The Meridian Experience: Four Years In The Making
Have you heard? This June, I am bringing a retreat style conference to Washington for where interior design & home influencers intersect.
Now lemme take you back to the beginning...
If you've been following me for a while now, then you know that 4 years ago I hosted what was basically the beta testing for this conference. By this time in my career, I'd begun getting better acquainted with High Point Market, and yet... I still hadn't felt like I'd found my place or my people.
The E-Design Experience was my first pass at carving out a place for myself... and for other designpreneurs like me. I learned a lot from this first experience, and those lessons remained with me through every endeavor since.
The E-Design Experience soon became The Design Influence, as I leaned into podcasting... which came in handy because the year that followed did not allow for another conference & the podcast allowed for continued conversation well beyond what we were able to cover in a single weekend.
A year later, as the industry reckoned with social injustices, I took on yet another major passion project — adapting the instagram initiative, Share The Mic Now, for the home industry. This was when I was first reminded of my 2018 objectives — to take up space for those of us who would otherwise feel unseen.
2018: The E-Design Experience.
2019: The Design Influence.
2020: Share The Mic Now: Home Edition.
2021: I watched. I waited.
2022: The inaugural Meridian Experience Weekend.
Now trust me... the timeline isn't as neat & tidy as it appears — there were other events in the process, as there were many stumbles. No matter what, I continue to believe that every plan & pivot of the past 4 years, had a purpose. From every one of my big ideas, I have received new connections, relationships, and knowledge... all getting me to the next big idea... and round & round we go.
Now for the present..
As I said...
The Meridian Experience is a first of its kind retreat style conference tailored to bridge the modern day gap between interior design, content creation, and influencer marketing.
As a reminder, The E-Design Experience itinerary consisted of sessions on...
— How To Lean in & Define Your Niche as an Online Designer
— Leveraging Trade Relationships for Profitable Margins
— Creating a Brand Strategy Beyond Social Media
— Incorporating Affiliate Marketing in Your Business Model & Content Strategy
— Decoding the E-Design Business Model
— The Makings of Becoming a Design Influencer
It was clear to me then, as an e-designer & content creator, that the home industry has a ways to go to navigate the digital landscape with the same success as other industries, i.e. fashion, fitness, and food. I believed then — and still do — that there's a void in the traditional interior design narrative. In addition to one on one client services, interior design is now positioned to be one of the most profitable industries for content creation and brand collaborations... so much so that we have seen creators in other industries cross over into the home space. What has now become even clearer to me, however, is that the disparity doesn't just exist in the way we (as design professionals) connect with the world around us. A disparity still exists with those of us who continue to go unseen. There's a resistance (or an incapability) to change that only something new can correct.
I took inspiration from other industries — in addition to what I've created in the past — to create The Meridian Experience Weekend.
I didn't set out to create a "conference"...at least not in the way traditionally seen in this industry. I set out to create an event... an experience that would speak to the modern day interior designer who creates content while also servicing clients, the home influencer who has been an aspirational figure to an audience of thousands, and the hungry designpreneur still carving their path in this industry. I set out to create a safe space for the marginalized who have often sat out events for fear of feeling out of place or undeserving. Lastly, I set out to create something that fills us with information as much as it celebrates the journey...that pours into our professional cup as much as it does our personal cup.
The 4-day weekend includes action oriented workshops, candid panel discussions, and mentor dinners lead by a diverse group of design professionals. Their collective expertise includes interior design, content creation, book publishing, print editorial, and television; and are known for their design IQ, creative know-how, and business savviness. An emphasis has been placed on education, wellness, and relationships and everyone who'll be in attendance this June — from the speakers to the ticket holders — has understood the assignment.
Putting on something of this magnitude hasn't been easy... not by any measure. It's required a lot of me mentally, emotionally, and financially. This is, however, where many of my past endeavors have born fruit. The support of the speakers, attendees, and all those who've donated is the result of everything I've done in the past 4 years... because believe me when I say, it takes a village!
And this is why having you understand where this all began is important.
I didn't crop up one day with this massive idea. While there's still a lot that I am learning a long the way, these seeds were planted long time ago; and if you read my post on the Emily Henderson blog, then you know these seeds were planted even longer than 4 years ago.
What do you need to know about Meridian?
This June in Bellevue, Washington — yep, on the west coast! — 100 designpreneurs at different stages in their business will gather so that they can learn, connect, and thrive. The site outlines all the relevant details for anyone considering attending — everything from the line up of speakers to the daily itinerary.
As this is a brand new endeavor, many of you have been generous with your donations to assist in funding the event, allowing us to raise — to date — over $5K.