Collaboration has been a guiding word for both me and Don’t Tell Summer over the last year. If you were at #RadLivin in March, or even saw the lineup, you would see that collaboration is something that we believe is key to success in whatever you’re trying to achieve.
When first putting together the #RadLivin festival, our annual festival that inspires you to do what you love now, I knew that the only way it would work is to collaborate. To collaborate with individuals, speakers, artists, vendors, sponsors, and more. There were a few key things that went into deciding who to collaborate with that I’ve included below. I hope this helps you if you’re wanting to collaborate or partner with an individual or brand.
They must believe in the purpose behind your idea.
Whether it was a speaker or sponsor, the most important thing behind the decision to partner with them or have them be a part of the festival was that they needed to fully believe in what #RadLivin is about and why it exists. If you’re looking for a partner and all you’re thinking about is a financial or otherwise stated exchange, it will be missing something; heart. It will seem like a necessary factor when putting together something, but it won’t ever be fulfilling unless the person or company you’re partnering with understands your idea and believes in where it is now and where it’s going. Which leads me to the second point.
You want to partner with a person or brand who believes in the trajectory of your idea.
I would get chills in certain meetings with brands; that’s when I knew it was the perfect fit. For example, when I sat down with ING Direct Dreamstarter, the partnership felt in alignment because they not only supported the purpose of the first #RadLivin, they were behind where it was going; where it was going to grow. *Find people and brands who not only believe in where you are, but in where you’re going.
Create a collaboration that’s positive and beneficial for all.
Whether we’re doing a collaboration with a hotel or partnering with a brand for a bigger initiative, our highest priority is creating a collaboration that is positive and beneficial for everyone involved. This has lead to the best success and amazing collaborations because when you look at how something can be positive for all invovled, you come up with more creative ideas than you could imagine. You look at how you will all succeed, which not only makes the partnership stronger and enjoyable, but a knock-out success.
Before reaching out to any individual or brand to collaborate, we always map out how it would be beneficial for all invovled. Particularly with #RadLivin, we look at how it will be beneficial for the brand, the attendees, speakers and us. If you can’t easily work out how your partnership would be beneficial for everyone involved, it probably isn’t the best collaboration to move forward with.
Partner with people you enjoy working with.
When we first reached out to brands we wanted to partner with for #RadLivin back in 2016, it was a completely new territory for us. As we were a brand new concept, our friends and family urged that we lock in partners that would be able to help us fund the first event. Looking back, I loved my naivety. It was the type of naivety you can only experience when you completely jump into something new with a positive outlook that it will all work out. Rather than reaching out to anyone and everyone, I remember making a list of five brands that felt in alignment with what #RadLivin was about. Brands that I knew cared about not only success, but the greater good of the community around them. I stuck to my guns, and reached out to them. Not only because they were incredible brands, but amazing people to work with. If i was going to follow my dreams of creating that festival, I wanted to share and experience it with people who I enjoyed working with. Otherwise, why else do it?
When you’re first starting out, it can be easy to have a lack mentality – thinking if you don’t partner with that person or brand that wants to fund you, even though you don’t like them, that there won’t be someone else. What I’ve learned through doing #RadLivin is that you don’t need to compromise on funding or enjoyment. There are so many brands out there that will not only support you – whether it’s through funding or collaboration, but that you can love working with. Write down your values, what you’re wanting to collaborate on, and stick to it. If something feels positive, go for it.
Lastly, partner with brands that YOU believe in.
Bringing it back to our first meeting with ING Direct Dreamstarter, why I felt so strongly about partnering up with them for not only the first #RadLivin, but the second, was because they didn’t just believe in what we were doing, we whole heartedly believed in their purpose. Find people and brands in which you love what they’re about – their mission, their purpose, and why they do what they do. When you believe in what the other is doing, this leads to a successful, positive, and lengthy partnership where you both help each other grow and succeed.
