New York Wrap Up...

On Tuesday the event started with a beautiful little breakfast reception. We had some amazing guest speakers throughout the day that were really inspiring and left us with a sense of motivation and encouragement! The speakers included: Gael Towey (Chief Creative and Editorial Director of MSLO), Terri Trespicio (Senior Editor, Whole Living Magazine), Terri Shapiro (Executive Director, Brand Media Relations for Deluxe Corporation), Brenda Dargan and Marc Ganem (Martha Stewart Living) and Danielle Leveal (Etsy). All of the speakers messages were so practical and we were able to take something concrete away from each of them. We left with some really good ideas on how to structure our business. At the end of the first day we were all anxious to see and meet Martha. She gracefully came in with Susan Soloman, who is the co-founder and CEO of the NY Stem Cell Foundation. We really enjoyed listening to Martha and Susan, as they are both such innovators.

Wow! The first day was so amazing we had so much to reflect on over dinner and a stroll through Time Sqaure. Of course we HAD to have NY pizza while we were there, and we were lucky enough to have one of our newest friends, Jasmine Clouser of The Couture Cakery, join us! We had such an amazing time getting to know her, she was such a doll. You must check out her site and the gorgeous cakes that she creates!

Wednesday it was Martha time! We were so excited to get to the set and of course meet Joey Kola, Martha's warm-up comic for the show! He was hilarious and kept the audience upbeat and excited throughout the show! The set was gorgeous and being there was almost sureal. It was a really incredible experience! As the show ended Martha was open to some question from the audience. She was really warm and generous with her answers. We were greeted back at the Martha Stewart headquarters (which is a few blocks from where the show is taped) with a beautiful lunch and guest speaker, Maria Otero, the Founder and President of Women’s Venture Fund. This wonderful experience ended with a cooking demonstration from Sarah Casey, Food Editor for Martha Stewart Living. We adored her, she was funny, charismatic and charming! Overall, this was one of the most memorable things Kellie and I have done together, not only as business partners but as friends. It gave a true sense of what we wanted out of our business, the direction we wanted to go and the brand we want to create. We feel so incredibly blessed to have had this experience.