This past weekend, I had the pleasure of being a speaker for Texas Style Council conference in Austin, Texas. When TXSC had their event during SxSW Indiana, I decided to lead a workshop in knowing that TXSC sessions would be broken down to feel more school oriented. My best friend and fellow small business owner Rocquelle made the connections for me. The workshop was on Kick Starting Your Ecommcere Site, which I have parent consultation and ebooks that I personally offer on the subject.
To be completely honest, I was very nervous leading up to this workshop session. Even when I stepped in the room, I felt very anxious. I was afraid that it would just be me and ten people—awkward. Let’s just say I was overwhelmed with joy when I saw a room full of people. There were literally people were sitting on the floor! Nicely packed into our small room, I led a great session (with interaction) on How to Run Kick Start Your Ecommerce Site.
During the session, people asked great questions, plus after and even later in the day women found me to ask more questions. It is a great feeling to know that I am helping others who are in the process of starting their own business. Several of the complements about my session were that it was truthful, organic, I had a great personality and that I truly broke down the essence of what it’s like to run a business.
That’s my goal with consulting and this blog: to share what it is truly like to own a business without sugar coating the process at all. Several of the individuals had questions about taxes and legal information which is outside my realm of business, plus I am neither a lawyer nor CPA, but that was the only place that I wasn’t able to answer their questions. This sparked the idea that I need to bring back the Ask The Expert Series. An added perk about this conference was that I met a great accountant and lawyer. I will have them answer your questions during the Ask The Expert Series.
All in all, this was a great way to start gaining experience as a conference speaker. Last year, I went on a college speaking tour, but this speaking was much more focused. The entire TXSC staff was extremely helpful in the whole process of my workshop and the conference. With the plans of speaking at two more conferences this year, I am thankful for the insight I gained from this one. Stay tuned for my thoughts on what I learned, and an overall recap of Texas Style Council Conference 2013.
