My 2nd Disney conference in a month. That is why I gave you a break from posting this as I attended here about 2 weeks after my Walt Disney World Conference.
The local “on the road” Disney conferences are much different events. Cozy you might say! Different speakers than we just heard and a more intimate flavor.
Maria Bailey, my pal from Mom Talk Radio, and BSM Media was our Mistress of Ceremonies. I am a big fan, I will warn you now. Maria is a very savvy business woman and loves to empower other women to gain financial success. And by women, I feel included as a SAHD, she is very inclusionary. I believe I was one of the first men that asked to join her company, BSM Media, to do blog work and reviews. Her staff tells me that they went to her when I applied and asked what to do, after all it was only women at the time. She said, sign him up! I am grateful for all of the help I received early on in my blog career from this organization.
Lets get right to our first speaker. Jennifer Labit, who some may call a mompreneur, but I think she has grown larger than that, as she has a myriad of companies at this point. She told a very humbling story about her origins that was truly inspiring. As a young first time mom, with the tough financial times in the country, and in her home, the family had to make a choice between cloth diapers that could be reused many times, or disposable diapers that would eat up their food budget. They chose cloth so that there would be money for food. She then went through the process of how she built her own cloth diaper business, how she empowers communities by starting them off with a cloth diaper “bank” and found other niche markets. She was a wonderful speaker, inspiring and motivating. I strongly suggest you folks read up on her and learn about her success, she is a great power of example. I have listened to a lot of speakers recently and this is the one that made me think the longest and hardest about where I am and where I want to be. For me, that is a top quality speaker!
There was a also a round table of other mom entrepreneurs. They all talked about starting and building their businesses. It was very informative as the ladies were all in what seemed to be a different part of the actual business building process. They spoke of legal protections and how important that is. I feel confident in saying that the crowd hung on every word regarding that subject. If you start to grow a business, you cannot protect it too soon, get as much of the legal protection process started as son as you start talking publicly about your ideas, cause that’s how fast the idea can be hijacked.
And Gary Buchanan spoke to us. This was the last time I saw him:
His enthusiasm for Disney cannot be matched, and I am thrilled to have met him in May, and then lucky enough to see him again at this conference! He doesn’t just talk about Disney, he makes it come alive.
Lastly, Michelle Stepney, PR Content Director at Walt Disney World, spoke to us. She highlighted her talk with great videos, showing us what not to do while being filmed.
Great speakers and a great learning experience. With no distractions. The Conference in Walt Disney World is a far different experience, and both have wonderful value to those of us trying to move forward in our business lives. You can always follow along at the various hashtags, #DSMMC, and #Disneyontheroad and #DisneySMMoms to find all the wonderful quotes we tweet out during the conferences, they are still ongoing across America!
Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post. The Conference was free of charge and a breakfast was provided. I was not obligated to write this post and all opinions remain 100% my own and honest.
tiffany dover says
This is just TOO cool! I am super jealous that you went to this! I would have love to attend!
Margo says
What a great experience! And who doesn’t live Disney?!
Jeannette says
Wow – it sounds like a great event! I was able to go last year locally and it was so much fun! I hope to be able to attend again this year!
diane says
Sounds like this was truly a wonderful experience. I grew up right outside of NYC and miss it so much!
Tammi @ My Organized Chaos says
That would have been incredible to go! I wouldn’t hesitate if there was one near me, Disney inspires so much!
Debi@ The Spring Mount 6 Pack says
It sounds like a ton of fun.
Shannon (The Mommy-Files) says
I heard about this but it was too late when I signed up for it.
Thanks for sharing!