Goodness gracious I have so much to say about attending Creative at Heart. If you’ve been following along with me on social media, the Creative at Heart conference has been filling your feed for quite some time! It’s something that I got excited about AS SOON as Kat and Taylor announced it. Their hearts for the conference were that creatives would leave changed. Their focus was on inspiring and encouraging the attendees and creating a community that would last, and that would trump the competitive nature of the wedding industry every time.
I was only able to go to this conference out of the goodness of someone else’s heart, that’s the super crazy part. I wanted to go so badly and David and I separately spent time trying to figure out how I could go financially…and then out of the blue, my sweet friend called and offered to pay my way. So I was going into the conference overwhelmed by thankfulness and ready to soak in everything. But Creative at Heart took place directly after the craziest three weeks I’d ever experienced, and I was so exhausted heading in. David and I left our South Carolina wedding at 10PM and had to get to Staunton VA by 8AM! So on almost no sleep, full of nerves, afraid of not being able to be myself, I walked into the Stonewall Jackson Hotel. And I immediately was embraced and loved on by women I had just met! Even explaining how little sleep I had had caused them to shower me with grace. So a half hour in, my fear was all gone. And I was able to be present and have sweet conversations and listen intently.
I did not expect to be so emotionally affected by this conference. I expected to walk away with business knowledge and practical tips, but I did not expect to walk away with my heart changed. I did not expect to be so touched my Katelyn’s challenge of serving people over pretty things, of growing His glory and not your own. I did not expect to feel so challenged by Natalie’s question, “What if they don’t like me?” The way she spoke to the way we compare ourselves, ESPECIALLY in this industry had me flashback to junior year in college, and realizing that people pleasing is a hard battle to win. Spending time in my panel group was so encouraging if only to hear that it is normal to be exhausted, running a small business is hard! And it’s okay that people outside of the industry don’t get it all of the time!
The little in between moments were just as powerful! Whether it was chatting with my new friends Anna Grace and Klaire for an hour or so about life and Jesus over cupcakes and fajitas. Having a 10 minute desperate for balance conversation with Katelyn and Michael Alsop. Dedicating an entire lunch to not really talking about photography at all with Ashley. Taking 5 minutes to be encouraged by a stranger. Hearing Abby Grace’s love story again over wine and cookies with my roommates. And admitting my fear to Natalie Franke and having her response be so incredibly encouraging in return.
Day two brought me crying into my notebook as Bonnie talked about balancing her life. A reinforcement about what the Lord had already been teaching me. That I am the only one stopping me from living a full and vibrant life. I need to learn to breathe. To press in even when it is hard. And Kat, oh my goodness, Kat. When she spoke about how she had stopped herself from living her dream, how SHE was her own discouragement…I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room. We’ve all felt that way. We’ve all been the one who said NO to our own dreams. We tell ourselves that we’re not good enough or brave enough or not worth it. And that is such a lie! Being in a community full of women creatives showed me that. I’m not the only one who feels alone or not worthy….these women are in it with me! They’re my coworkers!
And Kat ended the conference with this beautiful sentence before presenting us with our own tube of fairy dust… “When you feel like the hard work will never pay off…fairy dust.”
My sweet roomies :]
Sidenote: Every time someone asked me how I knew Abby Grace, how she started mentoring me and investing in my business…I was in shock. Abby took a chance on me. There was NOTHING for her to gain by asking a 22 year old, unsure about starting a business, if she could pour into me. Absolutely nothing. But she did. She loved me for no reason at all and that was enough to have me breaking into random ugly cries every few hours.
All iPhone images except for the three at the top…courtesy of Caroline Logan Photography, Abby Grace Photography, and Annamarie Akins Photography respectively.
