2015 - The good, the bad, the ugly

I always like to reflect back on my business year, note the lessons learned and what I would do differently next year.

So here’s the good – (the brilliant actually.)

1.            An element of surprise wins the day.
People are still talking about Liz Radzick’s entrance to the Journey 2 Success conference (carried on a stretcher by four hunky firemen).  It was an amazing day and Liz set the stage.  Now who knows what she’ll do next yearJ

2.            Women want practical skills, delivered through hands-on training.
We started to deliver Yes You Can… one-day sessions on a specific topic where the women left with new skills, all set and ready to go.   

3.            When you let go and listen to new ideas, your business can soar. 

 We now have eight chapters and I am really wowed by my team this year.  They’re keen, capable women, all committed to helping women succeed.  Just watch this space for new stuff “coming to a neighbourhood near you.”

4.            Making soup is another way to network.
Who knew? What started as a casual conversation about making soup, turned into two classes on how to do it.  It was fun and the conversations fascinating as a diverse group of women connected over a meal they’d made together. 

5.            The brain cells are still working
I managed to get away to attend two conferences in the US.  Learning always fuels me, even if it takes me time to filter and implement what I have learned.

6.            I love, love, love interviewing and writing women’s stories.
Doing the interviews for the One Red Lipstick was for me a personal high. Not only did I enjoy hearing the stories, but I loved that I was able to help the women best articulate what they wanted to say.

The bad (well not that bad)

7.            Not practicing what I preach.
I’ve always said that we need to deliver what our customers want, rather than what we want to offer or think they need, and I still think it’s true.  But it struck me that I wasn’t strictly sticking to my rule this year. 

We haven’t offered as many evening events as in the past.  Why?  When I dig deep, it was because I didn’t want to work evenings.  There, said it.  My focus was on what I wanted, not the customers.  Wrong. 

8.            It’s not all about me
With my new team, that will change, because there’s another lesson deep in this, it’s not all about me.  I don’t have to attend every event (even if I could).

9.            We’re a last minute society
Late registrations are the bane of any event planners existence and cause endless stress, and it seems to be getting worse.  Just as you think you may have to cancel, the last minute gals sign up and suddenly you have a sold out crowd!    

The ugly (the tough stuff)

10.        Life is fragile.
On a personal note, we’ve had a sudden death and serious illness within our extended family, which makes everything else pale in comparison.  Unfortunately as we get older, there will be more of this, but you never get immune to the sadness it brings.

So what’s my main takeaway from the year?   I’ve built a business that doesn’t need me 24/7.  It can tick along beautifully with the team I have in place,  which enables me to turn more of my energies to writing and publishing books.

It’s been a year of transition, with key lessons on letting go, listening and learning.

So how about you?  What were the lessons, highlights, low points in your year?  When you take the time to reflect back, there are lessons to be gleaned if you are open to learn. And trust me, we can all learn.  I for one am a lifelong learner.

Yes, we soared… to giddy heights

It is a bit like a wedding really.  You work all year planning an event, and whoosh, in a few quick hours it is over.
I always need a few days to step back and reflect on the conference.

As I read through the evaluation forms, Sam Horn’s presentation was the highlight of the day by a long shot, followed of course by the firemen.

What an entrance my MC Liz Radzick made, complete with pink boa being carried in on a stretcher by four hunky firemen, followed by the dancing gals. I don’t know how she comes up with these ideas, and of course she never shares them with me. It’s always a surprise. So I have to say, I’m just a tad worried about what she will do next year.

Sam was so approachable, telling memorable stories to illustrate her points, so everyone came away with concrete tools.  She also hung around to work with people one-on-one after her talk was over. Everyone at the conference got a copy of her book and I highly recommend reading it.  If you want to know more, check out my book review for Actionable Books.

One of the challenges as an event planner is last-minute cancellation and we had our share for this conference, with three speakers having to cancel last minute – all for good reasons – but which left me scrambling.  Momentarily.  This is when the power of your network comes through, and I am most appreciative to the women who came to my rescue – Krista Wright, Michele Bailey and Jackie Dinsmore.  Ladies, I owe you one.

And the panel was amazing.  Each woman shared her story with real honesty and it was clear there is no magic formula to success as each took a different path to get there, but each showed the tenacity you require to stay the course.  Perhaps one of the great one-liners came from Julie Cole when she said when life hands you lemons, make a gin and tonic!

