Once upon a time, there was a 14 year old high schooler with a camera. She loved taking portraits of her friends, shooting for fun in her free time + dreaming about one day being an entrepreneur. Then, at 16, she was working a part-time job and began to feel stuck. She knew that she wasn’t fulfilling her purpose or doing what she was made for, so she went on a mission to discover something that set her heart on fire. Her camera had been sitting on a shelf for quite awhile, but her parents encouraged her to take it out and find her passion for photography again. Slowly but surely, her business began to grow and before she knew it, she was walking out of the courthouse with a business license only 2 months after her 17th birthday. During her senior year of high school, she poured her heart and soul into this dream of hers while she took classes part time to achieve her diploma.

After graduation, she committed to a 4-year university to pursue a degree in business marketing. She paid the fees, chose a roommate, attended orientation, finalized her class schedule, shopped for her dorm room and announced to everyone that she would be attending Radford University. But…something felt wrong. Everyone around her was encouraging her to pursue  a business degree and society was telling her to take the “normal” path to success by gradating from a university. But she had worked SO hard for her dream and gave it everything she had…how could she give up on it now to attend a college 4 hours away? There was no one around her that understood the way she was feeling, until she met a friend at a local photography meet-up. That friend was her same age, in business for the same amount of time, had the same amount of success and was facing the SAME. EXACT. DECISION. Crazy how God’s timing works, right? During a heart-to-heart conversation about college decisions, this friend told her one thing that changed her path forever: “Wherever you go, be all there”. She knew that she couldn’t be all there at college and all there in her business…so she made the decision to pursue her dreams full-time and forgo attending a 4-year university.

In case you didn’t pick up on it…that girl was me 🙂 And, that friend who changed the path of my life? That friend was Caroline Logan. She has been such a blessing in my life from day one of our friendship, and I couldn’t be more excited to be writing this blog post today!!!

Through our journeys as young business owners, Caroline and I have developed a heart for other young women with a desire to pursue entrepreneurship. A little over a month ago, Caroline and I sat next to each other at a lunch in Charleston. We were chatting about big plans for our businesses, things we were dreaming about and things we faced as young business owners that others didn’t struggle with. Then, Caroline casually mentioned that we should host an event together one day for fun. I put down my french fries, pulled out my calendar, and we chose a date for an event to happen. Then, about two weeks later, The Gathering was born.

The Gathering is a five-hour, content-packed, intentionally-designed event created specifically for young women in business. You’ll walk away not only buzzing with ideas and excitement for what’s next, but equipped with the practical steps to get there.

We believe there’s no reason to wait to pursue your passion. This is your time, you have a place, and these are your people. So come find community and inspiration in a room filled with likeminded dreamers and visionaries walking the same journey as you are. It’s never too early to start.

Date: August 22nd, 2016

Time: 4:00-9:00pm EST

Location: Stevenson Ridge in Fredericksburg, VA

Registration opens on March 29th at 9PM EST with an early bird rate of only $129 for the first 50 seats!!

Click here to learn more about The Gathering, read the details + join our mailing list! 

We cannot WAIT to see you at The Gathering!

(A huge, huge thank you to Jen Olmstead of Tonic Site Shop for the incredible website + Annamarie Akins for the images!)