Show Notes
In this episode of the Michael Coombs Show, Michael Coombs welcomes Leah Weinberg of Weinberg Legal. They discuss Leah's dynamic career journey from being a lawyer to a wedding planner and back to a lawyer serving the events community. The episode dives into the risks of using AI for drafting legal contracts, clients using AI to threaten vendor lawsuits, and essential legal protections for event professionals. Leah shares key contract provisions and advice on maintaining smart legal practices...
More from The Michael Coombs Show
Host Michael Coombs interviews wedding photographers Joel and Justyna about their spontaneous, guest-like approach to capturing weddings “from the inside out,” prioritizing how people feel over perfect shot lists. Joel traces his path from growing up around photographer parents in Ottawa to being scouted for modeling, buying a camera, second-shooting weddings in 2009, and eventually expanding with Justyna from local work to Toronto, Montreal, and global destinations. He describes assisting hi...
Host Michael Coombs interviews luxury wedding and event planner Andrea Eppolito about making a clean-break repositioning from high-volume work to a personal, intentional luxury brand. Eppolito describes letting go of the need to take every inquiry, overcoming fears that the phone wouldn’t ring again, and clarifying who she serves by removing misaligned portfolio content, rebuilding her website, refining messaging, and only accepting ideal clients—taking just two weddings from 100+ leads durin...
Host Michael Coombs interviews Nigerian-born planner, designer, educator, and author Akeshi Akinseye of Kesh Events about building meaningful, culturally rooted celebrations and redefining luxury as “the felt” rather than visible, expensive details. Akeshi explains a planner’s responsibility in translating a client’s culture by listening first, asking real follow-up questions, and reflecting insights back in proposals to personalize the experience. She describes the “felt journey” as designin...
Host Michael Coombs interviews event planner Julian Leaver, who started by planning sorority parties at the University of Oklahoma, nearly pursued a State Department career, worked in hotels including Rosewood, and now runs Julian Leaver Events with offices in Dallas and Paris. Leaver explains how low-budget college events taught scrappiness, tight logistics, and prioritizing guest experience, and how hotel systems, data, and collaboration shaped his firm while he left behind high-volume repe...
Host Michael Coombs interviews husband-and-wife destination wedding photo and video team Dryden and Emily about building a respected luxury storytelling brand since launching in 2020. They explain why destination work keeps them inspired and removes seasonality, how they manage creative disagreements by leaning into each other’s strengths, and why extensive preparation—like arriving 2–3 days early to scout—helps them capture “magazine-worthy” imagery without harming the couple’s wedding exper...