Picture this: You’ve been hearing about the “tree lady” for three years. Multiple people have told you about this amazing woman named Michelle who does something incredible with trees and uncovering your awesomeness, and you keep meaning to connect with her. You even tried to attend one of her sessions once, but had a scheduling conflict. She becomes this almost mythical figure in your mind, someone you’re meant to know but somehow never meet.
Then one day, you’re sitting at your desk at the Hurt Hub when you get a call about speaking at a conference. The organizer mentions the other speakers, including someone named Michelle. “Is she the tree lady?” you ask. “Yes,” comes the reply. You hang up the phone, walk back to your desk, and your coworker Sarah, who has no idea what conversation you just had, suddenly pulls out a paper craft and says, “I went to a learning session this week where I made this tree, and I think you’d really like it.”
Curious and intrigued, Julia Franklin finally asked Meg Blanchard, Community Engagement and Operations Manager at the Hurt Hub, who Michelle was, and that’s when Meg introduced Julia to Michelle Mckown-Campbell. Despite working out of the same coworking space for months, this was their first introduction.
When Vulnerability Sets the Stage
What happened next was unlike any conference experience Michelle Mckown-Campbell, Julia Franklin, and Stacy Pahl, three Hurt Hub coworking members, had ever encountered. The Lake Norman Women’s Conference, organized by Joy Dillon with unprecedented intentionality, brought together these ladies as well as Tammy Cline and Stacee Ash as speakers, but not in the typical “show up the day of and do your thing” format most conferences follow.
Instead, Joy curated her speakers based on personal relationships across different industries, creating what Michelle described as a lineup where “we had built a relationship way before we got on stage.” They met multiple times beforehand, understanding each other’s messages and ensuring alignment. By the time they stepped on stage, as Michelle put it, “it was goosebumps.”
The tone was set from the very first moment. Michelle, chosen intentionally as the opening speaker, began not with a polished introduction, but with a vulnerable video sharing her journey from a teenager who nearly took her own life to someone who now helps others “activate their awesome.”
“I really want people to recognize that I’m not a speaker because I am [an] extrovert and super confident,” Michelle shared later. “My whole life has been imposter syndrome… I really want people to recognize that actually, awesomeness is all of that.”
Julia, speaking fourth in the lineup, noted how that opening created something unprecedented: “That video set a tone of openness and vulnerability, not just for your talk, but for the entire day… It really disarmed the audience in a way. There was a breath after that video that was just like, ‘Okay, we’re all on the same playing field.’ “
(From left to right: 2025 Lake Norman Women’s Conference speakers: Michelle Mckown-Campbell, Julia Franklin, Stacy Pahl, Tammy Cline, and Stacee Ash)
Three Stories, One Powerful Thread
What emerged was a day where three distinct but interconnected stories created what the speakers described as “vibrant, electric, sacred” energy:
Stacy’s Journey: “Unlocking Your Potential by Living with Intention” At 18, Stacy Pahl had less than a 1% chance of living and less than a 5% chance of keeping her legs after contracting bacterial meningitis. The priest read her last rites. She was in a coma, intubated, with all her organs shutting down. She was airlifted from her hometown in Crystal Lake, Illinois, to Loyola Medical Center in Chicago, a desperate flight for life that doctors didn’t expect would save her. A week before getting sick, she had signed up to join the Army, seeking challenge and adventure. When meningitis stole that opportunity, years later she eventually found another way to push her limits: the Ironman.
The catch? She didn’t know how to swim or bike beyond a spin class. She had no idea about nutrition, tire changes, or wearing a wetsuit. “You meet all these people who say they have to do 16 half Ironmans before they feel like they could maybe commit to doing an Ironman,” Stacy shared. “And I’m like, but you don’t have to—you can literally just decide that you’re going to do that, and then you’ll figure it out.”
Her conference presentation centered on the framework she developed from this journey: “Unlocking Your Potential by Living with Intention”—combining her personal transformation with her education as a high performance coach. The framework breaks down into actionable steps: Awareness, Vision, Values, Actions, and Impact. But the real power wasn’t in the steps themselves—it was in Stacy’s living proof that “everything is figure-out-able” and her approach as a “gap filler” who identifies what’s missing and finds the right people to help bridge those gaps.
Michelle’s Message: “Activating Your Awesome” Michelle’s journey to the conference stage was itself a full-circle moment. The year before, she had sat in the audience thinking, “I would love to do that.” Now she was opening the entire conference—and doing it in a way that terrified her. Her introduction wasn’t a polished bio, but a vulnerable video sharing her story of nearly taking her own life as a teenager, believing she was invisible and that no one would notice if she disappeared.
“I always thought I was afraid of failure,” Michelle explained, “but actually I knew what failure was—that darkness. I knew what that was. Actually, my journey has been that I’ve been fearful of standing in the light of being 110% me.” Her talk revealed how she lived “in her shell” (a play on her name, Michelle), constantly trying on different versions of herself, losing herself in the process until she moved to America and felt her world shift.
Michelle’s framework for “activating your awesome” isn’t about perfection—it’s about embracing all parts of yourself, including what she calls “the damn right ugly stuff that you stuff away.” She got the audience out of their seats and creating their own trees and stepping into their superhero, their awesomeness, because she believes in doing the work before you leave rather than just adding more to someones to-do lists. Her message: Your Tapestry of awesome doesn’t just include the good but the struggles, the imposter syndrome, the messy parts that make us human and relatable.
Julia’s Energy: “Redefining Play in Work and Life” Julia had a specific assignment from organizer Joy: bring the energy back up after lunch when people typically get sluggish and start leaving conferences early. But Julia’s challenge was deeper, she had to practice what she was preaching. Her entire talk was about redefining play and bringing a playful attitude to work and life, so she designed an activity without knowing how it would end up, embodying the very innovation and creativity she was teaching.
