About 8 years ago, I was a vendor at, what was promised to be, ‘the largest event showcase’ in my home city of Philadelphia. At the time, I was working full time for a well-known, high-end catering and event venue and took the entire day out of the office. Between setting up the booth, manning the booth and leaving myself time to network, it was a huge undertaking.

There must have been over 200 vendors that filled the Convention Center floor—everyone from lighting companies to staging, venue representatives and event designers packed the space. We were set up 15 minutes prior to the start of the event as instructed…and we waited.

And waited.

Oh, and waited some more.

Let’s start here: I’ve always been the person who finds more efficient ways to perform tasks. In my corporate past, I’d find ways to streamline communication between managers who worked opposite schedules, or to make meetings more efficient. In the startup world, I found that remote work was the most efficient use of my time, rather than shlepping between work spaces throughout the day. Now, with my clients, the onboarding process typically sees me finding ways to make working together more efficient. After all, many businesses have a handle on internal communication, but bringing in an external and/or remote team can be challenging.

I’m delighted to interview my friend, fellow entrepreneur/cannapreneur, and strategic partner , Eric Michael. He and I are partnering on a number of events and campaigns, and he’s one of my all-around favorite people.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Kristina Daniele on the Expo-Sed Conferences podcast!

Kristina read my blog post about contingency planning and how to make sure you plan ahead for all of your events. Give it a listen below, I hope you enjoy! Thank you so much to Kristina for having me; I had a blast speaking with you.

You can tell busy season is here when I don’t have time to blog (note to self: pencil in time to blog).

Throughout the year, I receive dozens (sometimes over 100) emails or messages asking to “pick my brain.” Furthermore, judging by my conversations with other entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals, I’m not alone. messages flood email and social media inboxes, and introductions seem to fly at you and before you know what happened, you’re scheduling a meeting.

By now, we've all heard of Shonda Rhimes' book, 'Year of Yes.'

Though I have never read the book, when I first heard her discuss it, I was all-in and a true believer: Say yes to things that come your way. Say yes to opportunities, yes to your future--and yes to everything that scares you.

Actually, I lived it. I said 'yes' to every single thing that scared me, beginning when I accepted the job at Snap Kitchen. From traveling by myself; to accepting a role with a start-up, with a future less secure than the offers I turned down; to speaking in public, live TV interviews and even group runs. It was an incredibly successful two years for me. I said 'yes' to volunteering opportunities, too, such as Professional Women's Roundtable and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My schedule was packed, my brand was out there--and I was facing my fears.