I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  I had the pleasure of attending the Create & Cultivate conference on Saturday in Dallas.  Create & Cultivate is a creative conference for female entrepreneurs in the digital space.  There were around 500 attendees at the conference, and the girlboss energy was palpable!  We started the day with a beautiful breakfast sponsored by bebe.  The weather was AMAZING this weekend in Dallas so it was so nice that they had an outdoor space set up as one of the main speaking stages so that we could all enjoy the spring like temps.  The morning sessions were filled with several different sessions of panel discussions.  A few of my favorite panelists included Jenna Crandall & Lisa Allen from Lunchpails & Lipstick, Kendi Skeen of Kendi Everyday, Lauren Scruggs, Christina Caradona of Trop Rouge, and Halie Duff of Real Girl’s Kitchen.  The ladies discussed how they have managed to strategically grow their businesses while creating their personal brand and defining a voice of their own.

Next, we were able to meet with two speakers in a more intimate setting for a q & a segment.  I had the pleasure of speaking with Melissa Lawson of Who What Wear and Rachel Schwartzmann of The Style Line.  They had so much insight to share!  Rachel is only 23 and killing it in the digital space, and Melissa Lawson is amazingly outgoing, super stylish, and has had an amazing career thus far all as a result of just going for it.

After lunch I attended the last panel session of the day where Julia Engel of Gal Meets Glam, Camille Styles, Lauryn Evarts of The Skinny Confidential, Mary Seng of Happily Grey, and Sophia Rivka Rossi of Hello Giggles shared their thoughts on looking at the bigger picture and creating a brand with long term goals in mind.  It was awesome to hear their journeys in business thus far, and a plus, they were all so personable and even better in person than I imagined they would be!

The day ended with an amazing chat with Soulcycle founders Elizabeth Culter and Julie Rice, who obviously convinced me that I HAVE to take a Soulcycle class in the very near future.  Have y’all taken one?  Are they as life changing as everyone makes them out to be?!  After the Soulcyle ladies, Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere spoke on her experience of growing her brand to now include books and her own clothing line, which is sold at Nordstrom, Shopbop and multiple smaller boutiques across the country.

Last but not least, and perhaps the most inspiring, genuine, and hilarious duo, the ladies of Clique Media, Hilary Kerr & Katherine Power.  Clique Media Group is an editorial lifestyle company that includes Who What Wear, My Domaine, and Byrdie under its umbrella.  The ladies shared their story on creating a business from scratch and shared their successes (Who What Wear recently debuted a line at Target!) and struggles (convincing investors that they should take a chance on the brand) that come along with building a business.

One more note – The decor was absolutely gorgeous!  It was done by the crazy talented Rachel Ashwell of Shabby Chic.

It was truly an inspiring weekend to be around so many amazing, motivated women.