You with us?

It’s been a few days (maybe a whole week!) since we met here on the blog. I’m citing the image above from Vanessa Corral, of all the lovely ladies from our Confident Spring Style Fashion show, as the evidence of my “hall pass”. (kidding, not kidding) Pulling off a fashion show at that level, as one of our regularly scheduled events was, in every way, more than we could actually handle. It was a wild, hair-brained idea on my part. Just picture me as Thanos, saying “I am inevitable!” and snapping his fingers. . . if you saw Endgame, you know what happened next. (If not, you’re not missing much. #boys)

Of course, I do not think for one second that I am inevitable.

But this time, I had this wonderful vision, that would typically take a team three to four times the size of ours, eight months to a year to pull off, and somehow I thought “No problem! We can whip that up in 3 weeks!” And we did, because we do what we say we’re going to do.

But it wouldn’t have happened without the incredible support of everyone involved.

The design of the show and creation of the printed “style guide” was all directed by Alison with Get Your Pretty On. Tribe Alive was the lead fashion designer and headline sponsor of the event, providing 13 looks in the show. The models also walked looks from our sponsors Athletique & Co. and Designz by Raga. While all of our wonderful sponsors set up a magical shopping experience together in the romantic courtyard of the venue.

At event time, it was like a fairytale story from the Hills of Hollywood.

But if you stop to think about everything that went into it behind the scenes, you might appreciate it even more. Because it was not a fairytale. It was real life. Our amazing team coordinated the schedules of these 15 incredibly busy women as our models, from initial agreement, through wardrobe selection, casting, scheduling and conducting on site mobile fittings. I expected pushback from the models on their wardrobe selection. But not one single model declined to wear what we selected for her. They were honest about their insecurities in certain looks, but they stepped up in courage, for the good of the whole. And they rocked those looks like nobody’s business! On top of that, nearly all of the models did a “social stories takeover” on our social media feeds leading up to the event. Each of them said “yes”, and jumped in with both feet, not really knowing much at all about what they were getting themselves into.

They were pretty much flying blind, up until the day of the event.

The clothing alone, had to be sized correctly for each model, and then travel from Fort Worth to Frisco, be fitted and steamed prior to the show. (Even that, was a wild mid-day pass off that involved a race against the clock!) The coordination of the logistics of the “rain plan” and the “shine plan” layouts took endless hours of brainstorming and puzzle-working. The hair by Swish Salon and makeup by Erin Blair & Ginger Bay, the model assistants, the parking “adventure” (which included our newest BFF’s at Fast Forward Valet and The Texas Legends!), the fabulous music (created by Melody at Melodies and Memories), the food by Chef Santos, and event design by Joyful Day. . . That’s not even to mention multiple site visits to 5 Stonebriar Way to measure the space, securing all the rentals from Simply Chic Event Rentals, and the additional staff to cover the fantastic venue.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

I could literally go on and on with all the behind the scenes details, that no one will ever know or understand, except the miracle-working women of the HeartStories team, who worked tirelessly around the clock to pull it all off. But I won’t take any more of your time with all of that.

Here’s what I want to say about it:

The flawless fashion show that emerged, was the culmination of the effort of an enormous group of women, and a few good men, who pulled together bringing their very best selves and all they had to offer, in ways that at times completely astounded me.

It was a display of the power of women at its very finest.

It required so. much. GRACE. I kid you not. From the model fittings to the runway, the parking, to the set up and tear down, all of the women involved cheered each other on and did everything within their control to help and support this effort. There was absolutely zero judgement. I expected to get pushback on our lack of experience, up to the minute planning and not having all the details outlined and clearly sent to everyone in advance. I got questions, of course, but zero pushback.

It was like we were suddenly a team of gladiators and nothing was going to get in our way.

Then, at showtime, I watched those models blossom with courage by just stepping out on that runway. Their faces were beaming. I watched with great anticipation as the women in the crowd cheered for them, with their whole hearts. What an incredible display! It makes me teary just to ponder it. Instead of women judging each other up and down, they were smiling, and cheering!! (the sneak peek of the first images here)

That’s what life with women friends should feel like always.

Women can be mean, of course. Somewhere, somehow, we were taught that was okay. But given the opportunity and encouragement to work together, most women want to be completely for each other. That’s what I’m fighting for.

Women showing up in vulnerability, courage, love, and support.

It’s why I do what I do. It’s our HeartStories battle cry.

Intentionally fostering that kind of love and support between women will change our legacies.