Exoticise Table @ BOCA!
I just got back from BOCA Fest and I am still recuperating. In the past week I got about 15 hours of sleep between last Wednesday and Monday. So when I got back to the Chi I slept from 3:00p Monday until 7:00a Tuesday! I could actually crawl back into bed for a little nap, but I have too much to do!
The event was wonderful. There was great energy from all the people from the staff to the participants to the other vendors. I have to say I felt like myself for the first time in a while. It all started with the completion of the ILP and now this. The woman I know myself to be sees what she wants and goes and gets it. That essentially is the definition of a DIVA and baby you are looking at one!
My intention for the weekend was to expose the Belly Dance community to Exoticise and Diva Dance and recruit new instructors from across the country. I have to say that I fulfilled upon that intention. Now I did not collect 250 contact cards, but I did about 125. The turnout for the event was a little lighter than expected, but of the women who did come, the majority of them were excited! I know I will open up AT LEAST 2 more cities as a result!
It took something for me to get there, because I did not have it all figured out when I boarded the plan. I stayed up all night Wednesday trying to finish my instructor training brochure and I simply could not get it together! I know my program works, but putting into words that communicate it via reading was a challenge. As I wrote before that last couple of weeks have been an emotional roller-coaster and there were a lot of questions I had about “Can I really do this? Can I take my company national and build an empire dedicated to empowering women to be fit, fabulous and satisfied?” I know you can have anything you can dream of, but how? I am one who always wants to know the how and with a dream this big, you can’t always know, but simply have to have faith that it will happen. So I bought the vendor booth, booked the plane, booked the hotel and took myself to BOCA without knowing how it was all going to unfold.
Thursday night I had a meeting set up with a Diva from Baltimore about working together, and from the moment we met until we parted about 3 hours later I know it was on. I knew exactly what to say and my creativity just got going. My writer’s block was gone and at about 12am I completed the brochure and sent it off to Kinkos’ to be printed and folded for pick up in the AM (don’t you just love technology?)!
Friday and Saturday at the event were great. I was in the perfect location, right by the front door so I encountered all the Divas who came to the Bazaar area! My neighbors were wonderful too! On the left were a mother and daughter team who I just fell in love with, and to my write was a Queen (her real name) who was inspiring (she also had fabulous jewelry and clothes for sale). I shopped waaay to much, but everything I bought was beautiful and unique so I am not apologizing! By the end of the weekend I made a bunch of new friends and hope to see them all in Chicago this labor day for the African Festival of the Arts!
My Belly Dancing Class!
On Sunday morning I dragged myself out of bed so I could go to and 8am belly dance class and I LOVED IT!!! Then after wrestling with my fear, I finally sat down to get a reading with the pyschic at the event and when I got up, my mind was blown. First I got a message from my Mom (she passed away 14 years ago) and she says she is proud of me, but not exactly excited that I am teaching Exotic Dance (I was raised in a rather conservative religious household). She did say that she raised us to follow our hearts and that if this makes me happy, so be it 
!
Then I was told that my life partner is coming! He is going to be fabulous, but that he won’t be here for a little while b/c I need to focus on Diva Dance & Exoticise because this business is about to explode! That made me very happy because as much as I love you ladies and am committed to you being your most fabulous selves, I want a honey too! So I am going to be wildly successful with this business having a national impact on women across the nation (perhaps worldwide) and passion and romance. I can hardly stand it!
Carnival Finale!
This was a hard weekend with 3- 12-hour days and very little sleep but totally worth it. The performances on Saturday were beautiful with every thing from traditional belly dancing to hip hop belly, pop-lock belly, salsa, latin-folkloric, and mambo. I can’t wait until I am good enough to be up there in some fantastic get up!
Be on the look out for the Exoticise performce troupe because we are cooking up an exciting show for you! If you want to learn more about joining the team as an instructor or dancer contact me ASAP!
This Diva and her business are going to the next level. I still don’t know how it will all workout, but being a true Diva just means knowing that you can have whatever you like and making it happen!
Peace, Love, and Fabulousness !
–> Kania “Afro Diva” Kennedy
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