It’s a little mind blowing to think about how quickly Creative at Heart Conference has grown. It spread like wildfire and since day one, I knew it was so much bigger than me.
Laura, Emily and Ally were my saving grace so many times in the last few months. Their passion for community, desire to see this industry change and love for watching boss ladies dream big is CONTAGIOUS; they worked tirelessly to bring the conference to life, and have since helped push my C@H dreams to new heights!! I thought it was about time I introduced you to these special ladies in my life, and told you a little bit more about how we do what we do:)
Emily : Conference Administrator
Emily is the photographer behind Emily Gerald Photography; she specializes in bumps, births and babies and I hope to hire her in the next few years:) She was actually one of my brides last year (remember this beautiful wedding?!), and we share a love for our incredible wedding photographers: Michael & Katelyn! She’s organized, sarcastic and I laugh at her texting strategy – she’s that girl who sends 5 short texts instead of 1 long one, and I swear it’s rubbing off on me!!
She’s my go-to assistant and helps me with all the odds & ends it takes to make a conference of this magnitude happen. Her title of Conference Administrator is really just a fill in for ‘anything and everything miscellaneous C@H needs’:) She’s heading up a new project we’re working on, organizing our Facebook groups and is my go-to for all the questions we have for Tyler about tech things we need to keep the conference running smoothly! I’m SO excited that we’ve gotten to know each other even more in the last few months, and can’t wait for what’s in store!:)
Laura : Hospitality Coordinator
Laura is the boss lady behind Paper and Honey. She’s an INCREDIBLE calligrapher and designer; seriously, friends, I am obsessed with her work and so thankful to have her inspiring me daily!! I met Laura last year at Making Things Happen, and our friendship has only grown since then! She was one of the first ladies I told about my dream for C@H, and she’s been on FIRE for the movement ever since!! She’s one of the funniest people I have ever met, I’m jealous of her hair and I love that we group text about our pups:)
She’s taken on the roll of Hospitality Coordinator and I’m so blessed by her dedication to the attendees! We use 17 Hats to send contracts, invoices and questionnaires and she’s the 17 Hats guru. She handles attendee questions, organizes a master list of attendee information and is all around dedicated to making sure our attendees get their questions answered & have the best experience possible! Laura is also our dedicated designer & she’s the magic behind every beautiful social media graphic! I’m so happy our friendship has only grown stronger over the last few months, and can’t wait for the adventures ahead!!
Ally : Marketing Director
Ally is the heart behind Ally Allison Events and I am SO proud of her for launching her new biz!! She is another one of my brides, and her big day in June is going to be STUNNING (just you wait!)! She and I actually met years ago, and I’m so happy our paths crossed again last year when she reached out to me about her wedding. She also attending the first C@H, and when I thought about bringing someone on for Social Media and Marketing, her name was the first to come to mind! She’s one of my favorite people to brainstorm with, has an incredible eye for design & she sends the most crying emoji’s out of anyone I’ve ever met!:)
For our March conference, she was acting as Social Media and Marketing Rep and has since stepped into the role of Marketing Director. She’s the voice behind our Instagram, Twitter and Facebook posts and also manages our Newsletter! She’s also going to be working with our conference sponsors and organizing the swag bags for our incredible attendees! She also manages our website and keeps it fresh & up-to-date! She and I will also be working on design and styling aspects of Round 3 and I couldn’t be more excited to jump into planning the “pretty” with her:)
You might be thinking: what in the world does Kat DO since she has these amazing ladies by her side?! I know, I know, I’m one lucky girl!! Because they handle so much of the conference planning, it allows me the freedom to future plan. I’ve never considered myself a “visionary” before, but with C@H that’s exactly what I get to do!! I get to look ahead and see how this movement will be shaped in coming weeks, months and even years!! I’m knee deep in 2016 conference planning (locations, venues, speakers, schedules, etc) since they have so much of November under control!! I’m also working on some back-end logistics of the company, and getting REALLY excited to start to unveil a few other projects we’ve been working on!!!
C@H is growing because of the speakers who believe in our mission enough to share their knowledge, the attendees who believe in the investment they are making for themselves & their big dreams, and because of these ladies who work by my side! I’m blessed, and that’s all there is to it.
xo! kat
(( P.S. Thank you for these INCREDIBLE head shots and team pictures, Annamarie Akins!!! We LOVE them and can’t wait to share all of our favorites soon!! ))
