Rise & Flourish Series: What I Learned About Event Planning (and How to Co-Create a Kick Ass Gathering)
Lessons on ease, support, and soulful leadership from our first in-person women’s event on episode 133 of the Raising Wild Hearts Podcast
Turning Dreams into Reality
I recently co-hosted my first in-person women’s event in South Florida.
I’ve been a speaker, a teacher, a workshop facilitator… but this was bigger. This was forty women in a room together, rising and flourishing — literally.
Our event, Rise & Flourish, took place in South Florida on October 25th, 2025, and the experience exceeded every expectation. The energy, the sisterhood, the feedback — all of it left me smiling for days and covered in goosebumps.
But behind the beauty was a lot of learning. So today, I want to share what actually made this event work well — and what it taught me about event planning, co-creation, and living in alignment with ease.
Testimonials from Rise and Flourish 2025
📘 It started with a shared vision — and the right tools
It all began at the library (that’s where all good ideas start, right?).
While wandering through the nonfiction aisle with my daughters, a book practically jumped off the shelf at me: The Non-Obvious Guide to Event Planning for Kick-Ass Gatherings That Inspire People.
That book became my roadmap. It helped me shape the vision for the day — not just what it would look like, but how it would feel and how to guide a group of people through a shared impactful experience they will remember for months (and hopefully years) to come.
If you’ve got an event on your heart, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s practical, inspiring, and full of gold.
🤝 Call in your people (and actually let them support you)
From day one, my co-host Ashley and I knew: we couldn’t do this alone.
I told my sister I was hosting an event, and without hesitation she said, “I’m coming.”
She flew down from Maryland just to help — volunteered herself before I could even ask. Then came Danielle and Kerri, our other volunteers, each one stepping in like divine timing.
The morning of the event, I looked around and realized everything was done. There was nothing left to fix. That feeling? Ease.
And here’s what I learned:
Asking for help is one thing.
Receiving it is another.
We had to surrender — to trust, to step aside, to let others hold the container we had created.
🌬️ Regulate before you lead
Moments before we went on stage to open the event, Ashley looked at me and I said, “I need to go hide in a corner and breathe.” She said, “Me too.”
So that’s exactly what we did.
We sat quietly for five minutes, breathing and humming (a simple trick to regulate your vagus nerve and calm your nervous system). It grounded us completely.
Because here’s the truth: when you’re holding space for others, your energy is the event.
No matter the size of your gathering — a conference, a workshop, or a family dinner — you’re creating a container. So before you step into leadership, regulate your own nervous system. The way you feel will ripple through everyone around you.
💗 Curate the energy, not just the agenda
One of the best pieces of advice I took from that book was this: capture your audience immediately.
From the very start, we wanted attendees to feel emotionally seen and inspired. So we opened with our stories — the real, messy, human parts of who we are — and it set the tone for the whole day.
Throughout the day, everything came back to energy. The music (we curated an eight-hour Spotify playlist), the flow, the scent of lemon-lavender room spray when guests walked in — every detail was intentional.
Event planning isn’t just about structure; it’s about sensation.
What do you want people to feel? Start there.
Listen to the full episode:
🪞Let the healing be part of the plan
One of our speakers, Stasia Jaramillo, guided the group through a subconscious reprogramming and ThetaHealing session. It turned into a collective healing experience — all forty of us lying on the floor together, breathing, releasing, receiving.
For me, something huge surfaced:
The belief that I can’t be both —
a soulful, nurturing mother and an ambitious, purpose-driven woman.
That belief had been running quietly underneath everything I did. And it finally met the light that day.
Later, over dinner with my mom and some of the attendees, we traced it back through family stories — generations of strong work ethics, of grit and “push through” mentality. That’s when it clicked: I had inherited the belief that work must be hard to be worthy.
And it’s not true.
Ease doesn’t mean you’re lazy. It means you’re aligned.
🍞 Lessons from a sourdough starter
Yes, you read that right.
Right before the event, my beloved sourdough starter — my family’s little kitchen ritual — died. Like, officially gone.
It was such a clear metaphor. All my energy had gone toward the event; something at home had been neglected.
It made me ask myself:
Can I hold both?
Can I nurture my family and my purpose?
Can I bake bread and build a brand?
My answer, then and now, is yes. But it requires balance, intention, and sometimes a few near-death experiences (of the sourdough variety).
✨Doing doesn’t define you
Here’s what I keep coming back to:
Doing doesn’t define me.
And it doesn’t define you.
Underneath all the roles, responsibilities, and goals, you are a soul with a mission.
Your worth isn’t tied to what you produce or achieve. It’s found in who you are, in how you love, in what you bring to the world just by being you.
