A full week has passed by and I am still envisioning myself amongst a sea of beautiful and intelligent women. I have been to several conferences for blogging and education, and have walked away with great lessons and relationships from all of them. WeAllGrow gave me that and so much more. This conference is completely different, it’s a different animal entirely. I feel as though I walked away with 350 new sisters. I really felt at this conference like no other, that we grow and we learn together. The entire feeling of the conference was when one grows, we all grow.
This will be the first of a series of posts about WeAllGrow because there is just so much to talk about. So please stay tuned in the upcoming weeks during which I will share my takeaways. I was so inspired that every night when I came back to my beautiful hotel room at Hotel Maya, I wrote a summary of my day and what I learned. In this post I wanted to share for anyone who is even considering this conference – it’s a must….punto! There should be no questions asked and don’t even contemplate it like I did at some point. I thought: a 5 hour and 44 minute plane ride? I can’t do this! (my plane ride experience will be written up later as well). My mind raced: I can’t leave my boys for five whole days…how will my husband manage? Is it really worth my time and the money? I am being so real when I talk about how I questioned myself because I know you ask yourself these same questions. Guess what? It was worth every second of that plane ride, of missing my children and hubby even taking some time off of his job to be with the boys. It was a time for me to grow and learn with some powerful women and I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass me by.
When I first walked into the hotel, I was greeted so beautifully. The staff was so pleasant and warm. The cookie all guests received upon arrival was amazing and it was the beginning of all of the sweetness I would encounter throughout the next five days. The first hug I received was that of Elayna Fernandez (The Positive Mom). We had communicated online and she has always been so warm and friendly but the hugs received from her and her beautiful daughters were even warmer. It felt as though I was hugging a prima I had not seen in years. It was that initial greeting that created the foundation for all of the other phenomenal, warm and friendly greetings I would receive from there on out. To think I thought about not going…. so glad I followed through and made it a reality.
Beginning this journey with two other fellow bloggers about whom I did not know much set the tone for me. It allowed me to be more open and vulnerable. As I expressed on periscope, I took chances and I allowed myself to come out of my comfort zone. During our journey, the growing began. For me, the journey was an extension of the WeAllGrowNYC mini conference. It was as if we didn’t miss a beat. It felt like a continuation of what we started in New York but with way more intensity of growth. As I walked through the hotel I felt that familiar sense of camaraderie. I immediately thought, “Ana Flores knew exactly what she was aiming for when she created this community!” As I traveled to the various panels (I will be sharing all those that I attended in an upcoming post), I was greeted with friendly smiles of new women I had never seen before, squealed and squeaked like a Kindergartener when I saw friends I hadn’t seen in almost three years, and happily introduced myself to women I had admired online and was meeting for the very first time. I was growing and we were learning together and it felt damn good!
The experience of being around women who genuinely wanted to learn and grow just like you was amazing! The strength was so thick that you couldn’t cut it even if you wanted to. It was as if we shared a common goal, a common dream, and a common love for the strength of each woman at that conference. We may not have been able to meet each and every woman in that room but with a gaze across the room, it was enough. There was no animosity, no competition, just women sharing their dreams and taking their growth one step forward. We all knew that we were in this learning process together and we all received it with open arms.
So, if you were anything like me overthinking if you should attend WeAllGrow I am here to tell you DON’T DO IT! Just go! Go and be ready to learn and to grow. Open your arms for all of the warmth and friendliness this conference has to offer and don’t pass up the opportunity to grow mentally, spiritually, and emotionally! Growth will happen at WeAllGrow in all areas and I am so glad that I am here to share my experience with you in a series of posts. Thank you all for such a phenomenal experience. You inspired me more than you will ever know!
Care to share: Share a link of your experience and let’s grow together, sharing the goodness of this conference for those who are considering going next year!