Hey Beauty's !
The Creative at Heart Conference was everything I thought it would be and more ! It was my first conference and I was super nervous, but I had heard nothing but good things so I undoubtedly knew this was the perfect conference for me !
Let's begin with how I nearly didn't make it to the conference due to bronchitis and my allergies ... Ughhh, I know , horrible right?! I literally had to force myself to get ready. I packed the day I was scheduled to leave and prayed I wasn't forgetting anything important. I looked so bad my mom questioned if I should go or not. I was too determined and made up in my mind that nothing was going to stop me! By this time it was 6 o'clock pm and I had a 3 hour drive ahead of me. My boyfriend offered to drive me but I knew the drive would be too much at such a short notice and he had to work the next day, so I gassed up my car, took a couple of puffs from my inhaler and I was on the road! Surprisingly the drive wasn't bad at all! I had made it! The hotel was absolutely lovely and I was cheerfully greeted by valet. I was making my way up to the room and I was EXHAUSTED! My bronchitis was getting the best of me and I could barely breathe as I tried to haul all of my luggage alone. Again, I had finally made it to my room and I walked into a room full of girls, wheezing for my breath. I left my luggage in the hall, introduced myself between gasping for breaths of air, and flopped down in the chair. I was so embarrassed and didn't want to seem like the crazy, sick girl lol. My roommates were so sweet and very understanding of my condition and immediately made me feel comfortable. I eventually got myself together and got ready for bed, super excited about the next day's activities !
We went down for breakfast and registration, I was pleasantly surprised that the girl doing registration recognized me and knew me by name already... This made me feel like I was among friends and not just someone attending a conference with strangers, who I would never speak to again. When I walked into the conference room I saw so many smiling faces and got tons of hellos ! It was amazing to see all the ladies in person that we had already began to form bonds with from the Facebook group ( which is an awesome idea for everyone to get to know each other!). The speakers were phenomenal! Bonnie gave us a beautiful saying, "Community over Competition", from that moment on I knew I was in the right place. The other speakers were amazing as well, each of them sharing their stories and wonderful personalities with us. We learned about branding and how to be financially fit ! I even had a "fangirl" moment when Abby Grace complimented me on my hair !
Lunch was set so beautifully each day, it was cool to see the ballroom transform and showcase talents from the decor to cakes !
Our group sessions were so informative! We got to be ourselves and actually talk about our specific crafts and how we could build them. I asked the question " What would your advice be to someone who is just starting out with planning and they want to showcase their talents, but don't have clients yet?"to Kat from Dear Sweetheart Events . I got an immediate response to do a styled Photoshoot, which was more than enough advice for me. The next day, one of the owners of Paisley and Jade said that she wanted to revisit my question and went into more depth! That fact that she remembered what I said and gave it more thought was SO EMPOWERING and showed me that they truly wanted to help me out as a newbie and see me and my business thrive ! If that isn't helping a sister out, I don't know what is !!!
Day 2 was just as amazing as day 1, from the speakers and group sessions to the surprise head shots *insert happy squeal * lol . Creative at Heart is a conference like NO OTHER! We have formed unbreakable bonds and a beautiful sense of community, not just in Virginia and in our specialized crafts, but throughout the nation and across different talents ! I'm so happy that I attended and had this unforgettable experience. Creative at Heart not only gave me knowledge to grow my business and eventually go full time, but it fed my soul and nourished my spirit with uplifting stories and words of encouragement ! We laughed , we learned, and we cried *heartfelt and happy tears of course * ! The couple of days we spent together were filled with so much love and sincerity; I truly feel like this was an not a conference but an experience like no other & I love my Creative at Heart sisters!
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