We are mothers and makers, teachers and healers, artists and leaders — but beyond all of that, we’re lightworkers here to bring love into the spaces we inhabit.
And if you’ve been feeling that nudge — that whisper that there’s something more you’re meant to do — listen. It’s time to do the thing.
🌸 Practical event planning tips that made a difference
Because yes — the logistics still matter!
We scripted the entire day, from 7 a.m. doors-open to 4:59 p.m. wrap-up. That gave everyone clarity.
Volunteers had printed timelines — no confusion, no chaos.
We set up sensory details: lavender spray, lighting, curated music.
We built a team based on complementary strengths.
And most importantly? We were ourselves through the whole process. When you show up authentically, everything else flows.
💛 Co-creating a kick-ass gathering
Rise & Flourish worked because it wasn’t about perfection.
It was about presence.
Every woman who attended contributed to the energy in the room. We co-created something together — a space that felt safe, sacred, and alive.
And that’s what true event planning is about.
Not just managing logistics, but facilitating transformation.
If you’re feeling that spark to create something — whether it’s an event, a project, or a bold new chapter — you can start now.
Join me for Do The Thing, my free 3-part mini-series on happiness, courage, and creativity. It’s bite-sized, soulful, and designed to help you move from hesitation to inspired action.
Sign up for Ryann’s free 3-Part Video Series, Do The Thing🔥
Chapters
00:00 The Rise and Flourish Event Journey
04:23 Creating a Supportive Environment
10:41 Balancing Ambition and Nurturing
15:55 Feedback and Reflections on Success
Up Next: Living with Authentic Happiness: The Kind That Doesn’t Fade When Life Gets Hard
Resources: Do The Thing Free Video Mini-Series to Get a Jumpstart on Following your Dreams
Full transcript of this conversation with Ryann Watkin
Ryann 0:01
Welcome back to the Raising Wild Hearts podcast. So I just planned my first ever in-person event. AndI've been a speaker, I've hosted workshops, I've facilitated master classes, but this was a larger gathering,had 40 women ultimately show up. I'm smiling. I still get goosebumps when I think about it. And the eventwas Rise and Flourish. It was on October 25th, 2025. So we're just kind of riding the wave down, my co-host Ashley and I, from this event. The feedback we got, to be completely honest with you, completelyexceeded anything we even thought. I really want to share with you some of the things we did that made itan amazing event. So I'm gonna start with square one. And that was I found a book at the library. I was atthe library one night with my daughters, and we were just kind of browsing around and I'm walking up anddown the nonfiction aisles. I had a summer of fiction, but I have ended my summer of fiction and I'm backinto the nonfiction realm. Anyway, this book jumps out at me and it's the non-obvious guide to eventplanning for kick-ass gatherings that inspire people. This book was tremendously helpful in helping me craftout the vision of the event. It gave lots and lots of amazing tips. So if you're thinking about doing an event,if that's something that's on your heart, get that book. And then everything else that I'm gonna talk about canbe event specific, but this is also like life stuff. So the next thing that really made this event amazing wassupport. So from the beginning, Ashley and I knew we needed to call in support. I told my sister I was co-hosting an event and she did not hesitate and was like, I'm coming. She flew down from Maryland to help.And she said, I'll volunteer, put me to work. And so, and then we knew we needed another volunteer. And sowe we recruited our people. And the willingness for these women to show up for us was so cool. And itcompletely surprised me because the day of the event, Ashley and I are there. Everything is just done. Likeanything I would have needed to do was already done. And yeah, there were like a couple questions, like,where should we put this and where should we put that? And I'm like, okay, I don't know. Let's let's likemake the decision. And we did. My point is that it felt like ease. In order for us to receive the support theday of from Danielle and Carrie and my sister Rory, in order for us to actually receive that, we had tosurrender and allow ourselves to receive. So it wasn't asking for help and then completely controlling theentire day anyway. It was actually asking for help and receiving said help. So stepping aside, really beingable to regulate our nervous systems, because as we got closer to coming up and speaking, Ashley and Iwere speaking first thing. And uh I looked at Ashley and I said, I need to go hide in a corner and breathe.And she's like, Me too. So we went and sat down and we did some breathing and we did some humming,which is really good for your vagus nerve and your central nervous system, to give you a reset and to giveyou an internal feeling of calm. So Ashley and I went over and we sat in a corner. Nobody needed us, no,nothing was going on. It just we went there and sat and did breathing. And I'm talking five minutes at themost, but it really brought us to our centers to be prepared to go up and speak and welcome everybody intothis container that we created. So keep in mind if you are planning an event, if you are planning a workshop,even something virtual, even having people over for dinner or play date, keep in mind that you are creating acontainer. And within that container, how do you want the energy to feel? How do you want the day to go?One of the things that this book told us is capture your audience immediately. And so for us, it was like,okay, we want to emotionally capture our audience and bring them with us on a journey. And so we did. Westarted off the