My 2013 Influence Conference Experience

October 5, 2013

This past weekend I had the most amazing experience.
Seriously guys. I am still in this “wow that was amazing” mode.
I traveled from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis to attend and
If you haven’t heard of the Influence Conference..
or the Influence Network that puts it on…
stop reading this.. and go check it out..
and then come back. you’re welcome.

Ok back?? Alright let’s do this recap post thang.

I have only been to one other conference. And I knew this was a more faith based one.
I was curious if people would act differently…would it stand a part?
would the women there live up to their spoken desire online to use their influence for God?
Would they be cliquey.. or not like me??
I’m being real ladies… I seriously thought all of this.
Something like…hmm..I wonder if they will practice, what they preach(online)….

Blown away.
Seriously. boom. done. sign me up for next year.
GOD WAS PRESENT IN THIS PLACE.
All of the women that I met.. even if it was just a smile in the elevator
and an awkward uhh I think I’m friends with her via instagrammmm
She probably has no clue who I amm.. lol.Hiii…”
All of them…you could just see had the
–desire to make their online life mean something…
–wanted to be like Christ…
–and were ready to learn and grow.. not just as a blogger..
but as a WOMAN. Made in the image and likeness of Christ.


Before I get into the Conference details…
Let’s start with the inner turmoil of leaving for 4 days without any kids or husband.
This was the first time EVER I had been away from my entire family.
It was bitter sweet leaving them. I was excited for the chance to totally dive into the Conference-kidless…
but I also was like “ahhh I’m leaving all of my kids at home?!”
My husband is super-dad. Seriously. So the freaking out and planning
ahead was mainly for my own gain and feeling of control… He didn’t really need it.
I made up a big batch of freezer crock pot meals in ziploc bags…
and sorted out clothes for each kids and put in ziploc bags..
If I could have put my kids in a ziploc bag I probably would have.
Little did I know.. that super-dad was going to plan the best weekend
ever for the kids..mall.. parade.. pizza party with cousins at our house…
he even sleep trained micah so he sleeps through the night.
(Why didn’t I go away for 4 days sooner?)
Outfit Time!
I was going for comfy + feminine…emphasis on the comfy.
Almost everything is from Old Navy. (the black polka dot one in the photos
below is from H&M. I heard there is a similar one currently available.)
The dress is from target. the black skinnie pants are from Kohls.
Denim was from American Eagle and Old Navy. Jewelry from Stella & Dot,
Lisa Leonard, Carolina G and The Shine Project.
I got a tweet from a fellow Influence Conference girl, Natalie, asking if
I would want to make the trip to the conference together…
after stalking her blog to make sure she wasn’t going to secretly
be a killer, haha..I said YES! And I’m so so glad she messaged me
because the drive was so much more fun together. She is the sweetest…
and we already are dreaming up fun projects to do together!
Amazing heart.. amazing blog. go check her and her beautiful
blog team out at Pure and Simple. She even had a sweet road trip
gift on my seat when I jumped in..?!?!
I came bearing gifts in a grocery bag?? LOL. She was so sweet.
When we arrived in Indy we met up with my Roomies!
Mandy frome House of Rose and Tonya from Love of Family and Home.
We hugged.. we got settled in our room, picked up our swag bags(more on that soon!)
and then I headed to the Founders Dinner where a bunch of the people
that were a part of the Conference in some way were gathering.
It was so fun being there and seeing the
Founders of the Conference start off the weekend just right!
Hayley from The Tiny Twig and Jessi from Naptime Diaries are so amazing.
I want to move into their neighborhood and be best friends and
have our kids end up marrying each other and be in laws together.
too much? no shame. moving on.
At the Conference they had an INCREDIBLE Handmade Market.. The Sashes Market.
Leading up to the Conference I shared a post that included two
of the vendors, Jessica N Designs and NS Pottery..and was blown away
when I walked into the market and saw my FACE hanging up on a banner. LOL.
That was one big sock bun. ;)
Thursday night, we started the conference with Live Music
& a Shoe Cutting Party with SoleHope.
They have an incredible mission. You can host your own shoe
cutting party and make a difference! Visit their site for all the details
on how you can help spread the hope.
My favorite parts about the Conference had
to be the sessions by Hayley and Jessie.
All Conference long I learned some things about blogging…
and about balancing my work with my family life…
I learned how to work smarter and prioritize. How to have big dreams but not be strivingggg for them
but walking with God in where he leads me.
The theme of the conference was about True Femininity. And it wasn’t about girl powerrr…
it was more about…God power! HAHA ok that was bad. I’m not hitting the
backspace though you are just gonna get what comes out. haha.
They spoke a lot about how we were created by God..and how we are GOOD.
and how we were created to be a helper. He did not create us to fear…
so ask Him what that means..don’t be afraid to ask God what He wants from you.
Because when we live our life for Him and to the fullest….
that is what will bring us true happiness. We need to let go and be ok with our life getting messy…
maybe that means putting yourself in a situation out of your comfort zone…
or when God gives you a cross in your life that you don’t think you can carry…
And to let God use you and our online influence…”when the Lord is working in you,
there is something say. Even if it’s a mess”-Jessi
“Don’t look to what you can produce of value.. YOU ARE the value” – Jessi
It was such an encouraging and motivating week…
I could feel the words stirring in my heart and I was just feeling set on fire..
to be an apostle in my online space.
It was also really inspiring being around so many creative people!
It was fun connecting with new and old blog friends!
Get ready to do some clicking because if you don’t already
follow these ladies, you will want too.
from left to right at the table:
bottom left: Erika. bottom right: Kara-Kae.
restaurant: kitty, ashley, erin, nina, jenny, tonya, ellen, mandy
cute mama with baby: kim
shopping in the market: nicole and mandy… then brittany and me.
Friday was the Accessible Experts Panel.
I had a weeeee bit of butterflies in my stomache. I even turned down the chocolate
cake right before we went on.(shocking) I like speaking, and crowds…
but I think the nervousness came from not knowing the questions they were
going to ask us beforehand. People were able to tweet them in.
We also all agreed that we felt silly being called experts..but were happy to
share our experiences! The questions I was asked was something to these
effects of how to work with brands.. how to promote a cause close to your heart
and get your readers on board..and how to balance motherhood, blogging and
owning a business. I don’t remember the exact questions, because
I felt like miss america runner up that was about to bomb a question in front of a
lot of people. LOL. Luckily..that didn’t happen..I talked a lot..and with my hands.. and fast.
but that’s just me ya’ll.. can’t help it. I hope that I got across some tips for
others from my experiences! They video taped all of the talks/panels so I’m
pretty sure you can watch them if you join the Influence Network.I’ll let you know about that.
Lovely Fellow Ladies on the Panel: Erin, Lindsay and Nicole
I was so thankful for the conversations I had with some incredible women
that I admire and connect with online… One of them was Diana.
I admittedly I am the worst blog reader. But her blog is one of the ones that I specifically
go “check in on” and I feel like I haven’t missed a thing and we are best friends!
When I lost shannon I went through a rough time of grief.. and have gotten
stronger every passing month.. I felt a connection with Diana from the start but
especially after she lost her twins..and when I was writing my book Mommy has an Angel,
She was one of the mamas I wrote it for. I wanted her to be able to read it to Bella.
I was so happy to talk to her in person..and share my heart with her.
Telling her that copies are going to be in the mail the moment I get them in my hands!
I know that my experience of loss and grief is not
just my own…I am so hopeful for my book and for the healing it can do forother moms who have felt sadness like I have felt.
I also spent some time with the beauitful Kate! and went with her
husband’s favorite at Noodle Company(the Mac n Cheese and Meatballs. pretty delish.)
I also got to chat more with the lovely ladies of THRIVE. They are inspiring.
Lots of eating and chatting with amazing ladies this weekend!
 
