Maggie, welcome to the show. Tell me about your
vision. My vision is talking to people about,
my vision is community. So it's really about
helping people be in relationship with one another.
And there's a number of ways that that can happen
for everyone. And my vision is to be an encourager
of that. Tell me more about that. Sure. So one
of the things that we did while we were doing
our we did a boat trip called the Great Loop
and it took us about nine months and we got to
leave Chattanooga. We went downriver, went across
the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida, up the East
Coast, into New York, through Canada and then
back down the Great Lakes and back down the rivers
home to Chattanooga. And in that we got to meet.
so many diverse people right so we you have people
that are different from the region different
experiences different ages and um it was so life
-giving to be able to get to know them and to
be in relationship with people and just hear
different experiences that people have had it
was wonderful yeah that's awesome um before i
met your husband and talked to him right i had
no idea you could actually do that I know. Right.
Most people don't. Only about 250 boats a year
do it. So we had our own boat. And it's one of
those things that you do kind of you're on your
own boat, but you're not doing it alone. Right.
Because you're traveling in community with people.
Yeah. So did you like when you travel was just
you and your husband that went along the road
trip in your own boat? And it's like your own
little space that you do that. it was kind of
like a tiny house on water it was us and our
dog so we were in about 290 square feet for nine
months that's amazing and uh how like i might
be like i don't know this is getting me into
details about it like yeah what's probably the
biggest boat that can fit through all those places
oh that's a great question um our boat was small
so we were a 29 foot ranger tug and we had um
it's called a draft so we were two and a half
feet deep so we could go in pretty shallow areas
And being pretty small, we could fit in a lot
of different places. I think the biggest boats
are probably, I would say we're on the small
side. Larger boats would be maybe 45 or 50 feet
long. And then some people have a five foot draft.
And so you're limited by actually the height
of your boat. There is a bridge in, let's say
it's in Chicago, that you have to be under. I
can't remember exactly what the footage is, but
you have to be under that level to be able to
fit under the bridge. Otherwise, you can't do
the whole thing. So I think our height clearance
was probably when everything was down, probably
11 feet, 10 feet, maybe. That's awesome. That's
amazing. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. Sure.
So tell me more about the vision. How did you
end up in the community aspect of things and
what's about the communities that you like to
build? Sure. So I have always found hospitality
to be an avenue for that. And so one of the things
that we would do while we were traveling is we
would have something called Dock Tales. And that
is just where boaters would gather at the end
of the day. We'd sit outside at the marina or
a public park nearby or wherever we had docked
and just trade stories about. how the day went
what was the hardest part of the day what was
the most fun part of the day what we were looking
forward to and just share information and so
one of the things that we did uh coming home
from that is that we decided we wanted to do
a regular kind of docktails type thing back home
in chattanooga and so one of the things that
we did is to gather up um the i We gathered up
people for dinner parties, basically. So I had
wanted to have I think the first year we came
back, I think I wanted to have like 24 dinner
parties. And that was a little ambitious. So
we didn't have that many. But one of the things
that we did do is we probably met with different
people once a month and tried to introduce people
that we knew to people that didn't know each
other, which was really fun to explore that and
to build relationships that way. In 2025, we
started off the year and decided we'd twist it
just a little bit and just have a relatively
stable group of people that we would meet with
once a month. And it's been fabulous, right?
We've gotten to visit with people who are really
involved in civic organizations and some that
are in the medical profession and some that are
like Bruce in the tech profession. So it's been
a marvelous way. to encourage one another in
the things that we're doing and to introduce
people like we are the common thread we knew
all these people but they didn't know each other
right you know and to help facilitate those relationships
has been great that's awesome that's amazing
so when you mean that you're on a boat ride and
you're going along and and meeting people like
it's like a group of people that traveling together
in their separate boats or like and this all
planned together or like you just randomly happen
to see a bunch of boats going to doing the same
thing you are doing Right. Right. So the trip
is seasonal. So there'll be you will come down
the center of the country in the fall, go across
the Gulf of Mexico and Florida in the winter
and then have to head up the East Coast in the
spring and then summer somewhere in the north,
whether it's in Canada or, you know, the Great
Lakes up there or the Erie Canal. And so people
start at different times of year based on where
they are living or where they put their boat
in. And so we recognize each other because if
you're doing the trip for the first time, you're
flying what's called a white burgee. A burgee
is just a flag that goes on the front of your
boat and it has the Great Loop symbol on it.
