Be Honest & Real

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Hi friends,

Another week down. Let’s get right to it. I hate playing favorites but the lineup of “Have You Met?” this week were so awesome. Just incredibly honest and real. I laughed, I cried {I didn’t cry!}. Meet Joanne Spataro, Kerri Flanigan and our Charlotte nonprofit of the week,Field to Fork’s Tyler Harding. I asked them each five questions. Click the links to read them.

Each month in collaboration with HappeningsCLT we have a gallery of a local artist on display at @809 where we hold the speaker series. This coming Thursday we are holding a closing reception for artist Anna Kenar. It’ll be held directly following Katie Levans talk. The talk is sold out but the closing reception will be open to everyone. It’ll be awesome.RSVP here.

I asked everyone that RSVP’d to Katie’s talk why they love Charlotte. Here’s three awesome responses.

  • Johnny Wakefield said “Because it’s a city trying to figure out who she is.”
  • Gregory Kurts said “The people. We come from everywhere. So much to learn and experience.”
  • Lynn Caldwell said “The great people I get connected to every day!”

Thanks to Kerri for giving me the opportunity to talk about #WeLoveCLT this past Thursday at the AIR Social to a group who have never engaged it. I’m pumped that a handful of them subscribed. To them… Welcome and thanks for the support! I have video from it though that’ll go live soon! Stay tuned.

Here’s a couple quick Charlotte shoutouts to wrap things up.

  • Remember Andrew Jenkins of Heart Meter, our first nonprofit we introduced you to? I’m pretty sure he’s taking over the world since then. Check him out here on WCNC talking Heart Meter. Well deserved. So awesome.
  • The feature #weloveclt photo credit above goes to Kelli Eklund for that awesome sunset shot. Absolutely beautiful. Use the #weloveclt tag on Insta. I’ll feature one new awesome photo every week. P.S. Doesn’t need to be a skyline shot. It can be anything!
  • Insta Takeovers are blowing up! We want everyone to show us one awesome day in the life. Sign up here.

That’s it! Be awesome,
Garrett

Hard To Believe

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Hi friends,

It’s hard to believe this is month five of doing off all this. In celebration I’m gonna try something new for a couple weeks. I’ll be featuring one Instagram or Twitter photo above that uses the #WeLoveCLT. Shoutout to Brian Twitty for this weeks feature one. What an awesome shot! Thanks for supporting #WeLoveCLT.

The “Have You Met/Supported?” series continues to get me freaking pumped up. Each and every week I have the pleasure of meeting and introducing awesome people. This week meet Dustin Adams, Wendy Hickey and Julie Grosse of Relay for Life of Charlotte. They’re all awesome. I asked them each five questions. Click the links above or the pictures way down below to read them.

The #WeLoveCLT talk with Jeff Jackson has come and gone. Did you miss it? No worries. Andy of QC Independent hammered out the editing. It’s live! Listen here or subscribe on iTunes.

This coming Thursday the 11th I’ll be speaking at the AIR Social. Each month they bring together awesome local businesses and people. I’m pretty dang excited to share my thoughts on community, Charlotte, #WeLoveCLT and my obsession with Aerial Fitness. On top of that you’ll get to meet Fit You Meals, have drinks from Three Hunters Vodka and D9 Brewing, snacks fromRoots, shop with Fresh Boutique and meet the ladies of Pearl Dentistry. That’s a considerable amount of awesome.

Go here for details and to RSVP. It’s free. Come meet awesome people and give AIR a try. It’s by far the best workout I’ve ever had.

The Katie Levans talk is less than two weeks away… crazy! Where does the month go? I had to shut down RSVP’s. The count was getting a little nutty. This is by far the biggest #WeLoveCLT… by a lot. Get Ready! If you didn’t get in no worries. We’ll record it and place it online. I’m trying to find a local videographer that’ll come shoot it so we have full video as well which would be awesome. Stay tuned.

