Preparing for EmpowHER 2026: Showing Up Before You Feel Ready

There’s something funny about running your own business for years; people assume you always feel confident walking into opportunities.

You don’t.

Preparing for empowHER 2026 felt equal parts exciting and terrifying. Not because I didn’t know my work, but because this event represented something bigger than just showing up with a banner and business cards. It felt like a turning point.

This year, I attended empowHER not only as a sponsor, but also as a speaker on a panel focused on turning an interest into a revenue stream. And honestly, it felt like a full circle moment speaking on that topic in the same town where I went to college and started my business seven years ago.

Still surreal. But also exactly what I’ve been building toward.

The Preparation Nobody Sees

What people see at events are the polished pieces:

• the booth setup

• the branding

• the social posts

• the smiling photos

• the confident conversations

What they don’t see are the weeks leading up to it.

The late nights refining messaging.
Tweaking website copy one more time.
Ordering materials and hoping shipping arrives on time.
Second guessing what to wear.
Practicing introductions in your head.
Wondering if people will actually connect with what you’re building.

As a founder-led studio, empowHER forced me to think deeply about how I wanted to present Divot Design Co. moving forward. Not just visually, but strategically.

What do I actually want to be known for?

That question kept coming up during preparation.

And the answer became clearer every day:
long-term creative partnerships rooted in web design.

Not trying to be everything.
Not chasing every industry.
Not overcomplicating the message.

Just building thoughtful websites, supporting brands long term, and creating work that feels intentional.

Conquering the Fear Anyway

Public speaking has always intimidated me.

Even when you know your work inside and out, there’s something vulnerable about standing in front of a room and sharing your story out loud. But empowHER pushed me to step outside of that fear instead of avoiding it.

During the panel, I talked about turning personal interests into business opportunities and shared my goal of landing my first golf client — something that felt both exciting and slightly terrifying to say publicly.

But the more I’ve leaned into the overlap between golf, branding, and web design, the more aligned everything has started to feel.

For years, I thought being more broad would create more opportunities. In reality, clarity creates momentum.

And saying that out loud in a room full of people made it feel real in a completely different way.

The Most Valuable Part Was the Conversations

Events like this aren’t really about perfect elevator pitches.

They’re about connection.

Some of the best moments happened in casual conversations:

• chatting between sessions

• connecting with other business owners

• hearing people’s stories

• realizing how many entrepreneurs are navigating uncertainty while still moving forward anyway

That’s the part nobody talks about enough.

Most business owners are figuring things out in real time.

The polished version online rarely tells the full story.

And of course, no trip back to Kalamazoo would be complete without a pit stop for Shakespeare’s chicken nachos.

Leaving With More Clarity

I left empowHER feeling tired in the best possible way.

Not because the event magically changed my business overnight, but because it reinforced something I’ve been slowly learning:

You build confidence by participating.

Not by waiting until everything is perfect.

Showing up as a sponsor and speaker pushed me outside my comfort zone, but it also gave me clarity about the future of Divot Design Co. and the kind of work I want to continue building.

More intentional.
More aligned.
More relationship-driven.

And maybe most importantly — more honest.

Because the older I get, the less interested I am in building something that only looks successful, and the more interested I am in building something that actually feels sustainable, creative, and meaningful.

Thank you to Toni Will for the opportunity to sponsor and speak, and for trusting me as a creative partner over the last five years.

empowHER 2026 reminded me that growth usually starts the moment you decide to show up before you feel fully ready.