mom of three, remember?)
• Where the real secret weapon lives in a community
• Why real friendship makes money conversations easier, not harder

Website: http://www.inbalclaudio.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalclaudio/

Magic of Hosting Workshop: https://calendly.com/inbalclaudio/events-workshop

The IRL Effect Course: https://xoxoinbi.circle.so/checkout/the-irl-effect - Use code MAGIC10

My business bestie Haley Westfall is in the room, and we are spilling all of it. The voice notes we usually keep to ourselves are finally on the airwaves, including the part nobody posts about: the stress before the magic.

Haley got rescue-flighted into entrepreneurship after losing her corporate job twice, built Collab Culture with her lifelong best friend (45 plus signups in the first 72 hours), and then launched The Table on top of it. But the story that will stick with you is year one of her live event. She was unhinged-confident she'd sell 250 tickets. She sold 70. She cried most of February, went upside down on money, and then found out that the very thing she was most scared of was actually her superpower. We get into pricing, raising your rates without flinching, inviting the boys to the table, stripping an event back to bare bones, and why your feet are not in concrete.

What you'll take away

• Why Haley and her best friend "selfishly" built a community for themselves, and how that became the whole business
• The real pricing journey: $45 and $55 memberships to a $89 signature tier and a $189 CEO Round Table, and how surveying her people drove every change
• What happened when the math ain't mathing three weeks out from her first live event, and how she talked herself (and 70 guests) through it
• Why smaller rooms keep winning, and how nobody ever mentions the balloons or the decor
• How she made year two work with a venue sponsorship and a bare-bones build, and what's changing for year three

Find Haley

• Instagram: @thehaleywestfall
• Free resource: the Connection Compass, her personally vetted, application-based database of must-attend events and must-join communities
• The Table Experience Live returns for year three in February 2027

This episode is brought to you by Contractista

If you're hosting events, you need contracts that actually protect you. Venue agreements, vendor terms, speaker agreements, attendee waivers. Contractista has a whole collection built for events, written by a lawyer, ready to use.

40% off the event collection with code MAGIC
https://www.contractista.com/collections/events

Website: http://www.inbalclaudio.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalclaudio/

Magic of Hosting Workshop: https://calendly.com/inbalclaudio/events-workshop

The IRL Effect Course: https://xoxoinbi.circle.so/checkout/the-irl-effect - Use code MAGIC10

Two and a half years. Four different developers. Six launch delays. A platform that grew to 4,000 women from all over the world, with 40 to 50 of them live on Zoom every single week. Then I opened a paid tier and almost nobody bought.

This first episode of The Magic of IRL is the story of why I shut that platform down on purpose. You'll hear what happened when I started something tiny, once a month, in person here in Orange County. I'll tell you how I got 20 women into that first room with voice notes to total strangers, with no list and no algorithm. And you'll hear why the exact same ask that got me crickets from 4,000 people worked in a room of 20.

If you've got an idea for something you want to host, and it's been sitting in your notes app for months, and you're terrified nobody will show up, come sit with us. You're in the right place.

Hit follow so you don't miss what's coming. Friendship first, business second.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why 4,000 members and 40 to 50 women on weekly Zoom calls still added up to crickets when the paid tier opened
• The reframe that changed everything: "4,000 names is not 4,000 relationships"
• How the first Business & Collab filled with no list and no algorithm: voice notes to strangers, introducing myself at local markets, and following up on every single referral
• Why the same paid ask that flopped online worked in a room of 20
• Why turning off a six-figure platform was the best business decision I've ever made

Website: http://www.inbalclaudio.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalclaudio/

Magic of Hosting Workshop: https://calendly.com/inbalclaudio/events-workshop

The IRL Effect Course: https://xoxoinbi.circle.so/checkout/the-irl-effect - Use code MAGIC10

I had 4,000 women in an online community. When I opened a paid tier, almost nobody joined. Then I got 20 women in a room, and that room turned into a membership, a coworking space, a retreat, this podcast, an annual summit, and my best friends.

