This is weird. For 3+ years I’ve asked a myriad of entrepreneurs to share their stories and taking this turn to share my story with Kick-Ass Entrepreneurs (KAE) kinda makes me wanna puke. I (Melanie Lenci) love setting the stage for others to shine, yet typically shy away from the spotlight. That’s about to change in a big way, as on October 6th I’m set to share a TED Talk type version of KAE’s story in front of hundreds of people in TN at the International Economic Development Conference (IEDC). Gulp. 😳

So, why am I taking this leap to do these things that absolutely terrify me? Cause I love, love, love seeing our amazing community come together each month to schmooze, support and celebrate our entrepreneurs. Hearing the stories makes me feel empathy and inspired at the same time, but seeing ya’ll chatting, laughing and connecting during schmooze time lights me up in a way I hadn’t expected. And it’s because of those near-overwhelming, kick-ass feelings that I now feel that it’s my mission to spread the word so that I can work with other communities so they can make the same KAE magic we’ve made here, there.

What started with a cool name and setting up a Meetup Group and Facebook Page back in 2018 has become something so much greater than I’d expected. I figured if people liked it, they’d come, if not, I’d stop doing it. Fast forward to when the pandemic hit and my paying work came to a screeching halt, I took the time to build KAE Story Time events into a program. Thanks to Sean O’Shea, the fabulous founder of HatchForm, connecting me to the fabulous folks at Clovis MainStreet, I piloted KAE in Clovis, NM (KAECLO) in late 2020. Based on the goodness that created, I’ve since been gearing up to expand to additional cities starting the end of this year. Part of my gearing up includes feeling the fear and doing it anyway by getting up in front of broader audiences to share KAE’s story, thus my trip to TN next month and inviting ya’ll to help me practice the whole in-front-of-a-crowd thing.

And we’re super grateful that the Santa Fe Brewing Company will have us again out on the lawn of their beautiful Beer Hall, as I want everyone to feel comfortable coming together. So, when you arrive at 6:30, head on in to grab a 🍷drink🍻 (don’t forget to tip your kick-ass bartenders well), order some food from the food truck and meet us on the lawn. We’ll schmooze ‘til about 7 PM, then start Story Time. They’ll be plenty of time after for your questions and more schmoozing, so save-the-date and I look forward to kicking off the start of the holiday weekend with you on the 2nd!