I launched a new thing. And while many people in my orbit live in online-business-land like I have for years, this was an in-person hyper-local community launch. (Tied to the Made For Mothers Virtual Village* and visual brand.)
And even if you’re not a mama, don’t want to host events, and aren’t doing IRL offerings at the moment, hopefully this launch debrief will spark something to evaluate and do differently (or double down on!) in your work. Or if you just like to nerd out on other people’s business backend and processes, let’s go!
The Outreach
For the past couple months, I’ve been doing a ton of outreach and personal invites to the Made For Mothers x Central Illinois launch party on Sept 23. And I was thinking back to what high school me would have thought, or even college-somewhat-reinvented-me. (In part because some of these people are literally contacts I know from 15-20 years ago!) To be clear, she (I) would have been appalled.
I never ran for class president or anything elected where it was “Vote for me!” or “I’m the center of the show!” That was my worst nightmare. I was never part of a play. I never performed anything except for in a choir or a team setting. (Classroom skits and role plays? The horror!) Even when I had to walk across the stage to claim an award or something, I was so hyper-self-aware.
The closest I got to “performing” was being on the volleyball team from 5th grade through senior year of college. Yes, I was often the captain. But I always viewed myself as part of a collective. I was trained to put on the horse blinders and never looking for the crowd, never listen to what they have to say, just sort of be with and in service of the team.
And I think even though I’m doing lots of one-on-one outreach and really putting my name and personal brand on the line in inviting all these people, it doesn’t feel like an over-extension of my comfort zone or centering too much on me because I am genuinely excited to be bringing these women together. I actually believe that they’ll get something out of being in a room with these other mamas.
It’s not about me being at the front of the room. It’s about me holding the space and creating the room for them to know each other, for themto learn from each other, for them to be able to talk about their businesses and their motherhood, and really be in and of a community. It’s not the Ashlee Sang community. It’s the Made For Mothers community.
I’m simply the planner, the connector, and the conduit. And that feels really good, really natural, and really aligned.
Plus, for the first time since officially starting my business almost 8 years ago, it’s not my name on the logo. Operating under the (beautiful and polished) Made For Mothers* brand name and visual identity gives me an added layer of “protection” and separation. It feels every so slightly less “personal” than when I do outreach for Ashlee Sang Consulting where it’s my name, my offer suite, my methodology ONLY.
Observations About People & Launching
As I did a ton of outreach, I noticed some categories that people fell into.
- People who super appreciate personal outreach and reminders. They’re deeply interested and want to be in conversation. They like to share and connect.
- People who are really bad at conversation. I asked them genuinely curious questions that weren’t TOO personal, and they barely gave me anything to grip onto or follow up on. Even when I am not actively pitching anything. So they either just don’t want someone in their DMs are they really need to up their conversation skills.
- People who just get the ick with outreach, or just don’t care about the community, or just aren’t good at replying because they don’t manage their inbox.
And that’s okay. None of that is inside my control. And I think a few years ago (and for sure a decade ago), I would have taken anything but enthusiastic yesses from every single person very personally. Now, I know that people are busy and everyone whistles a slightly different tune.
Also, because I know my intention, which is to deeply and warmly connect with, be in conversation with, and know about these people and their businesses. It makes it easier to keep putting myself out there over and over. Because I know it could be planting a seed that could turn into something good down the road—for them and for me.
(Case in point: I literally just got hired for a paid speaking gig from someone I sat next to at a different event I was speaking at over 2 years ago. Some things just take time!)
One of the biggest mindset shifts around sales that I’ve heard over and over and am STILL waiting for it to sink in completely is, “Selling is a generous act.”
You are genuinely offering something that they want, need, could benefit from. And in exchange for that, they are giving you their time, attention, and in most cases, money. Knowing that it’s not simply transactional—it’s not me taking, taking, taking, asking, asking, asking, makes it feel a lot less scary to “pitch” in the first place.
(And for context, I reached out to internet strangers that I figured out are business-owning moms, either completely cold or because they replied to a thread in a shared group or followed the Central Illinois Chapter page. I also sent messages to some super old contacts, and some to actual, current peers who feel a lot more organic to invite. Hence the wide array of replies.)
Launch Party Debrief
- We had 16 attendees and 18 sign-ups. A couple literally booked that morning. (#momlifeavailability) A few booked for the next month on the spot and 2 asked for bulk sign-up options because they’re all-in on the group!
