The title to this blog might sound strange but give me a minute to explain. Prior to March 2020 life seemed to be going pretty great. Business was growing. I was meeting new amazing people and getting to live that ‘entrepreneurial dream’ of working on my laptop late at night in front of the TV until long after most normal people go to bed [read sarcasm]. Then all that stopped one devastating day in 2020. The world paused. It felt like a giant reset button was hit on everyday life. Now again, this doesn’t seem to fit with the title but let me get there.
Over the last year I’ve personally experienced grief, sorrow and fear. I’ve witnessed friends, family and colleagues go through the loss of jobs, businesses and even loved ones, all while experiencing it in varying forms of inconsolable solitude. As painful as all of that has been, I’ve also witnessed an immense amount of kindness, support and compassion from communities of people that have come together to prove that resiliency is possible. As I reflect on the last year, I’ve chosen to honor the suffering with stories of communities that have forever changed my life. Individuals whom I would have never had the opportunity to meet and connect with on a more meaningful level if it wasn’t for the hardships of the last year. I share these stories below and ask you to consider what silver linings from the last year you can lean on for strength as we all continue to heal and rebuild.
CampExperience
I’ve always struggled with the concept of Networking. As an introverted extrovert (I promise that is a thing) showing up to a room full of strangers in your best business attire never felt natural for me. Over the years I learned to adapt and finally shifted my mindset from ‘business’ networking to building relationships based on shared interests, whether that be personal or professional. When I quit my job, started a business and moved back to Colorado from Texas my relationship building techniques got put to the test. I was starting over professionally in a city that I had been absent from for 11 years. It was scary but after almost two years I was starting to get in a groove, then COVID hit.
I met the ladies of CampExperience when I first moved back to Colorado but a busy schedule prevented me from attending their events and meetings on a regular basis. In March Betsy Wiersma, the Founder of CampExperience, started hosting weekly virtual Sister Strong Conversations. They were an hour long and anyone could join. It was a time to check in, share what was going on in your life and support other women. One evening, after what felt like a day filled with one blow after the next, I got on the call with just enough energy to turn on my camera. When it came my turn to share my eyes filled with tears and my throat felt like it was collapsing under the sorrow of what was happening around me. My business was suffering, my friends were losing their jobs, loved ones were sick and my heart was breaking for so many in our country that were living through crisis. What happened in that moment taught me one of the greatest lessons I could learn as a business owner. Vulnerability is not a weakness but rather a strength that shows others you are human, and more times than not they will relate to what you are going through. After that moment of vulnerability, the ladies of CampExperience wrapped their arms around me (virtually of course) and supported my journey through navigating my event business during COVID.
Culinary Hospitality Outreach & Wellness (CHOW)
In March, shortly after COVID became a recognized global pandemic I was contacted by a past guest of our Sunset Dinner Experience. She was working with a group in Colorado that supported restaurant and hospitality workers with mental health focused community meetings. She invited me to join the group and meet the founder with the hope that I could bring the purposeful conversation model from our dinners to their weekly meetings. We joined CHOW for our first moderated conversation centered around Gratitude on April 6. For the last 11 months I have had the honor of being a part of shared stories that made us laugh, moments of sorrow that opened up old wounds, and tears of healing that have the magical power to bind a community together.
I was asked to give the gift of conversation to this group of chefs, servers, owners, suppliers, farmers and writers, but what they don’t recognize is they have given me the greatest gift I could have ever asked for during a pandemic. Purpose. Not the kind of purpose connected to your job or even your family responsibilities, but the kind of purpose that lives in your soul. The essence of how you show up in the world. Thank you CHOW for uncovering what I didn’t know was covered up and for doing it in such an unconditional way.
Trends
In May we launched My Fan Seats, a platform that allows organization to sell fan cutouts and generate new revenue while venues are not allowed to host fans at full capacity. With that launch we received media coverage in The Hustle, a business focused newsletter, which led me to join their premium community Trends. The Trends membership includes access to a private Facebook group where people from all over the world share ideas, search for feedback on new concepts and stay up to date on the trends in various industries.
After watching the Facebook group from the outskirts, I decided to start actively participating in some of the conversations, even adding in my own ideas and topics. What came of that active participation was a feature in a members Podcast, The Hobby Hustler and multiple side conversations with talented business owners around the world including Neil Sheth with Bubbl, a SEO and content marketing agency. In 2019 Neil and his team started miingle.com as a type of side project to test some of their business strategies. Miingle is a modern lifestyle publication that empowers struggling singles to dive into the complex, 21st-century dating space with confidence and savvy.
With Miingle reaching 20,000+ unique monthly visitors Neil and his team knew it was time to take this test to the next level. As Neil shared his vision for Miingle as an inclusive platform that connects singles in a meaningful way, I knew I was all in to join him on this journey. Last week we launched Miingle Dating Experience, a platform where singles can sign up to be invited to curated virtual dating events. Each event is customized to the attendees dating preferences with the goal of fostering authentic connections that lead to meaningful relationships.
The last year has been hard. It has tested all of us to the edge of our capacities as individuals and communities. My hope is that we all can look for those moments of love in our life and find the communities that help us share the gifts we have with the world.