On Thursday, June 8th, CREW Boston hosted our 41st annual meeting and luncheon, where keynote speaker, angel investor, and author Amy Jo Martin inspired us all to embrace the renegade mindset.
CREW Boston President Tricia Pinto of Sanborn Head & Associates kicked off the event by thanking our sponsors, welcoming our four new Board members - Erin Harvey of EQT Exeter, Gretchen McGill of the Davis Companies, Colleen O’Connor of BioMed Realty, and Judy Cazeau of Avison Young- and bidding farewell to our four outgoing Board members - Abigail Day of Vantage Technology Consulting Group, Rachel Diharce of Samuels & Associates, Amy Korté of Arrowstreet, and past President Kerry Hawkins. Additionally, Lisa Serafin of Athena Real Estate Development was announced as the CREW Network Delegate for a two-year term, beginning in January 2024. Tricia also highlighted some of our brightest moments and key achievements during her presidency, including a record year of sponsorships (72), and a record year of new members (197).
Next, incoming CREW Boston President for 2023-2024 Maureen McCaffrey of MIT Investment Management Company took the stage to talk about the year ahead. With an uncertain economic future, Maureen stressed the importance of bonding together, lifting each other up, and leaning on each other and our amazing network for support. After reflecting on past accomplishments and thanking Tricia for her leadership and dedication to CREW, Maureen introduced our guest speaker, Amy Jo Martin.
Amy Jo was recently named the 3rd most powerful women in Forbes, with over 1M followers on social media. She is the author of “Renegades Write the Rules”, an angel investor, and runs Renegades Global, a positive disruption method that applies to both personal & business initiatives alike. After sharing how a trip to Coachella turned into a 3-month hospital stay and the birth of her firstborn, Lincoln, born months early as a micro-premie and weighing only 2lbs, she realized then, that she had been training for this her whole life and started to ask herself –
Why Not Now?
She went on to work with high end clients building her brand and continuing to challenge the rules, experimenting with tasks that she was uniquely qualified to do that others were not. She started asking forgiveness instead of permission, and asking herself if not now, when? And if not her, then who? It was out of this mindset shift that the renegade mentality was born. She realized that if she didn’t take the leap of faith when facing difficult situations, whether voluntary or involuntary, that the window of bravery may close. She encouraged us to connect with our community who have similar drive and want to see others win, because community creates competence and competence breeds confidence.
Amy Jo left our CREW Boston Luncheon with the following rules to lead with a Renegade Mentality and follow through on your ‘one thing’:
- Rule #1 Renegades identify the worst thing that can happen – but they don’t start there. Always asking ‘then what’ from green lighting and idea to the worst-case scenario to put logic in the front seat and fear in the back seat.
- Rule #2 Renegades don’t give themselves an out. Burn your boat. Commit and hold yourself accountable to move forward.
- Rule #3 Renegades lean into adversity – ask “what is this trying to teach me” vs ‘why did this happen to me’ – turn this adversity into an asset.
- Rule #4 Renegades are hyper aware. Self-awareness leads to self-actualization.
- Rule #5 Renegades have strong operating and belief systems that are in sync – continue updating and getting better. Check-in with yourself regularly.
When you lead with a Renegade Mentality, you realize anything is possible. And, as always, take the elevator up together, but always remember to send it back down for others.
