On August 22^nd, I was able to attend The Gathering Event put on by Hope Taylor + Caroline Logan at the beautiful Stevenson Ridge! Beyond being at such a beautiful venue for the first time, I was able to spend the evening with other fabulous boss ladies talking about the scary parts of being a business owner – particularly a young, female business owner. These two women stood up before us and bared their failures, shared the successes and opened their hearts + businesses up for all of us in attendance to learn from. What a night!

The moment we walked in the door, we were met by Kate Schmoyer of Dear Sweetheart Events and then given huge hugs by both Caroline and Hope as we filled up our cute little bags full of fun “swag” from Sweetie Jacks, Littlest Paperie, Creative at Heart, the Creative Catalog, Honeybook and Tonic. Before long, there was nothing but laughter filling the air as we all filtered in, met each other and found our seats. We spent the next five hours hearing stories about how to overcome the darkest moments as business owners, how to fight the fears and how to understand our journey. Although these two young women are just that – young – they are both beautiful and powerful business ladies in their own right and it was an AMAZING experience to hear them. (Oh and the Chipotle dinner wasn’t too bad either!).

I can tell you I walked away full of inspiration for what lies ahead for this business and me. Although there’s so much I want to accomplish in a short amount of time, I know that I have to appreciate where I am in my journey now before I can reach the ending. I know that I am smart, strong and talented and that my business will never look like someone else’s, which is a GREAT thing. I was reminded that our biggest failures become our moments to stand tall and shine and that they do not (and will never) define who we are. I was taught some practical lessons in social media + marketing (the boring business stuff!) and reminded that we can reach the top of any mountain in front of us if we just work hard enough. That night, I was reminded that there will always be people who want to put you down – but you are stronger than them – your light will always shine through.

Hope + Caroline, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough for all you did for me on that Monday night. I may not have gotten to say so personally, but your words of encouragement have reminded me why I am here every day pushing to be the best boss lady I can be and you reminded me to have faith in myself when I feel like giving up. My journey is just beginning and I know I have so far to go ahead of me still. Seeing you two achieve your dreams over and over is just a huge reminder that we all can do the same.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

XOXO,

Kristina