A big ole Happy Birthday to Kseniya Martin. Meet her. She’s awesome and has supported #WeLoveCLT since day one. Honored to call her friend.

We asked everyone who RSVP’d why they love Charlotte. Here’s a couple awesome responses.

  • Bill Norton said “Because people here love making a difference, and so do I!”
  • Lee Forster said “Great People, Great Weather, Great Food , Great Drink AND GREAT YOGA!”
  • Varian Shrum said “Whether you’re a total square or you let the freak flag fly, everyone has a place in CLT”

That’s it! Be awesome,
Garrett

Fantastic … or AWESOME!

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*photo credit: Amy Herman

Hi friends. There’s about 60 new awesome people that have never received these emails before. Welcome and thanks for the support. Charlotte is nothing without YOU. Let’s get to it.

So someone told me they think the word fantastic is better than awesome. I think they’re really wrong. I’m pretty sure I lost sleep over it.  Moving on. The have you mets for the week are Jolenna Mapes and Steven Radney. Our featured #CLTnonprofit is Emily Rester of Hospitality House. Honored to call them all friends. They’re awesome. Click the links to read their have you met. Pictures are below.

#instabeerupCLT was this past Thursday. It was awesome. I say this every month but if you’re missing out on this you’re doing something wrong. It is absolutely the best way to engage with new people in Charlotte IRL. The bar is low. Grab a beer. Meet someone awesome. See you in June. Location to be announced. Follow Corri Smith and Amy Herman for updates. They are awesome!

Katie’s talk in June is going to hit an all-time high on attendance. 135 people signed up before I was able to close it up. That’s 35 more than usual. Whoa! I know. And the waiting list continues to grow. It’ll be cozy. Lots of awesome people to meet. Beer from NODA Brewing and food from Fit You Meals. Get excited. It’s coming quick.

The #WeLoveCLT talk with Jeff Jackson has come and gone. I’m still marinating on so many things he said. I know some of y’all are reading the book you bought at the talk. If you missed it you can buy Mira Corpora from Park Road Books. Buy it, read it. So awesome. Also, audio from the talk is still coming. Stay tuned.

Here’s quick exciting news. We’re collaborating with Shop Pink Social. It’ll be awesome. Stay tuned.

Lastly, what are you doing this weekend? If you ever have an event coming up that you’d like me to share don’t hesitate to reply to this email. Here’s something happening today that looks pretty awesome.

That’s it! Be awesome,
Garrett

Wow. Where Do I Start?

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Hi friends,

I really don’t know where to start. The week was awesome. We have the introductions, Jeff Jackson, Katie Levans, Culture Fair, BLVDatSE, Cece & more. For those looking for the “Have You Met?” series meet Rachel Martin, Addie Holby and Katie Levans (our next speaker). They are all awesome. I asked them each five questions. Click the links above or the pictures way down below to read them.

[col size=”one_third”]jeff-email
[/col][col size=”two_third_last”]The #WeLoveCLT talk with Jeff Jackson happened this past Thursday and it … was … awesome. If I could think of a more awesome word than awesome I would use it here. I can’t though. Jeff killed it. Andy of QC Independent is hard at work editing the audio. We’ll have it up asap. Stay tuned. A huge thanks to NODA Brewing, HappeningsCLT, and @809 for helping make the event even more awesome.[/col]

I wanted to give a very special thank you to Fit You Meals for supporting #WeLoveCLT and sharing their passion with the entire room on Thursday. It came through in the most real human way when Maria shared their story. I loved it. It definitely gave me the feels. I also wanted to share a bit of an email they sent over to me this morning.

“Hi Garrett, We wanted to share our experience from last night and we must say it was incredibly humbling for us. We never thought in a million years we would be part of a movement that brings together such an amazing group of people. Especially because we are a new company and sharing with people what we do and what we are passionate about is a dream come true. We truly feel we are on the right track and it feels awesome. Thanks WeLoveCLT, thanks Garrett and thanks to everybody for the love and support. -JP & Maria”

So what’s next? Katie Levans is next! On Thursday June 18th she’ll be talking about how the stories we tell create, destroy and define everything. Get ready and RSVP today. We’re at 120 people already. That’s a lot of awesome. I unfortunately can’t leave it open much longer so don’t wait! And no Katie, I won’t cry. Also, I can’t thank NODA Brewing enough for offering to come back in June and support all this craziness! We love them.

