Okay, let me start of by saying, I apologize for the lack of pictures. I am obviously a terrible blogger because I quite honestly just forgot to take out my phone, and snap a few shots. I was trying to focus on the moment, duh!
Last weekend, I went back to Providence, Rhode Island for The Lady Project Summit (read about my experience last year, here). It was something I had been looking forward to for a long time, and luckily it once again didn’t disappoint. I had a great time, probably even better than last year because I knew so many more people.
So, it is hard to explain what really makes The Summit amazing (hence the procrastination on the blog post). While I was booking my ticket to Providence a few months ago, I was trying to explain The Lady Project to my boyfriend, and it is hard to pinpoint/exactly summarize why it is oh so amazing. We aren’t all entrepreneurs. We don’t all work in the same industry. We don’t all have the same hobbies. We aren’t all the same age. What connects us all? The thing I keep coming back to: we are all bad asses. I know, so descriptive, but true.
This year was awesome, and I left feeling so inspired. So, here are my top moments for The Summit:
1) Everyone is interesting. I know it probably sounds corny, but everyone I met has an interesting story to tell. It is funny that when you skip the lame-o small talk, you can really connect and learn a lot more about people.
2) The first keynote speaker of the day was Jennifer Romolini from Hello Giggles. I have to say her story was pretty rad (for lack of a better word). What makes her story unique is that she didn’t follow the “normal” life path…instead, she was married young, divorced and didn’t graduate college till 27. Through her experience, she came up with the “dirty dozen”, 12 things she has learned along the way. One thing she said that really resonated with me was: build your personal life at the same pace as your career. From a young age, I feel like we are taught that we have to have one or the other. Call me naive, but I don’t believe that is true, so it was good to hear it from someone else.
I apologize for the terrible picture quality
3) I have to admit I wasn’t there for this, but I heard great things about Monica Singh‘s workshop. She stressed the importance finding a mentor. Also, she gave out Dunkin Donuts gift cards, and encouraged the attendees of the workshop to give them to someone else. She wanted to stress gratitude. Monica was grateful to the attendees of her workshop for coming, and so she wanted them to pass along that gratitude. Dunkin Donuts even took notice via social media! So cool!
Monica giving her presentation. Photo by: Emmanuel Dziuk
4) Up next, around lunch time, Naama Bloom, founder of HelloFlo, took the stage as the next keynote speaker. She started out by saying that she fails so much more than she succeeds. This is something we all probably deal with, but maybe don’t speak about it so openly. The failure never goes away, but you learn how to deal with it.
5) This year, I tried to go to as many panels as possible. I like the panels because there are usually 5 or 6 people sharing their opinions and perspectives. I also had the chance to be on the media panel. I definitely learned a lot. Since I was the only person on the panel with a PR background, I do like to hear what real, full time journalists have to say about things.
The writers panel
6) In addition to the panel, I did my “DIY PR for Small Business and Side Hustles”. No matter how many times I give this presentation, it never gets boring. You know, hiring a PR firm can be a huge financial burden for small businesses. I try to give business owners the tools to get their name out there. Hearing stories like this, makes it all worth it, and reminds me that I am doing something worthwhile.
7) I also really enjoyed the last keynote speaker, Shauna Causey. She focused on risk taking and why women don’t take enough. She encouraged women to take small risks, rather than huge risks that upheaval your life. Just say “yes” to something new. Her speech reminded me of why I even agreed to come to The Summit last year, even though I knew very little about it. I figured it couldn’t hurt to go, and I definitely got out of it a lot more than I anticipated.
This picture doesn’t do it justice, but the gift bags are always the bomb.com
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