As you recall two weeks ago I used my virtual The Southern C Summit ticket on the road, visiting a number of cities over five days and meeting up with some alums from years past. I love my time at Summit each year as I feel like it really sets me up for the year. I use the time to get my mind in business mode, meet amazing people, work on collaborations, and come home with a list of amazing people to work with along with new collaborations with businesses I already know. It is hands down the best thing I do as a blogger and business owner all year long. There is something about that time away that truly just gets me in the perfect mind frame for the rest of the year. I am not saying it is always smooth sailing as I come home and work it all out, but the inspiration I glean from the time always gets me going in the right direction.
To be honest I was sad that this year was going to be so very different. I was both sad I would be missing out seeing my favorite people and missing out on the beautiful locale, but also I was worried that it would not be the same "start" for me for the year. After some thought and prayer I decided that the time on the road away from home this time of year was crucial for my mindset. After chatting with my friend Nicole we agreed to a shopping trip for the exact same week. I would meet up with alums while we were on the road and use the time as I love to all while shopping for both of our resale businesses. I was excited.
I will give you our exact route and places to shop and eat in tomorrow's post and share the cities and people we met up with in this post. For a solid week before we left I was crazy excited about the time away. Do not get me wrong, I love being home with my family, but I was craving inspiration and a new locale so desperately. After the long year of 2020 + Covid for our family I needed some serious shake up and this was exactly the recipe for success.
We left on Monday mid day and headed north on 85. Our goal for the night was to arrive in Greenville, South Carolina. We shopped all the way there hitting up a few locations and arrived in Greenville at our hotel at just about 7 ish. I will share hotels and food, etc. tomorrow. The idea around the shopping trip was to shop during the day and then sell our finds that evening. It was a lot of work and a lot of "on the fly" but it was so good. It was fun and exciting and I loved all our followers getting so excited with us. We did not share our route before hand and tried to be as fluid as we could be to let us shop where we felt we would be successful. I will go ahead and say I give it a solid 10/10.
In Greenville we met up with my friend Anna Louise Carter of Designed by Dixon. I mentor Anna Louise and it was so good to really check in with her in person. She treated us to lunch Tuesday and we used that hour to talk about what worked last year and what we all needed to change. Not only did the lunch prove useful to her but I was so inspired when we left. Nicole and I spent the rest of the day talking about how we could change up our businesses plans (we own separate businesses but obviously similar businesses) and it was so cool to talk about goals that were so different for both of us. We have a good friend relationship and shop very well together and yet have such different paths. I think it is so very cool. I was able to hook Anna Louise up with another alum who needed help and I can not wait to see their relationship grow. Leaving we chatted about how to work together and a weekend in the near future when she would come south and I could host her at my favorite picking joints. It was all really good to catch up and brain storm.
After more shopping Tuesday we drove to Columbia to spend the night. I love this city so much and always find something new here every single time I go. On Wednesday I met up with Beth Baxley who owns the Lilly store in town, Pink Sorbet. Beth has a signature store but has had to pivot so much with quarantine. It is leaning a little towards a lifestyle store and even the small changes she has made are amazing. She has the most amazing clothes, Lilly is my fave!, and has mixed in some small gifts and has a local cookie girl dropping her cookies off for pick up. Honestly I think Beth is one of the smartest people I know and does such a great job bringing people in. We chatted events and made some specific plans to have dates as soon as it is deemed safe. With that plan I will be helping her with more than one event coming oh so soon. Honestly, I can not wait.
We spent a few hours with Kayla Sweigart at The Little Green Door and this time was so amazing for me. I have a number of friends who also have resale businesses that are sooo supportive. We chat about what works for us and really just bond and I love this time. The hour or so I spent at TLGD was life changing in a way ... I hope to continue that inspiration all year.
Wednesday evening we drove to Charleston and stayed with friends. I stayed with Krystine and Nicole stayed with a friend of hers. Being with Krystine is always good for me and we soaked up our time together, even though it was so very short. Wednesday was the beginning of Summit so I was able to listen to speakers on my air pods while driving. It was amazing. It was our plan to spend one night in Charleston and then drive to Aiken the next evening but we spent so much of Wednesday meeting people and soaking up the inspiration of the city we made a last minute call to stay another night. It was one of the best decisions we made as it gave us time to meet with both the girls of Crogan's Jewel Box + Carrie Morey who owns Callie's Biscuits. The long conversations were so amazing and I have plans to work with both of these brands this year. And Carrie ... the drinks were such a great time to truly just chat and hear all about her year to come. Her outlook on life is incredible, I can not wait to share.
On Friday morning we headed to home via Aiken and Augusta. We shopped on the way home and stopped at two newly opened needlepoint shops. Even though these businesses were new to me it instantly inspired me to do some research and gather some amazing needlepoint shops for you to check out. I love small businesses and even though I enjoy shopping for needlepoint online it was so good to be in a shop and pick out some favorites for stitching this year. I only was able to chat with the owners briefly, but there will be more to come.
I caught the closing speaker on the drive Friday and loved it so much. I was asked to be a mentor and had a great zoom session on Thursday with a group I hope to remain in touch with, they were so good and their questions were incredible. I think I have found I learn just as much from people who are just starting as I do from established speakers. The energy at Summit is just that good.
I am sad I do not have the bevy of images that I have had from previous years, but this time we are in is anything but typical. I am thankful for the experience I had and so very happy I made it my own. I came home inspired, extremely tired, having met new people and with a list of things to come and so many great memories.
I call that a win!
(all from Summit last year!)
I just saw your pic in an email from Barrington, you are on a lounge chair by a pool, too cute! I just love your style, your blog and your name. My sister’s name is Paige :)
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