Creative at Heart Lessons Learned (Plus a FREE E-Book!)

Our seventh Creative at Heart Conference is in 3 days.

Yep, just THREE DAYS!!

My house is a mess of boxes of food, swag & supplies (and we’re literally taking three cars packed to the brim to Raleigh!!!), and you can see all the fun our educators are having as they prep over on Insta-Story!!

Planning, coordinating & hosting a conference takes months of hard work and first things first it has to be stated that it wouldn’t be possible without a team! For the last 12 months, Emily has been by my side as my virtual assistant but honestly that title doesn’t really do her justice. She is a HUGE part of C@H and I am so grateful for her hard work with our attendees & sponsors!! Matt also joined forces with me more than ever this summer & I’m excited to announce what’s ahead for us as a couple in business soon!:)

I had planned to write this post and share fun BTS facts about conference hosting life. Silly stories, anecdotes, and other fun things that have happened over the past 8 months as we’ve geared up for Round 7… and while I definitely have some stories to share, it’s been on my heart to share something different.

See, launching a workshop is HARD WORK … and when we put something out into the world & it’s not received the way we wanted it to be – or hoped it would be – it can be devastating.

Last year, we struggled through 3 C@H registrations… it’s funny but because we sold out so fast this year I think people forget it wasn’t ALWAYS like that!!!!

I remember crying in bed to Matt thinking about how DESPERATELY I wanted it to work & how afraid I was that I had failed!!!

Last year, we faced a very, very public criticism, suffered massive financial obstacles AND walked through 2 miscarriages all while trying to put on a brave face for the company.

I felt like a fraud. I felt like a failure. And it hurt, a lot.

I remember wishing that someone, anyone would just UNDERSTAND how I felt… I didn’t know who to turn to because I feel like the “conference / workshop host” world is a lonely place. We don’t talk about the BAD registrations or financial hurdles … we only talk about when they go WELL … and I hate that!!

So for the sake of transparency & to remind you that you are NOT alone and that you ARE doing good work, I had to write this post!!

Here’s a few things to remember:

When something doesn’t go as planned it does NOT make you a failure or ruin your reputation. You will grow & learn & push forward & be stronger because of it. Creative at Heart is living proof of that!!!
When a launch isn’t as well received as you thought it would be or hoped it would be, don’t turn to FB or Instagram to ease your pain. Turn to women & men who value what you do, challenge you & can, in fact, offer valuable feedback to push you forward!!
When push comes to shove & feel like your back is being held to a wall, ask yourself: how brave are you willing to be? Launching C@H was one of the scariest moments of my life. Continuing to launch – continuing to plan new conferences, open registrations, & face public scrutiny along the way – led to some of the lowest days & highest of highs. It takes BRAVERY to keep going when you want to give up. It takes grit & determination. So, how brave are you willing to be?

Because I never want to forget the hard, and I want to remind you that you’re NOT ALONE in your “hard”: I put together a FREE e-book that shares 5 Things I Learned the Hard Way while Planning Creative at Heart Conference!! It’s not always instagram-pretty & it’s time we remember that!! It’s time we LEARN & GROW together & remember that transparency in business can be the BEST thing we ever do.