A Grand Adventure (PT 2)

I met Dave Ramsey.

Twice.

But I suppose the second time you see someone it’s not meeting them again, so maybe he’s an acquaintance now.

I thought about just ending it there, no more needed to be said, but actually a lot needs to be said. Just because I met Dave and nearly shoved my husband away to be by Ken so I could stand by Dave is not what is most important on this adventure.

Josh & I have been following the Baby Steps for years (if you know, you know). If you don’t know, google Dave Ramsey & Baby Steps 🙂 Financial freedom is important and if you aren’t on your way there and need some guidance, don’t feel shy to ask. Dave Ramsey then started Entreleadership. You guessed it, all about Entrepreneurs and Leadership. We had been doing virtual conferences of Entreleadership for years. It was cost effective, many people could participate in the company, didn’t have to worry about travel or worry about the children.

But last year, last year, I decided we needed to go. So we decided to go to the best they have, Entreleadership Master Series. I may have surprised Josh with this at ChristmasTime as a present. It was fun. We were looking forward to Nashville, Tennessee but the conference was moved to beautiful Amelia Island, FL. On the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Being the flexible amazing humans we are, we accepted this.

I had no idea what to expect. We had been to Cleaning Conventions, which yes, are educational and important. But this. This was for leaders. It was going to be filled with Entrepreneurs like ourselves. I won’t lie, I was a bit nervous. Something that you’ve seen on TV for years, a program you’ve followed for years, books that we’ve read from people who would be presenting. It was a lot to take in.

When we went to register on Day 1 (this was a 5 day event), we were greeted with smiles and champagne. I knew from then on, everything would be OK. Though social events aren’t necessarily my thing and I was facing one with 500 some people. I was there and i was going to make the most of it. We had the first reception out by the pool, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. There were people and food, galore. They had bonfires down on the beach and people were making s’mores. We met several people this night. As I was trying to figure out what to do, Josh saw Dave Ramsey not talking to anyone, so we went over to him. I may have talked a little too fast, but being as though I wasn’t making a debt free scream on air, I had to tell him our debt free journey. It was very important to me letting him know the impact he’s had on our lives. We chit chatted and I made sure to ask for a picture. Just so I can remember that it happened. Night one!

We started the next morning at 8AM. Being in a room filled with so many business owners is something I’ve never encountered before. What was more amazing is, all these people want to make their businesses better. Better for the people working in the business. Better for the customers. Better for the community. Just all around, better. People who want to keep pushing and doing to make the world a brighter nicer place to be. It’s a whole different feel when you know people in that room have gone through similar things to what you’ve gone through. We had presentations from Dr. John Delony that was absolutely amazing. About laying down our bricks, our past, our hurts so that our children don’t have to carry them. I could watch that presentation many more times and keep taking things from it. Dave, Ken Coleman and Christy Wright spoke.

They had speakers covering many aspects of business. Each day started at 8am and lasted generally until 5pm. Many presentations included a time for questions and answers. Josh went up and asked Ken Coleman a riveting question on hiring. It was just so much fun to be a part of this Master Series. I’m not going to bore you with everything that I learned as that would take way too much time and perhaps be irrelevant to your life situation. Christy Wright did a presentation based off her book “Take Back Your Time,” a lot about being intentional with our time and really honing in on what priorities we have for that season in our life. It includes saying a lot of nos so that you are saying yes to the things that really matter to you.

We came away with such a big list of things to do. To make things better. For our team. For our clients. For our community. We’ve started to chip away at the list. It’s a list that could keep us busy for some time. At the same time, we realized that we are doing a lot of things right and doing the best we can. We care and that speaks volumes.