Her message challenged the false separation between play and work. True play, she explained, has the same properties as creativity and innovation—you don’t know how it’s going to end, just like kids building with sticks who start with one idea and end up with something completely different. She introduced the concept of “play personalities,” helping people understand how they and those around them can connect in playful ways both at work and in their communities.
The energy experiment worked. Julia brought green Ripstix from her Pound fitness classes (where she originally met Joy) and had each table find their own rhythm. This gave people permission to participate however felt authentic, from quiet finger snapping to enthusiastic arm waving and creative sounds. The result was a room-wide orchestra that elevated everyone’s energy and proved her point: when we bring our authentic selves to work, including our playful sides, magic happens. As she put it, “I don’t know why we’re all so serious all the time.”
The Hurt Hub Connection: Proximity + Purpose = Magic
Here’s what makes this story remarkable:
Three speakers, all working out of the same coworking space, had never deeply related until this shared experience brought them together. They’d crossed paths, certainly. They were in the same physical proximity daily. But it took intentional community plus Joy’s careful curation and their shared commitment to authentic, vulnerable speaking to create real relationships.
The magic continued even during the conference itself. Michelle, speaking to the audience about connecting with others, found herself drawn to a woman in the crowd who was “glowing” and spoke directly to her from the stage. “I know that I don’t know why we need to know each other, but I know at some point that will be revealed,” she said. Later, that same woman sought Michelle out, confirming the intuitive connection.
As Julia reflected, “We wouldn’t have really known the level and the depth and the possibilities of where we can go if it wasn’t for this conference, and then now this space, The Hurt Hub, to be able to really continue.” The Hurt Hub membership that initially brought them into each other’s orbit now serves as the foundation for their ongoing connection—allowing them to see each other regularly, interact meaningfully, and potentially build even more connections in the aftermath of this transformative experience.
The Ripple Effect: What Happens Next
This conference wasn’t an ending, it was a beginning. The three women discovered their networks overlapping in unexpected ways. Michelle volunteered to speak at TEDx Sugar Creek Women and discovered people from her Hurt Hub network showing up there too. Entrepreneurs from Charlotte, despite having plenty of local opportunities, started driving to Davidson for Hurt Hub programming after meeting Hurt Hub members at events.
“We suddenly started to realize that actually we knew or knew of the same people,” Michelle noted. “It’s crazy.”
The abundance mindset became clear: “We’re not in competition. We’re here to just make an impact,” Michelle emphasized. “That’s when things get really exciting for what we can do.”
Beyond Coworking: The Power of Authentic Community
What happened at the Lake Norman Women’s Conference illuminates something profound about the difference between traditional coworking and intentional community. Many coworking spaces offer proximity—desks near each other, shared coffee, networking events. But authentic community requires something deeper.
It requires the vulnerability to share your real story, not just your professional bio. It requires the intentionality to truly see and know the people around you. It requires what Stacy calls being a “good gap filler”—discerning where you are, where you want to go, and how the people around you can help bridge that gap while you do the same for them.
As the women agreed in their group reflection, this kind of authentic debrief conversation “feels like another intentional step that every conference should do.” But more than that, it’s the kind of ongoing conversation that should happen in every community that calls itself more than just a workspace.
The Magic of Not Knowing What Comes Next
Perhaps the most beautiful part of this story is that it’s still unfolding. These three women continue to discover new ways to collaborate, new connections between their networks, new possibilities they couldn’t have imagined when they were simply coworkers sharing the same physical space.
“You don’t know what’s gonna happen,” Stacy reflected. “So you just take the leap, and you move into it… that impact is going to be different than you thought.”
The next time you’re getting coffee at your coworking space, or sitting at your designated desk, or walking to a meeting room, remember: You never know who’s the “tree lady” sitting three desks over. You never know what magic might unfold when authentic community meets intentional connection.
And sometimes, all it takes is the courage to hang up the phone, walk back to your desk, and be open to the serendipity that’s been waiting there all along.
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Digging Deeper:
Stacy Pahl, a bacterial meningitis survivor turned lronman finisher, is a coach, speaker, and founder of Stretch Beyond Your Limits. A retired physical therapist and wellness advocate, she helps individuals and businesses gain clarity, set meaningful goals, and manage their time effectively. As a mother of n.vo athletes, she understands the challenges of balancing ambition with daily life. Stacy is committed to sharing practical strategies for vision, goal execution, and time mastery to support growth and success without burnout.
Michelle Mckown-Campbell is a dynamic Professional Speaker, Workshop Leader, Confidence Coach, and the creator of Activate The A.W.E.S.O.M.E. With 25+ years in HR, leadership, and coaching, she empowers professionals to build resilience, boost confidence, and cultivate a winning mindset. Known for her engaging and interactive style, Michelle delivers practical strategies that empower professionals to elevate their performance, maximize their potential, and step into success.
Julia Franklin is the Chief Learning Officer at Cephable, where she blends her expertise as a licensed speech-language pathologist and continuing education professional to foster inclusive community learning, innovation, and connection. As a trusted consultant and subject matter expert in accessibility + technology and a drumming fitness instructor in her community, she is passionate about helping people find their voice and rhythm in every area of life, from communication to work to play. She loves to teach how small moments of joy and connection create ripples of impact in our homes, workplaces, and communities. Through storytelling and interactive experiences, her sessions celebrate the ways we shine individually and together – because light grows, when it’s shared.
The Lake Norman Women’s Conference continues to grow each year, selling out with waiting lists as word spreads about this uniquely authentic approach to professional connection.
The Hurt Hub continues to foster the kind of intentional community where proximity becomes purpose, and coworkers become collaborators in ways none of us could have planned—but all of us needed.
