Today is June 15th, to me this marks the day a new journey began.

As a creative who has always worked in non creative roles, I’d often find myself consulting and helping out creative and artist friends with business advice and resources.

This made me more and more aware of the missing links and challenges faced by many brilliant innovators and artists.

Being a problem solver and someone who enjoys helping people thrive I thought there had to be a way to offer more resources and build more bridges that connect the creative community.

I was inspired by a podcast I was listening to that spoke about licensing your ideas to companies, allowing them to develop and market it while earning royalties.

This  got me thinking how do you connect with established companies that are hungry for innovation?

So together with my close friend Israel Brod we decided to create an event that will connect innovators and executors.

I like to do things different, so this would not just be another networking event, so we set a black and white theme, innovators dressed in white and executors dressed in black.

I have started and built several successful product and service based businesses, but events and media was something completely new to me and my professional network. So we started looking for spaces in Miami’s Wynwood Art District, but the galleries we approached all wanted a lot of money for events. Until we contacted a local bank that looks more like an art gallery then a financial institution, the branch manager shared in our excitement to engage the community and happily offered to give us their space and even sponsor part of the refreshments.

Once we confirmed a date, we now had around 30 days to make this happen. I have never hosted or created an event, neither have I ever done any local marketing.

Thanks to supportive friends who helped with everything from marketing to speaking, the event was becoming a reality.

People were signing up and we exceeded our target for registration, but I was still nervous about how this will all turn out, what if no one shows up?

The moment I saw people walk through the door who I have never met before, it all became real.

I cant describe the excitement or validation this gave me. The only feeling I can compare it too is when I was 19 years old and closed a sale for the first time.

The feedback from the event participants was very positive and many offered to help and get involved.

So we had to keep the momentum going which lead us to start a newsletter and a blog to keep our community engaged.

That eventually evolved into ARTRPRNR.

While our platform is forever evolving, our mission remains the same, to connect, create and inspire us to live better and achieve more.

I have many years of business experience but events or media was completely new to me. 

At times the road ahead can be scary, but it has never been more exciting.

Great things only happen when you allow yourself to be vulnerable.

What is a project that has been calling your name but keeps getting pushed off? I’d love to hear from you.