If you’re anything like me, you love business with every fiber of your being. I see business like a game and I’m super competitive, so I like to break my high scores and set new records, and do so often. I love to learn, grow, and be better always; it’s inherent to. My being and I don’t know life without it… something I’ve learned in my experience in owning a business for the last 6 years is that you are who you surround yourself with and if you want to level up in the game, you have to enter new rooms where you are not the smartest, savviest or most successful so that your re ALWAYS learning, growing and pushing yourself to be better. I realize this is not everyone’s priority, but it’s definitely mine, which brings me to now; the day after the Future Summit by Create & Cultivate in Austin, Texas during the famous SXSW festival.
(Pictured is Hayley Williams of Paramore & Brian O’Connor of Good Dye Young)
(Pictured is Jonathan Van Ness)
I’ve never attended an event like this but the moment I saw in December that Hayley Williams of Paramore & Good Dye Young was a keynote speaker, I bought a VIP ticket and told myself I’d figure out how to get myself to Texas for the event. Not only was I looking forward to hearing her speak about her experience as a business owner & professional musician, I knew that I wanted, needed, to get into rooms with these incredible keynote speakers and learn as much as I possibly could from them sharing their experiences. 
Complimentary Charm Bar
There was a LOT happening in the 6 hour event in addition to the keynotes such as some incredible activations by local businesses like a charm bar, 5 min of free PR advice, a perfume station, aura photography and so much more. They made sure to really take care of us through the day with catered breakfast & lunch, endless snacks, meeting tables, mocktail stations, workshops, and more. I really can’t say enough about how much i loved the overall experience but my absolute favorites parts of the day were the keynote speakers. 
The one that stood out the most to be besides the Hayley Williams & Brian O’Connor keynote was Codie Sanchez of Contrarian Thinking. She’s known for her social media videos with controversial takes on finance and business. Granted, this can often be for persona and you have to take it all with a grain of salt for what resonates with you and what doesn’t, but my god does that woman know how to command a room and let you know that she means business. She spoke very quickly and did a Q&A for the second half of her keynote and while she only answered 6 or so questions, I was lucky enough to be called on so here was what I asked her with my heart beating out of my chest and a microphone in-hand in front of 300 other people all staring at me:
”I’m a retail brand business owner and we’re on track to do 7-figures plus this year in annual revenue, but I want to know how we scale from 7-figures to 8-figures. What are the things YOU would do to get there?”
She told the room to take a second and hear what I just said because only 10% of people ever own a business in their life and only 2% of them ever go on to gross 7-figures or more, and she had the room give me a round of applause… I felt 300+ pairs of eyes on me in that moment cheering me on for what I had accomplished. I can’t even tell you the pride I felt in that moment to feel recognized for the work that I do and to receive it from someone so incredible at what they do, and others in that room who aspire to do the same thing. She then went on to answer my question so eloquently and thoroughly; honestly I was taken aback from what just happened that I was having trouble focusing on her answer but very luckily another sweet gal in the audience recorded her answer to my question and sent it to me afterwards.
Her answer was exactly what I needed to hear and I can’t tell you the energy I felt coursing through my brain after this interaction was finished — that room was exactly where I needed to be that day. 
(Pictured is my new business friend Allison from North Carolina)
If i say one thing that strikes a chord with others who are likeminded reading this, get into rooms where you can hear wildly successful people speak and listen very carefully to what they have to say. They can often be super accessible (this one was truly incredible and they had FREE tickets available!) and sometimes they can be super expensive, but you have to be the judge of what feels right for you. All I can do is tell you to look for those rooms and shake as many hands as you possibly can. It only takes one to change the trajectory of your life. 