day with our background stories, and it was really powerful. So, support and the book werejust amazing. One of our speakers that we had at the event is Stasia Haramijo. Her episode on the RaisingWild Hearts podcast, How to Shatter Your Glass Ceiling and Let Go of Limiting Beliefs, is one of is themost popular episode I've ever done in two plus years. So she was a speaker at the event and she did asubconscious reprogramming theta healing session. During that session, we did a collective healing. And soall 40 something-ish of us, we laid down, which was impromptu, which was amazing because everyone waslike, oh my God, this space is so safe. It's so cozy here. We're all gonna get our mats and we're gonna laydown. So we did. And I didn't really know, I wasn't conscious of any limiting beliefs that I really wanted toclear. As she walked us through, it what came to me was being able as a woman, as an ambitious woman, asan ambitious woman who's also a mother, as an ambitious woman who's also a mother who wants to be anurturer and a safe place for my children. It felt like a challenge to hold, I am a soulful, soft nurturer for mychildren. And I am an ambitious, organized go-getter in my podcast and in my work outside of the home inmy business. And for a long time, for a while, I was trying to figure out how do I hold both. One day Iopened up my sourdough starter, and I mean, and this sourdough starter, you guys, like she was old. Iopened it up last week and I was like, oh my God, my starter died. And it wasn't just that she died. We had acouple near-death experiences where I was able to bring her back to life, but this was a whole different ballgame. I looked at my husband and I was like, Can you smell this? And I, you know, I put his nose up to itand he was like, oh my God, that's bad. So it wasn't like sour, like, oh, that's really sour. It was like, that isfunky, like some bacteria or something got in there. And I don't know how, but it was such a physicalsymbol, like such a physical metaphor for, oh my gosh. I just spent the last two weeks before the eventwhere all the energy, all the attention was going to making this event amazing, right? And so I went, oh mygosh, can I do both? Because making sourdough and cooking in the kitchen is one of my big things I do tonurture my family and this home. And, you know, it's one of the traditions we have here is that mom bakesbread and everybody loves it, fresh out of the oven with a shit ton of butter. So my sourdough starter dies,and I'm like, how do I hold both? And so during our event, when Stassi is walking us through, what'ssomething that's that you're that you're feeling blocked in? What's something you're feeling stuck in? Andthe thing that I brought to my mind was, can I hold both? Why sometimes does it feel like when business isthriving and things are amazing and I'm planning the event that the home is getting a little lower and it's alittle harder for me to stay patient and my freaking sourdough starter dies, and I'm so excited about workthat actually I want to spend more time working now. And so there was this imbalance. And I am somebodywho believes in balance. You can hear people on social media saying there's no such thing as balance orbalance is a myth, and from where they're standing, that's true for them. For me, what's true is I believe inbalance. I believe that we can call in all the things we want into our lives. And so if I believe thatconsciously, but yet this subconscious belief of can I hold both the business and this really strong, nurturing,sacred motherhood thing I've got going on at home because on the outside, things are looking like no. Solater that night, we're at dinner with my mom and a few of the women in attendance. Thanks, mom. Shetook us out to dinner and it was really sweet, and it was such a savory celebration of the day and just like theperfect pinnacle of the day. And we're at dinner and we're chatting about some of the aha's and this reallycool subconscious reprogramming session that we had with Stasia. And I said, you know what I think cameup for me? Because I was hearing my mom talk. I was hearing my mom talk about her side of the familyand their work ethic and her father, um, and you know, the way that he persevered and the way that her, himand my grandmother stayed married for 69 years. Um, and the like the ways that the family culture kind ofevolved, passed down to her, and then passed down to me. And in my family, there was an unspoken rulethat work has to be hard. And that if it's not hard, and if it's not pushing through, and if it's not gritty, then it'snot really worthy. And it was an in real time realization, which was really cool because I was like, mom, ohmy God, what you just said made me think before I was feeling like things had to be really hard. And, youknow, if I was doing great here, then something's gotta give, right? And I was and it was something that wasreally limiting me. And to piggyback off this, another thing that I was believing is that doing defines me.What I do defines me. Even at this event, I pointed out numerous times how successful and ambitious andwonderful and devoted and creative and wildly successful all these women in this room were. Because it'strue. We had a group of phenomenal women doing big, big things in the world and doing small things in theworld, but nonetheless, mission-driven, amazing work in the world at home and outside of the home. Andfor a really long time, I believed that doing is what defines me. And when you peel back the roles and youpeel back the layers and you peel back what you do, and all you're left with is your soul has a mission.Doing does not define me and it does not define you. Because below our hopes and dreams and our workand our roles, we are souls who have soul assignments to play out here. And if you're