Last weekend I attended CM’s Creative Minds Conference in Minneapolis. The event was well organized, inspiring without being overly hyped, and had lots of great breakouts as well as amazing gift bags throughout the weekend. And a surprise — Cheryl Lightle was there!
Cheryl Lightle gave a heart felt talk from the main stage. She was just as inspiring as she was back in the 90’s when I first met her. One quote that really stuck out for me was:
“You know, I’m not naïve enough to think that by teaching the Creative Memories mission you will wipe out all that’s bad in the world, but, do not, and I repeat, do not underestimate the power of what you do. You help people recognize and cherish all that is important in their lives.”
Cheryl Lightle, Creative Memories co-founder
Cheryl Lightle retired before the new owner Caleb Hayhoe rescued and revived CM but she has been supportive and grateful for what Caleb has done. She has visited the home office and encouraged the employees that what they do makes a difference. It was wonderful to have her at our 2022 Conference and I was honored to get a photo with her!
I came to conference having never met my roommate (we had only chatted on our Advisor’s Facebook page) and she was a wonderful woman from Prince Edward Island, Canada! Some teams are really large and have the matching shirts to prove it, haha! Sometimes I was in a sea of matching shirts and I would think “where do I find the exit?” But through that experience I was able to find fellow Advisors who also traveled there alone and we bonded over that. I met so many wonderful women who believe in the mission of preserving the past, celebrating the present and giving hope for the future. And we kinda like stickers, pens and foam squares! Ha!
We bonded over being the “misfits” and ended up creating our own “team” of like-minded memory keepers. CM’s V.P. even stopped by for a photo with us!
Overall, it was a really great experience and I’m glad I went. Creative Memories won’t be having these every year so that made me even more thankful I made the decision to go. Anyway, just wanted to give a little behind the scenes look into my business life and the trip I got to take last weekend. If you are ever afraid to do something like that because you don’t like feeling alone, just know that you will find your people or they will find you. I was proud of the women that came there by themselves because they knew they could get something of value out of it. Thank you CM for making it worthwhile. I’m so glad you’re still in business so I can get my favorite American-made albums, paper, and stickers. My happy stash!
If you’re interested in being part of Donna Lyn’s Storytellers Team, check out this page for more info: How to become a Creative Memories Advisor