Say Yes. Show Up. Get Involved.

Say Yes. Show Up. Get Involved
Written by Deseree Hierholzer

There are certain experiences in your career that remind you why you said “yes” all those years ago.

Yes to joining the committee.
Yes to serving on the board.
Yes to attending the networking event after a long workday.
Yes to volunteering, mentoring, showing up, making introductions, and investing in an industry that has given so much back to me.

Attending the NACE Experience Conference in New Orleans as a scholarship recipient from the DFW NACE Chapter was one of those full-circle moments for me.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to serve and participate in several industry organizations and networking groups. I’ve held leadership positions, helped plan events, volunteered countless hours, traveled for conferences, built committees, welcomed new members, and most importantly formed friendships and professional relationships that have followed me through different cities, companies, and seasons of my career.

When you’re in the middle of it, you don’t always stop to think about the impact those experiences are having on you.

Then you walk into a national conference surrounded by people from across the country who share the same passion for hospitality, events, relationships, and creating experiences for others and you remember exactly why this community is so special.

Being selected to attend Experience as a DFW NACE scholarship recipient made this conference particularly meaningful. I felt incredibly honored and humbled that my chapter chose to invest in me and give me the opportunity to continue learning, growing, and representing DFW on a national level.

And New Orleans could not have been a better backdrop!

There was something special about being in a city built around hospitality, food, music, celebration, and bringing people together while attending a conference centered around many of those same things.

Of course, the education and programming were valuable, but what I’ll remember most are the people.

It was reconnecting with friends from across the country whom I don’t get to see nearly enough. It was spending time with my DFW NACE family outside of our normal routines. It was meeting new people who started as a conversation at a conference and may very well become lifelong industry friends, clients, mentors, or collaborators.

After many years of serving industry organizations, this experience reminded me that involvement isn't only about what we give - It's also about what we receive in return.

We receive community. We receive opportunities to grow. We receive people who champion us, challenge us, refer us, teach us, and sometimes become some of our closest friends.

I've always believed that this industry is built on relationships, but leaving New Orleans, I believe that more than ever!

I'm returning to Dallas feeling inspired, grateful, and reenergized - not only about what I do professionally, but about continuing to show up for the organizations and people who make our industry what it is.

To DFW NACE, thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to experience this conference through your scholarship. Being chosen to represent our chapter is something I don't take lightly.

To everyone I reconnected with, learned from, laughed with, met for the first time, or shared a New Orleans memory with, thank you for making this experience what it was.

And to anyone early in their career wondering whether joining the organization, attending the event, volunteering for the committee, or simply introducing yourself to someone new is worth it:

Say yes. Show up. Get involved.

You may not realize the impact it's having on your career while you're doing it, But one day, you might find yourself standing at a national conference in New Orleans, surrounded by people you've met throughout the years, and realize just how far all of those little yeses have taken you.

I know I did.

Thank you, DFW NACE, for an experience I won't forget and am thankful to add another chapter to my NACE story!