listening to this, Iwant you to know that you are needed. Your work, your art, your voice, your mission is needed here. We arethe light workers. We need to bring the light. We are the teachers, we are the healers, we are the devotedmothers, the nurturers, the community leaders. We need you now. So if you're doing your soul's missionhere, amazing. Because that's exactly what I'm uncovering as I keep taking steps in my work, both insideand outside the home, right? Steps in my relationship with my husband, steps in my connections with mykids, and the podcast, the event, right? Steps outside of the home. So if you are doing that thing, if you feelreally close to the soul's work that you came here to do, like, yes, I'm with you. It's still unfolding and I'mwith you. And if you know that there is something more, if you know you've heard your heart whisperingthat there is more to life than whatever situation you are in right now. And if you need to make a bigdecision, whether that's a conversation with your leadership team at work, whether it's creating and sellingyour art and putting it out into the world, whether it's using your voice and your words to make a difference,whatever the thing is for you, you need to jump in to do the thing. It's really bite-sized. I made three 15-ishminute videos for you. And it's tiny, but it packs a punch. So you can go to raisingwildhearts.com slash dothe thing if you want to join. You get instant access to video one right when you sign up. And then the othervideos will come in the consecutive days following. And if you're in the middle of something and you'relike, ooh, I just need to peel back the layers a little bit more, like, why am I doing what I'm doing? Whatmight be my purpose here? What is my mission? Why do I want to do the thing I want to do? What issuccess to me? If you've been asking yourself those questions, like this thing is totally for you. So go to dothe thing, raisingwildhearts.com slash do the thing. I can't wait to see you there because it's a video series.So it's super fun. So, more things we did at the event that made a difference. The tiny logistical stuff didmake a difference. I scripted the entire day from 7 a.m. when the doors opened to 4 59 p.m. when the doorswere closing. The entire thing had a timed transcript. And that did make a difference. The flow of the day,the fact that we could just hand that paper to our volunteers and they knew exactly what to do. Not once didany of the volunteers come up to me and be like, what do I need to do at this time? Or like, what could I doright now? Everybody knew what needed to be done and how it needed to be done. I put even scripted thewelcome. Like, here are the bullet points of what you want to make sure you tell people right when theywalk in the door. I brought lemon lavender room spray and I sprayed the room because I wanted people tofeel that bright, airy energy. We had the most amazing music. I spent hours curating a Spotify playlist. It wassuch a cool way to set the vibe. If you want to get my playlist, it's on Spotify. I'll link it down in thedescription. So if you want to uh jam out to what we jammed out to at Rise and Flourish, you'll see the arcsof the day just as you listen to the playlist. It's like eight plus hours of music. So it's amazing. And then thelast thing that I'm gonna share with you on how we pulled off this event so seamlessly and how we got suchamazing feedback is that we were completely ourselves through the whole process. And so one of the thingsthat we both said multiple times during this was, oh my God, we just make the best team because yourstrength is this and my strength is that. And we just made a kick-ass team. So if you're consideringpartnering with someone, collaborating with someone, really discern this opportunity for yourself. Is thissomebody who I'm gonna work really well with? Does this person make up for the things that I'm not greatat? Right. And so we really had the flow of that. So really just like be yourself, like be true to you. And that'sone of the things I had on my radar from step one. Like, is this true to me? Does this feel right? And I wouldlike kind of run it through my filters and my values. And then I would ask Ashley, how does that land foryou? So I would say, like, I feel this, this, and this. How does that land for you? And she would say, I feelthis, this, and this. And that helped us make decisions so much. So be you. So that is what we did to plan akick-ass gathering that inspired people and inspire people it did, motivate people, it did. The feedback wegot was insanely beautiful. Women reached out and said how nourished they felt, how cared for they felt,um, how their nervous systems felt so regulated. Somebody got a 98% recovery rate on her whoop score.And she said, like, I've never gotten this high before. Like yesterday completely did something to me. Thespace was beautiful, the speakers were beautiful, the vendors were just amazing. And so, yeah, it was reallyfun to hear that feedback. So I really wanted to share this with you guys. If you have an event on your heart,if this episode made you feel something, if it felt like your knowing started to kind of stir, jump into do thething. It's raisingwildhearts.com/slash do the thing. If you know somebody who's planning an event, text thisepisode to them. It will be super helpful. And if you feel really called to give back some love to the RaisingWild Hearts podcast, you can leave a review. Scroll down to where it says write a review on my podcastpage on Apple Podcast and leave a few words of why you love the podcast. I so appreciate your reviews andI really do feel the love when someone takes time to write a review. If you're listening on Spotify, go to theshow page and submit five stars if you loved it. And until next time, y'all, go love someone well.
