A Look Back At Elevate | Alison Prince
Jen and I are finally catching our breath after this year's Elevate Conference and really wanted to share some tidbits from the amazing speakers that supported us. Lucky for you all, our dear friend Megan from Absolute Mommy took some epic notes. Even luckier...she was sweet enough to do a full recap of each of our speakers thoughts that they shared. She is such a talented writer so this is a real treat friends! Let's kick things off with one of our favorite business owners in the entire world shall we?! You'll also get to enjoy some photos of the event from our girl Jeanne of Pure Posh Photography. 
Alison Prince will not be stopped. The mother to four is also the proud leader of not one, not two, but nine Internet based businesses. You may know her as one of the founders of How Does She, the blog devoted to making the lives of women easier by providing great content on subjects like motherhood, DIY, and feeding your family. Or you may recognize her name as the owner and founder of the e-commerce business Pick You Plum. No matter how you have come to know her name, what you need to know that she is an unstoppable force in the business world. Which lucky for the attendees at this years Elevate Conference, also made her a great inspiration.
No matter if you have a blog, a shop, or just like to congregate with women, Alison inspired the entrepreneur in all of us. Alison's guiding principle is "I. Will. Not. Be. Stopped". A mantra that all of us could adopt in our lives. Whether we are on a new work out plan, have changed careers, are new or perhaps old to motherhood, we could all learn a lesson or two in getting what we really want out of life. How many times have we held so closely a dream and left it out of fear or lack of motivation? Alison posed the following questions to all of us: What do you want? Now how are you going to get it? For most of us in attendance, we know what we want. Some of us want our blogs to be sponsored by major corporations. Some of us want to own and operate successful shops. Some of us want to publish our work in print. Yet, despite different goals we all want the same thing, to be successful and to accomplish our dream. Alison's response: If you want something, get it. Period.
One thing is clear when you listen to Alison, she is in charge of her future. She reminded us that we too are in charge of our own futures. As an example, she told us the story of getting financing to start one of her many e-commerce businesses. She was to write a lengthy portfolio to convince investors that her business was worthy of their funding. Years previously, a college professor, had told her that she wasn't a good writer. He said her work wasn't up to snuff. Now, as she sat down to write her portfolio, she was plagued with the idea that no matter what she wrote, it would never be good enough, she worried she wouldn't be able to get her point across with her writing. She wrote it anyway, and secured the funding for her business. The lesson she believes is this, if people believe in your passion, they overlook your insecurity. Since she wrote with all her heart, on a subject she loved and was passionate about, it didn't matter that it wasn't Pulitzer Prize winning prose. The investors could see that she was just as passionate, if not more so, than the other applicants. Encouraging for those of us who are so passionate when it comes to our dreams, but may not yet feel they have the expertise.
Alison had great advice for all the bloggers and shop owners in the room. Bloggers, she said are a unique breed. Bloggers want to improve and they want to accomplish. Bloggers are in a great position to create their own futures. We have a voice, and we are a unique breed in the sense that we work hard to use our voices and create those futures. Alison said that we all should adopt the idea that we will not be stopped. If we have the idea, if we dream the dream, then we have the ability and the bravery to see it through. Don't let fear stop you, don't let someone else's opinion stop you, don't let your own opinion of yourself stop you. We must define our own values. Some one's opinion of you does not have to become your reality. According to Alison, we create our own realities.
With nine e-commerce businesses and counting, Alison had some key takeaways for the entrepreneur in all of us.
1. Are you willing to take the risk? Open that shop. Start that blog. Ask that sponsor to collaborate with you. If you want to achieve your ultimate goal, then you have to be willing to take the risk.
2. Keep your eye on the goal. It's easy to lose sight of what your original goal was when you started your blog or shop. Was it to make money and be famous? Or was it to be able to stay home with your children? When we lose sight of our goals, we get off track and begin to focus on the money or the fame, and sometimes our goal changes all together. Remember the original goal and you will be back on track to success.
3. Things happen, but it's up to you to decide how to react. Life is never going to be perfect, but the key to life is facing those challenges head on. If we cry every time we spill "milk", we won't get nearly as much accomplished if we just clean it up instead. Kids get sick, we lose jobs, or simply, we burn dinner and forget to change the laundry. For every failure on the way to your goal, learn from it. React respectfully. Ultimately choose joy even when it hurts. People will see how you react to the negative and be inspired when you do it with class.
4. You can't do it all yourself. Ask for help when you need it. Hire help when you can. Everyone who has goals, will need help at some point in achieving that goal. Whether it's childcare if you work inside or outside of the home, or someone just to post your Instagram giveaways, ask for help. Continually doing it all will cause you to loose focus and become resentful. Being pulled in every direction takes the joy out of even the most loved projects. Ask for help. Hire help. Be open to accept help. It will change your life and help you achieve your goals.
Alison Prince wants you to be successful no matter your endeavor. She wants you to be fearless when you create your future. And she wants you to prove people wrong. Who says you can't have what you really want? If it's that voice inside your head, repeat after Alison,
I. Will. Not. Be. Stopped.
XOXO,
Megan - Absolute Mommy