Episode 1 · Season 1
Qual o propósito do podcast Wedding Artists Community?
Rui Fernandes PodcastingThe WAC Podcast
summary
There is something quietly brave about launching a project on April Fool's Day — the day of lies, as Rui puts it — precisely because the project had been living in his head for so long it almost felt fictional. This first episode of the WAC Podcast is less an interview and more a statement of intent: who Rui is, why this podcast exists, and what he hopes it might become.
Rui is a wedding photographer based in Guimarães, co-founder of a studio he built with his wife Elsa starting in 2010. Fourteen years inside an industry gives you a particular kind of vantage point — enough to remember what it felt like when the wedding community in Portugal hummed with real connection, and enough to notice clearly when that energy began to thin out. That loss, or at least the sense of it, is one of the things that finally pushed him to act on an idea he had been carrying for a while.
But acting on ideas is, by his own admission, not Rui's natural strength. He describes himself as someone who has never lacked enthusiasm or imagination for starting things — the problem has always been the discipline to sustain them. So before pressing record on anything, he did something counterintuitive for a creative person: he built a plan specifically designed to protect the podcast from himself. He looked honestly at his own patterns, anticipated where his consistency would likely fail, and tried to structure something that could survive the moment the initial excitement wore off. The irony of the April 1st launch date — the day of lies — struck him as a good omen precisely because it made him smile. That small pleasure, that ability to find something worth leaning into in an absurd detail, is probably a fair preview of the sensibility running through the whole project.
What he's building is a long-format podcast released on Mondays at ten in the morning, aimed at professionals working across the wedding industry. Not just photographers, but florists, videographers, makeup artists, planners, musicians — and covering not just craft but business, marketing, customer relationships, content creation, and entrepreneurship. Conversations will run as long as they need to. Some might reach two hours; others, forty-five minutes. The only real rule is that each one has to be worth someone's time on a Monday morning.
What makes the podcast feel less like a content strategy and more like a personal project is the specificity of its motivation. Rui doesn't hedge about what he thinks has happened to the wedding community — he says it directly: it has withered, lost spirit, lost the texture of genuine connection that marked its earlier years. He doesn't claim to have the solution. He says he lacks the arrogance to know exactly what he's doing or whether it will work. But he wants to push in a good direction.
His first guests — Sofia and André from Branco Prata — are not filling a release schedule. He describes them as the two people who have inspired him most across nearly fifteen years of work. An episode for each: Sofia first, André two weeks out. The episode closes with a simple invitation to send criticisms and suggestions. For a podcast built around the idea of community, leaving the door open seems like the only honest way to start.
key quotes
"I have always been a creative and entrepreneurial mind, I never lacked ideas or enthusiasm to start with them. However, I always lacked the discipline and consistency to maintain them, and in some cases to finish them."
"When I decided that I wanted to move forward with the creation of a podcast, it was necessary to develop a plan to protect myself, because I knew that the moment the routine was installed, or the enthusiasm in the initials died, the project would run the risk of getting in the way, and that was all I didn't want."
"The irony of, on the day of lies, launching a project that I had in mind for so long seemed, in fact, a lie. And so I took that curiosity as a good sign and decided that that would be the day."
"We saw colleagues arriving, or colleagues leaving, trends and trends emerging, promising never to disappear, but disappearing shortly after. On the other hand, we saw habits that promised to disappear, but did not."
"That community has withered in recent times, lost strength and spirit. It was only when I realized that, that I thought I could have a word to say and maybe bring that enthusiasm back."