- I reached out to 126 people (that I tracked…likely more), including via many “official” business pages. At least 26 were interested, but just busy on that launch date. (One of the many issues with live events and busy mom schedules that will be a constant factor.) 16 said they were really interested and just didn’t book a ticket for whatever reason. The majority didn’t reply. Most of this outreach was via email or Facebook. (Blast from the past, but that’s where mom-owned businesses in my town hang out!) I’ll be focused on getting email addresses so that the outreach becomes slightly less manual to track and implement each month. And even though it makes me cringe a bit, I’ll follow-up at least another month or 2 with most these people, whether they expressed a bit of interest or they didn’t reply at all the first time because people get busy…
- This was the first time in a really long time I felt clear and specific about my audience. (Surprise, surprise: it’s hugely helpful!) I went to an event just before my launch where I knew half the women on the stage, chatted with ~4 Made For Mothers ticket holders, and ran into a bunch of other people and orgs I’d reached out to. I was with “my people” and that felt good. And over the course of my outreach, some people I spoke to “got it” instantly. If you’re an ambitious mom who refuses to run a business and raise a family alone, you’re likely one of those people. We just NEED each other. That said, some people were really skeptical, asking whether it’s a nonprofit (which are huge in my town), where the money goes/what the $39 ticket pays for (we have LOTS of free groups in the area too…), etc. And for some people, it just wasn’t the right fit. (I invited the wife of a work friend of mine and he said she identified as being “blissfully unambitious”. Love that for her. But yes, definitely the wrong fit for this community.)
- Subpoint to this that’s a definite area of improvement: racial diversity was hugely lacking in the room. We had good diversity of type of work/industry, age of kiddos and age of attendees, neurodiversity, etc. And I did invite many non-white mamas, many of whom where just booked that day/time. Much of my existing network and lots of the existing “communities” I see in the area skew very white in a way that doesn’t represent the actual population. So I’m doing what I can to make sure the room is and feels as inclusive as possible, as well as being EXTRA mindful of who I bring to the stage as speakers.
- I went in too hard with vendor/sponsor outreach without really knowing the vibe and the promise of the community. I didn’t have any metrics to report on, didn’t have any IRL footage, didn’t have enough context to draw from. To be transparent, I DO want those vendor and (especially) sponsor dollars to make up for the not-small licensing fee I paid and the startup costs of time and materials. But first, I need to build up my self-confidence in the magic of the group (which I ABSOLUTELY felt in this first meet-up) and the brand awareness in the community.
- I struggled a bit with the physical experience-making. I felt very confident and well-prepared to lead a roomful of women through intention-setting, small group discussions, large group shareouts, and other exercises. I’ve done that online and on other people’s stages for years. But I was unsure about the decor and the venue flow because I’ve done that a lot fewer times and because I have some personal hangups around sustainability/waste, while also not wanting it to feel ragtag since it’s a paid event. So I focused on one of my core values of intentionality. (And I spent a TON of time on Facebook Marketplace to source on-brand decor.) [I’ll share more about those intentional touchpoints in a future newsletter since this one is already so long. 🙃]
- My website and email KEPT breaking the days and weeks immediately leading up to and following the launch. I’m thinking there’s a site-theme-level issue with the custom Made For Mothers fonts I uploaded for the landing page because the hosting issues seem to correlate with when I created the page. Regardless, it was a huge bummer and headache to suddenly be bringing traffic of hundreds more site visitors right when there was nowhere for them to land. Plus, my to do list was extra full, so the last thing I needed was to call Bluehost multiple times to get my site back online. I also had to switch from MailerLite to Kit during this whole period to avoid being billed for the whole year (because ML was having so many deliverability issues for me…), so that was another tech headache. All that to say, I dream of the day I can have a tech VA or OMB back on my team so I never have to troubleshoot a tech issue again. 😫
Post-Launch Thoughts
It worked. The room. My facilitation. The intention behind it all.
I got SUCH positive feedback in the room and immediately following.
I could tell how big of a stretch it was for some of these women to invest in themselves, step into a room of strangers, put themselves out there. Some even said so directly.
AND I could see how much of that insecurity and doubt melted away over the course of the meet-up.
People eased into the conversations. They opened up and shared vulnerably. They understood the shared goal and experience.
One woman even practiced taking up space by asking to take a group photo BEFORE she had to leave (for her kid’s appointment, of course) so that she could be part of it.
A non-mama attended, calling the meet-up healing, as she spends so much time in a male-dominated space.
At least 1 person even closed business there on the spot. That’s immediate ROI, in addition to all the non-tangible benefits of being in conversation and building relationships with women “like her.”
Putting on monthly events is a lot. But if each one feels as magical as the first one did, I’m so committed to this concept and this community.
📍 I hope whatever you’re building, launching, and refining feels good to you and your perfect-fit people.
If it doesn’t, going back to a core value or intention/direction (like this year’s theme of “connection” for me…) is a great place to start.
And if you don’t want to audit, evaluate, and iterate alone, that’s what I’m really good at. Book a free Alignment Call to see if there’s any way we could work together to make your work and the story you tell about it a better fit for you and the people you want to reach.
Toward purpose & progress,
Ashlee
This is an excerpt from Toward Purpose & Progress, my newsletter where I share business tips, good news, shoutouts to Founder Friends, and other juicy snippets. Subscribe here for more rants, reflections, and resources.
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