After every show, as much as I may be tired and want to head backstage to take a deep breath and celebrate with my team, there are always those attendees who are waiting to say hello right at the base of the stage.
After all these years on stages, the thing I’ve learned most about these attendees is that they often are the ones who came alone, who are trying to level up, and who spent the whole show mustering the courage to say hello.
My team always understands that this is one of the most important moments of every show for me. During our big
@thebtcshow , the crews are literally breaking down the LED stage around me, as I generally stand with about 10 people waiting to share some of the most beautiful and tragic stories of their lives.
When people are waiting after the show, there is a strange calmness. Everyone provides each other such grace because these stories are the longest ones. Sometimes we gather together, each person telling their stories while others validate their feelings and their experiences. Sometimes they stand in line for over an hour while each person shares a private story with me quietly, often with tears and pictures.
A few years ago at the BTC show, a woman who had been at the show many times shared with me that her 5 year old son had passed away from leukemia five weeks prior to the show, but she still came because she knew there would be healing. At that same show, another woman had just been diagnosed with brain cancer and was scared what that would mean for her young salon team and how would she tell them.
@jennafaulkenberg , my new friend after our Miami show, was the last one in line to say hello. She told me that she had been to many of our shows, but had never gotten the courage to say hello. We sat there and talked for at least 30 minutes and swapped stories and the struggles of life that made us stronger because we lived through them.
Please, never be afraid to say hello. I love meeting all of you and swapping stories! It’s an honor and a privilege to have you at our shows- one I never, ever take for granted. There is so much to learn from each other and I love our time together! xo
#thebtcshow2024