hello from held...
Happy April! Let's get right to it!
As we start rolling out more held events and programming, we thought a newsletter might be a great way to share held news, thoughts, inspirations, and musings. Coming to your inbox once, perhaps twice a month max, hello from held will feature Q&A’s with held event hosts, inspirations for held, founder’s favorites, community spotlights, and more. You might laugh, cry, learn something new about someone or something, or hit unsubscribe…just kidding; don’t do that. Thanks for being here, and thanks for your support. It means so much to us.
Without further ado, we will kick it off with a Q&A that provides more insight into held - how this came about, our goals, and who would be a dream guest for held.
Q&A with held co-founders Tenaya and Mary Beth
How did held come about?
MB: Connecting people has always been a passion of mine. It’s why I got into PR. I’ve always loved building relationships in ways that help people tell stories together, support each other, discover their similarities, and learn from one another. When Tenaya and I first met, we immediately started talking about community and how grateful we were for the communities we have here in Maine. Over coffee, we chatted more and more about creating themed events that could bring women together more often in order to meet new friends, reconnect with old ones, and experience a fun and thoughtful evening. From these events, we hope there can be a variety of outcomes - you meet a new friend, a new job partner, discover something different about an old friend, find a great babysitter, learn a new perspective, and be inspired in new ways - and always feel more connected to community.
Why is community important to you?
T: Even as a small child with parents who worked all the time, the community was my support system and extended family. And now, with a two-year-old, I rely very much on my Portland community for last-minute childcare needs and growth—a way to learn, be engaged, and be accounted for. I have found the Portland, Maine, community to be so incredibly welcoming and supportive.
What inspires helds' events?
T: Women who are part of the held community have shared their interests in surveys, so we continue to select topics based on their feedback. Events are also inspired by topics that Mary Beth and I are curious about. For every event, purpose dictates form. In other words, we decide on the “why” or intended outcome first and then design an experience that facilitates that outcome. What’s cool and hard for both of us is that we design each event differently because for every event, the location, topic, speakers, and intended outcome change. No two events are alike, and creating an intentional gathering takes a lot of time and preparation. We meet multiple times with the folks whose space we’re using and spend many hours developing the event flow and content, such as site copy, booklets, activities, presentations, etc., with the instructors. But it’s all worth it if the women walk away feeling inspired and more connected to the community!
MB: The community. It’s a hodgepodge of things - timely topics - some heavier than others, feedback from those attending events, the constant revolving circles of “this newsletter is interesting, check it out” emails, the forwarded articles and podcasts that we might want to dive deeper into and talk about with friends, a playful meme that made our day and we want to explore that feeling more.
Photo by Brecht Deboosere on Unsplash
Can you share a bit of what's coming up for held?
MB: Next up is our April 4th event covering the topic of finances. EEEk! Hello, tax season! Being a grown-up is hard - great! - but hard at times. As we dove deeper and deeper into this topic, we realized this will probably be a topic we revisit as there is so much to talk about here! We kick off the first of our “Convos & Candy” series in May. “Convos & Candy” will be every other month or so and a bit more casual than our other events. These events will have a “theme” to kick off the conversations, and then we will just let the night flow - dance, laugh, and drink. Our May event theme is “play,” so get ready for candy necklaces, bubble gum, and chatter around being more playful as adults. Then it’s summer - finally! We’ll be partnering with The Roux Institute in June for an entrepreneurship workshop, speaking with women-founded businesses here in Maine. I could keep going here - we have an amazing sex therapist slated for July, a women’s hormone specialist for September, celebrating traditions in December, and a few “Convos & Candy” events in between.
What are your goals for the future of held?
MB: Continue to build awareness for our events and eventually find a way to connect the held community beyond the monthly programming. Figuring out more ways to help our community - using our voices and experiences across generations of women. This might be through volunteering or mentoring opportunities. Rolling out programming that covers a wide range of topics - from the heavy to the light - we want to explore relationships, discuss being okay with not having it all figured out by a certain age, reinventing yourself, fashion, grief, adventures, parenthood, evolving sexual preferences, beauty, shifting perspectives, dance, wellness, traditions, and more…
Dream women dinner party guests? Dead or alive!
T: Melissa McCarthy. She’s hilarious, kind, and damn observant. I’ve been obsessed with her comedy for the past fifteen years and know that dinner with her would be non-stop laughter and joy! If ever asked, I’m always happy to do a Melissa bit!
MB: I can't name just one! Audrey Hepburn (classic), Amelia Earhart (tell us what happened), Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy (always admired), Diane Keaton (style icon and funny), Lady Gaga (someone’s gotta sing), and my mama (her generation didn’t put enough emphasis on the importance of female friendships and she would love this). Okay, so now we have another “Convos & Candy” event theme!
That’s it for this one! Have questions? Ideas for held? Want to hear more on a certain topic? Email us at hello@heldportland.com. We’d love to hear from you!
SHOUT OUTS
This section will be a quick shout-out to women who inspire held. For our first one, we are shouting out to Chelsea Diehl of Gadabout, Maine. I would have been too scared to launch this Substack into the world if it weren't for Chelsea. Thanks to her for the nudge! Chelsea has the wonderfully fun and adventure-packed Substack Gadabout Maine (where to hike, beach, eat, and explore), and her book Just Up the Road is a delightful read on her one hundred adventures with people and places throughout Maine. For more information, check out her site - https://www.gadaboutmaine.com
CLASSIFIEDS
Need to promote your upcoming event, a new business venture, looking to be connected to other community members for job possibilities, an exercise bud, volunteering, a babysitter, etc. Reach out to us, and we will be happy to include your information here!
Huzzah! So excited for this! ♥️♥️
LOVE this. Feeling so proud to be a part of the held community. Thanks, MB & T!