Our First Year in TuesdaysTogether | Rising Tide Society | La Porte, IN
It’s been one whole year. One year of building friendships, supporting each other both in business and in life, working through fears, growth, fun and always food (of course!). This month marks the first year of our TuesdaysTogether meetings, and what a year it’s been!
In March 2016, Joy and I met up with our sweet friends Laura + Rachel for coffee in Las Vegas. We talked about business and life over the hours we spent pumping coffee and muffins into our mouths, but one of the things that Laura really encouraged us about was to get involved with a local Rising Tide group. The Rising Tide Society is a community created by creatives for creatives, and with the mission to create an atmosphere of community over competition. When we got back from our coffee date, we did some research and saw there was a chapter pretty close by! To say we were nervous going to a meeting with people we didn’t know is an understatement. Joy and I are introverts, and networking things are NOT our thing. But we sucked it up, went, met several people in the wedding industry including the beautiful and talented Katie Whitcomb, owner of Katie Whitcomb Photography, who leads the group. When we left, we saw so much potential within our very own La Porte. I told Joy I thought we should start a La Porte chapter. Even I was a little shocked that I had the thought, but we saw a need and I applied that night!
Fast forward a few months to our first meeting. I was convinced no one would come, and kind of wanted to throw up. It would be Joy and I sitting at the venue. All alone. And somehow in the distance we would hear them all laughing at us. BUT…4 other people came! One left early, so they missed out on our blurry selfie. Leaving that first meeting, I knew this was going to be great.
(Our first meeting! July 2016)
We’ve met the second Tuesday of each month since that first meeting last July. We had our monthly meeting last night and our topic was Networking + Relationships. It couldn’t have been a more perfect topic and evening for our group! Our very own Sweet Melissa, a phenomenal hostess, chef and handcrafted dessert maker, hosted the evening. Obviously, as you can tell just by looking at the appetizers, the food rocked ALL of our faces! But look at the menu…salivating just remembering what we had last night. Stephen Bruce, who is wrapping up his latest CD (take a listen to his song ‘Blink’ here…you’re welcome), provided us with live music (including some cover song cameos from members in the group–shared some on my IG stories, so check it out real quick!) And many of us came adorned in our favorite Honey Shea Studios creations.
Over this year, we have seen businesses flourish and blow our minds, new businesses and opportunities being created, we’ve helped each other by offering our own strengths where others are weak, we’ve walked alongside each other through life changes, and as a group have fully taken on the spirit of community over competition. I cannot wait to see where we are a year from now <3
Warmly,
Toni Jay
(Photo by: James Conlin | Our June meeting at Lake Michigan!)
List of creatives who attended our July meeting:
Melissa Miller | Handcrafted Desserts | Owner of Sweet Melissa Desserts
Honey Shea | Dainty Jewelry | Owner of Honey Shea Studios
Sean Funkhouser | Photographer | Owner of Funkhouser Fotography
Stephen Elkins | Musician | IG: Stephen Bruce Music SoundCloud: Stephen Bruce Music
James Conlin | Photographer/Content Marketing | James Samuel Conlin Photography + musecreates
Laura Duggleby | Photographer | Laura Duggleby Photography
Zahra Schooley | Fashion Blogger/Social Media Influencer | SINCERELY ZAHRA + musecreates
Kelly Wood | Author | Writer Kelly Wood
Drew Gesse | Marketing Director | La Porte Chamber of Commerce
Elissa Affeld | Photographer | You, Me, and the Camera Makes Three
Nicki Rapley | Calligrapher | Tandem Calligraphy
Elena Anderson | Food/Travel Blogger | Savor Paradise (Coming in AUGUST!!)
Toni Jongkind | Photographer | Toni Jay Photography
Also, can’t forget the spouses of several who came last night!! (Tony, Erin, Joy, and Aimee…) Our businesses wouldn’t function without you, so THANK YOU! <3
