Business, Creative Entrepreneurs, Photographers, Showit, Website Design, Website Platforms, Wedding Professionals
This recap is wayyyyyy long overdue (hello holiday season straight into the new year!), but I figured better late than never! And to be honest, I think that having had some time to give me some perspective on my Showit United 2018 experience might even be better. (Eternal optimist much?)
Showit United is a conference created and sponsored by the Showit website design platform. It’s tailored towards photographers (both Showit users and non-Showit users alike), and is jam packed full of inspiring headlining speakers, break out sessions covering a wide variety of topics, styled photography shoots, a strong sense of community, and so much fun!
First and foremost, let me say that I loved the Showit United 2018 conference, and would absolutely recommend attending. I worried a little that as a brand and Showit website designer (and non-photographer) that I might miss out on some of the value, as it seemed to primarily be catered towards photographers. I’m happy to share, however, that even as a non-photographer, I found it inspiring, educational, enjoyable and definitely worth attending. Keep reading to learn more about my top three favorite parts of the conference!
Community & Connection
As a solopreneur, I spend the majority of my time working from my Harlem apartment. My boyfriend (who also works from home) and my 70 pound lapdog, Boomer, keep me company every day, but as most of my clients don’t live locally, I rarely have the same human interaction I did when I worked a corporate job. (Maybe this sounds familiar to you too?) Thanks to Showit United 2018, I was able to hug past clients I had never gotten to meet in person, connect with fellow designers I’d only previously interacted with online, and made lots of new friends (some of whom even became clients like Lindsey Drewes and Paige Marie!). While I love running my branding and Showit website design business remotely, there really is something important and special about in-person, authentic connection.
Inspiration
The speakers that Showit brought in to lead the main stage talks were so incredibly inspiring! They were authentic, real, raw, honest, vulnerable, and so generous with their thoughts and knowledge. No matter what stage of business or life you were in, there was something to take home and action. I laughed (a lot), I cried (several times…), and I learned (more than I expected). My favorite main stage speakers were Amy and Jordan Demos who shared so openly and specifically about how they built their photography business from a financial perspective, frugally and strategically, step by step from the beginning. As I’ve built my business from the ground up, there’s been a lot of ‘fake it til you make it’, and I haven’t always been the most strategic with my financial awareness and planning. This was full of great tips and strategies I could put into play right away in pursuit of my future goals. This was the last talk of the conference, and it couldn’t have been a better one for me to walk away with.
Educating & Sharing the Showit Love
As a Showit Design Partner, I was so honored to be asked to offer one-on-one website design and SEO coaching for conference attendees, and to speak on a break-out session panel about website design best practices. It was so inspiring to sit down with conference attendees to learn about their businesses and goals, and to offer coaching and tips around how to design and optimize their websites to support their goals. Before starting Digital Grace Design, I worked in people development and training for several large consumer goods companies, and I love to teach! It was so much fun to step back into this arena, this time from the website design perspective.
2019 Showit United Conference
I think it’s safe to say that I loved the Showit United 2018 Conference last year, and I will definitely be attending again this year…in fact, I already bought my ticket! If you have any questions about what to expect or about my experience, I’d love to help answer them. Just shoot me a note here or leave a comment below!
Will I see you there this year? I sure hope so! If you’ll be there, please let me know. I’d love to meet you!
