My experience at the Meta Conference was beyond epic. This was an all expense paid for trip from Meta that allowed leaders, and small business owners to gain great information on ways to better business using Meta tools. Meta has helped increased my sales and it helped to bring exposure to my business. I rely on the help of Facebook stories, lives and Instagram reels to drive traffic to my lifestyle blog and website. I've gained so much knowledge in knowing my audience and market on Facebook and Instagram. Not only do I use Facebook as a marketing tool but I use it to stay connected to my family, friends and business partners. With all that being said let me give you some of the highlights of this non forgettable networking opportunity.

Pictured Above Is Me Taking Advantage Of A Selfie Opp. Please support small businesses we help the community by giving jobs, we boost the economy and we provide much needed services to our local customers.

At the event, leaders from all over met with their state representative on Capital Hill to discuss issues that may be affecting their businesses whether it's local or federal. We talked about our story as to why we started our business and things we want to see get better in our communities that will help us to provide excellent custmer services. ( Pictured above are the South Carolina small business owners along with myself at our policy making meeting)

At our first night at Gather there was a welcome reception. The reception was very inviting with a live band, champaign, great food and deserts. Everyone was introducing themselves and making connections. Some of the leaders became reacquainted it was great to see them happy and just enjoying themselves at the reception.

The video above is me arriving in Washington, D.C. I haven't been to D.C. since 2002, so alot of things I forgot since my last visit. I was excited and thankful that I made it to Washington safe from a 6 hour drive from South Carolina. Initially, I was going to fly, but it would of been too chaotic with the several lay overs, and my husband decided to accompany me at the last minute after I booked my flight. It would of been easier for me to ride with him instead of him catching a different flight than me.

I love how well everything was put together. In the opening session we were seated by the state we live in which made it easier to connect with other leaders from our state that we didn't know prior to the event. There were different workshops on how to better our businesses, we gained resources that were helpful and we were briefed on what to expect at our meeting in Capital Hill. The information was very informative and the speakers were knowledgeable.

The first photo above is the Whitehouse and the second photo is a view outside of my hotel room at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill .

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