You probably know by now that I just spent some time working on me by attending a Blogger – Social Content Creator conference in Ontario called BlissDom. You can read about why I attended here, and about how much I missed my kids over here. 

What Did I Learn at BlissDom?

I learnt a lot of little things about things I was passionate about. I also totally got the kick in the pants I needed to start my YouTube channel (coming soon with the Cloth Diaper Podcast). There was the reminder and encouragement to remain authentic to your voice, your brand, and your person, alongside the empowerment to just go do it.

The most impactful session was led by Emma Smallbone, who also happened to be my roommate for the conference. She talked about Magic in your business, and this kinda fueled me to remember to trust my gut/intuition. I’m one of these people who second guess everything, and my dear husband is my constant cheerleader pushing me forward to do all the things I’m too scared to do. As much as I need him in my life to be there for me, I also can be my own cheerleader and just do the things I want to do without the months of self-doubt and over analyzing of life.

Emma in just being there opened up my personal conversation with myself to answering some of those questions I’ve been having with myself around finding spirituality. For the past few months, I’ve been looking for a church, but I haven’t found one I’m happy with or brings a sense of fulfilment I’m searching for. I think I’m reminded this weekend, that I don’t need a building or a congregation to find spirituality and strengthen my soul. I just need to believe in me and the energy in the world around me. This is not what expected to find out of this conference. I went for professional development, and left with a lot more personal development.

I wrote down a list of other big things I learnt at BlissDom…

1. Know your worth and ask for it – I might just look like a mom writing a blog on the internet but I’m worth more than the free product in exchange for reviews and product promotion. 
2. Start somewhere regardless of having the “right gear.” Stop letting that be the thing that holds you back from getting out there in social.
3. It’s hard to stay authentic but it’s worth it.
4. You have a voice, and that voice matters and deserves to have the space it holds.
5. There’s a ton of space out there still for Canadian content creators in all the social spaces.
6. I’m posting my podcast on the wrong day of the week – literally the worst day of the week. I also, kind of don’t care because it really is what works best for me in my life right now based on daycare and interview set up. I might change it once I get some lined up content. 
7. Stop chasing other people’s dreams.
8. If it’s not going to work for your channels, you can create content for other people’s channels and get paid to do that.

What else did I learn?

I learnt my kids will be okay with their father for more than 8 hours.

I learnt that’s really fucking hard to make friends with people who already know each other.

I was reminded that I should do things I’m scared to do more often from attending this conference, to do heels class, to take a yoga session because you grow as a person. Heck, I even decided I liked that Yoga Class, and I never really like yoga. Thanks Nadine for showing me yoga is not scary. 

I really enjoyed the late night conversation the group had around women and cannabis on Friday night. I found very fascinating, and definitely a great lean into the conversation for soaking in the cultural changes and shifts going on right now.

Will I be back?

Probably not. It was a really long way to go, and as one of the few non-Ontario bloggers, I felt it was really hard to relate and connect. Honestly, thoroughly disappointed most people peaced out Saturday afternoon. 

But, my husband and I did agree that this was a good opportunity for me, and for us as a family. So, I’m going to continue to look out for a conference in 2019. I actually, kinda think, I might like a personal growth retreat where I can do a mix of relaxing, connecting and learning.

I really don’t like being alone, which is hard for an introvert who doesn’t know anybody and it felt really intimidating to talk to people.

Sigh.

even bigger sigh. 

That was BlissDom 2018 folks. Glad to be home, I look forward to the projects and growth of the women (and men) I did get to meet this week.