I Hosted My First Conference Ever—And It Changed My Life

I’ll be honest with you: when we first started planning MKTRHUB, I didn’t know what I was signing up for.

I had never been to a conference before—let alone hosted one. I didn’t know what a successful conference was supposed to feel like. I couldn’t even picture the flow of the day or what it would be like to watch hundreds of people walk into a space I helped create. I had no real reference point, no step-by-step guide, no playbook tucked away just in case things got hard.

What I did have, though, was an amazing business partner (Shoutout to Jas G 🧡)  who had been through this kind of thing before. Someone who could see the vision clearly when my own anxiety started clouding it. Someone who kept reminding me: we’re doing something different here. Something bigger than nerves, doubt, or fear.

That reminder was what kept me moving. Because from the very beginning, this wasn’t just a project. It wasn’t something I could detach myself from if it didn’t work out. MKTRHUB was tied directly to our brand, our name, our heart, our energy. If it failed, I failed. And it wouldn’t be quiet. It would be public. It would be loud. Everyone would see it.

That thought sat heavy on me from the first planning call to the first event announcement. The pressure was unlike anything I had ever felt before.

There were so many nights when I thought about walking away.

I would sit at my desk after a long day at work, staring at my screen, watching the emails and ClickUp notifications pile up. I would think about how easy it would be to just...quit. To send one email and say, "Actually, never mind. We’re not doing this."

And honestly? I probably should have for my own sanity.

At the same time MKTRHUB planning was picking up, my life outside of it wasn’t slowing down. I had just been thrust into a leadership position at my 9–5 job, with no clear direction, no transition plan, and no guideposts for what success was supposed to look like. Meanwhile, my kids had just started sports, and I had already made a personal promise: work would never make me an absent mom.

That meant no matter how chaotic things got, I still needed to show up for practices, for games, for homework help. I still needed to be mom. I couldn’t sacrifice them for any conference, no matter how important it felt.

So every day was a balancing act between being a present parent, a newly minted leader at work, and a conference co-founder with no roadmap—and to be real with you, most days it felt like I was failing at all three.

But something deep down told me not to give up.

It wasn’t a loud, motivational speech moment. It was quieter than that. A small whisper in the back of my mind saying, "Just keep going. Get through today."

So I did. One day at a time.

And somehow, amidst all of that chaos, we built something incredible.

As Head of Marketing, I had a huge responsibility to make sure everything we put out into the world reflected the energy, the vision, and the voice of MKTRHUB. Every single email, every single Instagram post, every single speaker announcement needed to hit. It needed to sound like us. It needed to feel like home for the women we were inviting in.

And that meant no shortcuts. I personally designed 90% of the brand identity—every color palette, every graphic, every visual you saw leading up to the event. (And honestly, that’s a story for another post because whew, that brand design journey deserves its own flowers.)

Marketing had to be consistent, intentional, and magnetic. We couldn’t just announce the conference and cross our fingers. We needed people to feel something. We needed them to see the vision before they even walked through the door.

When the speaker applications started rolling in, that’s when it started to hit me: people got it.

We received over 150 speaker applications. That’s 150 people who saw the vision enough to say, "I want to be part of this."

Narrowing it down to a final list of 60+ speakers was one of the hardest parts because there was so much talent, so many powerful voices that deserved a platform.

And when registration opened? People didn’t just sign up—they showed up.

Over 200 attendees in the building.

Not just in spirit. Not just online. In the room.

To this day, it still doesn’t feel real that Amazon HQ (huge shoutout to BEN DMV) said yes to hosting us.
No proof of concept. No history to lean on.
Just a bold vision, a strong pitch, and two Black women determined to create something that didn’t exist yet.

Who does that? Seriously. Who manages to convince one of the biggest corporations in the world to say yes to an unproven idea?

We did.

And when the first keynote started, when the hallway conversations sparked, when the laughter echoed off the walls and the note-taking got intense—I realized something:

This was never just about me.

It was about every Black woman in marketing who needed to know there’s a place where you don’t have to code-switch to be heard.
It was about every creative who ever wondered if they belonged in the room.
It was about every one of us who’s ever been overlooked, underestimated, or left out of the conversation.

MKTRHUB became the proof we all needed.

And for me personally, it became the loudest, clearest reminder that I am capable of so much more than I ever gave myself credit for.

I will never be able to fully put into words what it felt like to stand in that room and watch everything we dreamed of unfold in real time.

Every late night.
Every anxious breakdown.
Every moment I thought I wasn't enough.
It all led to one of the proudest, most transformational moments of my life.

MKTRHUB changed everything for me.

It solidified that I’m not just good at what I do—I’m called to it.
It reminded me that leadership isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about moving forward even when you’re scared out of your mind.
It proved that when you show up fully for your dream, the right people will show up with you.

If you’re sitting on a big dream right now—one that scares you, one that feels too heavy to carry—this is your sign to keep going.

Even when it feels like you’re in over your head.
Even when life isn’t slowing down to make room for it.
Even when the fear of public failure feels bigger than the dream itself.

Push through.

The other side is fuller, richer, and more beautiful than anything you’re imagining right now.

I’m living proof of that.

Thank you for being part of the MKTRHUB story.
Thank you for believing, for showing up, for trusting us with your time and energy.
I can’t wait to see what we build together next.