Lessons Learned at the Grand Rapids SPN Workshop & Pitch Event

A few weeks ago I traveled out to Grand Rapids Michigan to do a pitch in front of a group of advisors.

I can’t give much detail to exactly what happened and the projects that were presented but I will say that it was a new experience for me and I would highly recommend everyone to do a pitch workshop at least once in their life. 

I attended a lot of pitch events where other people got you to pitch their business ideas and I did one thing about 6 years ago when I had to talk about my business Geek Empowered in front of Xfinity. But to have a 2 day workshop to work through your ideas was really a valuable experience for me. 

Many project and business leaders become deeply immersed in their vision, having connected the dots through extensive research and identified key factors. However, they often overlook the crucial step of effectively communicating these elements to others. It’s essential to articulate the vision clearly and comprehensively, enabling team members, stakeholders, and partners to fully grasp and align with the project’s goals and potential. This shared understanding is vital for fostering collaboration, driving motivation, and ultimately achieving success.

But the insight I gained from being vulnerable and open is beyond what I ever imagined. With that said, here are some key things I learned from my experience in Grand Rapids.

 

One:

The vision is huge, slice it, dice it, and slice it some more. I realized I kept repeating the same goal, and it took a good 24 hours for me to fully decompress to make things click and start to slice what we wanted to accomplish. Which makes action items easier to plan. 

Two:

Your experiences are more valuable than you think. I always wondered why I was being pulled in a certain direction. Especially in the 2 jobs I hold right now. A tech program manager for a pilot program, and a policy fellow for the Center for Poverty Solutions. There was a short period of time where I was really upset with myself because I was no longer a Quality Engineer. I wasn’t moving up the ladder like my friends where….I chose to “help the community”. And the messed up part is I could never give anyone a proper explanation for why. It was just in me. 

Coming into spaces where your experiences bring new perspective to others and brings out ideas makes it all worth it. I’m an expert at resilience, creative thinking and solutioning. 

Three:

There are lots and lots of ideas and a lot of solutions to the millions of problems out there. The biggest key that makes a difference is the strategy and especially the execution. I’m always a little too quick on the execution that I need to literally slow down and create a strategy for the direction that we’re going in. There were a lot of light bulb moments during the 2 day workshop with SPN. Each team had a coach and facilitator to work with and my facilitator was literally THEE best. He took lots of notes because there were a lot of people with a lot of suggestions and even more questions. Nic, my facilitator, helped me create a game plan on how to get the essential information I needed. Which led to us having a solid action plan once I got back to Chicago. 

The key takeaway I want you to know is for those of you with ideas, don’t be afraid to talk about them with other people who are in a position to help. Not only will it help you grow your ideas and solutions but you will also grow in your own perspectives, methods and confidence as you engage in meaningful conversations and collaborations.