And so we would be traveling and we would see
people with that flag and we would know that
they were what we call loopers. There was also
a app that people register for so that you can
see who's near you. And so you can reach out
to them via the app to see what they're doing
and where they're staying. And so we called it
loop frogging because we would encounter people
that we might have seen in the rivers and we
might see them again in Florida. And then we
might see them again in New York. Right. But
you didn't we didn't necessarily travel with
the same set of boaters each time. Yeah, that's
it. And so that's the loop. That's amazing. And
that's so fascinating. That's awesome. Yeah.
Yeah. And that's that's just about the trip that
we took. We we went instead of going kind of
they follow the Erie Canal when they're in New
York. So we just went straight up into Canada.
We went up the St. Lawrence River up into Montreal
and then took this little tiny waterway called
the Rideau Canal through Canada and then met
up with another canal and followed that through.
But we spit out at just about. the the same place
so that's awesome oh that's great thank you for
sharing that story sure yeah it was great fun
yeah um maggie what would you say is the why
of what you do i think the why of what i do really
is because Kind of like when we traveled on the
loop and I said we were on our own, but we weren't
alone. I think that it's really important with
the world that we live in that it can feel lonely,
but it doesn't need to feel lonely. Right. So
I think I want to encourage people to be able
to meet their neighbors, to really get to know
their coworkers, whatever that looks like. A
lot of people work from home. You know, my husband
is remote. And so his coworkers, his friends
are. Online. Right. You know, and I think that
it's human connection is really valuable. And
that's one of the things that we foster when
I run our conference. We run a conference called
Gig City Elixir and we do it to let people really
be in person and get to know each other. Right.
So we build in breaks in the conference and we
build in time for dinner where the attendees
can go to this event place. We do it at the Moxie
Hotel. And they have this great outdoor space
and we have a food truck and there are pockets,
there are little tables here and there and games
that people can play just to be able to set the
stage for people to build those relationships.
It's wonderful. That's awesome. That's amazing.
What would you say that has been a little bit
of impact of you living that way and connecting
people that way? I think it has been. Well, for
me, for the conference, part of it is that people
will then send us notes afterwards and say they've
never felt as connected at a conference. Right.
That that feels really good. And I don't know
that that is a focus on a lot of other tech conferences.
Right. I think those relationships can happen,
but I think that they happen when the stage is
set a little bit more intentionally for that
time to happen. And so for me. For me, it's just
deeply satisfying, right, to be able to connect
people that don't know each other. For sure.
For sure. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing
that with me. Yeah, you're welcome. I have one
more question for you before we end today's segment.
How did you get started on this community front
of all things? Like, what was the journey like
early in the days? You're an entrepreneur, so
I know your husband owns. owns the business and
needs to start the one side of that business
how did you get involved in all that oh i got
involved because he said hey i i think we should
run a conference and i i was like we don't we
don't know how to do that but i did have i did
have some experience i was a meeting planner
in a previous life before we had children so
i worked at a conference center but we just did
small meetings for businesses that needed a place
off -site so i did have some experience with
that but um i but not much so that's that's really
how i got involved bruce said oh you can do this
yeah sure and so that's how i got into video
editing like it's like we need to have a video
editor you want to do that and i'm like well
I guess I could learn that. And then same with
the podcasting, like editing that. I guess I
could learn that. So it was just the opportunity
presented itself and here we went. But as far
as the people and the connecting, that has always
been a deeply held value of mine. I am the neighbor
that knocks on the door when somebody moves in
with a plate of cookies or something, right?
So I really, I try to live it. I try to model
it. One of the things that I thought about when
we were on our trip was that if you want a better
neighborhood, you need to be a better neighbor
and to take some ownership of that. Like, what
does that look like for me? How am I going to
be a better neighbor to the young mom next door
to me or to, you know, the neighbors that might
be going out of town? You know, I can offer to
water their plants or take care of their dog
or whatever it looks like, you know, just just
to be available and to just try to remember.
that we all need something at some point right
even if it's like i might be out of salt what
if i just go knock on that neighbor's door and
ask because people like to people like to be
of service right so you have to ask it and uh
it's a wonderful thing to be able to offer it
Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy
that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking
forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes
continue to move forward. This is going to get
more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement
as well. We'll invite people to participate in
the show. And thank you for giving us your time
and attention. Have an excellent time building
out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.