Ten Years of Celebrating Dreams: A Look Back

I was a new Executive Director with less than six months in the role, still trying to figure out what my job really was.  Business Impact NW was fractured and financially unstable after a merger.  We were a collection of people who worked together in search of our calling.

As planning began on the first Celebrating Dreams, staff turnover seemed to threaten the event and the organization simultaneously. I was going to cancel the event.  It seemed to be one thing too much, too many, too hard to do.  I told the team I needed the weekend to make the decision.

I knew what this event could be, just as I knew what this organization could be.  Using that vision as the NorthStar vision to push through the discomfort toward what we wanted to be, I decided we needed this.

That event was the beginning of the rebirth of the organization.  Across the organization, we all came together to make it happen.  We hosted it in early August in a hot, cheap room with minimal parking, and still, people came together to celebrate the work of our Women’s Business Center.

In the planning of the first Celebrating Dreams, we wanted to put the mission front and center. “No galas” was our motto.  Most of my day was spent setting up the space with much of the team, running to buy last-minute supplies, and hoping people would show up.  As the room began to fill with people, I knew we had done it.

In hindsight, this event was a turning point. It became the catalyst to the success of Business Impact NW and showed us what we could accomplish if we worked together.

The heart of the first Celebrating Dreams lives on today.  Each year, the organization comes together to spotlight the work of the Washington Women’s Business Center, just as we did way back when.  It sounds corny to my ears as I hear it, but from that day forward, we were no longer a collection of coworkers. We were a team.

Today, Celebrating Dreams has grown far beyond that small room.  It has become a space to make connections, share stories, and celebrate women entrepreneurs.  If you have been part of any piece of this journey, as an attendee, a client, a supporter, or a team member, you are part of this story too.  I hope to see you there on April 24^th as this event turns 10.