I love supporting awesome Charlotte people and happenings. Here’s a couple quick shoutouts to wrap things up.

  • Culture Fair is this Sunday from 1-5 at the Chop Shop in NODA. It looks freaking awesome. Joel and crew over at Culture Initiative are great people making Charlotte a better place. More info here.
  • Jennifer of The Boulevard at South End needs your help. She is competing for a grant from Mission Main Street Grants. She’s awesome. Learn more & give her a vote here.
  • Check out Cece Stronach’s work here. She’s a local artist. I had the pleasure of accidentally meeting her in the funniest way this past week. So awesome.
  • Really digging the new C3 Labs space. I had an amazing time there during the #MktCLT panel for the Charlotte AMA. Nothing but awesome people. Check them out. I’m sure they’d be more than happy to give you a tour.

Lastly, take over our Instagram account! We want to see what you’re up to and show everyone. Check out this page for more details.

That’s it! No go be awesome,
Garrett

Brigitte, Aaron, David, VTGCLT & More

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Hi friends,

There’s so many new people receiving this email. That gets me pumped! Welcome and thanks for supporting #WeLoveCLT. I have quite a frew awesome things to tell y’all about. Then I’m going to have some coffee and waffles from HEX Coffee. First time for me but I hear it’s legit amazing.

The “Have You Met?” series for the week are Brigitte Acosta, Aaron Dodge, & David Jessup of Digi-Bridge (images below). They are incredibly awesome and each bring something unique to Charlotte. I’m honored to know them all. I asked them all five questions. You should meet them. Go!

Love awesome people and coffee? Come #JoinCLT for just that this Thursday, 2pm at Not Just Coffee 7th street market location. No RSVPs or anything. Just be there. Your host? None other than Tim Cheadle.

We’re less than a week from the Jeff Jackson talk. I’m pumped to announce that Fit You Meals will be at #WeLoveCLT this coming Thursday to sample their food. Check them out. They are incredibly supportive and love Charlotte.

Have you read Jeff Jackson’s Mira Corpora yet? I’ve pulled an excerpt from it and placed it here. Check it out. Then if you like, read it cause I’d love for some of you to come prepared with a question or two for Jeff.

When/If you RSVP’d I asked you to tell me one awesome thing about yourself. Here’s two awesome responses I received.

[col size=”one_third”]
Meet Brigitte
[/col][col size=”one_third”]
Meet Aaron
[/col][col size=”one_third_last”]
Meet David[/col]

A couple other things before we wrap up here. QC Independent will be continuing their summer sessions this Sunday, 5pm at the Davidson St Public house. The featured band is “Grown Up Avenger Stuff”. Awesome music, people and no cover.

Our previous speaker Amy Herman officially announced the dates for her summer Vintage Market. I went last year. It was awesome. Details here.

That’s it! No go be awesome,
Garrett

Awesome Women, Non-Profits, Insta Takeovers & More

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Hi friends,

That’s a wrap on this week. So what’s new? I’m obsessed with Instagram takeovers. If you haven’t been following check out WeLoveCLT on Insta. It’s 100% takeovers by awesome people giving insight into the awesome things they are up to. If you’re interested in doing this check out our takeover page and fill out the form.

The “Have You Met?” and “Have You Supported?” for this week are below. Savannah, Kelly and Beth are all awesome women that inspire that crap out of me. They push the line and strive to make a difference big or small every single day. I love it. Truly inspirational. Go meet them and say hi!

