Day 2: Niche Parent Conference Reflections

On Friday I woke up ready to learn at the Niche Parent Conference and was super excited to here our opening keynote speaker Kim Garst drop some valuable gems. I’ve been following Kim Garst ever since I started blogging. She shares great information on her social media channels, newsletter and Facebook Group. Kim Garst started talking to us about how she started her business and gave us some tips on how to serve our community by offering something valuable and closing the sale! One of the quotes that she shared was (“A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from change the world to sharing your shopping list.” – Unknown) Being a Lifestyle Blogger I can totally relate to that quote because I share my life experiences and blog about Fashion, Style, Technology, Social Good, Food, and Current Events. I really like what Kim Garst shared about serving your community. She said that we have to understand their pain points and deliver solutions to those pain points. We also talked about creating awesome useful content for your audience, successful marketing and unique branding strategies. Two things that Kim Garst shared will definitely stick with me… Engaging equals branding for success AND… If you don’t value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents. Value what you know and start charging for it! I can’t wait to put everything that was shared into a strategy that works for me. Oh, here’s another great tip from Kim… Separate time to be physically present with your family. #Unplug I really enjoyed Kim’s keynote and even got a chance to meet her personally and take a few pictures with her after she spoke. She even created a cute photo with text since it was my Birthday. There were a few of us that celebrated Birthdays that weekend so I was in GREAT Company!

Jen Lawrence & Kim Garst

Boston Market Food Truck

The next session I went to was on Link Leverage and Build: Collaborating with your network to create a signature brand. This session was led by @ToyaNicoleMedia @MixedUpClothing and @abeautyscarlet. They shared strategic tips to build and foster relationships in your niche by collaborating. They broke down the NICHE acronym giving us some insight on what to do. N- Navigate I- investigate C- CYA (cover your a$$) H- hustle E- evaluate. I have done some collaboration in the past and they were successful. I will have to look at doing some more in the near future. The afternoon keynote address was by Painting with a Twist founders Renee Maloney and Cathy Deano. It was great to hear how they met and started their business venture that blossomed and is now being franchised all over the United States. During Niche Parent Conference, Painting with a Twist offered a special family activity that I signed my family up for and we had TONS of FUN! We all painted within a two hour time period and I have never painted like this before. We received step by step instructions on what to do and I didn’t do so badly for a first timer! Our subject was a fish that we had to recreate by watching our painting instructor and there were helpers all over the room to assist anyone that needed help. I think it was a great family activity and when we were done we got to keep our paintings. We also took a HUGE group picture with all the families that participated. It was a good experience! I got a chance to pop into the Winter Wonderland Hands-On Expo and visited with all the conference sponsors to chat with them about their brand, products and/or service. I had an email before I left the Niche Parent Conference, I call that great networking!

Jen Painting with a Twist

Painitng with a Twist By Jen

I can’t forget to mention the great lunch we had provided by the Boston Market Food Truck. I had some Turkey, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Stuffing, Corn and Cornbread. It was yummy, I went back for seconds and just so you know… They’re open on Thanksgiving! Chevrolet was on site doing Ride and Drives with their 2015 Silverado, Impala, Corvette Stingray, Suburban and Traverse. I let my husband take the lead on this one because he loves his cars. We are both the proud owners of GM and Chevrolet vehicles. We signed up to test drive the Suburban, Silverado and Corvette Stingray. I was really interested in learning more about the Safe Kids World Wide Program and OnStar 4G LTE Wi-Fi that are available on select vehicles. I would love internet in my car! The thought of taking a family road trip and being able to connect our devices to Wi-Fi while on the road is awesome. You can connect up to seven devices. I’m excited that it provides a better in-vehicle experience than a Smartphone. You know sometimes how you get into an area that you get no signal to use the phone or internet?!?! We won’t have to worry about that anymore. The stronger signal delivers a fast, reliable connection. I’m so excited about this! We ended the night by going to see a performance by The Blue Group at Universal Orlando City Walk. I truly didn’t know what to expect because I had only heard of the Blue Man Group but, this was my first time seeing them live. It was an amazing performance. The way they mesh art, music and technology together is truly a great experience. The performance was funny, they had audience participation and the finale was a HUGE party! It’s definitely a show for all ages and I know my entire family enjoyed it.

2015 Corvette Stingray

The Blue Man Group Finale

The Blue Man Group Pic

Niche Parent Conference day two was jam packed with lots of great keynotes, professional learning sessions and lots of FUN! I can’t wait to share Day 3 with you!

Test Driving the Chevrolet Traverse

Day 10: Ultimate Blog Challenge – The Chevrolet Traverse

I attended the Southern Women’s Show in Raleigh last week and Chevrolet was there with seven models that were available to be test driven. The Traverse was accompanied by the Equinox, Silverado, Cruze, Malibu, Volt, and Camaro. I was so excited to be able to test drive the Traverse because I’ve heard so much about it and it is a vehicle that has been marketed heavily with rave reviews. This crossover has a lot of capability and looks very good. The first thing that drew me to the Traverse was its sleek look. I opened the drivers side door got in and was immediately comfortable. It was easy to adjust my seat just the way I needed it to be, the engine was so quiet and the ride was smooth.

I am the mother of four children and space in any vehicle is a huge issue for me. The Chevrolet Traverse has a third row and accommodates eight passengers. I currently live in North Carolina and am a transplant from New York so I take frequent trips home. The Chevrolet Traverse gives you 24 MPG and offers great highway mileage for a crossover. The Traverse also has flip down seats that gives you great cargo space and extra cargo storage under the rear floor. There is also an entertainment system in the rear; it’s an overhead display with DVD player and remote control. You also get two sets of wireless head phones, access to AM/FM stereo with CD and/or MP3 Player, USB Port and surround sound. Maybe this will eliminate the “Are we there yet?” question on long distance trips! One can only hope.

I can go on and on about all the features this crossover has but, we’d be here for a while. Let me highlight some of my favorite features. One of my absolute favorite features is the USB port; you can plug in your iPod, Zune, or phone and listen to the music on your device. My second favorite feature was the outlet in the rear center console; you can plug in your laptop to charge on the road and anything else that requires an electrical outlet. There is Bluetooth wireless technology for select phones, so no matter where your phone is in the car you have wireless access to it, allowing you to make and receive calls. Another favorite of mine was climate control and the heated and cooled seats feature. I urge you to go to your local Chevrolet dealer and test drive a Traverse. Take a look at some of the pictures below.

error: Ask And You Shall Receive!!