Rene Bystron’s Post

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"Smash biases, demolish prejudice, deepen my understanding of other communities, grow my empathy towards them, experience new things, and make new friends." This was a note written by an entrepreneur as to why they were looking to attend our 10-year Breakout in Detroit this June. It makes me so happy that this is the signal we are giving out to the market and the type of community we are attracting. Yes, we certainly hope people find ways to do business with one another, help each other attract funding, gain press and other tools to advance their work. But we've also intentionally worked to build experiences where the people you will be with for a few days come from different geographies, industries, and lived experiences. We hope you learn just as much about others and topics that might not necessarily impact your work but still impact you. As my friend and Breakout community member Alanah Nichole Davis posted yesterday, conferences are expensive, and they can be prohibitive, if not financially damaging. They are not a silver bullet to bring success, but if you are in the right headspace for what you are looking for --- which, depending on your interests, can and should vary --- they can be very rewarding and fulfilling. We aren't a *conference* per se, but we indeed are in that world. We are a space for mission-driven leaders to dive deeper... And meet a few new good friends :).

Celebrating my high-powered client who successfully negotiated more time for herself outside of work!  🥳 She successfully moved from working (more than) full time to 3 days a week in the office (and 1 remote)!  This was a big move, as she is at the pinnacle of seniority in her global company. But, she is READY!  ✅ She knows her value. ✅ She knows her strengths. ✅ She knows that she wants more out of life than her 25 years of working for this (wonderful) company. So, this shift is HUGE! It will let her spend EVERY weekend as a lovely  looong weekend at her second home in the mountains! 💎 It will let her hike and travel with her spouse. 💎 It will let her pay attention to her health at the right level. 💎 It will let her dig into her zones of expertise and interest to contribute in new and specific ways to the company. All women I work with are SO accomplished in work and in life. AND 😎 They no longer choose to over-hustle. 😎They no longer choose to do work that no longer interests them. 😎 They no longer feel the need to prove themselves. (Because they already have!) They are READY to let themselves reap the harvest of all their hard work, and start choosing themselves first. 🥳 Now, that isn’t to say that your job, company, work, role can’t be your main focus.  Work can be a source of wonderful engagement, joy, accomplishment and purpose. And, Sometimes, you KNOW you are ready to take it back a notch and try something different. 🌼 Something that lights you up more. 🌼 Something that lets you create space and time for new passions to appear and evolve. 🌼 Something that allows you to feel you are living your life, YOUR way! I built my Next Spark Accelerator program specifically to guide you map and clear your path to your next refreshed chapter of work and life. While my September spaces have filled, I just opened two new spots for October! If this resonates with you, message me today for more information! You deserve to put yourself first. Message me today for more details to see if the Next Spark Accelerator program is for you! (Pic of my kiddo jumping for the full joy feeling!)

How do you balance it all? You clearly don't waste energy worrying about being camera ready. Turns out even off stage I make crazy faces. This one was when I was talking to my table of mentees at NextUp Toronto 's spring mentoring event. We are bombarded with requests for our time constantly. How can you advance your career and find the time for things that light you up if you're not careful with this precious commodity? I talked this morning about how being in tune with my mission makes it easier to decide what and how to say yes to things. NextUp events are an easy yes because I get to mentor more than one person at a time AND I get to socialize with people who share my values. That's an efficient use of time and personal fuel. In a few minutes I have a mentoring call with someone. There's no way I could possibly say yes to all those requests. But I try to squeeze them in when I can. But I can't mess up my productive time so I choose the dead time that I'm commuting for those times. When I wouldn't be giving that time to clients or tasks that would move my business forward. So I'll take time that would otherwise be useless in my calendar and get some joy out of it. But I'm choosing to do it on my terms and not drain my battery. How do you choose how to allocate your time efficiently?

