Monday was the official start of the Inspire Smart Success Experience Tour 2012 in Durham, North Carolina, and I was absolutely thrilled with EVERYTHING!!

A big shout out to everyone who worked so hard to make this stop on our tour such a wonderful success, and a big thank you to Michelle and her entire team at the gorgeous Cotton Room in historic Durham for providing us with the perfect venue.

When I’m a bit less completely exhausted I will post lots of pretty pics for the curious among you to see what exactly went down in NC {and of course, what the color theme for this stop was!}, but I did just want to say that I met so many wonderful new wedding vendors that inspired me, and I am so looking forward to seeing what you each take away from this Experience and use towards successfully growing your businesses.

The Welcome Party was SO much fun, and I must admit that dancing to Joe’s spinning and a night of waffles and chicken {I hear the collective ewwwws} and meeting new friends is definitely a fab way to kick off any Experience!  But despite all the fun everyone had, I hope that most of all everyone who attended was also able to form valuable business-building as well as personal relationships with one another, and were able to learn more than they ever expected at the Experience.

Twitter Pic from ISSE NC!

The amazing Mr. Preston Bailey was true to form, inspiring all of us with his amazing words of wisdom on how to find success and how to make smart decisions to grow our businesses. Every time I am with him I feel newly motivated and inspired to get out there and conquer the world, and I always learn something new and invaluable. There’s nothing like hearing how to be a success in the wedding industry straight from the industry leader himself! Brooke Thomas shared her insights with everyone on not only how to get published, but how to actually go about successfully submitting work to better its chance of being published, and she shared what it is she looks for herself when selecting editorial submissions. TV Star and Cake Designer to the country music elite {and awesome dancer!} Jay Qualls shared just what it’s like to be on TV, and explained everything wedding pros need to know to get their businesses and ideas featured on local and national television. There are so many marketing opportunities out there, and hopefully each and every one of the ISSE NC attendees will go out there and grab them!

Twitter Pic from ISSE NC!

A BIG thank you to all of our sponsors – you all did an amazing job!!! There was great music by our DJ Joe, the paper products by Tifany rocked, The Jennifers did a beautiful job on hair and makeup, we had an awesome photo book by Kevin, a deliciously done candy bar by Nila, Toni and Chris – thanks for capturing the event on film, we had a fun cupcake truck by Emma, the tastiest food from Jennifer and Michelle at The Cotton Room, I could go on and on {and will in my full post coming soon!!}…I can’t wait to see all the pics photographed by Hooman, and Erin and Terrilynn, thank you so much for all of your hard work helping Sandie and I pull everything together!

Twitter Pic from ISSE NC!

Again, the ISSE NC event was so wonderful, I can’t even begin to imagine how much fun we’ll have and how much we’ll learn as we travel the country {and the Caribbean!} throughout the year! Stay tuned for pics from ISSE NC, and we’ll see you in the Dominican Republic!

Interested in joining us at a future ISS Experience Event? Visit us here to get the deets on the cities we’ll be heading to next!