Rebecca Grinnals and Kathryn Arce, wedding industry veterans of much than 20 years, met successful the early '90s while moving astatine The Walt Disney World Resort, wherever they grew Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings to a $100 cardinal per twelvemonth operation. "It was a small spot for illustration lightning successful a vessel the first clip that we had the chance to activity together," Grinnals tells Entrepreneur. "We had the chance to collaborate connected immoderate really cool projects, and it was a really formative time."
Image Credit: Courtesy of Engage! Summits. Kathryn Arce, left, and Rebecca Grinnals, right.
After Disney, Grinnals and Arce started consulting, helping hotels, resorts and tourism boards astir the world create their wedding and honeymoon businesses. That's really the duo discovered a important spread successful the industry: There wasn't an arena that brought together different buyers, suppliers and vendors focused connected luxury weddings.
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What if we were capable to put everybody together successful a room and person these really incredible, meaningful conversations to thief support the entrepreneurs and small businesses that powerfulness the wedding industry? The co-founders thought.
So Grinnals and Arce established a convention to do conscionable that: Engage! Summits, now a multimillion-dollar brand.
Image Credit: Corbin Gurkin. Engage! successful Paris, 2023.
It was April 2008 erstwhile the co-founders decided to move guardant pinch their thought for Engage! Summits — and their first convention would beryllium that June. With conscionable six weeks to propulsion disconnected the one-day arena astatine Orlando's Celebration Hotel, Grinnals and Arce sewage to activity and leaned connected their manufacture contacts. Seventy-five group attended.
"We were capable to induce [celebrity wedding planners] Preston Bailey and Marcy Blum to beryllium our VIP speakers," Arce recalls. "We besides invited Harmony Walton, laminitis of The Bridal Bar, to travel and supply immoderate penetration connected the trends that she was seeing. And past an editor from Destination Weddings & Honeymoons."
Related: 5 Tips to Networking astatine Conferences arsenic an Introvert
The arena was a hit. Bailey and Blum opened up astir building their ain successful businesses complete the years and the challenges on the measurement — relatable experiences for everyone successful attendance. The greeting aft the conference, an attendee blogged astir really valuable it was and said that she couldn't hold to be again.
That's erstwhile Grinnals and Arce knew they were connected the correct track. They continued pinch their consulting activity and built Engage! Summits arsenic a benignant of "side hustle" for the adjacent decade, hosting 1 aliases 2 events each twelvemonth earlier going full-time pinch their marque successful 2018.
"In galore cases, [we had 1 business] service the different successful a very integrated and earthy way."
Naturally, the co-founders leaned connected their manufacture experience, taking advantage of crossover opportunities wherever imaginable to turn Engage! Summits into the powerhouse it is today. For example, the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism was a long-time consulting client, and they've hosted Engage! Summits successful the Cayman Islands 5 times.
"In galore cases, [we had 1 business] service the different successful a very integrated and earthy way," Grinnals explains. "I deliberation a batch of group who person their ain businesses find ways to do that truthful they're not wholly divergent but are capable to converge and support each other."
Related: How to Build and Sustain Deep, Meaningful Business Relationships (and Why It's the Key to Long-Lasting Success)
Following events hosted successful Mexico and the Caribbean, Engage! Summits put connected its first Europe-based arena successful Puglia, Italy, successful 2016, which drew its astir world assemblage up to that constituent and kicked disconnected years of hosting crossed the globe. Engage! Summit's upcoming arena successful Tuscany will people its 48th, and the marque will observe its 50th successful London this July.
Throughout its 17-year tally to date, Engage! Summits has hosted 43 sold-out events astatine 50 five-star luxury properties, pinch much than 7,500 attendees from 45 states and 35 countries. The marque besides boasts much than 100 cardinal social media and media impressions.
Image Credit: Anya Kernes. Engage! successful Boca Raton, 2023.
"Fundamentally, mini business owners and entrepreneurs request community."
The conferences proceed to cultivate an situation wherever business owners tin link successful person, an opportunity that tin beryllium difficult to travel by successful today's digital-first world. Virtual connections and societal media relationships tin beryllium useful networking tools, but they are nary replacement for those in-person conversations, peculiarly for entrepreneurs, the co-founders say.
"Being an entrepreneur is really breathtaking but tin besides beryllium very isolating," Grinnals says, "especially erstwhile you're sitting successful your agency each time connected Zoom, it's truthful easy to deliberation that everybody other is doing amended than you are aliases cipher other struggles. Fundamentally, mini business owners and entrepreneurs request community. They request the expertise to beryllium successful a safe abstraction without clients to stock champion practices."
Related: 7 Things I've Learned In 7 Years of Entrepreneurship
An Engage! Summits arena successful Tuscany mightiness big vendors from 22 different countries, bringing them together successful 1 spot to talk done challenges and support each other. Because nary matter a business owner's peculiar area of expertise, they stock 1 goal: serving their couples arsenic champion they can.
"Being capable to tally done different scenarios successful personification pinch [other business owners is something] we person recovered you can't replicate and is really invaluable successful building successful and beardown profitable businesses," Grinnals adds.
"We wanted to dream bigger and amended pinch each event."
The co-founders promote aspiring entrepreneurs who person an thought for their ain event-based business to support chasing their large ambitions, moreover if they look daunting successful the early days.
" We weren't afraid to inquire for things," Arce says. "We wanted to dream bigger and amended pinch each event. If you person an idea, representation it retired to the champion of your expertise and spot really things go. Keep learning, making changes and moving forward. Surround yourself pinch emotion and affirmative group who judge successful what you're doing. There's nary limit to thing you tin create and dream."
Related: Dream Big: 3 Ways to Fight Off Doubt and Build the Business You've Always Wanted
Grinnals agrees and adds that networking to found informal "advisory councils aliases boards of directors" extracurricular of your circumstantial business tin thief you level up arsenic an entrepreneur.
"It's easy to enactment really laser-focused connected the personification who's doing your type of business," Grinnals explains, "but it's really powerful to create a web of different group who understand the nuances of your business but besides do it successful a different measurement and understand [the industry-specific challenges]. Find group to beryllium a sounding board, giving and getting advice from each other, and having that mini group of group you tin telephone [on] and trust."
This article is portion of our ongoing Women Entrepreneur® bid highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of moving a business arsenic a woman
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