Big News! Not only is the 2024 Summer Institute for Changemakers coming up in less than one week (it starts next Wednesday, July 17th), but this will be the last one (sniffle, sniffle)! This Summer Institute will be the fifth and final cohort in this series of programs designed to bring people together, strengthen our change practice, and build skills to effectively advocate for positive change in our organizations, institutions, and communities. This doesn’t mean I won’t be doing other kinds of workshops - nor will this mark the end of this kind of change-themed workshop as a service for organizations (I'd love to work with your org -- reach out & let's talk). But this will be the final time that you will be able to register as an individual for this virtual workshop that dives deep into the process and work of making change in your community and professional life. So if you’ve been thinking about registering and have been waiting for the right time, NOW is the time. This is your last chance! Check out the link below for a detailed week-by-week deep dive into the Summer Institute, and sign up to be part of this final group. https://lnkd.in/gVfVmATV

So 2024, what’s it going to be? We kicked off the new year at Lazy Sundays with our first off-site strategy day. 2023 was all about learning by doing. This year will be one of intentional growth, focusing on projects where we know we can make the biggest impact: longterm creative partnerships. Lazy Sundays is built on the idea that brand is everything: from the shiny stuff to product, culture, sales and more. That’s why we’re not about quick sprints or big reveals; we're here for continuous brand-driven growth, and that takes support, sparring, education, reflection… and time. We’ve honed in on a couple of fast-changing industries that we’re really excited about, and now the fun begins - time to make it happen. SO, If you’re looking for a flexible, adaptable and tailored creative partnership that gives you the best of both worlds: decades of experience and flexible firepower to and create impactful things - we’d love to hear from you. Nicky Grunfeld Carli Hyland

Nobody said it was going to be easy! And most of us doing this we actually enjoy the challenge 💪🏻 For those of you who felt like the first week was a whole year, I am with you :) Looking back on the first Friday, my first week goals are done ✅ 1. Operating plan for the year and our fun internal planning session 2. Retro Q4 and the last year for ideas, actions, improvements - love this brainstorming time with the team 3. Events calendar for Q1 locked, excited for Jan 11 happy hour, mid-Feb dinner, GTC and Project Voice event! 4. Learning and internal hackathons planning - may be more ideas for how you all are keeping up with the learnings and experimentation with new stuff happening 5. Customer/Partner co-marketing planned - love telling stories of how our customers are killing it :) What did you all do in the first week 👇🏻 #startuplife #happyfriday

We're right in the heart of the week, and I'm feeling the energy and determination flowing. 💪 This is the time when we turn those goals into accomplishments and conquer challenges with unwavering resolve. 💡 Remember, success isn't just a destination – it's a journey of continuous growth. 📈 Whether you're closing deals, crunching numbers, coding innovations, or leading with vision, each step you take is a step towards excellence. 🌱 Let's take a moment to celebrate our wins, no matter how big or small. 🎉 And let's also acknowledge the lessons we've learned along the way. 📚 They're the building blocks of our success, shaping us into stronger, more resilient professionals. 🤝 Here's a virtual toast to collaboration – the heartbeat of every successful endeavor. 🙌 Tag your partners-in-crime who make the workplace feel like a second home. Keep that momentum going, keep that positive attitude glowing, and keep pushing those boundaries! 🔥 Let's show the world what we're made of. 💫 Drop a comment below, share your midweek motivation, and let's inspire each other to finish this week stronger than we started. 👇🏼🚀 #MidweekHustle #GrowthMindset #WednesdayWins #ProfessionalJourney

🌟 eQuo is Excited to Launch #FounderCircles This Month! 🌟 Are you a CPG company founder looking for mentorship, support, and community? Look no further! 👥 Founder Circles are groups of 10 CPG companies that meet once a week for invaluable peer mentorship. Here's what you can expect: #Mentorship: Gain wisdom from fellow founders. #QandA Sessions: Ask questions and get real-time answers from those who understand your challenges. #Experience Sharing: Share your experiences and learn from others’ journeys. #Support Network: Vent, brainstorm, and find support in a trusting environment. 💡 It's free to join! Take this opportunity to grow, connect, and thrive with a community of like-minded founders. Apply now to be part of this enriching experience. Apply Here: https://lnkd.in/gsrTTGPw

Every successful placement is a story of persistence and ambition. As we wrap up this week, let's celebrate the small steps towards big achievements. Here's to creating more success stories together! 📧 justin.williams@culture2connect.com 📞 660-473-1980 #SuccessStories #WeekendMotivation"