#AltSummit ~ Day 2!

So I woke up to an ice storm. In Utah. It wasn’t pretty folks. After spending 15 minutes chipping away rock solid sheets of ice covering my rental car, I crawled along the highways to the ridiculously gorgeous Grand America hotel and got there just in time for the Q&A portion of the first session that I wanted to check out. Boo.  The session was The Reality of a Daily Video Series with Sarah Carey, Head of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Brand.  The great news is that I got to speak with her afterwards and she was fab. This best takeaway that I got from that session came spontaneously; no one actually said it, but a little voice in my head said:

I Need to Be My Own Creative Director.

Next up was a really insightful panel on Hiring Help with Jordan, Jaime, Ruth and Brittany.  Very smart ladies with so much advice to share and who remind all of us that these spectacular, inspiring blogs don’t happen by themselves – there are literally teams behind them. And asking for help is not only GREAT, it’s NECESSARY.  My big takeaway from this session was to ask myself:

What Time-Consuming Tasks Am I Spending Time On Instead of Building My Site?

I’m all over it.

I sat in on Blog to Shop with Mackenzie, Beth, Piper and Janette, next because, you know, I have grand aspirations.  The last session of the day for me was Work Life Balance – no need to explain why for that one.  The advice shared by Michelle, Morgan, Kirsten and Christine, was advice that we already know but that we need to be reminded of regularly! My favorite was to:

Make a List of My Secret Energy Sources

Things I enjoy doing and that rejuvenate me.  When I’m feeling overwhelmed or stressed out, I can refer to my list and do one of those things to improve my mood. Love that!

Other highlights of the day were listening to keynote  Chris Anderson, CEO of 3D Robotics, and schmoozing with the lovely sponsors in the Green Lounge: Serena & Lily, Minted, Whimsey Box, Better Homes & Gardens, Michael Miller Fabrics, and The Honest Company (by Jessica Alba! That’s her, bottom right, above).  And I was over the moon to see Jyl, Stacy, Jeannine and Stacy. My girls!