This year we added two awards to the event, which for me, was special.  I felt like a little kid bursting to share a secret. We had ten nominees for the Woman of Inspiration Award – each worthy of recognition – but it was Colleen Saunders who won over both the members and the judges with her courage in taking back her life after her husband committed suicide and her willingness to share that horrific time with other families and mental health workers so the pain was eased for them, as much as it could after such a tragic occurrence.

But we also wanted to honour a long time friend and member of Company of Women – Donna Messer – who had sadly died in April and so a special tribute was played in her memory and we presented an award to a woman who, like Donna, is constantly helping others and linking them to people they need to meet, and that was Linda Sztanko.

For me it was a long, full day and I suspect for the women attending it was too – with 24 speakers sharing their stories and expertise, two heart-touching award presentations and then let’s not forget… the firemen.   What more could a gal ask for? 

Yes, well that’s my challenge for the 10^th Journey 2 Success conference in 2016.  The good news is that I have a year to plot.   Thank you everyone for making this year’s event happen.

A day to remember

It has been a couple of days since the conference and I admit I have just chilled, enjoying the emails flooding in from women saying how much the event had inspired them.  For some even life-changing.  Wow.

When you plan an event for a year, it’s easy to lose track of the impact it may have on the participants.  Particularly as closer to the event, you get caught up in logistics, who sits where, what to have to eat, and finalizing all the last minute registrations.

But as I listened to the speakers throughout the day, and heard the buzz in the room, I knew we’d “done good.”  Without realizing it, there seemed to be a real theme, a thread that wove its way throughout the day.  I never know what the speakers will say, but each message seemed to underscore and lead to the next.

We got off to such a lively start with Liz in her gangnam dance.  I knew she was going to do it, but frankly, being a YouTube luddite, had not heard of this video, so didn’t really know what she was planning to do.   She must have lost at least five pounds with all that bouncing and dancing.  Still it was all for a good cause – creating a fun, upbeat start to a day that would transport many to different and new horizons. 

Dr. Ginger Grant was quick to tell us that as women entrepreneurs we were the underpinning of the economy and we need to step into our spotlight (thanks Tsufit) to shine and share our talents with the world.   I could have listened to her for hours as she shared her wisdom and learning about creativity.   

While Ginger piqued our brains to start us thinking and going down the right creative path, our Courage Panel awakened our emotions. Linda Lundstrom, Fay Chapple and Trey Anthony were so open and honest in their discussions.  There were times when it was raw, and you could feel the pain and yet the message was clear.   You have to do what it right for you.  Life is too short to be stuck in a job, a relationship, a business that no longer feeds your soul.  My sense is this was the life changing moment for some in the audience.

From the opening Dragon’s Den clip that showed Barb Stegemann converting Arlene Dickinson and Brett Wilson to take on her business, to her frank discussion about her humble beginnings and then the development of a profitable business that also helped build the economies in war-torn countries, Barb had everyone spellbound.  So much so, that our afternoon plans had to be diverted as crowds gathered to purchase Barb’s book and perfume.

So in plan B, we had to somewhat shorten the group discussion and turn our immediate attention to the experts.  But then we had our own Making the Pitch challenge. It takes courage to enter something like this, and I commend all three finalists for taking that leap of faith.   Our congratulations to Daina Makinson for winning both the audience and the judges over, not just with her video clip, but her sense of humour.

So all told – an eventful day that while it didn’t altogether go to plan, was truly inspiring and impactful to all who attended.  My challenge, I can see, as I tend to compete with myself, is to make next year's conference even better.  See you at the 8th Journey 2 Success conference.

Telling your Story

Can you think of an adjective that describes you or your business? Can you now think of a story you could tell that would prove it? Sounds simple, but it is not as easy as it sounds, as women in our workshop Telling Your Story found out.

So often we talk in jargon and don’t drill down enough to get to the core ingredient of our success story. And when we really don’t feel that passionate about what we are doing, that sure shows through when we try to talk about it.

It was when Liz Radzick, the workshop leader, selected a couple of women to illustrate how to do it, that you could see the difference. Asking difficult questions, forcing them to move out of their comfort zone, Liz moved the stories from technical and long-winded, to passionate and interesting, and physically you could see the difference as the women became more comfortable and confident in what they were saying.

It’s good to have some success stories in your back pocket, so that next time when someone asks you how business is, instead of saying busy, busy, busy which tells you nothing, you can tell a story that illustrates how invaluable your services are.

Just listing the features of what you do no longer cuts it in this competitive marketplace, you need to grab their attention. Tell a story that makes it clear how using your services, programs or products will be of benefit.