Dear Community,
This message is long long overdue so instead of beating around the bush I’m gonna get straight to the point.
I’ve made necessary decision to reimagine this year’s third annual Rochester Gluten Free Health & Wellness Expo and bring it back fresh in 2019.
The Story…
The last three years have been nothing sort of life changing with the growth and development of 540WMain Learning Academy. In fact this growth has come at me faster and bigger than anything I could have ever dreamed up and much of the last year was spent developing a small team to help me run this organization, a board of directors, increase outreach, raise funds, and create a long term strategic plan that will see 540WMain live a long fruitful life.
All of this of course takes a lot of brain power, time, energy, financial resources, mental, physical and spiritual energy that I somehow find despite living with (sometimes debilitating) chronic illnesses and working as a full-time substitute teacher. This doesn’t include my work as a blogger, gluten free chef and recipe developer and social media content manager for many national and local brands.
Often times I found (and still find) that there just isn’t enough of me to go around nor time to do all the things that I want to do. With all of this dreaming and building I hit a personal and professional wall around October of last year. I found myself questioning if my body, mind and soul would allow me to go any further and if this chronic illness illness would (once again) steal the joy that I get from being a creative and visionary.
Instead of languishing in this place of worry, anxiety, uncertainty and depression; I took a step back; put off planning and simply went back to focusing only on the basics. Even this means a lot in my world but in making this decision, I decided to take planning for this year’s expo off my plate.
Paid the Cost to Be the Boss
Sometimes I forget that the beauty of being self-employed means that I have the power and control of what I choose (or don’t) choose to do. In a period of about two and a half months I made the creative decision to forgo year three of the expo instead of cobbling together a hastily thrown together event for the sake of tradition.
What to Expect
In 2018 alone 540WMain Learning Academy has continued to grow in reach and impact in ways that have literally blown my mind. The launch of our Online Learning Academy, Conversations in A Community Room Series, Fit & Well Campaign, Featured Blogger Program, The Small Business Makers Market and more were all born out of my time spent reflecting and existing in an organic spirit driven way.
It became clear that reimagining the Expo as 540WMain’s premiere annual fundraiser made the most sense
We’ve had Art Collaborations, a Monthly Music Showcase Series, Panel Discussions and a plethora new classes, workshops, events, and content that highlight Rochester’s amazing talent. Most recently we are debuting the 1st Annual Rochester Gentrification Conference .
Each of these projects have really made us the little engine that CAN; creating a major splash with a teeny tiny team and even smaller budget. None of this could be done without your support and engagement.
With that said, The Rochester Gluten Free Health and Wellness Expo will return Saturday May 18, 2019 at a time and location that I will announce well before the end of this calendar year. The goal is to make the expo the foremost fundraising event for 540WMain Learning Academy. It became clear that reimagining the Expo as 540WMain’s premiere annual fundraiser made the most sense. Combining my love of health wellness, event planning, education, and community outreach into one full scale event that will benefit more people and have an even greater audience feels right in my mind and heart.
How Can You Help
If you are interested in joining the Expo’s 2019 steering community to help in the planning and execution of this amazing fundraiser please reach out by completing the form below or emailing [email protected]
Name(required) Email(required) Website Name of Busines Brand My brand is sae for celiacs?(required) Yes No I am interested in being:(required) a vendor a corporate sponsor a volunteer part of the steering committee Comment(required)If you are interested in being a vendor or sponsor you can do the same.
Learn more
Take a look back at 2016 and 2017
xoxo,
Calvin
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