"I have no arrogance to say that I know exactly what I'm going to do, or if I'm going to succeed, but I think this can be a first push in a good direction."
transcript + show
episode: 1 title: "Ep. 1 - Qual o propósito do podcast Wedding Artists Community?" pub_date: "Wed, 03 Apr 2024 15:05:17 +0000" original_language: english source_audio: "f7f0a8ea.mp3"
Hello, welcome to the Wedding Artists Community Podcast, or, in a shorter way, to the WAC Podcast. Today, in this first episode, I'm going to give you a brief explanation of why this project and what I hope to achieve with it. I decided early that each episode would be released on Monday at 10 am. I have this habit of starting the week listening to the conversations, debates and themes that I like the most in podcast format, and that's why this schedule made sense to me. Being this project aimed at professionals in the wedding industry, I thought the schedule made sense. After fears of an abstract will, full of wonderful ideas, but megalomaniacal, and professionalism procrastinators, I put my feet on the ground, started with the due diligence, and some important tasks were completed. I aligned my intentions and started contacting those who, in my opinion, would be the most incredible guests to start. A few weeks passed, and I even had what I needed to start in a sustainable way. Here I leave a small aside related to this. I have always been a creative and entrepreneurial mind, I never lacked ideas or enthusiasm to start with them. However, I always lacked the discipline and consistency to maintain them, and in some cases to finish them. So, when I decided that I wanted to move forward with the creation of a podcast, it was necessary to develop a plan to protect myself, because I knew that the moment the routine was installed, or the enthusiasm in the initials died, the project would run the risk of getting in the way, and that was all I didn't want. Architecting this plan, I felt I could start. I looked at the calendar and realized that the most appropriate date would be April 1st. The irony of, on the day of lies, launching a project that I had in mind for so long seemed, in fact, a lie. And so I took that curiosity as a good sign and decided that that would be the day. Well, here we are, and now, a happy day of lies for all of you. Before sharing with you how I'm going to start the project and the dream, and what a dream for him, I'm going to introduce myself. My name is Rui, I am a photographer, at the moment photography, which I co-founded with my wonderful wife, Elsa, in mid-2010. We have three children, a cat, and we live in Guimarães, that beautiful land that gave birth to Portugal. It is because of this distance that the year 2010, when we worked in the wedding industry, with a huge enthusiasm, is what fulfills us and, in fact, what makes us happy. During these 14 years, we saw many things, we were part of many others, and we observed while others disappeared. We saw colleagues arriving, or colleagues leaving, trends and trends emerging, promising never to disappear, but disappearing shortly after. On the other hand, we saw habits that promised to disappear, but did not. But more than all that, passenger, we met people who became friends for life. We saw a community build itself, working many times for the good, there it is, common, it was an indescribable pleasure to be part of it. However, from my point of view, that community has withered in recent times, lost strength and spirit. It was only when I realized that, that I thought I could have a word to say and maybe bring that enthusiasm back. I have no arrogance to say that I know exactly what I'm going to do, or if I'm going to succeed, but I think this can be a first push in a good direction. So let's talk a little bit about this The Wack Podcast. This will be a long-format podcast, that is, I will talk to some of the most talented people that I know, and others that I hope to have the pleasure of meeting, but without great time limitations. We can have conversations of up to two hours and others of 45 minutes. I will respect the discipline of my guests, always trying to make the conversations interesting and bring value to those who listen to them. It will also be a free and safe space. I will try to make them always at ease to be what they are. For me, working in a community means finding the common and reinforcing points, instead of highlighting the divergent points. I'm sure I won't agree with everything that is said here, but everyone will have the freedom to say what they think. It will also be a multidisciplinary podcast, that is, not only about photography we will talk, but also about floral design, video, makeup, planning, music, etc. And still business, entrepreneurship, marketing, customer management, content, social networks and all the themes that, in one way or another, are a reality for all of us in this industry. The idea of this first episode is not long-winded, but before sharing my intentions with this Wedding Artists Community Podcast, I hope I have sowed some curiosity on that side, but if it was not enough, I can leave the note that my first guests are, as they could not fail to be, the extraordinary Sofia and André da Branco Prata. I want to dedicate an episode to each one, so next week we will have Sofia, and for episode 3, on April 15th, André will be there. They are the two people who inspired me the most throughout this almost decade and a half, and I guarantee you that the conversations we had are worth listening to. I end by saying that I expect you on that side, with the criticisms and suggestions you find important. A big hug and see you soon.
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