Where to begin when recapping the amazing weekend I had in Charleston at the Rising Tide Society leaders retreat! Not only did I get to make 80+ amazing new friends from all over the country (and some from out of the country!), I also got to experience Charleston for the first time! What a magical city it is! I’m already trying to plan my next trip there! 

For those of you that don’t know what the Rising Tide Society is, let me back up a little bit. This is a movement that was founded by the amazing Natalie Franke and Krista Jones. It is a worldwide organization that facilitates networking and education for all creative entrepreneurs. The idea behind this movement is that instead of viewing our fellow small business owners as our competition and refusing to help each other out, we can instead view each other as our colleagues and choose to lift each other up and support each others business thus lifting the entire industry and creative small business world as a whole! The main way the Rising Tide Society facilitates this movement is by having monthly meetups in cities all over the world where creative entrepreneurs can come out to network with each other while also learning invaluable information on that months designated topic (instagram, blogging, taxes, etc). Each city has an appointed leader that organizes and runs the meetings for that city. I am honored to have the privilege to lead the Norfolk group! It has been so amazing to see the impact this movement has had on the entrepreneurs in this city!

So this past weekend was a retreat that Natalie and Krista put together for all the leaders! They had amazing speakers and activities lined up to help us learn how to be the best leaders we can for our local groups! I drove down with two of my fellow Hampton Roads leaders (Maria and Erika). We learned so much valuable information and can’t wait to start implementing some amazing things for our local Hampton Roads groups! 

And can we just talk about how amazing Charleston is?!! This was my first time and I was not disappointed! What a charming little city! Pastel colored buildings, palm tree lined streets, gelato shops on every street and the cutest window boxes for days!! We didn’t get to explore the city too much as we had a packed schedule with the retreat, so I am determined to make another trip down their ASAP!! Who’s with me?!!

We left this weekend trip feeling so inspired and excited to get home and implement all the things we learned for our local groups! This organization has already done SO much for the creative small business world, so I can’t wait to see what happens next with all the BIG dreams they have in store! Just you wait, guys!

Here’s a few camera and iPhone shots from all the fun we had! Can’t wait to go back!  Rainbow Row! Can I please live here??!!  We had lunch at some of the cutest places! One of my favorite parts had to be walking the streets in the early morning. So quiet, peaceful and beautiful!  Some other fun things they had planned for us was a mixology workshop and a 1920’s party! So fun! Krista and Natalie, we are all beyond thankful for how have poured yourselves into this movement! You are doing such big things for this community and are changing the world one big giant step at a time! And these are my 80+ new friends!! One the best parts of this experience was meeting all these fabulous leaders from all over the world! They are all doing such wonderful things to propel this movement in their cities! I can’t until I get to see them all again!