Mar 12, 2015

Makers Summit

Makers Collective hosts the Makers Summit in downtown Greenville, SC. After seeing people having an amazing time at Makers Summit the past two years I decided that I needed to go! The Summit is held over two days and is a mix of speakers, one on one meetings with experts, amazing food, crafts, and meeting other inspiring artists/entrepreneurs.

I drove down Wednesday night in order to avoid the 5+ inches of snow we ended up getting here in Tennessee.

Thursday was spent relaxing and exploring Greenville.

Friday morning was check-in for the Makers Summit and the summit kicked off with the keynote by Jeff Shinabarger of Plywood People. We heard from a panel of established business owners who are rock stars in the entrepreneurial world! We broke down into smaller groups to have a chance to discuss anything we were working through with our small biz, had some snacks and then Nathan Bond of Rifle Paper Co. was the closing keynote. To end this amazing day we had 'The Best Craft Party Ever' which was a moving party with four locations, each with a different theme, food, and craft.... SO MUCH FUN!

Saturday was a busy day with one-on-one sessions with experts of our choosing; I chose to get tips on photography and social media. Jeni Britton Bauer of Jenis Splendid Ice Creams was the opening keynote and if you haven't eaten any of her ice cream, stop reading and go find some! We had three workshops throughout the day as well; I went to one about pitching yourself/product, wholesale, and time management.

All of the speakers were truly inspirational and had such great tips to share. None of them were in my specific field of 'jewelry' but I learned a lot from them and kept hearing things I already knew I needed to work on so I'm planning on making them a priority.

I made lots of new friends and had such a wonderful time! Thanks to the Makers Summit team for a wonderful weekend!!