Alt Summit :: The highlights

I loved being at Alt.  Not only does it make a difference to be around people who 'get' what you do everyday, but they had so much to teach that I could have been there another three days.  While I technically learned the most in the workshops and small sessions that I took - I emotionally learned more from the keynote speeches that punctuated each day.

Here are a few highlights that will help your days too.  No matter what business you are in, the impressive and (in some cases) adorable speakers have some advice that is worth while.

:: A well designed home makes a difference in how your kids turn out  -- Max Gillingham-Ryan from Apartment Therapy

:: The value of the story lies in the storytelling.  -- Pilar Guzman from Martha Stewart Living

:: Make yourself happy.  Don't chase "happiness"  -- Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

:: Anything worth building was built by a group of people --  Ben Silbermann, creator of Pintrest

:: If you don't ask for it, you don't get it -- Amy Butler


There are so many things that were said by these speakers that resonated with me - and with fellow attendees.  The twitter feed during the lunches each day was filled with an insane number of quotes.  I came away with the over arching knowledge that no one has mapped out a plan to exactly where they are going and followed it.

And been successful.

The most successful people have stumbled upon what they love to do and have had doors open for them that guided them to where they are.  How did the doors open?  Mostly with incredibly hard work.  When you work really hard on one project - even if it fails - it can still lead to amazing things.  Pilar Guzman started Cookie Magazine (one of my favorites) before it closed, Deborah Needleman created the cult favorite Domino Magazine and was at the helm of it when their doors closed too.

It's reassuring to know that the leaders in our field have failed.  Not that their failure has defined them or that I take any pleasure in their failure.  But that they have failed is reassuring when we are trying something new.  It won't always work.  But we will learn from it.  We will grow from it.  And you never know what doors it may open.

Allow those doors to open.  You never know what's behind them!

I will be trying a few things new in the coming months.  Hopefully they won't fail.  But I am jumping into them with both feet because even if they do - I know I will come out ok in the end.