I finally shut RSVPs down for the Jeff Jackson talk. So many people. It’ll be cozy. We’ll have NODA Brewing beer and a ton of awesome people. It doesn’t get better than that. If you didn’t get in hop on the waiting list. Spots always open up. For those that did RSVP you’ll remember telling me one awesome thing about yourself. Here’s two awesome responses I received.

  • Nate Mitchell designs theme park attractions and they pay him to do it. #jealous
  • Holly Martin swept volcanic ash off the streets in Ecuador.

Have You Met?
Sidekick, Designer, foster parent to pups, charity supporter and world explorer. Have you met Savannah?

Just looking to make a small smudge on the world. A true inspiration. She’s awesome. Have you met Kelly?

A passion for food nutrition & community. Have you supported Beth of Green Teacher Network?

I need your help! I want more questions for the have you met series. If you could ask one question to someone you just met what would it be? Anything, go nuts! Reply to this email with it. I’d love to include them in upcoming introductions.

Thanks to Blair Primis, OrthoCarolina & Adams Outdoor for supporting #WeLoveCLT. Check out that billboard above! So awesome.

Shoutout to AIR Charlotte for being awesome, welcoming and an amazing workout. That’s all.

Lastly, Happy Mother’s day to all the moms out there. You’re awesome. I’m off to spend time with my wife. It’s her first mother’s day as a mommy.

Be awesome,
Garrett

Food Fights, Amy, Tim, Being Uncommen & More

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Hi friends,

Yes! My first full #WeLoveCLT week back in the swing of things. The new format & schedule feels great. Thanks again for all the support while I figure that out. So here we are. It’s Saturday. The weather looks great. I’ll be judging Charlotte Food Fight! There’s still tickets left. I hope to see you there.

The two “Have You Met?” and one “Have You Supported?” from this week are below. Amy, Tim & Dee of Uncommen are awesome. I’m honored to know them all. I asked them all five questions. One person I intro’d previously asked them each one.

For those that RSVP’d to the Jeff Jackson talk you’ll remember telling me one awesome thing about yourself. Each week I’ll share two awesome responses I received.

  • Alexis Jo Bruce is a music manager of many genres of music and a classically trained singer who loves Broadway.
  • Frank Schwartz loves Elvis. Uh huh!

Have You Met?

Civic activist, connector, entrepreneur, queso lover, Eminem, Taylor Swift & politics. Have you met Amy?

Problem solver, developer, supportive, family man, customer service guru & bourbon enthusiast. Have you met Tim?

Coffee, conversation, technology, education, family. Have you supported Dee of Uncommen? #CLTnonprofit

Before I head out for the day here’s a couple other things I’d love to put on your radar.

I’ve had some folks voice concerns about calling the weekly Charlotte non-profit feature “Have You Supported?” because they associate support with money. To me support could be anything from a high five, a tweet hello and keep it up, to a donation of some sort. It’s anything. Just a good ole “Love what you’re doing” can seriously help fuel the passion. “Have you supported?” stays the same.
Check out the “Why Do We Love Charlotte?” video created by John J. Miller. It’s freaking amazing. Watch it here.

We’ve locked down a food sponsor for the next talk. We’ll be announcing that soon. If you haven’t already RSVP’d go here. We’re pretty booked up but I’m leaving it open to account for the people that drop off last minute. It happens.

A huge thanks to NODA Brewing, QC Independent and HappeningsCLT for sponsoring the next event. Ya’ll make it bigger, better and more awesome. The support is truly appreciated.

Thanks to Chrissie Beth for the Food Truck photo. Check out her blog Off the Eaten Path. It’s awesome.

That’s it! Go be awesome.

-Garrett Tichy

I bit off more than i could chew

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Hello friends,

I wanted to update y’all on the #weloveclt initiative, how I am feeling, what’s changing and what’s coming up. Bear with me here, while I get a couple things off my chest.

So how am I feeling about it all? I love it. More than almost any other project I have ever worked on. In three and a half short months I’ve met hundreds of new people. Awesome people. I’d never give it back. The support has been unrivaled. Just mind blowing.

