As we plan our upcoming “Confident Spring Style GNO” fashion show, it brings up a lot of feelings and emotions for me. First, it’s reconnecting me, and HeartStories, with some of my favorite women friends who are doing incredible things in the world. Second, it’s reminding me once again how often difficult roads lead to beautiful places. Third, it’s reinforcing the truth that, growth requires a period of feeling entirely incompetent, a feeling that most of us try to avoid.
It’s quite an unexpected spin on the roller coaster of entrepreneurship.
Reconnecting with these women, and seeing just how far they’ve come to make change that truly matters in this world is like a healing balm, that reminds me I am never alone. The struggle that feels so isolating, isn’t unique to me. The mountain that feels impossible to climb, is being climbed by women all around me. The inevitable incompetence that accompanies trying something brand new, is the ONLY path to making a meaningful difference.
Here’s the proof.
In the center of this image you can see my dear friend Kim Jones. She’s standing at the end of a runway with a packed house of people, talking about the this runway show Fashioned For Freedom, the very first one she put together as a fundraiser, for her nonprofit My Refuge House. I remember the day a runway show was just an idea in her head. Let me just stand as a witness right now, that the full-scale show she puts on every year these days, has required a long and winding journey through many difficult roads of struggle and many feelings incompetency. The best part for us? She so generously handed us her road map for putting on a fashion show
If that wasn’t enough, meet Carly.
For apparel for our show, we’re partnering with Tribe Alive, who you will learn ALL about soon. Their entire line of on-trend, high quality fashion pieces brings dignity, to both maker and the wearer. Carly Burson, their Founder and CEO, was our very first featured guest of our Girls Night Out. She partnered with me while this whole monthly GNO thing was still mostly a dream in my head as sort of our “proof of concept”. (And it worked! ) Tribe Alive started with a burning desire inside of her to utilize her experience in the fashion industry to create a brand that empowered the people it employed. When I say it’s been a labor of love, I can’t even skim the surface. She didn’t know anything about how to do it, but she decided that humans are worth the discomfort of not-knowing, and she’s figured it out. Tribe Alive has become an international brand that empowers all the lives it touches.
And then there’s Alison!
Alison Lumbatis, who will be our Style Guide for the evening, founded an online brand called Get Your Pretty on, that focuses on providing inspiration & guidance to help women feel confident in their clothing, by offering hand-picked style capsules for every season, lifestyle advice, and a community of support around them. You can bet that when she first decided she wanted to break her “yoga pant addiction” and create a way for women to easily put together on-trend outfits, she felt incompetent. But she embraced that unknown as her path to making a difference for other women stuck in the yoga-pant-rut and she’s been living in the discomfort of learning something new every day since.
“If you care enough to make a difference, if you care enough to get better–you should care enough to experience incompetence again.” ~ Seth Godin
Whether it’s in marriage, parenting, friendship, or the work you do in the world, you will probably have to begin while you’re still incompetent. You will have to learn to embrace the not-knowing as part of the road that will take you where you need to go.
Difficult roads often lead to beautiful places, but only if you care enough to get there.
to more love,
Crystal
p.s. There’s still plenty of time to get tickets to our fashion show and clearly, it’s going to be a night you don’t want to miss. Join us May 2nd, for “Confident Spring Style GNO”, ~ A fashion show designed to equip real women to navigate this season with ease, both in fashion, and in life.
