the most surreal email ever

Last year, a group from from Pinterest visited Des Moines and hosted a meet and greet with local pinners. I attended the meet-up and while it was fun and cool, I figured once it was over that would be the last time I’d hear from them.

Reader, I was wrong. Early last week, I received an email asking if I had any interest in coming to teach a class at an employee-only conference in San Francisco at Pinterest’s headquarters. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it. What’s going on?!

During the initial call, the rep told me they usually have employees speak, but sometimes they invite users to come share how they use the platform. I can’t imagine how many users they meet throughout the year, so it’s incredibly humbling that I stood out in some way. It’s actually making me rethink some stuff...

Des Moines is small and finding success here is relatively easy. You really just need some elbow grease and a decent Instagram account to make an impact. I’ve always attributed my success to the size of our community, but I’m starting to think that was a bad assumption on my part. Maybe I’m finding success because I’m actively working towards it and not because it just comes easily here.

Food for thought! For now, I’m jotting down notes for my forty-five minute session. I want to discuss how their platform encourages people to get offline and do things IRL. In my opinion, it’s one of the few social sites that really helps people connect. I’ll keep you posted!