111: Julie Muir – Tips For Introverted Wedding Pros & Running Your Business Authentically

Julie Muir, is an Irish Celebrant based in Newcastle, Australia which means she has a beautiful Irish accent and a knack for storytelling.

She is a heart-led creative who enjoys writing beautiful ceremonies infused with a bit of humour. As a celebrant, her goal is always to tell meaningful, emotional stories that resonate and delight. She enjoys getting to know her clients so that their ceremony is a true reflection of who they are as people. She asks the right questions in the right way, really listening, and often reading between the lines. Julie prefers engaging in deep discussions rather than engaging in small talk.

As you’ve probably figured out Julie Muir is an introvert who has successfully overcome her fear of not being extroverted or funny enough. She embraced her introverted nature and accepted who she truly was. And, not surprisingly, it made running her business a whole lot easier. She came to recognise the power of playing to her own strengths, rather than constantly comparing herself to others.

She has demonstrated that success in the wedding industry is not limited to outgoing personalities alone. Now, driven by a passion to help other introverted business owners thrive in the wedding industry, she seeks to share her experiences and insights. As a celebrant mentor, Julie Muir helps up and coming celebrants build sustainable business that don’t burn them out. Additionally, she is the creator of a one-of-a-kind Comedy Writing Workshop for Celebrants making her a pioneer in the field.

Well, yeah, like we touched on, I think success in the wedding industry or like in any industry, like it isn’t about, yeah, trying to fit into anyone else’s sparkly shoes.

It’s about, yeah, showing up authentically, being your true self and sticking in your own lane. And I really believe that introverts like, bring their own unique flavor and have their own strengths. Yeah, we definitely have our own special sauce, but we don’t often shout it from the rooftops. So, you know, and let me think. So yeah. Like we’re not the lightest people in the room or you know, but like, we have depth sensitivity and a real knack for creating beautiful, intimate moments. And like I said this like. Loads of clients out there who are craving exactly what we bring to the table. So the specific skills that I think we have now before the extroverts jump up and down, I don’t want to say that extroverts don’t have these skills, of course, of course. But if you know, if you want to market yourself and you want to like, lean into your strengths, these are the ones that I think might resonate. So listening introverts, they generally excel at, you know, listening, absorbing information.

So they kind of have the natural inclination to play. Pay close attention. And that kind of allows us to understand what our clients wants are. So yeah, that’s the number one. And I also think we have high attention to detail. Like, yeah, we kind of tend to be detail orientated and have kind of like an eye for the subtleties. So, you know, as a celebrant or photographer, that means you can kind of pick up on the nuances of a couple’s relationship, and that can help us either write the ceremony or, you know, craft beautiful images. I think introverted photographers in particular, what I’ve noticed is they’re really good observers. And so, yeah, they’re really good at noticing, like small details, picking up on emotions and capturing candid moments that maybe other photographers aren’t as good at. Um. What else? Empathy. So. I think that introverts have a really heightened sense of empathy or emotional intelligence, so they’re pretty good at tuning into the couple’s emotions and also understanding the significance of certain moments throughout the day.

And this allows introverted celebrants and photographers to create a safe space for the couple so that they feel kind of understood and supported. And yeah, I mean, even go as far as to say that I think that that bond can help create more emotionally charged photographs.

Like for me it’s like meditation is super helpful. I actually do it before a ceremony and I try and look after my body as well. Like celebrants can get this thing called post performance depression. I’m wondering if maybe potentially photographers can get it too. It kind of ties in with what you were saying about The Hangover. So yeah, like it basically. Yeah. So I try and like eat well, I’m like, you know, I got into really bad habit of buying a frozen Coke on my way home or maccas on my way home after every ceremony. But now I try and be a little bit more organized and, you know, pack a bar, protein bar and a bottle of water or something like that. Yeah, I think that like as humans or celebrants, photographers, like, we occasionally have bad days at work. And so like, it’s fine to offload on your partner or your flatmate or whoever, but it’s not quite the same as speaking to someone who really understands. So yeah, I think touching on what we had before, like building a network of people who you can talk to and, you know, I pride myself on being like really prepared.

I work really hard and I have high attention to detail. But like, we all make mistakes and, you know, so it’s never as bad as you think. So I try and like, document my lessons learned, you know, acknowledge what I could have done better, maybe improve my systems and processes. But then I try and forgive myself, you know.