That Time I Went to Palm Springs with 49 Beautiful, Talented Lady Designers.

Thank you for all the sweet words about me leaping into self-employment full-time, friends. We are all so excited about what the future holds for us.

It’s funny that the day after I wrote that post about fear and risk, I went to a retreat/conference with fellow lady designers called DesignerVACA in Palm Springs, California.

I was terrified, if I’m honest. A little intimidated.

Who was I to go hang out with all these super gorgeous, impeccably dressed, ridiculously successful ladies, anyway? Plus, I knew almost no one.

If I hadn’t already bought my ticket and hotel room, I would’ve absolutely backed out. Because I’m a wimp like that.

It’s pretty surprising I even went, because I have a hard time spending money on business stuff. But so many friends encouraged me and Mike gave his blessing, so when a spot on the waiting list became available, I hemmed and hawed and pulled the trigger.

Super nervous.

Turns out, it was absolutely, hands-down one of the best business decisions I’ve ever made.

Nope, it wasn’t a super stuffy business conference with awkward self-promotion and networking.

It was magical, it was life-giving, it was inspiring, it was incredibly empowering to have conversation after conversation about business-related things with interesting, creative, friendly women. We talked about about our biggest fears, about risks we should take, about processes that work, about clients we love, about partnerships that have worked, about our favorite tools, about our favorite business books (my list continues to grow!), about tax write offs, about blogging, about our pasts and our futures.

All of these things I never get to discuss in my normal life because I don’t have coworkers and I don’t know many (any?) folks who work for themselves or as designers around here. It was so refreshing and helpful.

But it was more than just business. It was fun. It was friendship. It was awesome. We also talked about childbirth, relationships, being a mom and a business owner, Diva Cups, cocktails, and leaving day jobs.

I will share my key takeaways and what I plan to do about them next week.

But for now – enjoy this beautiful fall weekend!