This is the follow-through on what I promised you at the end of episode one: hosting in-person events is the best business decision you will ever make. It all comes down to two things, trust and staying top of mind. You'll hear how one event a month became a membership, how the women who kept the conversation going in the parking lot led me to open The Clubhouse OC, where referrals actually come from, and why friendship first, business second isn't a cute tagline. It's the business model.

Then I give you your homework. You do not need a bigger audience. You need a room.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why 20 women in a room did what 4,000 online couldn't: online you're asking strangers to care, but in the room they already showed up
• An event is not the end goal, it's the front door: one monthly event became a weekly event, and the weekly event became a membership
• Why members stay: people don't stay for your content, they stay for one another, and nobody cancels on their friends
• Where referrals really come from: being in their inbox every week, in person with them, and in their corner
• Your homework: pick a date in the next 30 days and invite six women, one at a time

Website: http://www.inbalclaudio.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalclaudio/

Magic of Hosting Workshop: https://calendly.com/inbalclaudio/events-workshop

The IRL Effect Course: https://xoxoinbi.circle.so/checkout/the-irl-effect - Use code MAGIC10

Mari Milenkovic has taken founders to Sicily and Lake Como, hosted 500 person events, and run meetups in four cities. She also scouted Catalina for a day trip, took one look, and walked away.

In this episode she breaks down the actual formula she uses to build an experience, and it works the same whether she has six days in Italy or seven hours in Orange. We get into the three part structure she designs around, the care package she mails before anyone gets on a plane, why seven days is one day too long, and the real numbers on whether a retreat makes money.

If you have ever thought about hosting a retreat, a day trip, or even a dinner, this one is a playbook.

What we cover

• The formula behind every experience she builds: an activity you do with your hands, a visit to something a founder built, and a meal to tie it together
• Why she thinks about an experience in three parts, and why the last moment matters more than the first
• Everything that happens before a guest arrives, from the mailed care package to the snacks already in the room
• How she filled her very first retreat, and who those women actually were
• Why she moved from Sicily to Lake Como, and how travel logistics changed the sale
• The honest answer on retreat profitability, including the one that broke even
• Why she scouted Catalina and said no, and the one thing about a location that makes it an instant pass
• How she finds a local collaborator in every city and borrows their excitement

About Mari

Mari Milenkovic is a serial entrepreneur, exited founder, and marketing strategist who has helped thousands of female founders grow their businesses through strategies that align with their vision and directly impact their bottom line. As the founder of With Mari, she specializes in creating momentum through clarity, building systems and strategies that support intentional, aligned growth.

She hosts an annual retreat in Lake Como and runs founder field trips across Southern California.

Find Mari

• Instagram: @withmari.co (she loves a voice memo)
• Website: https://marimilenkovic.com
• Next Lake Como retreat: May 21 to 26, 2027. Get yourself to Milan, she takes care of the rest.

This episode is brought to you by Contractista

If you're hosting events, you need contracts that actually protect you. Venue agreements, vendor terms, speaker agreements, attendee waivers. Contractista has a whole collection built for events, written by a lawyer, ready to use.

40% off the event collection with code MAGIC
https://www.contractista.com/collections/events

Website: http://www.inbalclaudio.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalclaudio/

Magic of Hosting Workshop: https://calendly.com/inbalclaudio/events-workshop

The IRL Effect Course: https://xoxoinbi.circle.so/checkout/the-irl-effect - Use code MAGIC10

Hi, I'm Inbal! I built a big online community, and then I took it offline. Best decision I ever made.

The Magic of IRL is the podcast for female founders who want to host in-person events, memberships, retreats, and communities that feel magical and actually make money. Every week I'm sitting down with the women behind the most magnetic rooms I know to talk about how they fill the room, price it, and keep people coming back.

No funnels, no algorithm talk. Just the real stuff that happens when people show up.

Hit follow so you don't miss an episode, and come hang out with me.

Website: http://www.inbalclaudio.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/inbalclaudio
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inbalclaudio/

Magic of Hosting Workshop: https://calendly.com/inbalclaudio/events-workshop

The IRL Effect Course: https://xoxoinbi.circle.so/checkout/the-irl-effect - Use code MAGIC10