When Was the Last Unexpected Surprise?

I love unexpected surprises. Just days after I wrote last week's post with practical pointers for making the most at conferences, I found two precious pictures from my first big conference, The Creative Connection. I had to share them. What a fun, unexpected surprise!

These pictures make me so happy. Memories flood over me as I look at these pictures. I was beyond excited and overwhelmed to be in a room with that amount of women who were, as Jo Packham often refers to as "artisan entrepreneurs." Some were in full time businesses, some had side hustles going. Others, like me, came for the inspiration, to indulge in classes and explore the idea of dipping their toes into the entrepreneurial well.

One of the first events we did as a group of 700+ women was "Speed Networking." Are you familiar with the concept of speed dating? It's where lots of people get together and are placed at tables. A timer is set and you have three minutes, three minutes, to talk. Then, DING! the timer goes off, the moderator yells for everyone to "MOVE" and you go to the next person.

Speed networking works about the same way. I think we had only one minute to talk, then we moved on. Exhilarating and overwhelming, but a fabulous way to meet people and move out of one's comfort zone. I never talked to so many people in my life! But by the end, we were laughing and smiling; it set the stage for the entire event. I ran into many of the women I met in that line and it broke the ice to start talking about this, that, and the other thing.

Then, there were the breakout sessions. In this particular picture, we are all in Traci Bautista's art class. She talked and talked, but we were all so busy doodling and drinking coffee (do you see all the Starbucks cups? Starbucks's had sponsored that morning's breakfast- something I would love to see happen at my conferences one day). We all had our coffee and honestly, we talked all morning, perhaps through some of Traci's presentation (but quietly! we were in the very, very back of the room!). Traci is a fast talker and she gave us a ton of info in a short amount of time, then left us to work on the assignment. I not only talked with these women, I watched them create lovely dream maps of where their creative plans and discoveries were taking them. I love these women. I still keep in touch with Ivy via social media and I've watched her photography business take off the last few years.

This  picture is Holly Becker from decor8 and myself. Holly is one of the first interior designers bloggers that reached a huge amount of influencers way back when the internet and blogging was just taking off. She gave a key note speech and I still refer to the notes from that.  If I look somewhat over-excited in this picture, it's because I am.

I unexpectedly found two pictures that transported me back to an event that changed the course of my life. I discovered many, many women who were doing what I wanted to do- and making a living doing it. As Jo Packham stated, "There's room at the table for all of us."