Kara-Kae was shocked, and dare I say disgusted, at my lack of FROYO experiences. (zero)
So we had to make a trip to fix that! I’m a fan now. officially.
Bottom right: I met Carrie at a conference earlier this year, and
she is THE SWEETEST! She also makes really cute stuff. ;)
I’ve done a giveaway with her before but we chatted and another one is a must…
so stay tuned! I need to text her back and line it up.
Below she is wearing (and so is kara-kae) her necklaces!
There were some great workshops and interviews throughout the conference.
I felt smarter just sitting in the presences of these ladies and gentlemen.
I felt inspired and encouraged. But it really just made my heart happy that
there are people “making it” that are incredible both professionally and personally.
Mandy and I were so excited that our new company, HAPPY MOMMY BOX,
was a sponsor for one of the workshops during the Conference!
All weekend long we promoted the company but found that we were
the ones that were getting so encouraged! Everyone was so excited about
our company and ready to pass the word about it! For the Workshop, we made
up cute prints with a quote on one side and our info on the other…
we also sprinkled the tables with starbursts and reese’s cups!
We shared the vide on on the big screen that is on our website…
and talked about the upcoming launch. (which happened tuesday!)
We were BLOWN AWAY by the response we received since launching.
In the first 14 minutes we sold 120 Boxes. We Completely
sold out of our November boxes within 75 minutes!
We can’t wait to ship the boxes and bless our mamas!
Another exciting part of being at the Influence Conference
was being able to promote the Pre-Sales of my Children’s Book
for Grieving Mothers, Mommy has an Angel.
I seriously almost cried at the kinko’s desk as they printed off my sign.
(no ink at our house. of course.) It was a moment for sure. I felt such a
connection with shannon. and I was so encouraged by the words of
all the girls at the conference. I can’t wait to start mailing out the book!
AROUND THE WORLD! The first orders were to PA and Australia.
It makes my heart want to burst seeing it come to life.
  
