Today we’d like to introduce you to Cristy Armstrong
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
CreativeMornings is the world’s largest face-to-face creative community. CMCHS is one of 200+ chapters around the globe. CreativeMornings Charleston (CMCHS) is a kickass breakfast lecture series for the creative community. We are a small group of volunteers who put together free, monthly events to foster collaboration, connection and creativity. Yes, free. Monthly attendees meet in-person to get inspired, hear new ideas and connect with like-minded creatives. Events are always free and accessible to all.
CreativeMornings Charleston was started in 2014 by a small group of local Charleston creatives craving connection. We thought a CreativeMornings chapter in this town would be successful….and it has been!
Our very first event was on 9/26/2014
To date that’s:
Almost 10 years
108 monthly events
11,000 attendees
10,000 minutes of inspiration
11,000 cups of coffee consumed
There are a lot of people that make CreativeMornings possible; not just me!
Sarah Williams-Scalise
Steff Schwerdt
Nicole Labrecque
Erin Fornadel
Daisy McClellan
Christian McClellan
Abby Duran
Deb Mohnssen
Chris Harmon
Jessica Vernon
Katie Heatley
Paul Roof
Kyle Whitcroft
Callie Cranford
Maggie Vickrey
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We’re a volunteer-run organization, not a 501(c)3. Redux Contemporary Arts Center is our fiscal sponsor and we are grateful for years of support.
We have been extremely fortunate to have the support of many local businesses and organizations. Each month, we look for a venue willing to host us; Counter Culture has been our loyal coffee sponsor for 10 years; we’re always looking for breakfast sponsors to donate bites for our crowd. It takes a team to put it all together and this is just our volunteer gig. We are all so passionate about making a difference in our community that we take this seriously.
We get a theme from HQ in NYC and find a local who we think has a story to share around that theme.
We are always looking for ways to amplify the experience for our attendees. We’ve enlisted team members to lead the search for live music and on site artists, which have become anticipated aspects of our programming.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
VOLUNTEER:
I am the host/organizer of CreativeMornings Charleston.
CAREER:
I am a mom of two (almost three) and have 10+ years’ experience in PR, marketing, events and partnerships with vertical industry experience in hospitality and tourism, consumer products, real estate development, multi-day events, and nonprofits. I’ve had the opportunity to work at PR agencies in NYC and Charleston.
Our CreativeMornings team is made up of all types of creatives from visual artists and poets to marketers and managers. Our manifesto states that everyone is creative and everyone is welcome. Some of our volunteers have jobs that wouldn’t strike you as creative, but their passions outside of work are.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
This interview is about CreativeMornings, so I will stick to that.
I believe that people are only going to crave connection more over the next 5 to ten years.
With more people working remotely, they want and need to get outside of the house and connect with people face-to-face. CreativeMornings is all about that. We believe in face-to-face connections. It’s important to meet like-minded people and share a laugh or a story.
We hope that people continue to come to our monthly events to learn and connect. We want to reach more people in the Charleston community. We love seeing new faces at our events.
Pricing:
- All of our events are free to attend. We give complimentary coffee and light bites. You have to snag a ticket on our website to attend.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://creativemornings.com/cities/chs
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativemorningschs
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creativemorningschs
Image Credit
Katie Heatley Photography
