If you attended our August event, “Hindsight in 2020”, you heard this quote a number of times, “The real trick in life is to turn hindsight into foresight that reveals insight.” (Robin Sharma)
And it got me thinking. With all the changes we have encountered, what is my greatest insight about The Exchange right now? The Exchange is NOT AT ALL what I imagined it to be. It is BETTER than I dreamed because of the WOMEN WHO EMBODY IT.
Back in 2015, I had this idea stirring in me to inspire women to live on purpose and with intention. I was hoping for 30 willing women to show up in my living room to talk, exchange ideas and encourage each other. That’s all.
BUT THAT NEVER HAPPENED.
Instead, the Exchange took on a life of its own.
- Multiple spaces full of hundreds of women; month after month, year after year.
- A second location to reach women in a different city and requests for more locations.
- A non-profit so we could accept your contributions and stay out of jail 🙂
- A board of directors to protect our mission and your money.
- Fundraisers to keep the ship afloat.
- Sponsorships to support other women and provide access to what women want.
- Weekly FB Lives when we were unable to meet in person.
- Requests for virtual access from women who can’t attend in person.
- A LIVE in-person AND virtual event available to allow you to engage where you felt most comfortable.
HOW IN THE WORLD DID ALL THIS HAPPEN?!?
In hindsight, this is the insight I came up with. It happened because women like YOU showed up and wanted more. We literally just kept saying yes to what you asked for. As a result, we created The Exchange TOGETHER.
Our August event was confirmation that our community is strong AND we continue to need each other. We were created for connection and interaction and it was SO GREAT to be together again! We gathered at my house, at watch parties and individually wherever zoom could find you.
We learned a lot from our first virtual experience and the feedback you provided on our post-event survey. (Thank you for taking the time to do that!) We are going to do everything we can to serve you while improving each and every month!
In designing our new approach, we had three important priorities.
- Make it widely available.
- Make it flexible
- Make it affordable.
We hope you like the options we will be providing.
We continue to be SO VERY grateful for your support as you have enabled us to weather this strange season we are in, while even expanding to reach more women! We couldn’t do it without you!
Even with so much unknown, we believe the future of The Exchange will bring great things! We’re going to keep saying yes and figure it out TOGETHER. I am truly grateful to be on this journey with YOU!
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