2020 Races In...

2020 has come screaming in like a locomotive about to come off the rails. As opportunity came knocking, I found myself surrounded by possibility. In Wisconsin there are only a few shorts months of warm weather so nonprofits, business districts, and everyone in between begin the mad dash to schedule their events, trying desperately not to overlap with other events and thinking of ways to help cross-promote all other summer activities. In Milwaukee, it’s not unusual to stop at 4 or 5 events occurring simultaneously, even during the week!

TIME FOR CHANGE

In the midst of the chaos of building my event calendar, I got a new contract and am leaving Brady Street, the business district I’ve been managing for over 12 years. It’s a big scary change! However, sometimes you need to listen to your gut and accept that it’s time to move on. I’m amazingly excited to get started with my work in a new (to me) business district, Shorewood, just north of Milwaukee. Gratefully, Brady Street is keeping me on to help produce their signature event, the Brady Street Festival. I will be doing extensive coaching with the new executive director. I had a coach who taught me how to produce that event, I’m happy to pass that knowledge to my successor.

Meanwhile, I’ve also accepted a volunteer position as a member of the organizing committee for this year’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Week Milwaukee which takes place May 11th through the 16th. (Thank goodness for spell check because entrepreneur is a tough one!) I’m especially excited about this. I attended some of their workshops last year and ended up hiring one of their presenters to get my website up to snuff. It’s also super gratifying to be able to gift my skillset to women entrepreneurs who are pursuing their own passions. I want women to feel confident enough to take risks and help them by providing networking opportunities, business education, sales and marketing information, and resources for access to capital. Let me know if you want to get involved!

OWN YOUR MISTAKES

Just to add in an even crazier twist to the already chaotic pace of the beginning of the year, I made an egregious error on a proposal for a dream event opportunity. I discovered the error after I sat down to work on my annual budget. My accountant helps me determine my quarterly tax payments based on my event contracts. I won’t get into details but as an experienced professional in the field, I was mortified and embarrassed to discover a ginormous typo. Suddenly I was overcome with how to rectify the situation. The irony is that I had literally landed that very contract the previous evening and was crazy excited about it.

Do I tell the team I made a mistake? Do I suck it up and not say a word? Do I turn down the contract? (No way!) Oh my gosh, yes, I absolutely still want this contract. So, I did what anyone else would do, I started asking other people what they would do! I asked a handful of my trusted advisors. (The usual suspects include my husband, business friends, and of course, my mom!) Just having the conversation with other people was embarrassing and the stress was making me feel sick with worry.

When I logged into LinkedIn the next morning after a horrible night’s sleep, the first thing that popped up in my feed was a post by one of the members of Women’s Entrepreneurship Week titled “You Choose How You React to Stress.” The timeliness of the post actually made me literally laugh out loud because wow, was I ever feeling stressed! Another business friend had posted a couple of weeks prior that he wondered why his LinkedIn feed was so full of motivational quotes. My reply to him was that we need motivational speakers so that we don’t all end up living in a van down by the river! If you need a good laugh, check out the SNL skit which I am referencing.

In the end, I decided to take control of my situation. I called and emailed the hiring team for the event to admit my mistake, I guess I felt compelled to admit it even if there was the possibility that I would seem unprofessional. I had to keep telling myself that we all make mistakes and this would work out for the best! (It did) There was something freeing about admitting I made a mistake even though it was scary to do so.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD

Overall, I'm certain that 2020 is going to be a crazy wild ride in all the best ways. I just need to remind myself that I am in control of my choices, decisions, and reactions and make sure that I take care of “me” along the way. I take solace knowing that I am surrounded by people who are cheering for me to succeed even when there are bumps along the way and I cannot wait to share with you what’s in store for the year – more to come!