Dream, Girl: Film Screening and Panel Discussion
When Mackenzie Johnson came to me with the idea of hosting a screening for the film Dream, Girl I was immediately inspired. The film celebrates something that I think is so important: women turning their dreams into plans and then making them a reality. Of course I was in, but I wanted to find a way to make it more than just a group of people quietly watching a movie. I saw this room full of people as an amazing opportunity for exchanging ideas and making connections.
Quickly, we landed on the idea to host a panel discussion after the movie. This was the perfect way to bring the conversation from the global scale of the film to the local scale of our city. Now that we had our dream for the event, it was time to make it a reality.
It was important to host the evening in the right space. I had recently started taking regular yoga classes at Yoga Nova Studio and was inspired by the founder, Natalie. She was building not only a business but cultivating a community and sharing an energy. In addition to the yoga studio, she owns the adjacent coffee shop and this seemed like the perfect venue. Fortunately, Natalie was excited about the idea of hosting the event in her space.
Next, we curated and connected with our panel members. We wanted to feature four local, female entrepreneurs who were each building a unique business.
Now that we had an amazing evening planned, we needed to get the word out. We used social media, posters, and lots of printed invites to let everyone know that they were invited to join us. Before the day of the event, we had sold out of tickets.
Leading up the event, we made so many invitations. We gave them to everyone we met and left them in places where we thought inspiring women in our communities would find them.
On the day, we filled Nova Coffee House with 40 engaged, inspiring, women who shared in a celebration of female entrepreneurship. After hearing the stories and wisdom of the film, Mackenzie and I hosted the panel where we talked about unusual advice, struggles and successes, and how design has impacted the panelists businesses (of course, as designers, we had to ask).
Natalie St. Hilaire took us through her journey opening Yoga Nova. Aja Horsley, founder of Drizzle Honey, shared her experience building her sustainable, boutique honey brand. Alexandra Daignault discussed creating her socially focused tea company, Sarjesa. And Megan Powell offered insights from her journey with her design firm Little Dot Creative (now Embrace Collective). Each of these women brought a unique voice and perspective to the conversation.
Our fantastic panel (left to right) Natalie, Aja, Mackenzie, Gabrielle, Megan, and Alexandra
We created ‘Dream Boards’ for participants to capture interesting ideas they heard during the evening and hand out with information about the film and panelists. Thanks to @helloitsemmy for sharing about our event!
Putting together and hosting this event was an invigorating process. Seeing it grow from an idea to an experience that we shared with others was so special. I can’t wait to host more events like this in the future.
Thank you so much to everyone who was involved and attended the event. YOU made the day.
You can learn more about Dream, Girl and watch the full film here.
I collaborated with the wonderful Mackenzie Johnson, a fabulous entrepreneur herself, on this project. You can see more of her work here.
If you are in the Calgary area, I highly recommend trying a class at Yoga Nova Studio and grabbing a coffee at Nova Coffee House. Thank you so much for hosting us in your beautiful space!
Thank you so much to all of our panelists for sharing your time and ideas with us. Be sure to check out each of their businesses, linked above.
This event took place on June 20, 2018.