Major takeaways from Denver Startup Week
So! Big news. Last week I spoke at Denver Startup Week.
Denver Startup Week was a week dedicated to the creative entrepreneurs and innovators living and working in Denver. It was free. It was virtual (this year). It was something truly special. Not only did I teach, but I learned a ton.
About what I’m capable of. About the power of community. The list goes on.
Here are a few major takeaways from the week:
You’re capable of more than you realize.
This is an important one. I think as entrepreneurs we have a tendency to underestimate ourselves. We tell ourselves, “Someone else has already done it.” “I’ve been at this so long.” “Do I even have anything original to say?”
And you do, my friend. You have something so valuable to offer this world.
We have to give ourselves more credit and know that we do have something to add to the conversation. When I started my business back in 2013, I was living on the east coast in a city that wasn’t like Denver. You didn’t find innovation and entrepreneurship around every corner. What you did was get a job. There just weren’t a lot of creative options available. So when I started my business, I did everything online. That’s where I found my community.
And now that we’re all virtual, I’m back in a familiar place. But this time I’m surrounded with amazing connections in a city I’m grateful to be a part of.
The point? Our journeys take us places we don’t expect and every experience teaches us, shapes us, and allows us to ultimately add to the conversation.
Seven years ago, when I was starting out in a city where no one understood what I did, I didn’t feel capable. I felt small. And sometimes we need to find our place and our community to remind us that we’ve known what we’ve been doing all along. We just had to finally see it for ourselves.
We’re all students. And we’re all figuring it out.
This is a BIG one for me. When I was getting started on my entrepreneurial journey all those years ago, I was going to a lot of in-person events. One was in Portland, OR. It was called the World Domination Summit. I remember seeing thousands of entrepreneurs gathered in this one place to share and learn from one another. My business idols were there - just inches from me.
I mustered up the courage to go up to one of them and say, “hey.”
They were years beyond me in their business, had grown a huge following, and I didn’t even know what I expected to say to them. But I do remember asking one question. I asked, “How did you get to be so successful?”
And they looked at me and said (and I’ll never forget this), “Hey, I’m no more successful than you. We’re all just figuring it out."
For someone that I respected so much to level the playing field with me meant everything. There was no ego, there was no “I’m here, you’re there” mentality. That one sentence encouraged me and still does to this day.
Denver Startup Week reminded me of the World Domination Summit. We’re all gathering with one another to share and learn from each other.
We can do this. We can create a better world.
Sure, maybe it’s corny to say, but being a part of Denver Startup Week gave me that feeling that everything’s going to be okay. You couldn’t help but be inspired. There are so many people going out there and being of service. People who are creating and problem-solving and just trying to do their one small part to make the world better in some way. I love that.
And I hope I’m doing my part. Marketing isn’t on the same level as world peace, but it has a part to play. I went into Denver Startup Week ready to teach content marketing, and I did, but I hope I imparted something more.
The way I see marketing is it’s being able to tell someone what you do. And I see content as the information people are looking for. So, when you put the two together, you’re helping people out and letting them know what you can do for them. It’s being of service. It’s caring. It’s building a relationship.
Starting a business takes guts, period. And putting yourself out there and telling people about it takes even more guts. When you’re able to market yourself effectively, you’re essentially believing 100% in what you’re doing.
I didn’t always believe in what I was doing. I took a long-winding road to get here today. I pivoted my business more than I’d like to admit and I even put it on pause for a few years. I could look at all of that uncertainty and call myself a failure, but I refuse to. Instead, I’ve learned to shift my perspective.
I tried things, and when I saw they weren’t working out, I changed course. And every time I fell, I got back up. And even when I went back to a job, I put my head down and I learned. I honed my skills and I got better. I relaunched this business pre-pandemic and have been doing better than I thought possible.
Because we DO have something to offer the world. In our own unique, wacky, and brilliant way. We have gifts. And gifts are meant to be given.
So these probably weren’t the takeaways you were expecting. They’re not technical, they’re not divulging any secrets. They’re just truth.
And my hope is that you walk away after reading this and you feel inspired.
To go out into the world knowing just how capable you are, and that you’re not alone in figuring it all out (because we all are), and that you have something really special to offer this world. To make it a little bit better.
2020 needs some good news, doesn’t it? Be that good news. I believe in YOU.