Cheers, Creative Enthusiasts,
Left: Group shot of retreat attendees and workshop facilitators. Right: Front shot of the Timber Moose Lodge – which is the largest privately-owned log cabin in the nation.
I am still enjoying the afterglow of an amazing business retreat in Timber Lakes, Utah that I wrote about earlier on this blog here. This game changing and fantabulous retreat was created out of thin air by two women I have really come to respect and adore: Leah Hynes and Nazrin Murphie of The Connection Effect. I met these fine women through a course I took right when I opened shop here at Giant Leaps Creative – a course conceived and written by a mentor and friend of mine – the late Scott Dinsmore. It was a special treat to me that his wife Chelsea Dinsmore was in attendance at this amazing event. I finally got the chance to tell her in person how strong and resilient I think she is, as well as what an amazing impact her husband Scott, his teaching, and his communities such as Live Your Legend has had on my life. What a gift to be able to express that! I’m honored to be a co-host of the Live Your Legend (LYL) chapter in my area of Northern Virginia. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity, Naz and Leah, more than you know. I bring the LYL flag that I designed for Scott to every single meeting and take our goofy shot with my selfie stick with great pride in his honor! (OK, now I'm getting weepy).
Left: Leah Hynes and Nazrin Murphie hyper-engaged in educating us. Center: Logo design that Giant Leaps created for The Connection Effect that was featured on gift tote bags to all attendees (previously on t-shirts). Right: The unstoppable Mike Goncalves of The Wellness Bucket leading us in super-charged fitness workouts focused on releasing our inner greatness.
This retreat’s focus was on sharing Naz and Leah’s secrets of building hyper-connected communities to accelerate your impact in the world. They promised to create at this amazing lodge a space of connection, collaboration and community-building with other purpose-driven entrepreneurs. And let me tell you – it did not disappoint. From the word “go” this was a super-charged, exciting and thought-provoking event at every turn. From the hugs and high fives when we walked through the front door, to the super-hero themed welcome party, to the many highly engaging workshops throughout the weekend, we were on fire with massive immersive learning, diving deep into each other’s missions of creating greatness in the world. Many of us arrived as strangers with unique missions, but we left as close friends with a deep connection and unified purpose with surprisingly overlapping goals.
All attendees and facilitators proudly displaying our artistic canvases that we created as a brilliant group effort being lead by the amazing Ellen Watkins and her creativity workshop.
One of my biggest takeaways from the event was a concept that occurred to me as I was on my voyage home. To be a success at putting greatness out into the world that has a massive impact, it takes four key elements much like a four-legged chair. The chair cannot properly stand without all four of its “legs” or foundations. It takes smarts (a great idea or mission worth sharing), focused action (no action = no impact), courage (the bravado to go for it!) and a community of like-minded individuals supporting you. The last element – the supportive community – assists with all three of the previous items by helping you see that you can do it or picking you up when you “fall facedown in the arena”. If you are going to dare greatly, be certain that you will eventually fall down from time to time. No question. And no one gets to great places alone. Yet without ALL FOUR of these elements, you either won’t make any impact at all, or you won’t make as big of an impact as quickly as you could or should. And who wants that?
To me this was a profound and extremely helpful thought to guide me and help me see the path that lays out before me. What’s my next move? Who do I need to talk to next to achieve my goals? What’s my next product? Who would be an incredible addition to my team? And what do I focus on now, versus what can wait until next year? Powerful stuff.
Left: Our incredible private chef for the weekend, Kris Dews preparing sushi for the team. Right: One of the delectable spreads that Kris lavished us with. So delicious as well as nutritious! She is a marvel and a master chef. So grateful for her gifts at the event.
Finally I want to wholeheartedly express my gratitude here to first the facilitators. Naz and Leah – I cherish your friendship, your guidance, and your constant cheerleading. I know for certain that I would not be where I am today without your support, your teaching, prodding and poking. You are experts at getting me out of my comfort zone – which is partly what entrepreneurship is all about after all. To beautiful Ellen Watkins – you absolutely floored me and blew me away with how amazing your creativity workshop was. Absolutely brilliant! Kudos to you, my friend! To the awesome-sauce Mike Goncalves – thank you for helping inspire greatness in me everyday. Both the human you and the bobble-head you are constantly nodding YES – I am awesome! And I thank you immensely! Running bear hugs to you! To the rest of you lot: Whether I knew you before or we just met, I think you all are amazing, courageous, geniuses in your corner of the world, and have huge hearts. I am honored to call you friends, colleagues, educators and saviors. Please know that I support you in all your endeavors, today and every day. You rock!
I am humbled. I am grateful. I am at your service.
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Can I help create your promotional materials for your important, world changing mission or business, or help you with your new website launch, branding, T-shirt or invitation design? I invite you to contact me so that I can offer a free consultation and price quote for any of your design needs. Have an awesome week and happy creating!
To your creative endeavors!
Onward and upward.
Cathy Broadwell
Giant Leaps Creative LLC
PHOTO CREDIT: All photos featured here by the amazing Gregory Berg of Enso Photography