Fredericksburg Startup Weekend
Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs, with events in over 100 countries and 580 cities around the world.
This weekend I had the honor and privilege of being involved in Startup Weekend Fredericksburg #swfred #swfxbg.
I really didn’t know what to expect. It seemed like organized chaos, at first. Quickly, however, it formulated into 7 very, very passionate teams working together to launch 7 new businesses. Some of the teams consisted of people who had never met until that evening.
What amazed me the most was the talent of the Entrepreneurs and that they opened their minds and talents to help each other. Ideas just flowed openly and abundantly. I heard a lot of “I can do this”. And, “I’ll take care of that”. Ideas were quickly written on huge sticky notes and developed into a viable and sustainable company.
Who knew that Fredericksburg had so much to offer? I have been networking in this area for over 7 years with Organization Direct. I had never met so many people who genuinely wanted to help each other develop a business. Everything that they did was for the team and not for individual gain.
The strange thing is that this was one of the few times that I walked into a room and I really didn’t know anyone – expect for my few Fred Exchange buds from our Friday morning meetings. (And they were the coordinators of the weekend so they were super busy).
Not knowing many people made me a little uncomfortable, to say the least. But I decided to push myself outside of my comfort zone. This was something that I needed to do again. I think that I had gotten a little too comfortable with my connections and it was really time to take a huge step forward.
Have you ever stepped totally outside of your comfort zone before? It can be one of the most gut-wrenching feelings ever. And, I experienced an enormous amount of nervous gut feelings this weekend. I knew that I had talent to offer the teams, as a Social Media Coach. I knew that my experience and expertise in my own business would be able to help them along their business path. After all, this is really what I love to do. I am passionate about helping others.
When I arrived on Saturday, I checked the schedule and just went for it! I walked up to a table full of people that I didn’t know. I knew nothing about their business. I didn’t know them personally and I didn’t know what questions they would ask. Deep breathe!
After about 10 minutes I was helping and learning new things myself! It was amazing and so much fun. If you ever thinking about starting your own business you should definitely check in with a Startup group in your area. Every year there are 880 Startup Weekends throughout the World. And just think…Fredericksburg has had 2 now!
I would like to thank everyone who participated this weekend, volunteered, coordinated, coached and especially Germanna Community College, where it was held. They rocked it! I am so honored to have been a part of such a great event and hope that we have developed a lasting relationship.
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