With that said, I’m exhausted. This is no ones fault but my own, and is really just a side effect of being so freaking excited about all of this that I really can’t stop. I understand that I need to slow down though.

I need to make some changes. I’m one person, and putting on a monthly event, creating daily content and producing a podcast a few times a month, on top of co-owning a marketing company and being a new dad. This is starting to feel nuts. I’d rather put 110% into less things than 50% into all the things. I want to provide something awesome, like ridiculously awesome.

So going forward here’s what’s happening.

1. The Speaker Series is my priority. It’s the foundation of everything I’m doing. Putting awesome people in one space has always been the goal. The event will still be one speaker, a 30 minutes talk, once a month. The difference is we are going to make the event longer. This means more time to have a conversation. We’ll be seeking sponsorship to cover food, as we will be bleeding into the dinner hours. For those coming to this weeks talk by Ted Williams. We can’t wait to see you there.

2. “A Conversation With” is going away. This saddens me because I’m a podcast nut. I was attempting to work out a way to have others produce this, but it didn’t pan out quick enough and I need to make moves, for my own sanity.

3. “Have You Met?” will only release on Mondays & Wednesdays via the site, Twitter & Facebook.

4. “Have You Supported?” where we feature a Charlotte non-profit will release each Friday. The response to this has been phenomenal.

5. #WeLoveCLT Adventures are staying. I like these and provide unique insight into others day to day. Interested in doing an Instagram takeover? Email weloveclt@gmail.com.

Daily Newsletters are going away. I had to create these each and every night which was actually fun, but most of the time happened at 1-2am in the morning. I wasn’t sleeping. Turns out I’m not a robot.

Moving forward, you will receive emails for the following things.

1. Once a month Speaker Announcements & RSVP openings

2. Once a week on Saturday Morning: This is replacing the daily. This will include the updates from the week including the two “Have You Met?” and the “Have You Supported?”. We’ll also include some other cool things going on. Again, once a week. No more daily’s.

I keep saying this and it’s true. I’m have a freaking blast. Thank you for your continued support.

-Garrett Tichy

Go Psycho

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Hi friends,

It’s been a week. The speaker series always leaves me freaking energized. So much awesome in one place. Ted Williams killed it. If you missed him talk about “Grinding” and “Being Psycho” this week you’ll be able to listen to the audio right here. It will be published at some point today. You can also subscribe to it as a podcast via iTunes.

There’s always so many things I miss the first time around in each talk. I love scouring Twitter for what people take from the conversation. It fascinates me how each talk effects everyone differently. I won’t spoil anything. Go listen. So neat. I’d love your feedback or thoughts. Reply or use the comments section on the page.

The next speaker is Jeff Jackson (Not the Senator). RSVP’s are open. Get on that and go here.

I was introduced to Jeff through his book MIRA CORPORA. It was a unique way to get introduced to him and I recommend going that route. Read it, please… I want to talk about it with someone. I’d also love to see you all bring questions about the book to the talk. That’d be cool.

I’m basically just leaving the RSVP page open. There’s 100+ people already which is at capacity but rather than build a waiting list and having to track people down to tell them to come last minute I’ll just account for a 25% drop off rate. Seems like a good plan to me.

A huge thanks to NODA Brewing, QC Independent and HappeningsCLT for sponsoring the next event.

Also, I asked people in the RSVP form to tell me one awesome thing about themselves. I’m going to share a couple of them each week. These are great.

  • Stephanie Newman used to be an Opera singer. What?! So cool. We should do a duet… is that a thing in opera?
  • Tyler Wallace Harding makes a mean homemade pizza. I love pizza.

“Have You Met?” and “Have You Supported?” returns this week! Bookmark the Have You Met page or follow us on Twitter @weloveclt or like our page on Facebook. Otherwise you’ll receive all the updates in next Saturday’s email.

Go be awesome. Thanks to all of you for being supportive. It makes this so fun. I’m having a blast.

-Garrett