On June 14 I attended The Atelier conference with a good friend and fellow boss babe. I decided I would split this post into two, because my mind is exploding with inspiration, and there is simply too much to cram into one post.

When my friend first approached me about going I wasn’t too sure. Networking is definitely out of my comfort zone; and to be honest, any social function where I don’t know many people gives me some anxiety. Then I thought, how am I going to grow pink & blue and my experiences if I say no to things like this? I then had a look at what the day was going to entail and decided to say YES!

So, the day before we both worked a full day and headed west for the two hour drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake. We arrived at our hotel, and were blown away by all of the fresh flowers inside the hotel, and the gardens outside of the hotel. The next morning we took a stroll through the gardens before the shuttle arrived.

We hopped on the shuttle for the short trip to Ravine Vineyard Estate Winery. A lot of the people on the shuttle knew each other and I already felt out of my comfort zone. I did my best to push the anxiety aside and remembered what this day was about and made a promise to introduce myself to at least one person I didn’t know (and I totally did!).

When I first stepped off the shuttle bus and looked around, my first thought was WOW. There were women smiling and laughing everywhere, beautiful women in dresses, pant suits, you name it. Looking so confident and excited for the day ahead. That moment in itself was inspiring.

We signed in, grabbed our badges and headed right for the photo wall. It was fairly early and the line was short so we took our opportunity.

We then headed to the coffee truck to fuel ourselves for the day. It was an adorable set-up and the coffee was delicious. (I have to say, I was pretty good with keeping up with IG stories for the day but later realized I didn’t take a lot of pictures for my blog posts.) Fail.

A massive tent was set up, lined with tables and chairs to seat 300 eager women. Each setting had water, a notebook, the agenda for the day and an essential oil gift from Saje. Each table was lined with different centrepieces that were beautiful. Gorgeous light fixtures hung from the ceiling of the tent, and the stage featured wicker chairs for the panel members. It was absolutely beautiful.

We chose our seats and then headed over for our free head shot which we received by email less than 24 hours later! Impressive!

We were given breakfast, snacks on both the morning and afternoon breaks, a delicious lunch and of course a Happy Hour, courtesy of the winery. It was all fantastic.

The day was packed with female entrepreneurs, boss babes, motivators and GOALS. Seriously. I found myself thinking “WOW” more than once. Not the “oh I wish I could be her” type of wow, but the “you go girl” type of wow.

We walked away with a bouquet of flowers, a small tree (to plant at home) and an awesome swag bag overflowing with goodies.

In Part 2 of this post, I am going to share my favourite panel speakers, inspiring quotes that stayed with me, what I jotted down in my notebook and what I walked away with.

Stay tuned!