One of the most touching moments of the Conference was the
Night of Worship that they put on the last night. It really was so peaceful and powerful.
Just seeing everyone praying together.. It made me very hopeful for our
culture and world. So many women who have influence and a desire to share Christ in
every area of their Life…whether that’s through their fashion blogs, food blogs,
mom blogs, diy blogs..whatever! It was so awesome being a part of this community.
You could feel God in the room with us..Looking down and so happy and in
love with each of us. And there were moments I was able to just ignore
everything and feel Him talking to me and telling me HE IS present in
every season of my life and that He can heal my heart.
I just told Him over and over I loved Him and Thanked Him. because
I really was so grateful for the women he placed in my life lately.
and for all the exciting things that He is leading me into.
See those ladies in the above photo on the right??
I admire these ladies so much! Look forward to getting to know them better
and working together in some way for His kingdom!
They are on fire. seriously. There are some people you can just see God in..
and they are those people.
They don’t even realize how awesome they are either.
team influence: ashley. hayley. jessi. (not pictured below: rachel. lindsey. moriah.)
black and white photo: right before the closing night: tonya. jenny. mandy and I.
Nicole was on the Panel with me and last time I saw her she had her
sweet baby girl in her tummy! It was so good seeing her again.
and catching her and Kate weeping over her son not wanting to let go of Carrie.
It was seriously adorable. Carrie is a baby whisperer.
Side note: there wasn’t a shortage of tears at this conference.
Suddenly it was Sunday morning and time to head home!
I was ready to see ben and the kids!
The face timing and photo updates from the husband weren’t enough..I missed them!
And getting the text message that they were sick and throwing
up with a stomach bug made me thankful I was already almost home at that point!
I wasn’t eased back into the mom role…but I didn’t mind.
I missed the floor snuggles and sticky vanilla wafer hands.
Who needs daily showers and getting dressed in real outfits for 4 days straight??
;) I’m still processing everything from the conference…
but overall it was a great experience and I can’t wait to go next year!

11
  • Tenns Reid
    October 5, 2013 at 2:26 pm

    Omg! I have that same green floral blouse from Old Navy. You all look like you had a blast btw!

    Tenns @ New Mama Diaries

  • Andrea Worley
    October 5, 2013 at 3:58 pm

    loved your recap, dying to go next year!

  • Jessi
    October 5, 2013 at 4:48 pm

    Let’s do it. Set up all the kids and be in-loves. I’m in. Such a fan of you lady.

  • Mandy
    October 5, 2013 at 10:11 pm

    Loved this whole post. What an amazing sounding conference! Oh, and can’t wait until Happy Mommy Box is available in Canada ;)

  • Sybil Brun
    October 6, 2013 at 2:22 pm

    Love it! I don’t know if I was said girl in the elevator or if you had multiple awkward {{Um I don’t think she knows who I am but I think we’re friends on IG moments}} but I just had to say if it was me, I most definitely knew who you were, as yours is pretty much my favorite blog out there… It’s beautiful and You’re doing great things! So much so in fact that running into you was pretty much a fan-girl moment for me! I’m brand new to the blogging world and look forward to learning from you through this perfectly awesome space : )

  • natalie @ pure and simple
    October 6, 2013 at 3:18 pm

    Natalie, what a great recap of such a wonderful weekend! I am so glad that we were able to connect + drive out together. Thanks for encouraging me to dream big! Can’t wait to see what’s in store…!!!

  • Jes
    October 6, 2013 at 11:16 pm

    Great recap! So funny, and true. i was instantly transported to last weekend. :)

    -all best
    Jes
    http://www.strengthtolove.blogspot.com

  • Tina Milas
    October 8, 2013 at 1:05 pm

    What a phenomenal recap Natalie! It sounds like you thoroughly enjoyed yourself, and met a lot of amazing women! I am definitely putting next years date in my calendar to attend!!! <3<3<3

  • Cari
    October 18, 2013 at 11:18 am

    This sounds like such a amazing time.